Stand Up To Cancer

A new generation of DNA tests for colon cancer may improve detection both of cancers and of precancerous polyps. Researchers turned to measuring mutations in DNA after Dr. Bert Vogelstein of Johns Hopkins University discovered the series of mutations by which a colon polyp advances to full cancer. Dr. David A. Ahlquist of the Mayo Clinic said that if the test worked as well as hoped on stool samples, "this will be the first noninvasive test that will reliably detect malignant lesions." Cervical cancer has been virtually eliminated by the Pap test, he said, and "we feel that colon cancer could be eliminated to the same extent."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/10/health/10cancer.html

Waist size could play as important a role as body weight in determining how long a person lives, according to new research. After examining a database of more than 100,000 men and women ages 50 and older participating in a cancer prevention study, researchers found that those with the largest waistlines had about twice the risk of dying over a nine-year period as those with the smallest waistlines. Causes of death were mainly from cancer, heart disease and respiratory conditions. Eric Jacobs, epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society says that every 4-inch increase in waist size was associated with 25 percent greater risk of death.
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/diet-fitness/heart/articles/2010/08/10/for-good-health-watch-your-waist-size-not-just-your-weight.html

A new test for oral cancer, under development by researchers at the University of Sheffield in England, involves a swab being wiped around the mouth to pick up cells and placed on a nano-bio-chip card. After the card is put in an analysis machine, the process takes about eight minutes to access the data and produce a result. "We have just started to recruit patients to a study that is designed to ensure that the new technology is at least as good as the old method at distinguishing these different types of lesion," said Professor Martin Thornhill who is leading the research team. "Ultimately, dentists and doctors may be able to use this technology to check suspicious lesions in the mouth and reassure the vast majority of patients that they haven't got cancer without even having to send them to the hospital."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/sheffield/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8902000/8902422.stm

According to a study published in the journal "Cancer Research," scientists at UCLA have found that pancreatic cancer cells grow faster when "fed" with fructose. Dr. Anthony Heaney, the study's author and associate professor of medicine and neurosurgery at the University's cancer center, said it was likely fructose would also speed the growth of other cancers. "I think this paper has a lot of public health implications," Heaney said. "Hopefully, at the federal level there will be some effort to step back on the amount of HFCS [High Fructose Corn Syrup] in our diets."
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20012601-10391704.html