Stand Up To Cancer

With summer approaching, news stories about skin cancer are everywhere. I particularly liked this Q and A between Melinda Beck of the Wall Street Journal and dermatologists and other skin experts, in which Beck, a self-described "health columnist with a tan," asks if there's any way to sunbathe safely. The short answer, of course, is no: although sun exposure releases endorphins and gives us vitamin D, experts still say it's best to stay in the shade, especially between the particularly dangerous hours of 10 and 4.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703465204575208011470022100.html

New research from the Finnish Cancer Registry indicates that a new HPV screening test is better at detecting serious precancerous legions than conventional cervical screening with a Pap smear. In a study of 58,282 women who had routine cervical screening between 2003 and 2005, those randomly assigned to receive an HPV test had serious lesions detected sooner. The researchers cautioned that there weren't very many cervical cancer cases found in the group studied, but added that "considering the high probability of progression of CIN III lesions in women aged 35 years or more, our results are important for prevention of cervical cancer."
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/638534.html

This post from the LAT's Booster Shots blog looks at the "hidden women's cancer," otherwise known as lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death among women since 1987. On Monday, Brigham & Women's Hospital and the Lung Cancer Alliance released a roundup of research on how many and which women get lung cancer, who survives, and what treatments are in the works. One of the report's most striking findings was that among women lung cancer patients, 1 in 5 never smoked cigarettes, compared with 1 in 12 among men.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2010/04/lung-cancer-and-women-heartache-and-hope.html

Results of a new British study indicate that screening those 55 to 64 for colorectal cancer using a small camera can cut death rates from the disease by 43%. While many countries have screening programs that use the fecal occult blood test, which can detect early cases of the disease and reduce death rates by around 15%, the study's lead authors say screening using sigmoidoscopy (the camera) saves more lives and is more cost-effective. "Economic analyses suggest . . . a once-only flexible sigmoidoscopy screen at age 55 or 60 years would be cost saving, largely because of the avoided costs of treatment," they said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63R4KM20100428

Finally, scientists have found that extract from a tiny flower - the bloom of the plant gypsophila paniculata, more commonly known as baby's breath - has the potential to boost the efficiency of leukemia drugs by a factor of a million, and could also be helpful in treating other types of cancer. Molecules from the flower appear to break down the membrane of deadly cancer cells, making it easier for antibody-based drugs to attack the cancer itself.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,591766,00.html

That's all for this week, but I'll be back next Thursday with more!

--Cat