New cancer-linked genes

To date, the study has identified an additional 42 gene mutations that directly affect the development of breast cancer, bringing the total number of known gene mutations causing the cancer up to 76. – Filepic

 

Several new genetic mutations have been uncovered after a three-year international study looking at breast, ovarian and prostrate cancer patients.

 

IT’S probably just a coincidence, but actress Angelina Jolie’s revelation of undergoing a preventative double mastectomy to reduce her risk of developing breast cancer due to having a BRCA1 gene mutation, came just a few weeks after several papers were published in the journal Nature Genetics on the discovery of several new genetic contributors to breast, ovarian and prostate cancer.

The Collaborative Oncological Gene-Environment Study (COGS) is an international study involving around 100,000 patients worldwide with one of the three cancers mentioned above, as well as an equal number of healthy controls from the general population.

In Malaysia, the Cancer Research Initiatives Foundation (Carif) and Universiti Malaya (UM) participated in the study under the aegis of the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom – one of the 16 consortia working together for COGS.

Although the four-year study began in 2009, the work in Malaysia had actually started before that.

Carif chief executive officer and UM adjunct professor Dr Teo Soo Hwang shares that the collaboration between the two bodies for the Malaysian Breast Cancer Genetic Study (MyBRCA) began in 2003.

“We started the study to understand why breast cancer occurs, who is at risk, and what are the genes that cause risk in breast cancer,” she says.

She adds that so far, around 1,500 breast cancer patients have taken part in the ongoing study.

In addition, Carif later worked with UM’s Prof Dr Woo Yin Ling, who specialises in gynaecological oncology, to conduct a separate study on ovarian cancer.

 

The team of (from left) Prof Woo, Prof Nur Aishah and Prof Teo led the Malaysian contribution to the European Union-sponsored COGS study. – IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star

 

Prof Teo explains: “Ovarian cancer, although it is rare, is important because most people succumb to it.”

They did not, however, participate in the prostate cancer part of the COGS study.

Breast cancer

Both genetic and environmental factors are known to contribute to the occurrence of breast cancer.

Says Prof Teo: “Every female’s risk of getting breast cancer in Malaysia is 5%. By contrast, if you have the BRCA1 or 2 gene, the risk ranges from 50-87%.”

According to UM consultant breast surgeon Prof Dr Nur Aishah Mohd Taib, only about 15% of breast cancer cases are inherited.

However, as Prof Teo points out, you cannot change your genetic make-up, unlike environmental factors.

Therefore, one of the objectives of the COGS study is to develop a risk model, which includes genetic and environmental or lifestyle factors, that will allow educated prediction of the three cancers under study among the population at large.

To date, the study has identified an additional 42 gene mutations that directly affect the development of breast cancer, bringing the total number of known gene mutations causing the cancer up to 76.

However, the risk of developing breast cancer from each of these individual mutations differs widely, depending on which genes are involved.

The known mutations that cause breast cancer can be broadly divided into two categories: rare mutations, which include the two BRCA genes, and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).

While those with the rare mutations have a much higher risk of developing breast cancer, these genes are also – as their classification states – rarely found among the general population.

For example, according to Prof Teo, the BRCA genes are only found in 0.6% of the general population.

However, the story is different for those who have a family history of breast cancer – around one-fifth of those whose relatives have breast cancer are at risk of having these rare mutations.

SNPs in contrast, are much more commonly found among the general population.

“Individuals with one SNP only have a very low increase in risk; so, for example, from 5% to 5.05%.

“But each SNP adds multiplicatively, so the risk among individuals who inherit many SNPs together can be three times higher than the general population, or 15% relative risk compared to the general population,” says Prof Teo.

Most importantly, Prof Nur Aishah points out that despite the numerous genes that have been discovered to be implicated in breast cancer development, the only two genes that can be detected in a clinical setting are the BRCA1 and 2.

“Sometimes, it is the interpretation of the results that is very important. (Patients) get back a negative BRCA result and get told that their risk is normalised, but their family history is very indicative of it – for example, several relatives have breast cancer – so, it is likely they have one of the other rare genes.”

