cancer news
Home chemo for cancer patients in NHS drive for choice
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ 19 Jul 2011
Cancer patients will be able to get chemotherapy at home from private firms in the future under plans to give them more choice.
They will also be able to get a range of diagnostic checks such as blood tests from high street pharmacies rather than having to go to hospital.
The Government wants to press ahead with plans to open up health services so that patients are not always treated in-house by the NHS, but can be seen elsewhere if the treatment is going to be better.
While critics fear this will lead to its eventual break-up, a Department of Health spokesman insisted: "This is not going to be a back door to privatisation."
From next April, patients will be able to choose from a range of qualified providers from private and not-for-profit organisations.
Eight areas have been highlighted as the most suitable: diagnostic tests, treatment of chronic wounds, services for back and neck pain, hearing services, wheelchairs for children, podiatry, continence services, and 'talking cures' for those with depression or anxiety.
Other areas being examined are home chemotherapy for some cancer patients, and maternity services.
The idea of patient choice is central to health reforms spearheaded by Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary.
However, he has been forced to concede that suppliers should only be picked on grounds of quality, not cost, in a blow to plans to instill competition into the NHS. Providers will be paid a fixed tariff, set locally or nationally, for each patient they see.
Mr Lansley said of the scheme: "It's about real choices for people over their care, leading to better results."
Blocking a gene stops cancer cells spreading
Source: BBC News 11:19am UK, Wednesday January 24, 2011
A gene which encourages cancer to move around the body has been discovered by the University of East Anglia.
Experiments on tissue cultures, published in Oncogene, suggest that blocking it would prevent cancers spreading.
The researchers hope their work will lead to a new generation of cancer drugs within the decade.
Cancer Research UK said the study improved understanding of the disease, but was still at the laboratory stage.
There are treatments for primary cancers, but tumours have the potential to spread.
Cells can break off and travel around the body, through the bloodstream or lymph fluid, and start a new or secondary tumour where they land, a process known as metastasis.
Breast cancers are known to spread to lymph nodes, the bones and the lungs.
These secondary tumours are notoriously difficult to treat.
The team at the University of East Anglia has found a gene which helps the cancer spread.
The gene, WWP2, leads to the breakdown of an inhibitor that normally keeps cells in check.
The researchers showed, in tissue cultures, that without the inhibitor, Smad7, cancer progressed very quickly and spread.
Blocking the gene prevented that spread
Dr Andrew Chantry, who led the study, said: "I think we're really onto something important if we can put a wall around a cancer and lock it in place.
"The discovery could lead to the development of a new generation of drugs within the decade that could be used to stop the aggressive spread of most forms of the disease."
The team are now recruiting chemists to help them design a drug which could interrupt the gene's activity.
Dr Kat Arney, science information manager at Cancer Research UK, said: "Over recent decades researchers all over the world have discovered genes that drive the growth and spread of cancer, and this research adds one more to this ever-growing list.
"But, while these new results aid our understanding of the complexities of cancer and could point towards potential leads for future anti-cancer drugs, the work is still at the laboratory stage."
Cancer breath test 'step closer'
Source: BBC News 03:42am UK, Wednesday April 20, 2011
A breath test that can sniff-out cancer is a step closer to reality, according to a preliminary study.
Researchers found an "electronic nose" was able to identify chemical signals of cancer in the breath of patients with lung or head and neck cancer.
A cancer charity said it would take years of research to see if the breath test could be used in the clinic.
About 80 volunteers took part in the Israeli research, published in the British Journal of Cancer.
Of these 22 had various head-and-neck cancers, 24 had lung cancer and 36 were healthy.
The prototype breath test uses a chemical method to spot markers of cancer present in the breath.
The hope is that one day such a test could be used in a GP's surgery to give an instant diagnosis.
Head-and-neck cancer
- Around 9,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with head-and-neck cancer each year
- Cancers include those of the eye, mouth, voice box and food pipe
'Urgent need'
Researchers at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology - are working on a device called the nano artificial nose.
They looked at head-and-neck cancer, which is often diagnosed late, making it more difficult to treat successfully.
Lead researcher, Professor Hossam Haick, said: "There's an urgent need to develop new ways to detect head-and-neck cancer because diagnosis of the disease is complicated, requiring specialist examinations.
"We've shown that a simple 'breath test' can spot the patterns of molecules which are found in head-and-neck patients in a small, early study.
"We now need to test these results in larger studies to find if this could lead to a potential screening method for the disease."
Dr Lesley Walker, of Cancer Research UK, said it was incredibly important to spot the disease as soon as possible when it was easier to treat successfully.
