Note: The contents of this blog are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice or substitute for professional care. For medical emergencies, dial 911!
It's interesting when a drug is re-purposed into something aimed at fighting cancer, but that is what has happened to Evista, a prescription drug made by Eli Lilly which was originally for osteoporosis patients.
The FDA has officially approved Evista for use in breast cancer patients as of late this week, although the drug will now come with a box warning advising patients of a heightened risk for stroke by taking the drug.
I'm not sure -- are some drugs worth the possible benefits when certain side effects can be just as bad as what is trying to be treated?
In the last decade, we've seen studies that try to link mobile phone use to all kinds of cancer, the most common type being brain cancer. The thinking is that the radiation output from these devices affects the brain when those phones are held close to the head for extended periods.
Well, here's one to shoot this theory down, I guess. In Australia, authorities there have said that mobile phone use does not cause cancer, and talking on a phone in the car is no more dangerous than having a passenger aboard. Wow-- those are heavy hitters.
For many of us, those ultra low-power Bluetooth headsets are the solution for not holding that cellphone near your head for along periods of time. You?
It's never a good thing when a drugmaker sends letters to doctors saying that a drug they are prescribing has resulted in confirmed deaths.
But that is what Cephalon did this week, as it admitted its cancer drug -- Fentora - has been linked to some patient deaths. Fentora, used to treat acute cancer pain, are sometimes prescribed for other pain-related ailments.
Cephalon took issue with the apparent claim that it markets Fentora for uses other than cancer pain, even though some doctors use it "off label" in normal practice.
In Canada, health officials are wanting more men in the high-risk group (most likely, middle aged) to get screened for prostate cancer. Why? Well, only two in every five men in that country from within that group apparently have tested for prostate cancer in the past year. That's just too low.
An astounding 39 percent (only) of men over the age of 45 have taken blood tests to measure the prostate specific antigen levels, with only 33 percent having undergone a digital rectal exam.
In other words, there could be a lot more undiagnosed prostate problems under development with such a low amount of high-risk men being tested.
Lung cancer screening by using CT scans may not be the best thing to do, according to a recent report by the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP).
That group stated that, outside of research studies, studying lung cancer using CT technology is not worth the risk since it rarely (if at all) leads to reduced lung cancer deaths.
The reason? Sounds to easy, but with CT tests only looking at lung cancer detection, actual survival rates were not looked at in many cases (and weren't affected anyway).
It's something that many women would cheer about -- the use of oral contraceptives actually lowers overall cancer risk as a side effect.
A 12 percent decrease in cancer risk was the conclusion of a very large study that looked at the correlation between oral contraceptives and cancer, as over 46,000 women were tracked over four decades since oral contraceptives began to be widely used in the late 1960s.
However, an increase in cervical cancer risk was found in women who had taken birth control pills for eight years or longer.
It what seems like an obvious result, a recent U.S. study found that breast cancer survivors who received both chemotherapy and radiotherapy were the most apt to have severe fatigue. In addition, that fatigue lasted for prolonged periods of time.
Over 221 women in the early stages of breast cancer were looked at in this study, with the expectation of the greatest amount of fatigue just after initial treatment.
But, when chemo was combined with radiotherapy, fatigue was pronounced for longer periods of time. No wonder depression is often a side effect of traditional cancer treatment.
See those little blips on the picture to the right -- the ones between the thumb and index finger? Those are RFID (radio frequency identification) chips, some of which are being used as implants into humans for several kinds of tracking purposes.
If you have one, though, watch out -- those chips may cause skin cancer according to some reports this week that cited medical studies stating as much.
RFID was to become the savior of having full medical records available in many patients by a simple read of the chip using a wireless radio scanner, as those tiny chips contain a vast amount of data for their size. But then, a growing amount of tumors were found in mice which had been implanted with RFID chips. Would you trust one, regardless of the personal security implications?
Want to prevent lung cancer? That's great -- just don't rely on vitamins and supplements to get the job done, and lessen those CT scans as well. Those do, after all, use radiation.
Members of the American College of Chest Physicians made both statements in the latest edition of the "Guide to Lung Cancer Prevention" -- and the suggestions go towards smokers and non-smokers alike.
The kicker is the knockout stat mentioned here: lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S., with more dying from it that from colon, breast, prostate and pancreatic cancer combined. Wow.
But the biggest lung cancer prevention tip? Don't smoke, be near smokers and watch that smog intake if at all possible.
The Food and Drug Administration and pharmaceutical giant Merck have agreed on a "special protocol assessment" that will determine if the cancer drug oral deforolimus for patients with cancer of the body's connective tissue(s).
Merck and partner Ariad will begin patient enrollment for deforolimus later in September, with progression-free survival being the endpoint of the Phase III trial. The second endpoint? How about overall patient survival?
