Calcium and Vitamin D Reduces the Risk for Breast and Colon Cancer

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Weight Gain And Cancer

How To Control Your Perimenopause Weight Gain And Even Lose It! Although millions of women struggle with weight problems at various periods of their lives, it's particularly after childbirth and as menopause sets in that we are the most vulnerable to weight gain. Perimenopause weight gain can start as early as 40 years old. The average age however for menopause is… By: Maya Uriodain in  Health and Fitness  >  Weight Loss   Jul 25, 2011   0   Likes: 0

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Magnesium Reduces the Risk for Colon Cancer

Magnesium deficiency is prevalent in just about any person whose health is struggling or slipping into a trend in the wrong direction. This can be predicted because magnesium is required to run many genes and enzymes, reduce inflammation, and enhance genomic stability.  Thus, it is frequently lacking in the context of struggling health. A new study shows that for each increase of 100 mg of magnesium per day, the risk of colon cancer drops by 13 percent.

In individuals who are not overweight magnesium is shown to be protective. In individuals who are overweight magnesium is shown to be highly protective. This is because overweight individuals are living in an inflammatory state more likely to have DNA damage from this inflammation and accompanying free radical damage. In other words, the worse off a person’s health is, the more he or she needs higher levels of magnesium for protection.

I recommend up to 800 mg per day of supplemental magnesium for individuals who are under high stress or overweight. This is a basic precaution for protection. As stress levels come down and weight improves, then 400 mg is likely adequate.

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Common Skin Cancer a Chronic Condition, Study Says

HealthDay – 3 mins 1 sec ago THURSDAY, Aug. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Here's yet another reason to go easy on the tanning this summer: A new study affirms that basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer, should be viewed as a chronic disease.

That's because once most people have a single occurrence, they are at risk of getting another.

"Basal cell carcinoma has generally been viewed as something that comes up, is treated and cured," said Dr. Martin Weinstock, a study co-author and professor of dermatology at the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University in Providence, R.I. "For someone with an isolated lesion, that's a reasonable way of looking at it. But most people are constantly at risk of this and will be getting more."

The study confirmed what was commonly understood about the disease: a prior history of basal cell carcinoma is the greatest risk for another lesion. But the research found that eczema may also predict a recurrence among those at high risk for the disease. Those with a family history of eczema had a 1.54 times greater risk than those without.

Older age, sun sensitivity, intense sun exposure before age 30, and use of certain blood pressure-lowering medications (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers) were also associated with increased risk.

Why would eczema, a chronic skin disorder that involves scaly and itchy rashes, be associated with basal cell carcinoma? Weinstock said it's unclear. "There may be some differences in these people's immune systems compared to people without eczema," he said, noting that other investigators need to confirm the findings.

Having other types of skin cancer or actinic keratoses (scaly or crusty growths caused by sun damage) did not appear to raise the chances for basal cell carcinoma.

The study was published online July 19 in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology and funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. It involved more than 1,100 people, nearly all men, all veterans, with a median age of 72.

On average, each participant had more than three instances of basal cell cancer or squamous cell cancer (another type of skin cancer) before participating in the research. During the study period, 44 percent developed new basal cell cancers, and those with the most basal cell cancers in the five years before the study had the most recurrences.

Study participants with more than five prior basal cell cancers were nearly four times as likely to develop a new one as those with one or no prior skin cancers. And their risk was twice as high as those with three previous skin cancers, the study found.

Now the most common cancer in the United States, basal cell carcinoma begins in the outer layer of the skin, often as a small white or flesh-colored bump that grows slowly and sometimes bleeds. While these cancers rarely spread, they must be removed or treated, usually in a physician's office with local anesthetic.

Weinstock said researchers are eager to find a preventive medication to guard against the recurrence of basal cell carcinoma. Last year a team he led concluded that topical tretinoin did not prevent new basal cell cancers in high-risk patients. Now he is involved in a study looking at whether 5-Fluorouracil, a compound used to treat actinic keratoses, may prevent basal cell cancer when given intravenously.

