Expert Commentary: Delia Chiaramonte, M.D. 01/27/2010
Once a doctor says "you have cancer", your whole world turns upside down. Most people feel confused, afraid and out of control. Here are the 5 most important things to do after your diagnosis.
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Expert Commentary: Lisa Merrit, M.D. 01/07/2010
4 years ago, my mother was among the 1.3 million Americans who received a cancer diagnosis. My outgoing, immersed-in-the-arts community mom was as shocked and in disbelief as most patients are who receive the initial diagnosis.
Imagine standing in my shoes as a physician delivering the news to the woman who brought me into the world. To quell mom's fear, I was immediately calming and reassuring. Patients easily pick up on messages that express otherwise.
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Alcohol's Acetaldehyde May Be a Significant Cancer Risk
An organic chemical in alcoholic beverages that's the culprit behind hangovers also makes drinking the biggest risk factor for cancers that are linked to the chemical, a recent study suggested. The study, published in the journal Addiction, said the hangover chemical acetaldehyde represents a considerable risk to heavy drinkers in particular, especially combined with the many sources of the chemical in the environment.
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Expert Commentary: Dr. Tauseef Ahmed, M.D., April 30, 2009
I think a better term for the therapies recently reported in Cancer Research would be targeted small molecules. Nanoparticles are formulations of various chemotherapeutic drugs that improve the delivery of chemotherapy. The most commonly used nanoparticle medication is nanoparticle bound paclitaxel, sold as Abraxane. This allows this particular chemotherapy to be dissolved in water. This could not be achieved without having tiny particles attached to the molecule.
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Viruses Zap Tumors, Not Healthy Tissue
Scientists have developed a new virus through genetic engineering that invades and bursts cancer cells while leaving healthy cells entirely alone. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic engineered the genome of the oncolytic (or cancer dissolving) virus to recognize the so-called microRNAs of normal tissue and therefore pass by those cells, infecting only cancerous tissue. MicroRNAs are short snippets of 20 or so nucleotides that don't code for proteins but rather seem to have the effect of regulating gene expression.
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What is the Polypill?
Dr. Valentin Fuster discusses the Polypill. The Polypill is being developed in response to an important reality surrounding cardiovascular disease. There are three important drugs that can help prevent heart disease (statins, ACE inhibitors, and aspirin). These drugs are not taken for two major reasons. First, the drugs are simply too expensive for much of the world, including countries as developed as Russia. And secondly, in developed nations where the drugs are affordable patients too often fail to comply - after three years 70% of patients do not take the medications as prescribed.
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All Types of Alcohol Linked to Breast Cancer Risk
A recent study by Kaiser Permanente Researchers has found that the effects of alcohol on breast cancer are the same, regardless of whether a woman drinks wine, beer, or liquor. The ethyl alcohol found in those drinks and the quantity consumed are the factors that weigh heavily on breast cancer risk. Researchers believe the increased risk from three or more drinks a day is similar to the increased breast cancer risk from smoking a pack of cigarettes a day or more. They claim that "Population studies have consistently linked drinking alcohol to an increased risk of female breast cancer, but until now there has been little data, most of it conflicting, about an independant role played by the choice of beverage type."
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Is there a relation between Deodorants and breast cancer?
British scientists measured the aluminum content inside of breast tissue to find a relation between breast cancer and deodorants. They found that there is a significantly higher portion in the outer regions of the breast that have the greatest exposure to antiperspirant. This recent study identified a specific distribution of aluminum in breast tissue which may be associated with breast cancer.
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