Posts Tagged ‘liver cancer’

Cancer deaths reportedly declining

Wednesday, January 4th, 2012

Deaths caused by cancer are declining, reports the American Cancer Society.

A new report published in this weeks Cancer Journal for Clinicians shows that the death rate for men decreased by 1.8 percent per year from 2004 to 2008. The rate declined in women by 1.6 percent annually. The number of cases per year have also declined by 0.6 percent for men.

Despite the downward trends, pancreatic cancer and melanoma are steadily becoming more common. According to MSNBC, the number of deaths from cancer this year is expected to reach 577,000, while there are projected to be more than 1.6 million new cases in 2012.

Increases of the aforementioned cancers, as well as cancers of the liver, thyroid and kidney, have been linked to the rise of obesity. The higher numbers are also attributed to early detection practices, according to the source.

The report also found decreased death rates during the same period for lung cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer and prostate cancer. Lung and breast cancer had the most significant decline, with 40 percent in men and 34 percent in women, respectively.

Data for the American Cancer Society study was reportedly taken from the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Posted in Breast Cancer, Cancer, Colorectal Cancer, Conditions, Kidney Cancer, Liver Cancer, Lung Cancer, Melanoma, Skin Cancer | 3 Comments »

Experimental spray makes cancer cells more visible

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011

An interesting new development has been made in cancer research, as scientists in Japan have developed a spray that can make microscopic carcinomas visible by making them glow fluorescent green, reports Euronews.

According to the source, the illuminating spray can potentially highlight tumors that even magnetic-resonance imaging (MRI) machines may not be able to recognize, making them visible even to the naked eye. Carcinomas become colored when the liquid reacts with an enzyme (called GGT), making them stand out significantly among the cells around them.

At this point, the new spray has a long way to go in terms of research before becoming a usable method. It has reportedly been tested on ovarian cancer cells in vitro and mice, and researchers are currently investigating how the spray will work on human tumor specimens. There is hope that one day the spray will be able to identify colon cancer, liver cancer, stomach cancer and more.

Currently, there have been no reported side effects.

“If the reagent is sprayed during surgery and small cancers become visible, it could solve the problem of diseases being overlooked,” Yasuteru Urano, researcher at the University of Tokyo, told the news provider.

Scientists hope that this method of identifying cancer cells will be used in hospitals within the next few years, the source said.

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Posted in Cancer, Conditions, Liver Cancer | No Comments »

HIV patients at higher risk for various cancers

Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011

New research has found that patients with the HIV infection are at a higher risk for a number of cancers, reports WebMD Health News. While the AIDS virus can lead to many health issues, it is not the only factor in the cancers its sufferers are at risk for.

Researchers at Kaiser Permanente analyzed the health records of more than 236,000 people throughout a 12-year period, nearly nine percent of whom had HIV.

“The incidence rates of six of 10 cancers were markedly elevated in HIV patients,” said Dr. Michael Silverberg, leader of the study.

According to the statistics, those with HIV are at “199-fold higher risk of Kaposi’s sarcoma and a 15-fold high risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma,” both of which indicate that the HIV patient has AIDS. There is also an increased risk for anal cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma (previously Hodgkin’s disease), melanoma and liver cancer.

One factor that leads to the cancers is a low number of CD4 T-cells, which signifies weakened immunity.

“For most cancers studied – eight of 10 – HIV patients with the lowest CD4 had higher rates,” Silverberg told the news provider. He suggests embracing other healthy activities to help reduce one’s risk of developing cancer, combining “routine prevention activities, such as smoking cessation, with earlier HIV treatment to help maintain a paitent’s immune system.”

The Kaiser Permanente study was published in this week’s edition of Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention.

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Posted in Cancer, Conditions, HIV, Liver Cancer, Melanoma, Skin Cancer | No Comments »

Virus could be a lifesaver for cancer patients

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

A virus is the last thing a cancer patient may want, but a new study has shown that it could be a lifesaver.

Researchers have genetically engineered a virus that targets tumor cells without damaging any tissue, reports Reuters.

A study published in the science journal “Nature” this week had eight patients take a high dose of the intravenous drug; tumors in six of the participants stopped growing or decreased in size. The modified virus was replicated in cancer cells as well in 90 percent of the patients in the study, which gives researchers hope that the treatment could potentially reduce the risk of cancer cells metastasizing.

Side effects of the viral therapy have reportedly been minimal for the patients.

“With chemotherapy, you get drastic side effects,” Bell told Reuters. “Patients on this treatment only had 24-hour flu symptoms, and nothing after that.”

While these participants had various types of cancer, researchers want to focus on hepatocellular carcinoma, a form of liver cancer, for the next round of viral therapy trials. Dr. John Bell, chief scientific officer at biotech company Jennerex and senior scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, told the news provider that they wanted to move on to liver cancer because there was “strong activity” for this condition in the initial study.

There is plenty of ongoing research focused around viral cancer therapy, but the Jennerex virus (known as JX-594) is different from other treatments, as it does not need to be injected directly into a tumor, nor does it require chemotherapy, reports the news source.

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Posted in Cancer, Conditions, Liver Cancer | 1 Comment »