(Corrects 13th paragraph to clarify that Avastin is not a pill)

A broad analysis of genes has turned up 26 mutations linked with the most common form of lung cancer, several of which play a role in other cancers as well, researchers said on Wednesday.

The findings, published in the journal Nature, double the number of genes already linked with lung adenocarcinoma, a type of non-small cell lung cancer that accounts for 40 percent of the more than 1 million lung cancer deaths each year.

“We think that our study may achieve a real impact on the cure of lung cancer patients,” Dr. Matthew Meyerson of the Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University said in a telephone briefing.
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We generally think of breast cancer as being only a problem for women; but breast cancer can also occur in men, although far less often than in women. On average, breast cancer occurs in less than 1 in 1,000 American men and accounts for less than 0.5 percent of all cancer deaths in men.

If a man carries a BRCA2 mutation, however, he has a much greater lifetime risk (about 7 percent) of developing breast cancer. He also faces an increased risk of prostate cancer. BRCA1 mutations are less likely than BRCA2 mutations to predispose men to breast cancer.

A man should ask his doctor about a screening test for mutations in his BRCA genes if:

* several close female relatives have a history of breast or ovarian cancer
* a first-degree relative — mother, sister, brother, or offspring — develops breast cancer before age 50, or has had a positive test for a BRCA gene mutation
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Sellheart via Health News

The millions of Americans who are overweight or obese are putting their health in jeopardy. Obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death, and can raise your risk of developing heart disease, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, asthma and even gum disease. The underlying causes of obesity are numerous, from genetic disposition to binge eating, which may be caused by the same brain changes responsible for addiction. This link prompted researchers to test a potential addiction drug on lab rats bred to be obese-with surprising results.

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory tested the drug, called vigabatrin or GVG, in 50 rats, some of which were bred obese and some were of normal weight. The animals were either given injections of various amounts of vigabatrin or a placebo for up to 40 days. The genetically obese rats lost up to 19 percent of their body weight, and normal-weight rats lost 12 to 20 percent of their body weight. “Our results appear to demonstrate that vigabratrin induced satiety in these animals,” said Amy DeMarco, who worked on the study. “When we gave GVG, they would steadily lose weight, and when we took them off GVG, they would steadily gain weight,” she told Reuters Health. » Read the rest of the entry..

* Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a cancer of the white blood cells, the cells in the body that normally fight infections.
* In ALL, the abnormal cells may collect in the brain or spinal cord, also called the central nervous system (CNS).
* In cancers such as leukemia that appear throughout the body during their earliest stages, screening does not appear to be useful. Rather, children with any symptoms that suggest the possibility of ALL should be seen by their physician.
* Although leukemia cells from different children with ALL often look very similar under the microscope, there are actually many distinctive subtypes of ALL.
* With the exception of prenatal exposure to X-rays and specific genetic syndromes, such as Down’s syndrome, little is known about the causes of and risk factors for childhood ALL.
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Cells have their own recycling system: Discarded cellular components, from individual proteins through to whole cellular organs, are degraded and the building blocks re-used in a different place. The scientific term for this recycling process is autophagy. In severely damaged cells, autophagy can also be a form of programmed cell death. In this case, the cell uses the mechanism for complete self-decomposition.

Cancer cells, too, make use of autophagy — especially after radiation or chemotherapy. However, why autophagy is activated in this context, is not clear. It is possible that the process contributes to the death of the treated tumor cells. But autophagy might also be an attempt by the cells to survive. “Autophagy is also switched on specifically, for example, when the cell does not have enough nutrients at its disposal,” explains Professor Ingrid Herr, head of the Research Group “Molecular OncoSurgery” of the German Cancer Research Center. » Read the rest of the entry..

British doctors are conducting the world’s first trials of a device that can detect cancer by smelling your breath.

The pounds 10,000 “artificial brain” detects chemicals in saliva that are reliable indicators of stomach, throat and colon cancers and can be modified to test for deadly superbugs such as Clostridium difficile. The device, which is being trialled at Gloucester Royal Hospital, could give far earlier diagnoses and save millions of lives around the world. Prof Hugh Barr, who is leading the trials, said: “Conventional techniques require specimens which can take 48 hours to grow and analyse. This could take two or three hours to get a positive result.”

By THOMAS WATKINS, AP

A woman who had her medical coverage canceled as she was undergoing treatment for breast cancer has been awarded more than $9 million in a case against one of California’s largest health insurers.

Patsy Bates, 52, a hairdresser from Lakewood, had been left with more than $129,000 in unpaid medical bills when Health Net Inc. canceled her policy in 2004.

On Friday, arbitration judge Sam Cianchetti ordered Health Net to repay that amount while providing $8.4 million in punitive damages and $750,000 for emotional distress. » Read the rest of the entry..

A drug to treat breast cancer received approval yesterday from the Food and Drug Administration, which went against the recommendation of its advisory panel.

Avastin is already approved for treating lung and colon cancer. The FDA gave preliminary approval to doctors’ use of the drug, made by Genentech, to treat breast cancer based on findings that it slowed tumor growth.

FDA approval for late-stage cancer treatments is usually contingent upon data showing that a drug extended patients’ lives or improved their quality. Avastin showed neither in a study, » Read the rest of the entry..

According to the findings of a recent study, regular daytime dozing among the elderly could be a signal of an increased risk of a stroke. “Dozing” is defined by the study as - unintentional falling asleep.

Researchers reported at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2008 that stroke risk was two to four times greater in those individuals who moderately doze.
In 2004, researchers began collecting daytime dozing data annually using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. The Epworth scale asks people to rate their frequency of dozing off during specific situations, such as watching TV, sitting and talking to someone, sitting quietly after a lunch without alcohol and stopping briefly in traffic while driving. » Read the rest of the entry..

The uterine cancer detection greater upon 1st screening, accurated detections

Uterine cancer was detected nine times as often in women receiving screenings for the first time than those who had already had one or more screenings, according to an analysis by the Chiba Foundation for Health Promotion & Disease Prevention in Chiba.

The foundation study, led by the organization’s director, Takehiko Fujisawa, also revealed that only 10 percent of women who received municipal screenings for uterine cancer were those doing so for the first time.

To achieve the central government goal of a 20 percent reduction in cancer mortality in 10 years, the foundation said it is imperative to increase the ratio of first-time screening recipients.
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