Oncology

According to the US Preventive Services Task Force, which advises the government on health prevention measures, PSA test used for the screening of prostate cancer is no longer recommended. The panel has downgraded the screening test to level “D”, i.e. the service does not offer any benefits and on the contrary, it may prove harmful. The panel has downgraded the test after reviewing increasing scientific evidence against the test. The committee found that compared to the number of prostate...

According to a new study, which was presented at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress, a higher than normal blood pressure has been found to be associated with a 10-20% higher risk of developing cancer in men, and a higher risk of dying from the disease in both men and women. The risk appears to be more for cancers of the kidney and colorectum, though it is less compared to the risk of cancer with diabetes and other vascular diseases. The study was carried out by Dr Van...

Almost 2,500 to 5,000 pregnant women are diagnosed with cancer every year in Europe. However, most of these women either abort their pregnancies or defer their treatment till after childbirth in order to save their children from the ill effects of chemotherapy. The women who decide against abortion are advised by their gynecologists to deliver the baby as soon as it becomes viable. However, according to a new research presented today at the European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress (EMCC) in...

It is necessary to take biopsies at regular intervals to ensure appropriate treatment of breast cancer. This is because the breast cancer tumors have been found to change their hormonal status throughout the course of disease. This especially holds true in case of a relapse. Normally the treatment is initiated on the basis of one biopsy of the primary tumor. However, it is necessary to verify the nature of the tumor through another biopsy in case of a relapse. These are the findings of a new...

Researchers have found Lunasin, a soy peptide to be effective in preventing metastasis of colon cancer to liver and other body parts. It was also found to potentiate the actions of Oxyplatin, a chemotherapeutic medicine, in modifying expression of proteins involved in apoptosis and metastasis. The study can be accessed online in the recent issue of “Cancer Letters.” In the study, led by Elvira de Mejia, a researcher at the University of Illinois, four groups of mice were studied: the first...