Breast conserving therapy for recurrent breast cancer as effective as mastectomy

Credit National Cancer Institute

CANCER DIGEST – Nov. 23, 2019 – Treating breast cancer that recurs in the other breast following lumpectomy and whole breast radiation in one breast is as effective as breast removal, new research published in the JAMA Oncology shows.

The multi-center study led by Douglas Arthur, MD, Chair of the Department of Radiation at Virginia University’s Massey Cancer Center involved 58 patients whose breast cancer had recurred with a single tumor in the opposite breast one year or less after lumpectomy and whole breast radiation in the first breast. Recurrent tumors were detected early at 3 centimeters or less in size. Of the 58 cancers, 23 were non-invasive and 35 were invasive.

Ulcer bacteria linked to risk of stomach cancer in certain groups

Electron microscopic view of H. pylori bacteria – Credit
Yutaka Tsutsumi, M.D.

CANCER DIGEST – Nov. 16, 2019 – Eliminating the bacteria that causes stomach ulcers from the gastrointestinal tract led to a 75 percent reduction in risk of stomach cancer, researchers have found.

After analyzing nearly 400,000 patient records, researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found that rates of stomach cancer after detection of H. pylori, the ulcer-causing bacteria, are higher among specific populations, which they suggest would benefit from careful monitoring. The study appeared Nov. 14 online ahead of publication in the journal Gastroenterology.

Any amount of running linked to longer life

CANCER DIGEST – Nov. 9, 2019 – The human body evolved to standing, walking and then running. And running seems to do a body good, according to new analysis of all the available data from 14 studies involving 232,149 people.

Published in the Nov. 4, 2019 British Journal of Sports Medicine the researchers found that any amount of running is linked to a significantly lower risk of death from any cause. Specifically any amount of running was associated with a 27 percent lower risk of death from all causes for both sexes compared to no running, a 30 percent lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, and a 23 percent lower risk of death from cancer.

Liver cancer deaths rising dramatically

Rising obesity may be contributing
to a rise in liver cancer rates

Liver cancer death rates have increased by around 50% in the last decade and have tripled since records began, according to the latest calculations* by Cancer Research UK.

There were 3,200 liver cancer deaths in the UK in 2007, and the mortality rate has steadily climbed since then with 5,700 deaths due to the disease in 2017, researchers at Cancer Research UK say.