Stand Up To Cancer

Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month just ended, and here's some great news to cap it off: according to the largest study of colonoscopy outcomes so far, for every 1% increase in colonoscopy use, the risk of death from colon cancer drops 3%. That's according to analysis of healthcare databases from Canada that included 2.5 million patients. "These procedures cost a lot, and we're doing an awful lot of them in the US and in Canada," said the study's lead researcher. "Now we know they work."
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63428820100405

According to a study presented last week in Barcelona, women who survive breast cancer and go on to have children don't experience a higher risk of dying from the disease. Doctors have long worried that the hormonal changes that come with pregnancy could spur recurrence of the disease, but the study, which looked at 1,400 pregnant women with a history of breast cancer, indicates otherwise. "I hope this changes what doctors tell their patients," said its lead author. "There's no reason to tell women who survive breast cancer not to get pregnant."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jJoDYysGvi7UVD4Za4VZ-i0crbMAD9ELUMOO2

This article looks at ACS data on cancer rates in Hispanic/Latino Americans, which shows that they are less likely than non-Hispanic whites to develop and die from all cancers combined as well as the four most common cancers: breast, prostate, colorectal and lung. However, it's not all good news: Hispanic/Latino Americans experience higher rates of cancers related to infections, such as stomach, liver and cervical cancers, and are more likely to have their cancers detected at a more advanced stage.
http://www.klfy.com/Global/story.asp?S=12264981

New findings reported in the Journal of Urology indicate that prostate surgery isn't always best for a patient's quality of life. Men with earlier stage cancers tend to far better with non-surgical approaches, including "watchful waiting" and radiation, according to the study, which followed 785 men who received one of four types of treatment for the disease between 2000 and 2008. "I think data like these give men more information to use in their decision-making," said one of the researchers on the study.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6342YC20100405

Finally, some not-so-great news from the world of food: in an analysis of data from over 470,000 men and women in 10 European countries, researchers found only a weak association between high intake of fruits and veggies and reduced cancer risk. The report, which can be found in the online edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, says that the protective effect of fruits and vegetables is probably modest, and suggests that the reason the association has been made in the past is that people who eat a lot of fruits and veggies are more likely to drink less, to be nonsmokers and to get more exercise. However, the researchers do suggest that future research look at the cancer-reducing benefits of specific fruits and veggies (if you're curious about that topic, you can read a little more about it here).
http://www.usnews.com/health/family-health/cancer/articles/2010/04/06/fruits-veggies-have-modest-effect-on-cancer-risk.html

That's all for this week, but check back next Thursday for more!

--Cat