Dr. Jean Tang, an assistant professor in the department of dermatology at Stanford University School of Medicine who is familiar with the study, said the most important thing for patients to know is that if you have had a basal cell carcinoma, you have a 44 percent chance of getting another.

"This study doesn't change any clinical guidelines or recommendations," she added. Current advice still stands: "Get an annual skin assessment by your dermatologist," she said.

More information

To learn more about skin cancer, visit the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

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Watch: Cancer Survivor Loses Hands, Feet to Bacterial Infection

NYPD Officer Talks Man Out of Bridge...More Popular VideoUK's All-Male Synchronized Swim Team Left Out...U.S. Bridges, Roads Being Built by Chinese...Mitt Romney: Fallout Continues in PolandOlympic Games 2012: French Beat Michael...James Holmes Charged With 24 Counts of MurderIn The NewsU.S.PoliticsEntertainmentWeird and WackyCancer Survivor Loses Hands, Feet to Bacterial InfectionHannah Rinehart, 32, is fighting capnocytophaga after surviving cancer three times.01:18

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Imaging Tests Up Among Advanced Cancer Patients

HealthDay – 1 hr 50 mins ago TUESDAY, July 31 (HealthDay News) -- A new U.S. study finds that the use of diagnostic imaging tests in Medicare patients with advanced cancer has risen faster than among patients with early-stage cancer.

The costs of diagnostic imaging have increased more than the overall costs of cancer care, making diagnostic imaging the fastest-growing part of Medicare-reimbursed services, the researchers noted. Medicare is the U.S. government-funded health insurance program for people over 65 and certain other patients.

They added that cancer care costs are highest during the last year of life, but little is known about the use of high-cost imaging tests in cancer patients during their final year.

In this study, the researchers examined data on the use of CT, MRI, PET and nuclear medicine scans for Medicare patients with late-stage (stage 4) breast, colon, lung or prostate cancer between 1995 and 2006. Stage 4 cancer means the cancer has spread throughout the body.

The analysis revealed that most of the patients underwent imaging procedures during the course of their care, and that the use of imaging in late-stage cancer patients increased between 1995 and 2006.

The study was published July 30 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The increasing use of imaging in late-stage cancer patients may be due to a lack of guidelines in this area or the use of imaging to help doctors manage symptoms, detect disease progression and assess the effects of treatment, said Dr. Yue-Yung Hu and colleagues at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and the University of Wisconsin.

While imaging often leads to appropriate measures to ease dying patients' suffering, it can also distract them from focusing on achievable end-of-life goals, cause them to spend more of their remaining time in medical care settings, and provoke anxiety, the researchers said.

Determining the most appropriate care for patients with late-stage cancer is complex, Drs. Robin Yabroff and Joan Warren, of the Health Services and Economics Branch at the U.S. National Cancer Institute, noted in an accompanying editorial.

"Physicians tend to overestimate survival for terminally ill cancer patients, which may influence their treatment and related imaging recommendations," they wrote in a journal news release. "Development of practice guidelines for advanced imaging in patients with stage IV disease, with explicit statements about the state of evidence will be critical, particularly for care outside of the window surrounding patient diagnosis."

More information

The American Cancer Society offers advice for cancer patients nearing the end of life.

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Depression Could Shorten Cancer Survival, Study Suggests

HealthDay – 2 hrs 57 mins ago WEDNESDAY, Aug. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Symptoms of depression are linked to shorter survival times among cancer patients, according to a new study.

The link may be attributed to abnormal stress hormone regulation and inflammatory gene expression, researchers from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center reported in the Aug. 1 edition of PLoS ONE.

"Our findings, and those of others, suggest that mental health and social well-being can affect biological processes, which influence cancer-related outcomes," Lorenzo Cohen, a professor in the center's departments of general oncology and behavioral science, and director of the Integrative Medicine Program, said in a university news release.