Therefore, Prof Teo advises that anyone who has relatives with breast cancer should be extra diligent about getting regular breast check-ups to enable them to catch the disease at the earliest possible stage.

Ideally, Prof Nur Aishah says that such women should start going for regular screening around 10 years before the youngest age at which their relatives were diagnosed with breast cancer. (For example, if someone has a 60-year-old aunt who was diagnosed at 55, a 40-year-old sister who was diagnosed at 39, and a 45-year-old cousin who was diagnosed at 35, then they should start going for regular screening by the age of 25.)

Ovarian cancer

Meanwhile, for ovarian cancer, Prof Teo shares that the COGS study only discovered eight new genes related to the disease, bringing the total number of genes associated to ovarian cancer up to 12.

The BRCA genes play a much bigger role in the development of this cancer, with up to 30% of cases involving these genes.

Although Prof Woo notes that the occurrence of ovarian cancer is rare compared to breast cancer, it is often diagnosed late, frequently resulting in the death of the patient.

“The five-year survival rate is less than 50%. Patients are usually diagnosed at stage 3 and 4,” she says. By stage 3 of ovarian cancer, the tumour has already spread to the abdominal lining and/or lymph nodes.

But if a woman is tested positive for the BRCA mutations, then she can ensure that she goes for regular screening to monitor for any development of ovarian cancer.

For women under the age of 40, this usually comprises an ultrasound scan and blood tests once every six months.

According to Prof Woo, the reason for this is that doctors will try to avoid removing the ovaries and Fallopian tubes of those under 40 in order to prevent them from experiencing premature menopause, and the attendant biological changes.

However, those above 40 with a high risk of ovarian cancer would be recommended to undergo this risk-reducing bilateral salphingo-oophorectomy, which is a minor operation, she says.

Both Prof Woo and Prof Nur Aishah run a monthly Risk Management Clinic at UM Medical Centre (UMMC) that offers counselling and advice for individuals and families with the risk of developing breast, ovarian or prostrate cancers, on how to manage their risk.

Carif supports the clinic by offering genetic counselling and testing.

via New cancer-linked genes – Health | The Star Online.

Study confirms cancers-family link

Cancer risk depends on genes, lifestyles and environment

 

Having cancer in the family can increase your chances of developing not only the same cancer but other types too, research suggests.

A study of 23,000 people in Italy and Switzerland found that for each of 13 cancers, close relatives had an increased risk of the same disease.

But there was also evidence that a family history of one cancer could significantly raise the risk of others.

Cancer charities say risk depends on genes, lifestyle and environment.

The research, published in the journal Annals of Oncology, followed 12,000 patients with cancer at different sites in the body.

They were compared with 11,000 people without cancer.

The researchers collected information on family history of cancer, particularly in a first-degree relative (those who share about 50% of their genes – namely a parent, sibling or child).

They found people with a first-degree relative with cancer of the larynx had triple the normal risk of developing oral and pharyngeal cancer.

Those closely related to someone with oral and pharyngeal cancer had a fourfold increased risk of oesophageal cancer, while breast cancer doubled the risk of ovarian cancer for female family members.

Men had a 3.4-fold increased risk of prostate cancer if a first-degree relative had bladder cancer.

The research also confirmed some known cancer risks. They include a raised risk of women developing breast cancer if they have a family history of bowel cancer.

Lifestyle factors

Study leader Dr Eva Negri, of the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Milan, Italy, told BBC News: “If you have a relative with one type of cancer your risk of the same type of cancer is increased.

“What this study has highlighted is that sometimes if you have a relative with one cancer your risk of another cancer can be increased.

“The relative risk of a different cancer generally tends to be lower than for the same cancer.”

In some cases, the links between different cancers may be due to shared environmental factors, such as family smoking and drinking habits, she said.

But there was also evidence of genetic factors affecting multiple cancer sites in the body.

Jessica Harris, Cancer Research UK’s senior health information manager, said cancer risk is determined by a combination of genes we inherit from our parents, our lifestyles, and our environment.

