Oncology news

Even if health care is free, colorectal cancer screening rates among those without financial means are still low, and results of a new study suggest that may be due to an idea psychologists call cancer fatalism.

The United Nations (UN) Summit on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and respiratory disease is a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity to avoid a public health disaster, according to a cancer charity.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) testing for the two most dangerous strains (HPV16 and HPV18) detects more high-grade pre-cancerous lesions (which can lead to cervical cancer) than current cervical cancer screening using cytology alone.

The organized breast screening programme has been in operation in the Czech Republic since 2002. A study by Czech researchers, published in the BMC Public Health, summarizes the achievements of this preventive programme.

The most authoritative ever report on bowel cancer risk has confirmed that red and processed meat increase risk of the disease and concluded that the evidence that foods containing fibre protect against bowel cancer has become stronger.

There is not enough evidence to support the suggestion that taking selenium supplements is an effective way for healthy people to protect themselves against cancer, a systematic review of 55 scientific studies has concluded.

Drugs could be used to prevent breast cancer in women at high risk of the disease in the same way that statins are used for heart disease if trials looking at ways of predicting risk are successful, according to an international panel of cancer experts.

People with active life styles are up to a third less likely to develop large or advanced polyps in the bowel which can go on to develop into colon cancer, finds a meta-analysis study published in the British Journal of Cancer.

The world can do more to stop people suffering and dying from cancer, such as embracing measures, including new physical activity guidance, that can prevent one-third of the annual 7.6 million cancer deaths (1) as well as providing better services for early detection and treatment of cancer.

To underline the importance of quality assurance in cancer screening, the first edition of the European Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Colorectal Cancer Screening and Diagnosis is being released at midday today, on the eve of the World Cancer Day. Scientific evidence shows that screening can help significantly to detect colorectal cancer early and reduce mortality due to the disease, ranked the second most deadly cancer in Europe.

About 30 percent of postmenopausal breast cancers could be avoided by more exercise and refraining from hormone replacement therapy. This is a result calculated by scientists of the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) in Heidelberg.