Category Archives: News

Cancer Research, News

Researchers Discover Breath Test to Detect Lung Cancer

Blow Test to Find Lung Cancer
Blow Test to Find Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is the deadliest cancer in the U.S., killing more people than the next three most common cancers – colon, breast and prostate – combined. According to the American Lung Association, more than a quarter million new cases of lung cancer are diagnosed in the U.S. every year. The difficulty of detecting lung cancer in its early stages and the invasiveness and cost of current diagnostic tests contribute to the deadliness of this devastating disease.

When lung cancer is not discovered and spreads to other organs, the five-year survival rate is just 4%, compared to 54% when lung cancer is detected and treated while still confined to the lungs. Discovery of a simple breath test that could lead to a new, non-invasive diagnostic test for lung cancer has the potential to increase lung cancer survival rates in the not so distant future. Scientists at the University of Louisville in Kentucky believe they can turn their discovery into a publicly available diagnostic test within five years, according to USA Today.

Expensive CT scans and invasive biopsies are currently considered the most effective means of diagnosing lung cancer. However, in recent tests Louisville researchers found elevated levels of four specific compounds in exhaled breath to be remarkably accurate in detecting the presence of lung cancer. The presence of elevated levels of just two of the four compounds was predictive of lung cancer in two-thirds of the patients studied. The absence of elevated compounds was also shown to accurately indicate that a mass in the lungs was benign. If brought to market, the simplicity and low cost of the breath test could lead to earlier and more successful treatment of lung cancer.

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Cancer Survivors, Immunotherapy, News

World Cancer Report: Cancer Becoming Global Pandemic

The Fight Against Cancer With Age
The Fight Against Cancer With Age

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released its annual World Cancer Report and the news is troubling. WHO warns that cancer is becoming a global pandemic. In predicting a 57% worldwide increase in cancer cases over the next 20 years, WHO estimates that both cancer cases and deaths will nearly double by 2032.

It’s a grim picture made even grimmer by WHO’s finding that nearly half of all cancers could be prevented through a worldwide commitment to prevention, lifestyle education and collaborative research.

“We cannot treat our way out of the cancer problem,” Christopher Wild of the International Agency for Research on Cancer told CNN. “More commitment to prevention and early detection is desperately needed in order to complement improved treatments and address the alarming rise in cancer burden globally.”

Despite the gloomy global picture, there are glimmers of hope. Cancer risk increases with age and a significant portion of cancer’s predicted increase is related to the aging of the world’s population. However, if adjusted for aging, the U.S. cancer rate “is declining notably,” Dr. Walter Curran of Emory University’s School of Medicine told CNN. Curran credits the drop to healthier lifestyle choices.

While Africa, Asia and South and Central America, which account for 60% of global cancer, face tremendous challenges, America’s success offers encouragement for increasing global prevention efforts.

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Next time: What you can do to decrease your cancer risk

Alternative Cancer Treatment, News

Should Age Play a Role in Cancer Treatment?

Age And Cancer
Age And Cancer

Doctors and patients are rethinking their approach to cancer treatments for people in their 70s, 80s and 90s. According to the National Cancer Institute, the average age of cancer diagnosis in the U.S. is 66; yet the average life expectancy is 81 for U.S. women and 76 for men, according to National Geographic’s U.S. life expectancy map. With the average American living well past 65 and a growing number of people living into their 90s, cancer advocates say it’s time to take age out of the cancer treatment equation.

“What really matters is not chronological age, but functional age,” Dr. Ewa Mrozek, an oncologist at the Ohio State University Stefanie Spielman Comprehensive Breast Center, told the Columbus Dispatch. With plans to begin a clinic devoted to serving the needs of older cancer patients, the center is riding the leading edge of a national sea change in America’s approach to treating older cancer patients.

A growing number of people are arguing that age should no longer be the primary basis for deciding whether a person will be unable to withstand the rigors of traditional cancer treatment — surgery, chemotherapy and radiation — and its usually traumatic side effects. Of more importance in determining how aggressively to fight cancer should be the individual’s general health – physical, cognitive and emotional — and the impact any other medical conditions or chronic illnesses might have on his ability to benefit from cancer treatment.

