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Prostate Cancer
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Definition of Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer is a disease in which cells in the prostate gland become abnormal and start to grow uncontrollably, forming tumors.
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New Drug Fights Tough-to-Treat Prostate Cancer
MONDAY, July 9 (HealthDay News) --The experimental drug abiraterone, which prevents testosterone production anywhere in the body, may reduce blood levels of the prostate cancer marker prostate-specific antigen (PSA) by half, new research shows.
The study also found that the drug can shrink tumors in men whose prostate cancer has continued to grow despite treatment.
The British findings were to be reported July 8 at the annual European Society for Medical Oncology meeting in Lugano, Switzerland.
Dr. Alison Reid, from The Institute of Cancer Research, and Dr. Gerhardt Attard, from The Institute and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in London, reported on early results from two ongoing phase 2 trials of abiraterone in men with advanced prostate cancer.
Both trials have seen PSA levels reduced by 50 percent. PSA levels are a measure of a protein produced by cells in the prostate. Unusually high levels of the antigen indicate a growth in the prostate.
The men, all of wh
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Many Men Getting Unnecessary Prostate Cancer Blood Tests
MONDAY, July 9 (HealthDay News) -- Too many American men are receiving inappropriate PSA (prostate-specific antigen) blood tests for prostate cancer, researchers say.
In many cases, these screenings are being done in populations of either young or elderly men where the test has not proven beneficial, the experts report in the July 9 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
"PSA screening is performed inappropriately in a great proportion in many cases," said lead author Dr. B. Price Kerfoot, from the Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System and Harvard Medical School.
For example, most current guidelines do not recommend PSA screening for men younger than 40 years of age, older than 75, or for men who are expected to live less than another 10 years, Kerfoot said. But many men in these groups are nonetheless getting the tests, the study found.
The American Cancer Society notes that, outside of skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer diagnosed among
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Selenium Supplements Boost Type 2 Diabetes Risk
MONDAY, July 9 (HealthDay News) -- Selenium supplements appear to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests.
The chances of developing the blood sugar disease was higher in people who had high blood selenium levels, according to the report in the July 10 online edition of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
"The hypothesis was that, because of its antioxidant properties, selenium could be beneficial in diabetes prevention," explained lead researcher Dr. Saverio Stranges, from the Warwick Medical School, in Coventry, U.K. "Actually, long-term selenium supplementation did not have any benefits in diabetes prevention and actually increased the risk for this disease."
Selenium is a mineral found in soil and foods. Selenium is used by the body to aid in metabolism. Selenium supplements have been widely promoted for conditions such as cold sores, shingles, arthritis and multiple sclerosis. These supplements are also sold to prevent aging, enhance fertility, prevent can
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Clinical Trials Update: July 10, 2007
Prostate Cancer
Pregnancy
Asthma
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Surgeon's Experience Key to Prostate Surgery Success
TUESDAY, July 24 (HealthDay News) -- Surgeons who perform the highest number of prostatectomies -- prostate removal to help stop cancer -- tend to have the best patient outcomes, a new study confirms.
In fact, it takes at least 250 operations before a surgeon becomes proficient in the procedure, researchers found. With more experience, the odds that the patient's cancer will come back declines, according to the report in the July 24 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
"Your chance of being cancer-free after surgery for prostate cancer are strongly influenced by the amount of experience that your surgeon has," said lead researcher Andrew Vickers, from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.
Patients with prostate cancer need to be seen by an experienced surgeon, Vickers advised. In reality, "many patients are seen by surgeons with very low levels of experience," he said. "Many surgeons do as few as one prostatectomy a year -- they are never g
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Test Brings Early Pancreatic Cancer to Light
test that doesn't focus on the pancreas itself may be the first safe means of accurately spotting early pancreatic cancer in people at high risk for the lethal illness, researchers say.
The screening requires a routine endoscopic biopsy of the duodenum, the upper part of the small intestine. When an early-stage pancreatic cancer is present, cells in the duodenum give off different light-scattering effects than if the disease is not there, U.S. researchers explain in the Aug. 1 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.
In the small pilot study of 51 patients, the optical screen was 100 percent effective in spotting patients with surgically removable pancreatic tumors.
"This is potentially a way of prescreening [high-risk] patients," said lead researcher Vadim Backman, a professor of biomedical engineering at Northwestern University's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, in Evanston, Ill.
He explained that patients with a family history of pancreatic cancer now "liv
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Fused Genes Might Fuel Prostate Tumors
WEDNESDAY, Aug. 1 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. researchers say they've spotted special "gene fusions" that help trigger prostate cancer.
Researchers at the University of Michigan (U-M) Comprehensive Cancer Center found that pieces of two chromosomes can trade places with each other and cause two genes to fuse together. These fused genes then override the "off" switch that prevents uncontrolled cell growth -- key to the development of prostate cancer.
