Using artificial Intelligence to improve breast mammograms

The 3CB artificial analysis identified the areas of suspected
cancer on the mammogram outlined in solid and dashed
lines. Photo courtesy RSNA.

CANCER DIGEST – Dec. 15, 2018 – Artificial intelligence often conjures images of machines outwitting humans and taking away human control  ala HAL the computer that takes control in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

In reality researchers are using artificial intelligence to see patterns that are not readily visible to the radiologist looking for tumors, for example, or to a research scientist looking for genetic patterns that spell a likelihood of XYZ disease.

Inflammatory bowel disease increases risk of prostate cancer

CANCER DIGEST – Dec. 8, 2018 – Men with inflammatory bowel disease have four to five times higher risk of being diagnosed with prostate cancer a 20-year study has found.

This is the first study to show such a link to prostate cancer in men with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), an umbrella term that describes chronic inflammation of the digestive tract, such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. Symptoms include fever, fatigue, diarrhea, blood in the stool and unintended weight loss.

New approach to a blood test for cancer

CANCER DIGEST – Dec. 1, 2018 – By looking at changes in the product of genes rather than changes in the gene itself researchers in Toronto, Canada have developed a test for cancer that one day might allow your doctor to tell not only whether you have cancer, but what type of cancer you have from a blood sample.

The research published in the journal Nature holds promise of being able to find cancer earlier when it is more easily treated and long before symptoms ever appear.

Older women benefit from continuing regular mammograms

Image courtesy RSNA

CANCER DIGEST – Nov. 24, 2018 – Women 75 and older continue to benefit from mammograms according to a new study that will be presented this week at the Radiological Society of North America annual meeting in Chicago.

In the study, Dr. Stamatia Destounis and colleagues analyzed data from 763,256 screening mammography exams at Elizabeth Wende Breast Care between 2007 and 2017.

Loneliness boosts risk of heart disease and cancer

Image courtesy of ACS

CANCER DIGEST – Nov. 17, 2018 – Joining a book club or bowling league, playing cards with friends or getting involved in a community club is good for you and could reduce your risk of dying from heart disease or cancer. That’s the finding of the Cancer Prevention Study - II that followed more than 580,000 people for 30 years.

The study led by the American Cancer Society’s Kassandra Alcaraz, PhD, MPH, evaluated whether associations of social isolation with all causes of cardiovascular disease and cancer death differed by race and sex. The study appears in the Oct. 2018 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.