The findings "also suggest that screening for mental health should be part of standard care because there are well-accepted ways of helping people manage distress, even in the face of a life-threatening illness," Cohen added.

In conducting the study, the researchers analyzed surveys completed over a five-year period by 217 patients newly diagnosed with kidney cancer that had spread. The participants answered questions about how religious and spiritual they were. They were also asked about their symptoms of depression, social support, quality of life and coping skills.

The patients also provided blood samples as well as five saliva samples daily for three days. The researchers used the saliva samples to track changes in the patients' levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that is usually high in the morning before dropping throughout the day.

At the time of the analysis, 64 percent of the patients had died. The average amount of time these patients survived after being diagnosed was 1.8 years.

Overall, the study revealed that 23 percent of patients were clinically depressed. Even after taking other disease-related risk factors into account, the investigators noted that depression was associated with shorter survival time. Moreover, the study showed that higher than usual cortisol levels throughout the day were also linked to shorter survival among the cancer patients.

Using tissue samples from 15 of the patients with the most significant symptoms of depression and 15 samples from the patients with the mildest forms of depression, the researchers then conducted whole-genome profiling to determine if the depression is linked to increased risk of death for cancer patients.

They found specific signaling pathways, which play a key role in regulating cell inflammation, were expressed at increased levels in patients with depression. The study authors concluded the link between patients' mental health and survival time is associated with inflammatory gene regulation.

"Our findings indicate that we're now able to understand some of the possible biological pathways that explain the association between depression and survival," Cohen noted.

The researchers noted that the study was limited by the fact that it's difficult to determine if patients' stress or symptoms of depression are influenced by other factors or were present before their cancer diagnosis. While the study uncovered an association between depression and cancer survival, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

More research is needed to investigate if the treatment of depression can improve survival time among cancer patients with mild, moderate or severe mood disorders, the authors added.

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about cancer and depression.

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Breast Cancer Drug Duo Wins Out in Study

HealthDay – 2 hrs 40 mins ago WEDNESDAY, Aug. 1 (HealthDay News) -- A combination of two cancer drugs works better than one alone to improve survival in older women with a type of breast cancer that has spread, new research suggests.

The drugs -- anastrozole (Arimidex) and fulvestrant (Faslodex) -- are currently used individually to treat breast cancer, said researcher Dr. Rita Mehta, an associate professor of health sciences at the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine.

For the study, published Aug. 2 in the New England Journal of Medicine, about 700 postmenopausal women were assigned to Arimidex alone or to both drugs. Mehta looked at whether the combination improved their survival, and whether the cancer spread or not, which is termed progression-free survival.

"With the combination, there is a 20 percent improvement in progression-free survival and a 19 percent improvement in overall survival," Mehta said.

Put another way, those getting the combined treatment gained six months. They lived a median of 47.7 months (half lived longer, half less) while the solo-drug patients lived a median of 41.3 months.

The disease took 15 months to progress in the patients on both drugs, but just 13.5 on the solo drugs. Forty-one percent of the women taking Arimidex whose disease progressed later switched to Faslodex, which led the researchers to conclude that simultaneous treatment rather than sequential treatment brought about the benefits.

While other serious side effects were similar in both groups, three women in the combination-drug group died, which was possibly associated with the treatment.

The five-year study was supported by the U.S. National Cancer Institute and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, which makes both drugs.

All the women had hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, which requires estrogen to grow and accounts for more than 50 percent of all cases of breast cancer.

Arimidex, which is given orally, works by reducing the amount of estrogen the body makes. Faslodex -- an injectable drug -- blocks the action of estrogen on cancer cells.

Previous studies of combination hormonal therapy have been unsuccessful, Mehta said. But she decided to look at this pair because of the complementary way in which these two drugs work.

The findings are solid, said Dr. Joanne Mortimer, director of the Women's Cancer Program at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, in Duarte, Calif.

Although the study had drug company support, the company did not have input in conducting the study, she noted.

