Oncology news
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Digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) is not significantly different from standard digital mammography as a screening tool for the detection of breast cancer in a population-based screening programme. The results of a Norwegian study were published in June 2019 in The Lancet Oncology [1].
Women with risky lifestyle factors have an increased risk of breast cancer overall. According to a new Norwegian study [1], this association is limited to luminal-A like and luminal B-like HER2+ subtypes of breast cancer, as opposed to luminal B-like HER2–, HER2+ or triple-negative subtypes.
In the first prospective study of directly measured body fat distribution and prostate cancer risk, investigators found that higher levels of abdominal and thigh fat are associated with an increased risk of aggressive prostate cancer. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the findings may lead to a better understanding of the relationship between obesity and prostate cancer and provide new insights for treatment [1].
The INTENT project aims to find solutions for innovative patient-centered cancer care. It targets and involves various types of actors: cancer care providers, patients and policy makers. The aim is to work with these groups to create a better understanding of how to interpret the patient-centered approach and identify ways for improving cancer care in central Europe.
A group of researchers from Osaka University have recently reported increases in specific microbiome organisms that are linked to the malignancies associated with colorectal cancer, such as intramucosal carcinomas and polypoid adenomas. Their results, recently published in Nature Medicine, reveal that these specific markers could help distinguish cases of colorectal cancer from healthy samples [1].
Use of statins before or after a diagnosis of colorectal cancer was linked with a lower risk of premature death, both from cancer and from other causes, in a Cancer Medicine analysis of published studies [1].
Urine testing may be as effective as the smear test at preventing cervical cancer, according to new research by University of Manchester scientists. The study, led by Dr Emma Crosbie and published in BMJ Open [1], found that urine testing was just as good as the cervical smear at picking up high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus that causes cervical cancer.
A potential new immune-based therapy to treat precancers in the cervix completely eliminated both the lesion and the underlying HPV infection in a third of women enrolled in a clinical trial, according to a study published in Gynecologic Oncology [1].
Cancers have long been known to arise due to environmental exposures such as unhealthy diet or smoking. Lately, the microbes living in and on our body have entered the stage as key players: while stomach cancer can be caused by a single bacterial species, Helicobacter pylori, the role that gut microbes play in the development of colorectal cancer – the third most common cancer worldwide – is less clear. To determine their influence, association studies aim to map how the microbes colonizing the gut of colorectal cancer patients are different from those that inhabit healthy subjects.
Billions worldwide are infected with tropical worms. Unsurprisingly, most of these people live in poor countries, kept poor by the effects of worm-related malnourishment. What may surprise many is that worms also cause the majority of cases of some cancers in these countries. Published in Frontiers in Medicine as a special article collection on parasite-associated malignancy [1], new research aims to inform prevention and treatment – and perhaps even turn worms against cancer.
Exercise may play a role in reducing the growth of colon cancer cells according to new research published in The Journal of Physiology [1]. The study found that after a short session of high intensity interval training (HIIT), growth of colon cancer cells was reduced, and this also increased indicators of inflammation.
Scientists have created the most comprehensive method yet to predict a woman’s risk of breast cancer, according to a study by Cancer Research UK published in Genetics in Medicine [1].