Nearly all Americans take at least one step to prevent cancer

CANCER DIGEST – Sept. 23, 2017 – Cancer prevention, an idea the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute have been preaching for decades seems to have taken hold, according to a new survey by the Mayo Clinic.

The annual Mayo Clinic National Health Checkup survey released last week shows that 95 percent of respondents take at least one preventive measure to avoid cancer. Started last year, health checkup survey aims to provide a quick pulse on consumer health opinions and behaviors at multiple times throughout the year.

Diet and lifestyle play a major role in colorectal cancer

CANCER DIGEST – Sept. 16, 2017 – Nearly half of all colorectal cancer can be prevented with exercise and dietary changes, research shows, and a new study confirms that exercise and whole grains lower the risk while alcohol, red meat, processed meats and obesity increase the risk.

The new study by the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) and the World Cancer Research Fund confirms earlier research. Led by Dr. Edward Giovannucci, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health the study was published in the AICR’s own newsletter. It analyzed data from 99 previous studies that involved a total of 29 million people, including more than 250,000 diagnosed with colorectal cancer.

Zika virus kills brain cancer, may be potential treatment

Brain cancer stem cells (left) are killed by Zika
virus infection (right). – photo courtesy
Washington University 

CANCER DIGEST – Sept. 9, 2017 – The Zika virus kills brain cancer stem cells and may be an effective treatment for glioblastoma, a deadly form of brain cancer, say researchers from Washington University and the University of San Diego School of Medicine.

The findings, published Sept. 5 in The Journal of Experimental Medicine showed laboratory results of glioblastoma tumors removed from patients that the researchers infected with two strains of Zika virus.

FDA approves first 'living drug' therapy for cancer

CANCER DIGEST – Aug. 31, 2017 – The US Food and Drug Administration approved the first treatment for cancer based on genetic engineering of the patient’s own immune system.

While it has been referred to as gene therapy, the new treatment does not actually change or replace the genes that cause the cancer, rather it alters genes of the immune system to better recognize and eliminate the cancer. In that sense it is the first FDA-approved gene therapy in that it reprograms the patient’s own cells to attack the cancer.

Imaging technique detects tumor oxygen levels in prostate cancer

CANCER DIGEST – Aug. 26, 2017 – A new imaging technique using a combination of light and sound to check the oxygen levels in prostate tumors could lead to a non-invasive way to determine how aggressive the cancer is.