“Whether or not someone in your family has had cancer, living a healthy life can really help to stack the odds in our favour, and reduce the risk of cancer,” she said.

“The main things you can do are to be a non-smoker, cut down on alcohol, and stay in shape by being active and eating a balanced diet.”

Eluned Hughes, from the charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said some breast cancers do run in the family, however it was vital that women remembered most cases were not hereditary.

“In order to fully understand the causes of breast cancer, we need to study more women over a longer period of time,” she said.

 

“Whether or not someone in your family has had cancer, living a healthy life can really help to stack the odds in our favour, and reduce the risk of cancer”

Jessica HarrisCancer Research UK

 

Cancers studied

• Mouth and pharynx
• Nasopharynx
• Oesophagus
• Stomach
• Bowel
• Liver
• Pancreas
• Larynx
• Breast
• Womb
• Ovaries
• Prostate
• Kidney

via BBC News – Study confirms cancers-family link.

Nuclear cancer killer – Health | The Star Online

The medical arm of this French nuclear company is currently testing a radioactive lead isotope in targeted therapy against cancer cells.

Researchers are optimistic that radioactive lead can beat cancer.

ATOMIC medicine has “fantastic potential” for fighting deadly, difficult-to-treat cancers, the head of French nuclear giant Areva’s medical arm told AFP in an interview.

“We are interested in tumours against which the current therapeutic arsenal is very limited, like ovarian, gastric and pancreatic cancers, where the needs are huge and patients are waiting,” explained Areva Med chief Patrick Bourdet.

Based in a Maryland suburb of Washington DC, not far from the US National Institutes of Health, Areva Med is pinning its hopes on a rare radioactive isotope that may be capable of selectively annihilating cancer cells.

This new weapon against these aggressive cancers is a variety of lead: the isotope Pb 212. It is extremely rare, extracted from an equally rare metal called thorium.

Only the few major nuclear powers have stocks of the radioactive metal – France, being one of them, with a considerable cache, Bourdet told AFP.

France’s stock can be traced back half a decade to its nuclear subsidiary.

At that time, the Commissary of Atomic Energy (CEA), a government-funded research group, decided to hold on to thorium after it extracted uranium, which has become the principal material used in nuclear power plants.

In 2003, researchers had the idea of extracting the isotope Pb 212 from the thorium, with Areva’s scientists among them, looking in part for possible applications against cancer.

Convinced of the great medical potential of this isotope, Areva created its medical affiliate in 2009 in the United States, which, since then, hasn’t stopped growing.

In 2011, Areva Med, working with researchers from the University of Alabama, got the green light from the US Food and Drug Administration to start a phase one clinical trial with Pb 212, using radioimmunotherapy.

The first patient, of 18 slated in the trial, was treated in April 2012.

“The trials are advancing in a satisfactory way,” Bourdet said, adding that he couldn’t be more optimistic at this point.

Backing up that optimism, Areva Med has gone into overdrive, putting in place the necessary components for the development and production of this new cancer-fighting tool, including an agreement inked with Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche, the world leader in oncology, last year.

At the same time, Areva launched the construction of a Pb 212 production laboratory, the world’s first, in Bessines-sur-Gartempe, in the central French region of Limousin.

The lab, set to open at the end of 2013, will extract nanograms – billionths of a gram – of the isotope from tonnes of thorium.

In the regime currently under preliminary trials, each patient needs just four nanograms of Pb 212 in a single day of treatment, explained Bourdet.

The radioactive isotope is aimed at the cancer cells by chemically attaching it to an antibody crafted to recognize the tumour by its specific antigens, or chemical signals.

“It’s truly an extremely targeted anti-cancer therapy” that could fight many forms of cancer, even metastasized ones, emphasized Bourdet. In addition, thanks to its precision, “there are no side effects,” he said.

“Everything’s going well so far, we are confident and optimistic, but let’s wait (for) the results of the science,” he cautioned, while adding: “I think our drug will be ready in 2016.”

