Cancer research: Brisk walking can reduce recurrence of breast cancer

Breast cancer threatens a large number of people the women the world over, and even though the condition is treatable, it is still a major issue. The other worry is that even when it is treated, there is a threat of the breast cancer recurring; some woman who face a high risk of breast cancer have been known to have a healthy breast removed after they have been treated to reduce the risk. Now, research has shown that exercise is a factor in the reduction of the risk of recurrence of breast cancer (link to article):

Thirty minutes of brisk walking every day can significantly reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence, according to a new study. “Brisk walking - about 3.0 mph on a treadmill - for three to five hours per week, or about 30 minutes a day, can net big benefits for breast cancer survivors,” said Dr. Carolyn Kaelin, a Harvard surgeon, breast cancer survivor and author of The Breast Cancer Survivor’s Fitness Plan.
Recurrence rates and deaths from breast cancer decreased by 40 percent among those who exercise at least 3-5 hours per week, compared with those who were sedentary,” said Kaelin. “It does not need to be running a marathon, or biking a century, but rather simply walking briskly most days on a treadmill, at a shopping mall or around a track, that further reduces breast cancer recurrence for those who have been treated for the condition.

And of course, any kind of exercise such as brisk walking reduces the other health problems associated with a sedentary lifestyle such as cardiovascular problems, obesity, helps bring diabetes under control, and so on.

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HPV vaccine may protect against breast cancer

The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is believed to be the most significant cause of cervical cancer, and to reduce the risk of cervical cancer, there is a Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine that is used for the people at high risk of developing cervical cancer. However, researches have known for some time from analysis of cancerous breast cells that strains of HPV have been found; it's just that there has been no medical confirmation that indeed, there is a causal link between the HPV and breast cancer. However, in a recent study, the link was much clearer based on genetic analysis of cancerous cells; and if this link can be made more clear (past studies have run the risk of contamination of the study material), then there is a brighter chance of the use of the HPV vaccine to protect women who have an enhanced risk (link to article):

Researchers at the University of New South Wales used genetic probes to test cancerous breast cells, and found several strains of HPVs, which are known to have a high risk of initiating cancer of the cervix. HPV has a causal role in 90-95 per cent of cervical cancers. "The finding that high risk HPV is present in a significant number of breast cancers indicates they may have a causal role in many breast cancers. Confirming a cancer-causing role for HPV in some breast cancers establishes the possibility of preventing some breast cancers by vaccination against HPV," said Dr Noel Whitaker, a co-author of the new report.

If indeed further research establishes a much clearer causal link, then the lives of a percentage of people who die from breast cancer can be saved.

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Cancer Research: Vitamin D protects against cancer

If you meet any doctor or nutrionist, they will always advise to have a balanced diet that ensures that the body gets enough of what it wants, such as proteins, carbohydrates, calcium, vitamins, etc. Vitamin D is one nutrient that is typically made with exposure of the skin to sunlight, something that has got reduced nowadays due to increasing tendency to spend time either indoors, or under air-conditioned protection, away from the sun. Now, researches have found out that providing proper dosage of Vitamin D could reduce the incidence of bowel and breast cancer (link to article):

Taking supplements of vitamin D could reduce the incidence of breast cancer by a quarter and bowel cancer by a third, What’s more, the vitamin, sometimes called "bottled sunshine", should be offered to the population as part of a public health drive, the boffins suggested.
Vitamin D, made by the action of sunlight on the skin, has attracted increasing attention in recent years as its role in preventing cancer and other conditions including heart disease, diabetes and multiple sclerosis.

Drug experiment: Stopping breast cancers

Finding drugs that can beat cancer is a massive, ongoing research. It takes a lot of reseach and medical studies to find suitable molecules that can affect a particular cancer; as a result, when a particular molecule seems to have some promise, it raises a lot of hope and optimism, as in this case for this molecule that seems to have a positive affect on breast cancer (link to article):

A new drug called olaparib may help thousands of women suffering from genetic breast cancer, if results of the first tests on patients are to be believed. The researchers behind the study tested the drug on 54 women with advanced genetic breast cancer, and found that the drug olaparib could stop the growth of tumours and shrink them in more than 40 per cent of cases.
A large number of cases of breast cancer are caused by defects on the BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 genes, which put women at much higher risk of developing aggressive cancers of the breast or ovaries. And, usually, women who test positive for the mutations have their breasts removed as a precaution, because they have an 80 per cent risk of developing breast cancer in their lifetime.

Not every molecule makes it to after trials and studies, but all of them promise hope. The drug could remove the tumor from some of those afflicted; the drug works by acting on a protein that promotes cancer; another positive side effect is by acting only on the cancer cells as opposed to other cancer treatments that have side effects.