While the improvement in progression-free survival, 1.5 months, may not seem notable, the difference in overall survival is impressive, she said.

"Much more important to the patients is if they live longer," she said. ''Survival is the gold standard."

Adding Faslodex to Arimidex treatment would tack on about $700 a month, experts said. However, as both drugs are FDA-approved, insurance plans may cover the regimen. The dose of Faslodex used in this trial was less than the standard dose.

Several other regimens to help women with this form of breast cancer are under study, too, Mortimer said. "We are not sure how this

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Stem cells blamed for cancer re-growth

"Stem cells are viewed on a computer screen. Researchers presented evidence Wednesday for the existence of cancer stem cells, with three different studies seeking to end a decades-old scientific dispute about how tumours grow. (AFP Photo/)" title

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Vermillion ovarian cancer test shows positive result

Reuters – 2 hrs 55 mins ago (Reuters) - Diagnostics company Vermillion Inc said a clinical trial of its blood test for detecting ovarian cancer showed the test had a high chance of correctly identifying patients with cancer.

Shares of the company jumped 21 percent to $2.17 on the news.

The study, named OVA1, is a blood test for pre-surgical assessment of ovarian tumors for malignancy.

The study focused on two particularly challenging subgroups - women with early-stage ovarian cancer and pre-menopausal women.

"A key goal of the study was to investigate the challenging pre-menopausal setting, where benign cysts have a high incidence and early-stage cancer often goes undetected," Chief Executive Gail Page said.

The test had a 94 percent sensitivity in the pre-menopausal group, and a 91 percent sensitivity in the early-stage ovarian cancer group.

A diagnostic test's sensitivity refers to its ability to correctly identify those who are actually affected by the disease.

Overall, the test showed a 96 percent sensitivity.

OVA1 also had a low chance of mistakenly classifying a sick person as healthy.

Vermillion shares were up 11 percent at $2 in morning trade on the Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Esha Dey in Bangalore; Editing by Supriya Kurane)

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Cancer Drug May Flush Out 'Hidden' HIV: Study

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High-carb diet tied to breast cancer risk for some

Reuters – 3 hrs ago (Reuters) - Older women who eat a lot of starchy and sweet carbohydrates may be at increased risk of a less common but deadlier form of breast cancer, according to a European study.

The findings from a study of nearly 335,000 European women, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, do not prove that sweets, French fries and white bread contribute to breast cancer - but they do hint at a potential factor in a little understood form of breast cancer.

Specifically, the study found a link between high "glycemic load" and breast cancers that lack receptors for the female sex hormone estrogen, so-called "ER-negative" breast cancers.

A high glycemic load essentially means a diet heavy in foods that cause a rapid spike in blood sugar, such as processed foods made from white flour, potatoes and sweets.

The study, conducted by Isabelle Romieu of the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, looked at nearly 335,000 women who took part in a long-running European study on nutrition factors and cancer risk.

Of these, 11,576 developed breast cancer over a dozen years. Overall, there was no link between breast cancer risk and glycemic load, as estimated from diet questionnaires the women completed at the study's start.

But the picture changed when the researchers focused on postmenopausal women with ER-negative cancer. Among women in the top 20 percent for glycemic load, there were 158 cases of breast cancer, versus 11 cases in the bottom 20 percent - a 36 percent higher risk.

ER-negative tumors account for about one-quarter of breast cancers. They typically have a poorer prognosis than ER-positive cancers because they tend to grow faster and are not sensitive to hormone-based therapies.

Christina Clarke, a research scientist at the Cancer Prevention Institute of California in Fremont, and a consulting assistant professor at Stanford University, said the results are interesting because so little is known about what cases ER-negative breast cancers. Most breast tumors have their growth fueled by estrogen.

"This study gives us a really important clue for future research," said Clarke, who was not involved in the study.

Diets with a high glycemic load are associated with a bigger secretion of insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar. High insulin levels, in turn, have been linked to certain cancers, possibly because insulin helps tumors grow.