Martin Brechbiel, head of radioimmunotherapy research at the National Cancer Institute, is more “cautiously optimistic”.

“The potential is very great” with Pb 212, he told AFP.

“If this therapy can improve survival significantly, this would be extremely important,” he said, but it’s “far too early to tell”. – AFP Relaxnews

via Nuclear cancer killer – Health | The Star Online.

1 in 4 cancer patients unaware of illness: Study

 

SINGAPORE – About one in four cancer patients do not know they have cancer, and older patients are even less likely to be informed of their diagnoses. The burden appears to be borne by their family members instead, very few of whom would not be in the information loop.

Such findings suggest a strong family-centred approach in the care of cancer patients, noted a paper published in the Singapore Medical Journal last month.

This has implications for care, said Dover Park Hospice medical director Angel Lee, who was not involved in the study. She said advance care planning, which involves discussions about future medical decisions, is a “key pillar” in palliative care. It is important that patients understand their illness and treatment options.

 In the study of 100 patients admitted to Assisi Hospice Home Care in 2004, 23 were not told that they had cancer, compared to just 2 per cent of family members who lived with or cared for the patients.

The study by Dr Kao Yung Hsiang and Associate Professor Cynthia Goh also found that those aged 70 years old and above were much more likely to be unaware of their diagnoses, especially if they were in frail health.

Prof Goh, a palliative care physician at the National Cancer Centre Singapore, said the findings continue to hold true.

A 2010 Dover Park Hospice survey found 25 per cent of patients admitted to the hospice were unaware of their diagnosis. Even more – half – were unaware of the prognosis.

Dr Kao suggested that in the traditional Singaporean family, older patients with less education usually allow younger and better-educated family members to make medical decisions on their behalf, pre-disposing them to non-disclosure.

“In the Asian context, that is commonly perceived as an act of filial piety,” said Dr Kao, a former Singapore General Hospital registrar, now a fellow in a hospital in Melbourne.

Mr Roger Lim’s family, for instance, chose not to tell their mother that she was diagnosed with terminal cancer and had only six months to live. “If she was younger and could fight the illness, we would have told her. But we understand her, and know that she would be unable to accept the reality of her condition,” said Mr Lim, 48, the youngest of nine children.

But they are preparing her for her death. When she asked Mr Lim why she was feeling progressively weaker, he told her it was because she was 85, and added that death would be natural for someone her age.

The family is also making her final days comfortable, by letting her eat what she likes, visiting her daily, and asking if she has any last wishes.

But though families have good intentions and some patients truly do not want to know, they have a right to their own diagnoses, say doctors.

“Studies show most people would want to know what to expect in the future, be able to prepare for it and make their wishes known,” said Dr Goh.

To encourage the practice of disclosure, doctors can advocate it to patients, said Dr Kao.

The Straits Times
By Melissa Pang

http://yourhealth.asiaone.com/content/1-4-cancer-patients-unaware-illness-study

Half of UK population ‘will get cancer in lifetime’

A cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy treatment in an oncology ward

he number of people in the UK who will get cancer during their lifetime will increase to nearly half the population by 2020, a report has forecast.

Macmillan Cancer Support said the projected figure of 47% would put huge pressure on the NHS.

Yet those who do develop cancer will be less likely to die from the disease, the charity predicted.

The Department of Health wants the NHS to save an extra 5,000 lives a year among cancer patients by 2014-15.

In 1992, the proportion of people in the UK who got cancer during their life was 32%. This increased to 44% in 2010, an increase of more than a third.

Macmillan said this figure would continue rising over the next decade, levelling off at around 47% between 2020 and 2030.

The charity said this was likely to be an underestimate of the true risk facing people alive in 2020, as life expectancy increased and more people developed cancer.

“

This poses a herculean challenge for the NHS and for society.”

Ciaran DevaneMacmillan Cancer Support

To produce their figures, Macmillan used data on cancer incidence, cancer mortality and deaths from all causes from across the UK.

The charity also found that many more people were surviving cancer compared to 20 years ago.

In 1992, 45,000 people, or 21% of those who had cancer, did not die from the disease.