She added: "These interesting initial results show promise for the development of a breath test to detect head-and-neck cancers which are often diagnosed at an advanced stage.
"But it's important to be clear that this is a small study, at a very early stage, so many more years of research with patients will be needed to see if a breath test could be used in the clinic."
Drinking Over Limits 'Increases Cancer Risk'
Source: Sky News 10:07am UK, Friday April 08, 2011
Rhiannon Mills, Sky News reporter
Drinking more than two alcoholic drinks a day can significantly increase the risk of some cancers - with at least 13,000 cases a year in the UK linked to drinking.
NHS guidelines are that men should drink no more than three to four units a day, while women should not go over two to three units a day.
But research, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), found cancer risks at even lower levels.
"Our data show that many cancer cases could have been avoided if alcohol consumption is limited to two alcoholic drinks per day in men and one alcoholic drink per day in women, which are the recommendations of many health organisations," the report's authors said.
"And even more cancer cases would be prevented if people reduced their alcohol intake to below recommended guidelines or stopped drinking alcohol at all."
Cancers of the pharynx, oesophagus and voice box were most commonly caused by alcohol, followed by liver.
Experts analysed data from eight European countries, including the UK, and worked out what proportion of men and women were drinking above guidelines of 24g of alcohol a day for men and 12g a day for women.
In the UK, one unit is defined as 8g of alcohol, meaning 12g is roughly a small 125ml glass of white wine (1.6 units). A 175ml glass of red wine at 13% strength is the equivalent of 18.4g of alcohol (2.3 units), as is one pint of 4% lager. The research found that men in Germany were the most likely to exceed 24g a day (43.8% of the male population), followed by Denmark (43.6%) and the UK (41.1%). Among women, Germans were most likely to drink over 12g a day (43.5% of women), followed by those in Denmark (41%) and the UK (37.7%). One in 10 cancers in men and one in 33 in women across Western Europe are caused by drinking, according to the research.
Trials Show Drugs Could Curb Breast Cancer
Source: Sky News 9:51am UK, Monday March 28, 2011
Rhiannon Mills, Sky News reporter
The rising rate of breast cancer in Britain could be curbed if drugs were given to high-risk patients to try to prevent the illness, according to an international panel of experts.
Scans are currently the top option for detecting and monitoring breast cancer, but leading cancer doctors now believe those at high risk should be offered medication.
Trials of drugs already prescribed to treat breast cancer have shown to reduce the chances of patients developing the disease by around a third, the doctors say.
In the journal Lancet Oncology, chairman of the panel Professor Jack Cuzick, a Cancer Research UK epidemiologist based at Queen Mary, University of London, writes: "There's strong evidence to show that drugs such as tamoxifen are effective at preventing breast cancer in women with greater than average risk of the disease.
"But it's important to find ways of predicting who will respond, so drugs like this can be targeted at those most likely to benefit and least likely to experience side-effects.
I don't think they should push it on people who don't really know even if they're high risk because they may want to plan a different lifestyle. If it prevents people from having children or gives them a poor quality of life.
Toral Shah, who has received treatment for breast cancer
"Increased breast density is one of the leading risk factors for breast cancer and early trial results suggest that where tamoxifen is shown to decrease density the risk of cancer decreases.
"If this is confirmed in long-term studies, breast density could become a powerful way to identify high-risk women who could benefit from preventive treatments."
A range of drugs have been considered for breast cancer prevention, including tamoxifen and raloxifene - which are licensed in the US.
Newer drugs - such as lasofozifene, arzoxifene and aromatase inhibitors - have also shown promise but need further investigation.
But treatments can cause side-effects - such as hot flushes, blood clots and in some cases womb cancer.
PROF JACK CUZICK: IT WILL BE A POWERFUL STRATEGY
Prof Cuzick adds: "Although drugs such as tamoxifen and raloxifene are licensed in the US, we know that neither is widely used, mainly due to concern around the potential side effects, and an inability to predict breast cancer risk accurately.
"We hope that in the future it may be possible to assess women's breast cancer risk as part of routine breast screening and offer personalised advice about risk reduction and medicines for preventing breast cancer."
Toral Shah, who was given tamoxifen when she was diagnosed with the disease at the age of 29, has mixed feelings about the proposed new use for the drug.
"I don't think they should push it on people who don't really know even if they're high risk because they may want to plan a different lifestyle," she told Sky News.
"If it prevents people from having children or gives them a poor quality of life, I don't think it's fair to push it on them."