The current findings hint at a role for "insulin pathways" in ER-negative breast cancer, Clarke said, adding that more research definitely needs to be done.

She noted that while there is no single factor in any woman's risk of breast cancer, the findings offer more incentive to eat a balanced diet that limits refined carbohydrates in favor of healthier fare - like lean protein, vegetables, "good" fats and high-fiber grains.

"Really, you want to avoid these (high glycemic load) diets anyway," she added. SOURCE: http://bit.ly/MZY2qw

(Reporting by Amy Norton; Editing by Elaine Lies and Bob Tourtellotte)

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If Colonoscopy Picks Up Cancer Risk, Get Next Screen in 5 Years: Study

HealthDay – 6 mins ago WEDNESDAY, July 25 (HealthDay News) -- People who have had a colonoscopy during which a high-risk potentially cancerous polyp was removed may not need another colonoscopy for five years, German researchers report.

If this suggestion were to be adopted, it would be a change from the current recommendation in the United States, which calls for another colonoscopy three years after a high-risk polyp -- one that is likely to become cancerous -- is removed.

"This is a case control study, so they didn't follow a group of individuals over time to assess the impact of polyp removal," said Dr. Durado Brooks, director of prostate and colorectal cancers at the American Cancer Society.

That kind of patient follow-up, however, did take place in the study that established the current U.S. recommendations for colonoscopy, he noted.

In addition, while the German study looks at the odds of cancer developing over time, the older study that set the U.S. guidelines looked at the odds of a new polyp developing, Brooks said.

"The time frames they are recommending are something that might be considered, but you cannot make changes in current guidelines based on this study," he said.

The report was published online July 23 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

For the new study, a team lead by Dr. Hermann Brenner, at the German Cancer Research Center, in Heidelberg, looked at medical records of more than 2,500 people who had a cancerous polyp removed and compared them to nearly 1,800 people without such polyps.

They compared surveillance intervals of less than three years, three to five years, and six to 10 years before receiving another colonoscopy.

Looking at the risk of finding colorectal cancer, even for those with high-risk polyps, "strong, statistically significant risk reduction by 60 percent was seen for the less-than-three-years time window and by 50 percent for the three-to-five-years time window," the researchers wrote.

This was true for men, women, young and old, they added.

Their results suggest that surveillance colonoscopy could take place five to 10 years after the a low-risk polyp was found and removed, and possibly also be prolonged to five years for high-risk polyps, the researchers concluded.

The current recommendation for people with high-risk polyps is to have another colonoscopy three years after the polyp was removed, Brooks said.

If new polyps aren't found, then another colonoscopy isn't needed for 10 years, he said.

The 10-year span between colonoscopies is the recommendation for anyone who has a normal colonoscopy, Brooks added.

The advantage of extending the time between colonoscopies from three to five years in patients with high-risk polyps is the use of resources, he said.

The problem is that doctors don't follow the current guidelines.

"If we could get clinicians just to follow the current recommendations we could expand our resources considerably," Brooks said. "Right now far too many people are getting colonoscopies done at intervals that are not recommended by anyone's guidelines."

Some people who have had high-risk polyps get a colonoscopy every year. Many people who have normal colonoscopies get another after five years, Brooks said.

All the evidence shows that colonoscopies every five years is much too frequent, he said.

"We are doing far too many colonoscopies on people who are in the system, but there are at least 40 percent of adults at risk who have never been screened," Brooks said. "If you're 50 and older and never been screened -- get screened."

More information

For more about colon cancer, visit the American Cancer Society.

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Cancer drug flushes out lurking AIDS virus: study

"An Indian HIV-infected women poses with her antiretroviral drugs at her home in New Delhi on July 23. Scientists in the United States said Wednesday they had used a cancer drug to flush out the AIDS virus lurking dormant in trial patients' white blood cells -- a tentative step towards a cure. (AFP Photo/Andrew Caballero-Reynolds)" title

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Childhood obesity linked to cancer risk

ScienceDaily (July 23, 2012) — Parents are increasingly conscious of the dangers of childhood obesity. There is a growing recognition of health problems associated with extra pounds, including the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and joint and muscle pain.