This increased to around 90,000 (35%) in 2010 and was predicted to rise to four in 10 people (38%) surviving cancer and dying from another cause by 2020.

Other causes of death are most commonly heart disease, respiratory disease or stroke.

Gruelling treatments

Macmillan puts the increased survival rates from cancer down to a greater focus on early diagnosis, advances in cancer treatments and better cancer care.

Cancer risk factors

• There are many factors that influence an individual’s risk of developing cancer
• Some factors cannot be controlled, such as age and family history
• But risk factors related to lifestyle can be controlled – such as giving up smoking, keeping physically active and maintaining a healthy weight
• Around one in four cancers diagnosed in the UK could be avoided if people made changes to their lifestyles

Macmillan Cancer Support

The growth in the number of people getting cancer is explained by the fact that people are living longer, because as the population ages the incidence of cancer rises.

Although the charity said the survival trend was “encouraging”, it said there was growing evidence that many cancer patients did not return to full health after gruelling treatments and the serious side effects of the disease.

Prof Jane Maher, chief medical officer at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “Many patients can be left with physical health and emotional problems long after treatment has ended.

“People struggle with fatigue, pain, immobility, or an array of other troublesome side-effects.

“We need to manage these consequences for the sake of the patient, but also for the sake of the taxpayer. We should plan to have more services to help people stay well at home, rather than waiting until they need hospital treatment.”

Ciaran Devane, chief executive at Macmillan Cancer Support, said the predicted cancer incidence figures posed “a herculean challenge for the NHS and for society”.

“The NHS will not be able to cope with the huge increase in demand for cancer services without a fundamental shift towards proper after-care, without more care delivered in the community, and without engaging cancer patients on their own health.”

Sean Duffy, NHS England’s national clinical director for cancer, said the NHS had been set the challenge of saving an additional 5,000 lives from the disease a year by 2014-15.

“We also recognise that local NHS teams need to consider providing a new range of care services for cancer survivors to tackle their needs and improve their quality of life.”

He added: “Through our strategic clinical networks for cancer, we aim to share best practice and develop clinical pathways that help deliver better outcomes for patients.”

Cancer specialist Professor Greg Rubin, from the Royal College of General Practitioners, said: “This is welcome evidence that people are increasingly likely to survive cancer but a powerful reminder that survivors have complex needs that health services, particularly in primary care, will need to respond to.”

BBC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22796220#?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Cancer and diet: Why is nutrition overlooked?

Thousands of scientific papers have been published on the link between diet and the treatment and prevention of cancer. But in practice food is still considered a marginal aspect of cancer care.

I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma (MM), a cancer of the bone marrow, in December 2011.

At every chemo session I was offered a white bread sandwich, a fizzy drink, and a chocolate bar or packet of biscuits.

Immune boosting recipes:

Cook a chicken noodle soup with leeks

Prepare turkey with blueberries and cinnamon

Feast on turmeric tomatoes with yoghurt

Nurses told me that there was no point in worrying about what I ate. “Worrying” is not what I or any other patient wants to do.

We want to know what will help us get through treatment in the best way possible, and what, if anything, might keep a recurrence at bay – and that includes how diet may help.

We do not want to feel like a helpless pawn in a big and overwhelming system.

But unless you are very lucky, you will not be told about any of the latest food-related research when you enter the parallel universe that is cancer treatment.

Previously I have made three editions of Radio 4’s The Food Programme about cancer and diet, and it is a subject close to my heart.

The last one on prostate cancer in 2009 was eye-opening.

Geoff Tansey, who I had known for many years as one of the UK’s serious thinkers and writers about food policy, got in touch to say he had prostate cancer, was facing surgery and would the Food Programme like him to keep a diary.

Can a Mediterranean diet help prevent cancer?

Conner Middelmann-Whitney is a nutritionist and cook who specialises in the impact of diet on cancer prevention:

“There are a lot of things we can do that influence our cancer risk.