Since there are currently very few effective treatments for sarcoma cancers, my bet is that this new drug will be on the market the date the Phase III trial officially concludes.
It's pretty well known that many natural foods make for great defenses against cancer, regardless of the opposition to this by the medical community. If you're into spicy foods like I am, it may be neat to hear that curry could be added to that battle list.
Indian foods are, in many cases, spicy (and delicious), and that curry powder's curcumin has been found to kill and stops the growth of melanoma skin cancer cells. Although these results were only found in the lab, they are still encouraging.
Cancer prevention foods are incredibly neat to learn about, and with the Internet, the effort is simple and easy. Even if curry is not your thing, there are plenty of other cancer-fighting foods.
Talk about cancer news that sounds like it comes from the future. In new research, using high-speed liquid injectors to get light-activated cancer-fighting drugs into the body without the need for needles.
Many patients would probably hooray something like this, and without using the limitations of needles -- some of which don't penetrate tumors effectively -- the targeting increased such a system would have sounds rather intriguing.
Of, and if you don't like needles, that goes away as well. I wonder if this will make it to market anytime soon?
It's quite a revelation to hear that cervical cancer could largely be prevented by newer technology, but that is what a medical pro from the National Cancer Institute said recently.
If we're better at understanding what causes cervical cancer (and other cancers), medical technology sure is not showing it yet, as cervical cancer is still the second most common cancer afflicting women worldwide. I truly hope there is a breakthrough on the horizon, though.
But the difference here is that most cases of cervical cancer are caused by the human papillomavirus, not a genetic predisposition or a combination of environmental factors.
If you've paid attention to the recent furor around the use of artificial colors in all kinds of processed foods and drinks, you're probably ready to yank those products out of your kitchen for good. That it, if you can find suitable replacements.
The neat thing about most organic foods is that most do not use any artificial colors or flavors -- they are more of a "true" taste of what the product should be, instead of using cancer-causing chemicals to flavor and color foods to make them appeal to the eye and taste buds. But remember, those looks and tastes can be completely fake.
Why not spend a little of this weekend going through your pantry and seeing how many foods in there have artificial colors? They're easy to spot, with most ingredient labels using words like "FD&C" and "Blue Lake" or "Yellow Lake" (whatever "Lake means, I don't know).
If you smoke during pregnancy or as a new mother, be advised that the nicotine being passed through to that infant in the form of breast milk (if you choose that route) may be hindering the sleep patterns of your child.
There's more -- a recent study also indicated that nicotine in breast milk may also be causing naps to be shortened by a third -- which you'll probably see as your child is up more instead of sleeping more at that precious nap time.
The findings form this study lend even more support to giving up smoking during pregnancy or during the breastfeeding years. Lung cancer is not the only 'side effect' -- the health of your child is also in the mix now if you breast feed.
It's interesting when a drug is re-purposed into something aimed at fighting cancer, but that is what has happened to Evista, a prescription drug made by Eli Lilly which was originally for osteoporosis patients.
In the last decade, we've seen studies that try to link mobile phone use to all kinds of cancer, the most common type being brain cancer. The thinking is that the radiation output from these devices affects the brain when those phones are held close to the head for extended periods.
It's never a good thing when a drugmaker sends letters to doctors saying that a drug they are prescribing has resulted in confirmed deaths.
In Canada, health officials are wanting more men in the high-risk group (most likely, middle aged) to 
Lung cancer screening by using CT scans may not be the best thing to do, according to a recent report by the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP).
It's something that many women would cheer about -- the use of oral contraceptives actually lowers overall cancer risk as a side effect.
It what seems like an obvious result, a recent U.S. study found that breast cancer survivors who received both chemotherapy and radiotherapy were the 
See those little blips on the picture to the right -- the ones between the thumb and index finger? Those are RFID (radio frequency identification) chips, some of which are being used as implants into humans for several kinds of tracking purposes.
Want to prevent lung cancer? That's great -- just don't rely on vitamins and supplements to get the job done, and lessen those CT scans as well. Those do, after all, use radiation.
The Food and Drug Administration and pharmaceutical giant Merck have agreed on a "special protocol assessment" that will determine if the cancer drug oral deforolimus for 
It's pretty well known that many natural foods make for great defenses against cancer, regardless of the opposition to this by the medical community. If you're into spicy foods like I am, it may be neat to hear that curry could be added to that battle list.
Talk about cancer news that sounds like it comes from the future. In new research, using 
It's quite a revelation to hear that cervical cancer could largely be prevented by newer technology, but that is what a medical pro from the National Cancer Institute said recently.
If you've paid attention to the recent furor around the use of 
If you smoke during pregnancy or as a new mother, be advised that the nicotine being passed through to that infant in the form of breast milk (if you choose that route) may be hindering the sleep patterns of your child.