Cancer research: Time when menarche and menopause happens linked to cancer

Doing statistical analysis of patients to determine trends does not seem very exciting; however, large scale analysis is extremely useful to determine trends - these trends can in turn be used to determine when testing should happen, or to determine whether it can be determined that someone is at a higher risk of getting cancer. In the below article, scientists did analysis on tens of thousands of women to determine genetic variations that can determine the age of onset of menarche and menopause, which in turn are used to determine enhanced risk level of cancer (link to article):

Scientists have found new gene variants linked with the age at which females experience their first menstrual period and the onset of menopause, which can even help in preventing breast and endometrial cancer and osteoporosis, and cardiovascular disease. the researchers have identified 10 genetic variants in two chromosomal regions associated with age at menarche (the first menstrual period), and 13 genetic variants in four chromosomal regions associated with age at natural menopause.
The researchers explained that an early onset of menarche and later menopause are well-established risk factors for the development of breast cancer and endometrial cancer. On the other hand, early menopause increases risk of osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease. Previous studies have suggested both menarche and menopause may be partially under genetic control.

Patenting of genes: Cancer patients raise protest

Imagine getting a test based on your genes that can help you determine whether you are at increased risk for ovarian cancer. Now you get a postive test, and given that a cancer is a pretty serious illness, you would like to get a second option, a second test from a different company so that you can be sure (and getting a second opinion is a pretty normal step when dealing with medical issues). However, there is a problem in this area - the US Government allowed a single company to get a patent on 2 genes that are associated with an enhanced risk for breast and ovarian cancer, as well as testing related to this risk. Now this patent is being challenged (link to article):

When Genae Girard received a diagnosis of breast cancer in 2006, she knew she would be facing medical challenges and high expenses. But she did not expect to run into patent problems. On Tuesday, Girard, 39, who lives in the Austin, Texas, filed a lawsuit against Myriad and the Patent Office, challenging the decision to grant a patent on a gene to Myriad and companies like it. She was joined by four other cancer patients, by professional organizations of pathologists and by several genetic experts.
“With a sole provider, there’s mediocrity,” said Wendy Chung, the director of clinical genetics at Columbia University and a plaintiff in the case. Chung and others involved with the suit do not accuse Myriad of being a poor steward of the information concerning the two genes at issue in the suit, known as BRCA1 and BRCA2, but they argue that BRCA testing would improve if market forces were allowed to work.

Getting a patent on a gene has been debated for long; let us see how this patent challenge proceeds.

Cancer research: A 'pied piper' to turn off cancer

In cancer research, one of the key points is trying to determine if there are some sort of biological switches that turn on or off cancers. If for example, scientists are able to determine a point in the body / a protein / a gene that plays a key role in controlling the spread or rate of increase of cancer, the next effort would be find a chemical or biological agent that can control the spread of cancer. This article (link to article) is about scientists discovering a molecule in the blood that can slow down the growth of cancer in different types of cancers such as prostate, breast, colon and blood cancer:

Scientists have discovered a "pied piper" molecule in blood cells, called LIAR, which they claim can allow growth signals into red blood cells - and if turned off, might slow certain cancers. The scientists from Western Australian Institute for Medical Research, have also identified the function of a known cellular enzyme, Lyn, as a switch that "turns on" blood cell development.
"LIAR is like a key, which opens a pathway into the nucleus of a blood cell for a number of other molecules, allowing them to flow in - and these molecules are what signal the cell to develop and divide. "From here, if we could control Liar, the hope is that we could use it to switch off the growth of abnormal, or cancerous, cells. Because Liar is present in every blood cell, this knowledge could help treat a huge range of conditions and diseases, but where it has most potential is in cancers of the prostate, breast, colon and blood where activity of the enzyme Lyn is heightened," team leader Evan Ingley said.

Such research puts hope in the minds of people suffering from some of these cancers, since even if the research takes some time to come to actual results, there is always the hope, and hope can be a big factor as well.

Study: Walnuts reduce the risk of cancer

Walnuts are supposed to be among the safer nuts to eat. They are suppose to contain Omega-3 fatty acids, supposed to be good for cholestoral, and for the heart. This is of course in comparison to the other type of nuts that are generally more sought after, such as salted peanuts, salted almonds, pistachios, and a few others. Well, here is a study that links the consumption of walnuts to a reduced risk of contracting breast cancer. Keep in mind that the study was done on laboratory animals, and not on humans, in general, walnuts are better as a quick snack rather than eating fatty or fried stuff (and if the cancer stuff works out to be true, what is the harm?). Link to article:

"We know that a healthy diet overall prevents all manner of chronic diseases,” the expert added. To reach the conclusion, researchers studied mice that were fed a diet that they estimated was the human equivalent of two ounces of walnuts per day. A separate group of mice were fed a control diet. Standard testing showed that walnut consumption significantly decreased breast tumor incidence, the number of glands with a tumor and tumor size.
Molecular analysis showed that increased consumption of omega-3 fatty acids
contributed to the decline in tumor incidence, but other parts of the walnut contributed as well.

To have absolutely proof, one would need to wait for more research in this area; however for women who would like to take the chance on reducing their risk levels for breast cancer, there is nothing wrong in making a small amount of walnuts as a part of a regular diet.