The world cancer research fund back in 2007… concluded that 60% of all cancers of the oesophagus, 45% of all colo-rectal cancers and 38% of breast cancers could be prevented if people ate a healthy diet, had a healthy body weight and engaged in regular physical activity.

The Mediterranean diet is a very natural, organic way of eating and you don’t have to live near the Mediterranean to eat that way.

It involves a lot of plant foods, a lot of healthy fats, nothing is excluded, which I think is a very important aspect of the Mediterranean diet.

A lot of people think that eating a healthy diet and a cancer protective diet means cutting all sorts of favourite foods out of your diet and that actually isn’t so.

The only foods that are omitted are heavily processed foods, refined flours and sugars and fats.

Seasonal vegetables and fruits, olive oil, lots of pulses and whole grains, herbs and spices, these very nourishing foods really make up the core of the Mediterranean diet.”

Try BBC Food’s Italian recipes

Research on the importance of diet in the prevention, complementary treatment and after-care of the commonest forms of prostate cancer is well-documented.

Professor Margaret Rayman, who runs the UK’s only post-graduate course for medics on nutritional medicine at the University of Surrey has written a book on it: Healthy Eating for Prostate Care.

Not that that made any difference to the doctors who treated Geoff Tansey.

They did not know about the research, and were uninterested in the fact that in the weeks after diagnosis he changed his diet dramatically (he went vegetarian and gave up dairy foods) which brought down his PSA (Prostate-Specific Antigen) levels equally dramatically.

PSA is a protein in the blood that is produced by the prostate gland. The higher a man’s PSA level, the more likely it is that he has prostate cancer.

Although there are no proven ways to prevent cancer, the NHS says eating a healthy balanced diet can help reduce your risk of developing certain cancers.

“We need to focus on the use of novel therapies that we have available,” says Dr Brian Durie, a specialist in Myeloma cancers in the US.

“In addition to that we can have an enhancement of the quality of life.

“We need to have good food, an avoidance of bad food and so one can treat the cancer and improve the quality of life.

“But it’s important not to be relying on the food.

“In the UK we don’t have enough of those randomised studies to say that ‘if you eat enough cabbage and broccoli and fruit juices and have some turmeric and maybe some wine and chocolate, yes this can be helpful, but it’s not going to be enough to cure cancer’.”

Professor Rayman says today more studies have been done, and there is more evidence, but medical attitudes remain much the same.

Our research confirmed that in most cancer centres in the UK, diet is still seen as almost meaningless in cancer treatment and aftercare.

Yet there is good science available on the subject, though not a lot of it is what medics call “gold standard” science.

There are almost no double-blinded, large scale, studies done on people because they are expensive, very hard to do and there is no financial incentive.

Who would make serious profit out of the discovery that mushrooms kill cancer cells?

Most of the research has been done on cancer cells in the laboratory or on animals. What the best of it shows is interesting implications in a range of foods.

Resveratrol, a chemical compound found in red and purple grapes has been studied for its anti-cancer properties

One of the best-researched foods (in the US and Ireland) is the spice turmeric.

Curcumin is a chemical compound found in the root of turmeric, which hasa general anti-inflammatory effect and quite specific effects on several forms of cancer, including mine.

Research has also been conducted on berries containing ellagic acid, which seems to curb cancer cells’ ability to grow their own blood supply,mushrooms (the polysaccharides), green tea, as well as the cabbage and onion families.

Find out more:

Listen to Radio 4’s Food Programme on Food, Cancer and Well-being on Sunday 19 May at 12:32 BST or catch up on iPlayer

From my experience as a cancer patient I think many people fear that they are being ungrateful for the medical care they have had by bringing up issues such as diet.

I am overwhelming grateful to the team who treated me and still check on me, at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London – they personify the best of the NHS in love, caring and medical brilliance, and they always make me laugh.

But why can’t we build on that– by bringing good nutrition and good food into that world-class care and treatment?

As my consultant Professor Jamie Cavenagh said: “I think we should take more of a ‘Why not?’ attitude.

“Why not advise patients to eat better, add turmeric to their diet, drink more green tea, take exercise?”