See Also:Health & MedicineObesityDiet and Weight LossColon CancerBreast CancerDiseases and ConditionsCancerReferenceBody mass indexOverweightNutrition and pregnancyBirth weight

New research from Tel Aviv University has revealed another significant reason for children to maintain a healthy weight. Dr. Ari Shamiss and Dr. Adi Leiba of TAU's Sackler Faculty of Medicine and the Sheba Medical Center and his fellow researchers found that obesity in adolescence, defined as a Body Mass Index (BMI) in the 85th percentile and above, has a direct link to the incidence of urothelial (bladder and urinary tract) and colorectal cancers in adulthood. According to the American Heart Association, one in three children and teenagers are now considered overweight or obese.

Children above the 84th percentile in BMI have a 1.42% greater chance, representing a 50% higher risk, of developing urothelial or colorectal cancers in adulthood compared to those beneath it, explains Dr. Shamiss, whose research has been published in the journals Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention and Obesity.

Understanding the connection

To examine the relationship between obesity and cancers, the researchers conducted a longitudinal study of a cohort of 1.1 million males in the Israeli Defense Forces. Their health information was gathered by the army, with a follow-up period of 18 years. When they controlled for factors such as year of birth and education, the researchers discovered a clear link between childhood BMI and those who were diagnosed with urothelial or colorectal cancers later in life.

While the researchers have so far uncovered risk in two different types of cancer, Dr. Shamiss believes that further research will reveal connections between childhood obesity and a wide range of other cancers, including pancreatic cancer, which he is currently researching.

These findings show a distinct need for more research in this field, he notes. "We need to examine the questions of whether obesity is a direct risk factor for cancer or a confounding factor for a genetic variation, for example," he explains, pointing out that basic research could help researchers to understand the connection between obesity and cancer on a deeper level.

The role of weight loss

One of the crucial questions, says Dr. Shamiss, is whether or not a successful weight loss attempt can reduce a child's risk of developing urothelial or colorectal cancer in adulthood. Their current sample looks at children who were obese and those who were of normal weight, but does not reveal whether weight loss makes a significant difference.

New research should focus on researching the pathogenetic link between obesity and cancer, and whether losing weight in adulthood could lower the risk, Dr. Shamiss says. Although healthcare professionals are already stressing the importance of preventing childhood obesity, this finding certainly adds to the urgency.

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Women With HIV May Not Have Higher Cervical Cancer Risk: Study

HealthDay – 1 hr 41 mins ago MONDAY, July 23 (HealthDay News) -- Infection with HIV -- the virus that causes AIDS -- does not appear to increase a woman's risk of cervical cancer, a new study has found.

Researchers looked at more than 400 HIV-infected women and nearly 300 HIV-free women, all of whom had a normal Pap test and a negative result for tumor-inducing human papillomavirus DNA at the start of the study. Several types of human papillomavirus (HPV) are known to cause cervical cancer.

After five years of follow-up, the risk of cervical precancer was similarly low for both groups of women. None of the women developed cervical cancer, Dr. Howard Strickler and colleagues at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in New York City said in a news release.

The study was scheduled for presentation at a Sunday media briefing at the International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C., and appears in the July 25 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The findings suggest that the five-year risk of cervical cancer in HIV-infected women who have normal Pap tests and do not have tumor-causing HPV is similar to the risk in HIV-free women, the researchers said.

"The current investigation highlights the potential for a new era of molecular testing -- including HPV as well as other biomarkers -- to improve cervical cancer screening in HIV-infected women," the study authors concluded.

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about cervical cancer.

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Women With HIV May Not Have Higher Cervical Cancer Risk: Study

HealthDay – 1 hr 41 mins ago MONDAY, July 23 (HealthDay News) -- Infection with HIV -- the virus that causes AIDS -- does not appear to increase a woman's risk of cervical cancer, a new study has found.