Breast cancer is on the rise, with almost 50,000 cases diagnosed every year.
The medication will not suit everyone but with the clinical trials under way it is hoped it could prove to be a lifesaver for some.
Call for routine prostate cancer screening
source: BBC News 28 March 2011 Last updated at 22:12
For 59-year-old Philip Smith, the prostate cancer he was diagnosed with three years ago has proved to be terminal.
He knows he will join the 10,000 men that the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) say die every year from prostate cancer in the UK - the equivalent of one per hour.
Mr Smith is calling for a routine screening programme for the condition, which he believes would have saved his life.
The NHS' national screening committee rejected the idea in December 2010. More than 36,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year in the UK.
Extreme mood swings
Mr Smith is one of many men whose diagnosis came too late for a cure. The photographer from Basingstoke is currently undergoing chemotherapy that has thinned and greyed his hair and causes extreme mood swings.
"You find out you have no future any longer. It's been taken away from you. Your hope, your dreams, everything's gone," he told the BBC.
"You're just numb. You just go into silence. You just think of the word cancer."
But Mr Smith's call for a national routine screening programme is controversial.
A major European trial released in 2010 showed one in eight men who were screened tested positive for the condition when, in fact, they did not have the disease.
PSA test
- Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a protein produced by the prostate gland
- The test measures the level of PSA in the blood
- The PSA level alone does not give doctors enough information about a possible cancer so it is used alongside other checks such as a rectal examination
- Source: National Cancer Institute
Meanwhile some men with the disease were given the all-clear.
The European Randomised Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer carried out its trial in seven countries.
BAUS is concerned about the distress such false diagnoses could cause patients. They also warn about the long-term health effects that come with the risk of unnecessary treatment. The NHS believes the current test for prostate cancer - a blood test known as a PSA - is not reliable enough for a national screening programme. When the NHS screening committee rejected routine nationwide testing, they said 48 men would be wrongly told they had the cancer for every life saved.
New urine test
Consultant neurologist Christopher Eden at Royal Surrey County Hospital is in favour of a national screening programme. But he acknowledges that the PSA is "not particularly sensitive or specific".
Results have to be checked with a biopsy, an invasive procedure that tests tissue from the affected area.
But Dr Eden is certain the potential benefits of screening outweigh the problems, adding that if the cancer was caught early then patients required "less radical treatment".
He highlighted new studies from Sweden and America showing fewer misdiagnoses.
His team at the Royal Surrey County Hospital is also developing a new urine test. Cancer Research UK has welcomed the findings, but says more work is needed.
Mr Smith said he was angry the NHS already screened for breast cancer, a condition he said received more publicity than prostate cancer.
Dr Eden agrees male cancer should receive more funding but acknowledged women were more vigilant about their health.
He warned men may experience no obvious symptoms in the early onset of prostate cancer and should make sure they are checked.
Cancer Breakthrough After Tadpole Tests
Source: Sky News 3:21pm UK, Thursday March 24, 2011
Thomas Moore, health correspondent
A drug discovered with the help of tadpoles could prevent the spread of the deadliest form of skin cancer.
The drug leflunomide is already used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.
But after tests on tadpoles scientists have concluded it could be a powerful treatment for malignant melanoma.
Researchers at the University of East Anglia used tadpoles because of an evolutionary link between the pattern of dark spots on their skin and the way melanoma cancer cells spread around the body in humans.
They injected 3,000 compounds into frog embryos and discovered that leflunomide dramatically changed the way the pigment pattern developed on the tadpoles.
Subsequent lab tests on human melanoma cells confirmed the drug could also affect tumour growth.
Clinical trials on patients will start later this year in the United States.
If you're advised that there is this drug that will stop the spread of your melanoma, it must be incredible news.
Skin cancer sufferer Janet Pearce
Dr Grant Wheeler, who led the team, said leflunomide had already been shown to be safe in humans, so trials should be completed in as little as three years.
"It's really good news," he told Sky News.
"It can go into clinic really quickly. It's also relatively cheap, so it won't be a problem in that respect either. This is an exciting breakthrough for treating people in the future for melanoma."
Tests have shown that leflunomide has an even more powerful effect on melanoma when used in combination with an experimental drug called PLX4720.
When used together, the drugs almost completely blocked tumour growth.
Effective treatment for malignant melanoma is desperately needed. Around 10,000 patients a year are diagnosed with the disease and 2,000 die.
Janet Pearce had a dodgy mole removed 12 years ago, but the cancer returned last year.
Chemotherapy is all doctors have left, but she has not given up hope.
The research is published in the science journal Nature.
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