It won’t do you any harm, and it might well do you a lot of good.

By Sheila DillonPresenter, Radio 4’s Food Programme

BBC – http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/0/22567354

Actress’ death at 27 raises cancer concerns

By Wang Qingyun

CHINA – The death of a 27-year-old actress from uterine cancer has aroused public awareness of the disease, as research shows the rate of some kinds of that cancer is on the rise.

Song Wenfei died on Sunday morning at home in Guangzhou. Zhang Lingzhi, Song’s close friend and co-star in the TV series Dancer, first reported the death on her micro blog.

Zhang told a programme on Shanghai TV on Monday that Song was first diagnosed with uterine cancer in 2011 but kept working on her TV series until May.

 Zhang said in the interview that doctors suggested Song immediately have surgery, but she refused and returned to work after receiving treatment.

Zheng Hong, a gynecologist at Beijing Cancer Hospital, said cervical cancer and cancer of the uterus are the two most common types of uterine cancer.

“Uterine cancer (cancer of the uterus) mostly occurs in women aged 50 to 60, and cervical cancer mostly in those aged 40 to 50,” she said. “A woman should check her uterus annually. Those who have had sex should do a gynecological test. Those who haven’t should get an ultrasound scan.”

Chen Wanqing, deputy director of the National Central Cancer Registry, said the incidence of uterine cancer, especially cervical cancer, is on the rise in China.

According to Chen, a main cause of cervical cancer is the infection of the human papillomavirus. Research in the 1970s and the 1990s showed that the rate of cervical cancer in China was lowered during that time because improved hygiene decreased the chance of infection.

“Yet the past decade saw an increase in the disease, especially in urban areas, probably because people are exposed to sex earlier and tend to have more sexual partners,” he said. “Sex became a main route for infecting HPV.”

The latest official report on the health of Beijing residents backed up his remarks.

Issued by the city’s government, the report shows the rate of cervical cancer has risen over the past decade, increasing from 3.92 per 100,000 women in 2001 to 8.96 per 100,000 in 2010, with an annual increase of 10.1 per cent.

On the other hand, the occurrence of uterine cancer has as much to do with lifestyle as it does with sex, including obesity and a lack of exercise, experts said.

One’s mental state also plays a role in causing tumours, because long-term unrelieved mental stress weakens the immune system and increases the odds of getting cancer, Chen said.

In March 2012, Song said on her micro blog that she went to a hospital in Beijing because she was “increasingly worried” about her body due to “high pressure from work and life”.

Cancerous uterine diseases have taken a toll on other public figures as well.

Anita Mui Yim-fong, a famous singer and actress in Hong Kong, died from cervical cancer in 2003 at age 40, raising the public’s awareness of the importance of early treatment of the disease.

AsiaOne – http://www.yourhealth.com.sg/content/actress-death-27-raises-cancer-concerns

Thriving cancer’s ‘chaos’ explained

The way cancers make a chaotic mess of their genetic code in order to thrive has been explained by UK researchers.

Cancer cells can differ hugely within a tumour – it helps them develop ways to resist drugs and spread round the body.

A study in the journal Nature showed cells that used up their raw materials became “stressed” and made mistakes copying their genetic code.

Scientists said supplying the cancer with more fuel to grow may actually make it less dangerous.

Most normal cells in the human body contain 46 chromosomes, or bundles of genetic code. However, some cancerous cells can have more than 100 chromosomes.

And the pattern is inconsistent – pick a bunch of neighbouring cells and they could each have different chromosome counts.

This diversity helps tumours adapt to become untreatable and colonise new parts of the body. Devising ways of preventing a cancer from becoming diverse is a growing field of research.

Chaos from order

Scientists at the Cancer Research UK London Research Institute and the University College London Cancer Institute have been trying to crack how cancers become so diverse in the first place.

It had been thought that when a cancer cell split to create two new cells, the chromosomes were not split evenly between the two.

However, lead researcher Prof Charles Swanton’s tests on bowel cancer showed “very little evidence” that was the case.