Researchers looked at more than 400 HIV-infected women and nearly 300 HIV-free women, all of whom had a normal Pap test and a negative result for tumor-inducing human papillomavirus DNA at the start of the study. Several types of human papillomavirus (HPV) are known to cause cervical cancer.

After five years of follow-up, the risk of cervical precancer was similarly low for both groups of women. None of the women developed cervical cancer, Dr. Howard Strickler and colleagues at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in New York City said in a news release.

The study was scheduled for presentation at a Sunday media briefing at the International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C., and appears in the July 25 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The findings suggest that the five-year risk of cervical cancer in HIV-infected women who have normal Pap tests and do not have tumor-causing HPV is similar to the risk in HIV-free women, the researchers said.

"The current investigation highlights the potential for a new era of molecular testing -- including HPV as well as other biomarkers -- to improve cervical cancer screening in HIV-infected women," the study authors concluded.

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about cervical cancer.

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Young Cancer Patients Often Lack Support: Study

HealthDay – 1 hr 40 mins ago MONDAY, July 23 (HealthDay News) -- Many teens and young adults diagnosed with cancer aren't receiving the social, psychological and informational support they require, new research suggests.

Cancer patients aged 14 to 39 have different needs and issues than younger and older patients, the researchers explained.

"When patients in this age group are diagnosed with cancer, they face issues -- premature confrontation with mortality, changes in physical appearance, disruptions in school or work, financial challenges and loss of reproductive capacity -- that can all be particularly distressing," study lead author Bradley Zebrack, associate professor of social work at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, said in a university news release.

"Whether it's mental health care, information for topics like infertility or other aspects of care like camps or retreat programs, this study shows that many of these patients aren't getting the care they need to address these unique challenges," he added.

Zebrack and colleagues surveyed 215 newly diagnosed teen and young adult cancer patients. Those in their 20s were much less likely than teens or patients in their 30s to use mental-health services and were more likely to report an unmet need for information about cancer, infertility and diet.

Young adults who were treated in adult, rather than pediatric, cancer facilities were more likely than teens who were treated in pediatric facilities to report an unmet need for age-appropriate websites, mental-health services, camp and retreat programs, transportation assistance and complementary and alternative health services.

The study was published online recently in the journal Cancer.

The lack of research involving teen and young adult cancer patients makes it difficult for health care providers to create age-appropriate services for them, Zebrack said. This study might help change that.

"Our research shows increasing patient referral to community-based social service agencies and reputable Internet resources can enhance the care and improve the quality of life for this group of patients," Zebrack said. "The more we know about their needs, the better support health care professionals will be able to provide."

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about support for people with cancer.

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Antioxidants Might Help Cut Pancreatic Cancer Risk, Study Suggests

HealthDay – 1 hr 40 mins ago MONDAY, July 23 (HealthDay News) -- Eating a diet high in antioxidants such as selenium and vitamins C and E may reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer by up to two-thirds, a new study suggests.

The study is observational in nature and can only suggest an association, not a cause-and-effect relationship. The British researchers say, however, that if further research confirms a direct link, this type of diet could prevent 8 percent of pancreatic cancer cases.

One expert said there has been much research into the link between diet and cancer.

"Over the years there have been many attempts to find dietary causes for cancer," said Dr. Vincent Vinciguerra, chief of oncology and hematology at North Shore-LIJ's Monter Cancer Center in Lake Success, N.Y. "It is estimated that 35 percent of cancers are related to carcinogens in the diet. Antioxidants have been the subject of numerous trials because in theory they could be instrumental in the prevention of carcinogenesis."

In the new study, researchers led by Dr. Andrew Hart of the University of East Anglia tracked the long-term health of more than 23,500 people, aged 40 to 74, who entered the study between 1993 and 1997. Each participant kept a food diary that detailed the types, amount and method of preparation for every food they ate for seven days.

