Obesity and vitamin D deficiency may boost breast cancer risk

CANCER DIGEST – Sept. 22, 2018 – A new study shows that vitamin D may reduce cancer risk as well as breast cancer mortality, especially in slender or average-weight women.

The study involving 600 Brazilian women showed that obese post menopausal women diagnosed with breast cancer had an increased risk of vitamin D deficiency compared to women of the same age group who did not have breast cancer. The study appears in the September issue of the journal Menopause.

Anti-inflammatory diet linked to lower risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases

CANCER DIGEST – Sept. 15, 2018 – Adhering to an anti-inflammatory diet was associated with lower risk of dying from cancer as well as cardiovascular causes, according to a new study in the Sept. 2018 Journal of Internal Medicine.

The results showed that the more closely the participants followed an anti-inflammatory diet the lower their risk of dying form cancer or cardiovascular causes.

“Our dose-response analysis showed that even partial adherence to the anti-inflammatory diet may provide a health benefit,” said lead author Dr. Joanna Kaluza, an associate professor at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences, in Poland.

Test or not to test is the question facing men with regard to prostate cancer

Illustration courtesy of SonaCare

CANCER DIGEST – Sept. 8, 2018 – An international panel of clinical experts recommends against routine testing for prostate cancer. That recommendation followed an extensive review of the available research that they say shows little evidence that such screening reduces prostate cancer deaths. Their findings are published online ahead of the Sept. 5, 2018 British Medical Journal (BMJ).

Treatment for severe heartburn prevents cancer

CANCER DIGEST – Aug. 25, 2018 – Medication or surgery to treat severe heartburn prevents cancer of the esophagus, say Swedish researchers at the Karolinska Institute.

In the study, researchers analyzed data from more than 940,000 patients treated for acid reflux between 1964 and 2014 in five Scandinavian countries. Of the those with reflux in the study, about 895,000 received medical treatment. A total of 2,370 of those treated (0.3 per cent) developed cancer of the esophagus during the follow-up period. The study findings are published online Aug. 23, 2018 by the journal JAMA Oncology.

Fast-tracked breast cancer drug boosts progression-free survival

Image courtesy of the Talazoparib 
Beyond BRCA (TBB) Trial

CANCER DIGEST – Aug. 18, 2018 – Just a month after the FDA granted it a priority review, the breast cancer drug Talazoparib has shown that it significantly extends progression free survival and improved quality of life compared to similar patients treated with current standard therapies.

Talazoparib is an investigational anticancer drug called a PARP (poly ADP ribose polymerase) inhibitor, which is being evaluated in breast cancer patients with BRCA gene mutations, as well as other cancer types. The international study was led by Jennifer Litton, MD at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and published in the Aug. 15, 2018 New England Journal of Medicine.