Instead the study showed the problem came from making copies of the cancer’s genetic code.

Cancers are driven to make copies of themselves, however, if cancerous cells run out of the building blocks of their DNA they develop “DNA replication stress”.

The study showed the stress led to errors and tumour diversity.

Prof Swanton told the BBC: “It is like constructing a building without enough bricks or cement for the foundations.

“However, if you can provide the building blocks of DNA you can reduce the replication stress to limit the diversity in tumours, which could be therapeutic.”

He admitted that it “just seems wrong” that providing the fuel for a cancer to grow could be therapeutic.

However, he said this proved that replication stress was the problem and that new tools could be developed to tackle it.

Future studies will investigate whether the same stress causes diversity in other types of tumour.

The research team identified three genes often lost in diverse bowel cancer cells, which were critical for the cancer suffering from DNA replication stress. All were located on one region of chromosome 18.

Prof Nic Jones, Cancer Research UK’s chief scientist, said: “This region of chromosome 18 is lost in many cancers, suggesting this process is not just seen in bowel cancers.

“Scientists can now start looking for ways to prevent this happening in the first place or turning this instability against cancers.”

BBC – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21603235

Genetic sequencing in cancer paves way for personalised treatments

Recent advances in genetic sequencing, or the analysis of a segment of DNA, are paving the way for new, personalised treatments in cancer.

 

SINGAPORE: Recent advances in genetic sequencing, or the analysis of a segment of DNA, are paving the way for new, personalised treatments in cancer.

The Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) also said genetic sequencing has become cheaper.

A study on a drug used to treat a form of leukaemia called Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia, found a higher level of resistance among the Asian population.

Through genetic sequencing of those who were resistant to the drug, researchers found a single genetic variant in 12 per cent of the Asian population. The variant does not exist in Caucasians or Africans.

Scientists were then able to work with drug companies to identify a small molecule to reverse this resistance.

The drug is currently in clinical trials.

HUGO’s president Professor Edison Liu, said: “The individuals with this variant are also relatively resistant to other drugs for other cancers as well. So they have now used this as a marker to identify people who might be resistant to other drugs. This is an example of the entry into personalized medicine.

“Every tumour is going to be slightly different from the next. Some of them may be dramatically different from other tumours of the same type. To treat them all as if they are one kind of cancer is probably a mistake.”

Another study also found that 40 per cent of lung cancer cases in Singapore can be treated by a group of drugs, as compared to five per cent of lung cancer cases among Caucasians.

This is because the genetics of Singaporeans make them pre-disposed to the treatment.

By tailoring therapies for the appropriate genetic make-up of the cancer, there may also be fewer side effects.

Professor Liu said due to the advance of technology, the cost of genetic sequencing for patients has decreased dramatically, and he hopes in the next three years, genetic sequencing will be less than S$1,000.

Professor Liu made this comments ahead of the Human Genome Meeting which will be held from April 13-18 this year.

Besides cancer genetics, the conference will also cover environmental genomics, stem cell genomics, veterinary genetics and crop disease and resistance.

– CNA/fa

Scientists identify new biomarker for cancer in bone marrow

SINGAPORE: Singapore scientists have identified a molecule that typically prevents cell death.

Known as FAIM, the scientists said the molecule can be a potential biomarker to identify an incurable form of cancer in the bone marrow.

Patients with this form of cancer usually do not get cured with current standard treatments such as chemotherapy and survive on average for about four years.

The scientists said FAIM could be a therapeutic target in these patients, as drugs developed to target the molecule could destroy multiple myeloma cells and hence eradicate the cancer.

Multiple myeloma is an incurable cancer of blood cells which arises due to an uncontrollable accumulation of antibody-producing plasma cells in the bone marrow.

In Singapore, about 80 new cases of the cancer are diagnosed each year.

The collaborative research was conducted by scientists at A*STAR’s Bioprocessing Technology Institute , along with clinician-scientists at National University Cancer Institute, Singapore and the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore at the National University of Singapore.

The research findings were published in the journal Leukemia on 5 December 2012.

– CNA/de