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Cancer Survivors, News, Testimonials

20% Drop in Cancer Death Rates Over Past 20 Years

Declining Cancer Death Rates
Declining Cancer Death Rates

The New Year is starting out with some good news. According to the recently released American Cancer Society annual report, cancer death rates continue to drop. Over the past 20 years, U.S. cancer death rates have declined steadily, decreasing the overall risk of dying from cancer by 20%. That 20% represents about 1.3 million lives, Ahmedin Jemal, ACS vice president for surveillance and health services research and lead author of the 2014 report, told Fox News.

This latest analysis of cancer statistics also shows significant progress in reducing cancer deaths among certain high-risk population groups. Among the report’s more interesting findings was a 55% decrease in cancer death rates for middle-aged black men.

While the number of cancer deaths has been steadily decreasing since 1991, the report notes that the incidence of cancer has remained steady. The 2014 report estimates that 1,665,540 new cancer cases will be diagnosed in the U.S. this year and that 585,720 people — about 1,600 per day — will die of cancer in the coming year.

However, as Jamal pointed out to Fox News, the decrease in cancer death rates is of greater importance than cancer incidence. As the U.S. population ages, the size of the baby boomer generation, the increased risk of cancer that accompanies aging and improvements in cancer detection methods can be expected to drive up the number of cancer cases. The declining death rate, however, is clear evidence of improvement in U.S. cancer prevention and treatment programs.

Jemal linked improved cancer outcomes to both medical and behavioral changes that have occurred over the past 20 years. The new emphasis on immunotherapy is redefining cancer treatment and calling new attention to the benefits of Issels’ immunobiologic-based alternative cancer tre

atments.

News

Air Pollution Causes Lung Cancer Spike in China

Air Pollution Linked to Lung Cancer
Air Pollution Linked to Lung Cancer

Air pollution in China has reached alarming levels. Recent near-zero visibility in Beijing forced China to issue a red alert that curtailed vehicle use and shut down factories, according to a CNN report. Not surprisingly, Beijing officials have reported a more than 63% rise in lung cancer over the past decade, according to Medical Daily. While cigarette smoking certainly plays a role, experts say chronic air pollution is becoming a major risk factor for lung cancer and a likely cause of increasing lung cancer rates among non-smokers. Lung cancer is now the No. 1 cancer killer in China.

“There are lots of carcinogens emitted with industrial pollution,” C. Arden Pope of Brigham Young University told National Geographic. “Our respiratory systems filter out the relatively large particles from air pollution … The tiny ones come nearly entirely from burning things – coal, gasoline and diesel. Those tiny combustion particles are small enough to penetrate the lungs, and they’re made up of all sorts of nasty particles.”

Following 9/11, clouds of airborne particulate were blamed for the sharp spike in cancer cases, including lung cancer, among first responders and people who lived or worked near the site of the World Trade Towers.

Interestingly, airborne pollution from cigarette smoke or industrial pollutants doesn’t pose the only lung cancer risk. High levels of arsenic in drinking water are a major risk factor for a form of lung cancer that appears to be linked to the tumor microenvironment. Issels’ non-toxic cancer vaccines are unique in that they attack not only the cancer tumor but the surrounding tumor microenvironment. Visit our website for more information.

 

Cancer Research, News

Startling Similarity Found Between Cancer and Embryonic Cells

Cancer cells
Image of Cells

Researchers in Spain have discovered an unexpected similarity between the behaviors of cancer cells and the cells that form human embryos that could some day lead to new cancer treatments to prevent cancer from metastasizing. (Visit this link to read the original article by M. Angela Nieto of the Instituto de Neurociencias Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas published in Science magazine.)

When human embryos form, embryonic cells must migrate from the initial cellular core to new locations where they form different types of tissues and organs. When they are tasked to become heart cells or skin cells or bone cells, embryonic cells must undergo two complex genetic transformations that require remarkable cell plasticity.

In processes that involve gene splicing and micro-RNA networking, embryonic cells undergo a transformation that allows them to become mobile and move to specific designated locations in the developing body. Scientists call this process epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, or EMT. Once embryonic cells have arrived at their designated location, they undergo a second transformation that restores their ability to replicate and allows them to assume their newly assigned differentiated form heart cells or skin cells or bone cells, etc. Scientists call this “reverse” process mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition, or MET.

Spanish researchers have observed this same two-step process – EMT followed by MET — when cancer cells metastasize. EMT occurs when cancer cells leave their primary tumor and travel to other parts of the body. When they arrive at new locations, MET occurs, allowing cancer cells to replicate and form secondary tumors. Other research indicates that changes in the tumor microenvironment may initiate these processes in cancer tumors.