After 10 years, 49 participants (55 percent of whom were male) had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. By 2010, the number of participants diagnosed with pancreatic cancer increased to 86 (44 percent were men). On average, patients survived six months after diagnosis.

The researchers found that people with the highest dietary intake of selenium were half as likely to develop pancreatic cancer as those with the lowest intake. Those who consumed the highest dietary intake of three antioxidants -- selenium and vitamins C and E -- were 67 percent less likely to develop pancreatic cancer compared to those with the lowest intake.

The study was published online July 23 in the journal Gut.

Previous studies using antioxidant supplements have not produced such encouraging results, but this may be because antioxidants in food behave differently than those in supplements, Hart and colleagues said.

Vinciguerra agreed that the research so far on this issue has been "conflicting."

For example, he said, there was "a recent study

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Vitamin E may lower liver cancer risk

ScienceDaily (July 18, 2012) — High consumption of vitamin E either from diet or vitamin supplements may lower the risk of liver cancer, according to a study published July 17 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

See Also:Health & MedicineLiver DiseaseCancerBreast CancerProstate CancerColon CancerVitamin DReferenceB vitaminsHealth benefits of teaVitamin DRickets

Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin which is considered an antioxidant and numerous experimental studies have suggested that vitamin E may prevent DNA damage.

Liver cancer is the third most common cause of cancer mortality in the world, the fifth most common cancer found in men and the seventh most common in women. Approximately 85 percent of liver cancers occur in developing nations, with 54 percent in China alone.

To determine the relationship between vitamin E intake and liver cancer risk, Wei Zhang, M.D., MPH., Shanghai Cancer Institute, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, and colleagues analyzed data from a total of 132,837 individuals in China who were enrolled in the Shanghai Women’s Health Study (SWHS) from 1997-2000 or the Shanghai Men’s Health Study (SMHS) from 2002-2006, two population-based cohort studies jointly conducted by the Shanghai Cancer Institute and Vanderbilt University.

Using validated food-frequency questionnaires, the researchers conducted in-person interviews to gather data on study participants’ dietary habits. Participants were asked how often they ate some of the most commonly consumed foods in urban Shanghai and whether they took vitamin supplements.

The investigators then compared liver cancer risk among participants who had high intake of vitamin E with those who had low intake.

The analysis included 267 liver cancer patients (118 women and 149 men) who were diagnosed between two years after study enrollment and an average of 10.9 (SWHS) or 5.5 (SMHS) years of follow-up. Vitamin E intake from diet and vitamin E supplement use were both associated with a lower risk of liver cancer. This association was consistent among participants with and without self-reported liver disease or a family history of liver cancer.

“We found a clear, inverse dose-response relation between vitamin E intake and liver cancer risk,” the authors write, noting a small difference between men and women in the risk estimate, which is likely attributable to fewer liver cancer cases having occurred among male participants due to the shorter follow-up period.

“Overall, the take home message is that high intake of vitamin E either from diet or supplements was related to lower risk of liver cancer in middle-aged or older people from China,” said Xiao Ou Shu, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Medicine at the Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center.

Conversely, participants who had the highest vitamin C intake from supplements and who had a family history of liver cancer or self-reported liver disease were more likely to develop liver cancer. There was no link to liver cancer among participants who had the highest levels of vitamin C or other vitamins from food.

Other investigators involved with the study included Honglan Li, M.D., M.Ph., Jing Gao, M.D., Yong-Bing Xiang, M.D., M.Ph., and Yu-Tang Gao, M.D., Shanghai Cancer Institute; Gong Yang, M.D., MPH, Hui Cai, M.D., Ph.D., and Wei Zheng, M.D., Ph.D., Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center; and Bu-Tian Ji, M.D., Dr.PH, National Cancer Institute.

Funding for the study was supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute, a division of the National Institutes of Health (R37 CA070867 and R01 CA082729), the State Key Project Specialized for Infectious Diseases of China (2008ZX10002-015 and 2012ZX10002008-002), and a training grant from the Fogarty International Center (D43 TW008313).

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