The researchers, who conducted experiments with mice and cell cultures, found that this prostate-cancer causing fusion can occur in a number of genes from the same family. The genes from that family fuse with either ERG or ETV1, two genes known to be involved in several types of cancer.
The study appears in the Aug. 2 issue of the journal Nature.
"Each of these switches, or gene fusions, represent different molecular subtypes. This tells us there's not just one type of prostate cancer. It's a more complex disease and potentially ne
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Health Highlights: Aug. 2, 2007
Mattel Recalls Nearly 1 Million Toys With Lead Paint
Botulism Victim in Critical Condition
FDA Postpones Field Laboratory Closures
Broccoli and Cauliflower May Reduce Prostate Cancer Risk
U.S. House Votes Health Coverage for Millions of Uninsured Kids
Accutane Rules Need More Flexibility: FDA Panel
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Health Tip: Risk Factors for Prostate Cancer
HealthDay News) -- Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers that affect men. While most cases aren't fatal, it is important to understand the risk factors for the disease to help recognize symptoms and begin treatment early.
The U.S. National Cancer Institute lists these potential risk factors for prostate cancer:
Aging.
High levels of testosterone.
A high-fat diet, which may increase the risk. (A low-fat diet rich in fruits and vegetables may help the risk.)
Blacks are at much greater risk of prostate cancer, whites are at intermediate risk, and Japanese have the lowest average risk.
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Most Asian Men Have Better Prostate Cancer Survival Rates
MONDAY, Aug. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Your prognosis for surviving prostate cancer may depend on your racial and ethnic background, a new study suggests.
Asian men have better survival rates than white males, while South Asians have the worst survival rates, according to results of a study of men living in California.
"Nearly all Asians do far better when they get prostate cancer," said study lead author Dr. Anthony Robbins, of the California Cancer Registry in Sacramento. "But Indian men didn't do as well as other Asian men, and they did worse than all other men, including blacks and whites," he added.
The reasons for these racial and ethnic differences in prostate cancer survival aren't known, Robbins said, adding, "We just couldn't explain it."
Not only couldn't the researchers explain the finding, they were left with an apparent paradox. The Asian men were usually older and had more advanced disease at the time of diagnosis, Robbins said. "Based on their risk factors, you
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Molecule May Predict Prostate Cancer's Return
WEDNESDAY, Aug. 15 (HealthDay News) -- For the first time, scientists say they have identified an immune molecule that may predict prostate cancer recurrence after surgery.
"We discovered a protein that shows up in prostate cancer cells, and this protein is thought to be involved in shutting down immune responses in the body," said lead researcher Dr. Eugene D. Kwon of the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minn.
The molecule, called B7-H3, is found on the surface of prostate cancer cells, and it kills or paralyzes immune cells that are attacking cancer cells, Kwon explained.
"The most aggressive tumor cells have the highest levels of this protein," he said. "The other surprising finding was that when we examined 338 men who had had radical prostatectomy and then followed those patients, we found that the patients who had the highest levels of this protein were at highest risk of having recurrence of their prostate cancer."
The report appears in the Aug. 15 issue of Cancer Research
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Clinical Trials Update: Aug. 20, 2007
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2
Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
Prostate Cancer
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Acrylamide Won't Raise Breast Cancer Risk
TUESDAY, Aug. 21 (HealthDay News) -- There seems to be little or no link between breast cancer and acrylamide, a substance found in many baked and fried foods, according to the largest epidemiological study on the subject conducted to date.
"The data are accumulating, and it appears that acrylamide in the diet does not appear to be an important breast cancer risk factor," said study author Lorelei Mucci, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and an assistant professor of epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.
"We probably couldn't rule out that eating very high levels of acrylamide is associated with a very, very small increase in risk, but in terms of it being an important public health risk factor for breast cancer I don't think acrylamide is a major risk factor," she said.
Mucci plans to present the finding Tuesday at the American Chemical Society annual meeting, in Boston. The paper is one of 40 exploring various facets of a poss
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Antioxidant Supplements May Raise Women's Skin Cancer Risk
MONDAY, Aug. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Taking antioxidant supplements won't protect against skin cancer and may actually boost the risk, at least in women, according to a new French study.
"Taking into consideration our results, we are particularly concerned by the use of long-term supplementation, notably in sun-seekers and people wanting to look tanned [using beta-carotene]," said researcher Dr. Serge Hercberg, professor of nutrition at the Medical University of Paris.
The new findings come on the heels of a study, published in mid-August in the Archives of Internal Medicine, that found that antioxidants don't prevent heart disease risk in high-risk women.
In the new French study, published in the September issue of The Journal of Nutrition, Hercberg's team looked at the effects of antioxidant doses on skin cancer. The research was conducted as part of a larger study that looked at the effects of antioxidants on cancer and ischemic heart disease.
Antioxidant nutrients are th
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