Body | Page 4385 | Science Codex

Antioxidant compound reduced incidence of colorectal metachronous adenomas

HOUSTON – Supplementation with a selenium-based antioxidant compound decreased the risk of developing new polyps of the large bowel — called colorectal metachronous adenomas — in people who previously had colorectal polyps removed.

"Our study is the first intervention trial specifically designed to evaluate the efficacy of the selenium-based antioxidant compound on the risk of developing metachronous adenomas," said Luigina Bonelli, M.D., head of the unit of secondary prevention and screening at the National Institute for Cancer Research, in Genoa, Italy.

Exercise reduces death rate in prostate cancer patients

HOUSTON – As little as 15 minutes of exercise a day can reduce overall mortality rates in patients with prostate cancer, according to findings presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, held here, Dec. 6-9, 2009.

"We saw benefits at very attainable levels of activity," said Stacey A. Kenfield, Sc.D., epidemiology research associate at the Harvard School of Public Health and lead author of the study. "The results suggest that men with prostate cancer should do some physical activity for their overall health."

Decline in breast cancer: Not just because of hormone therapy

HOUSTON – Between 2002 and 2003, American women experienced a 7 percent decline in breast cancer incidence, which scientists attribute to the publicity surrounding results of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI).

However, researchers led by Brian Sprague, Ph.D. have conducted a reevaluation of the post-WHI landscape that suggests otherwise.

Coffee consumption associated with reduced risk of advanced prostate cancer

HOUSTON – While it is too early for physicians to start advising their male patients to take up the habit of regular coffee drinking, data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference revealed a strong inverse association between coffee consumption and the risk of lethal and advanced prostate cancers.

Defibrotide improves response rate in patients with severe veno-occlusive disease of the liver

Defibrotide, a novel drug which modulates the response of blood vessels to injury, was markedly more effective than standard treatment in post-stem cell transplant patients with hepatic veno-occlusive disease, a life threatening toxicity of transplant caused by blockages in tiny blood vessels of the liver, according to a study led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists.

Combination therapy with midostaurin improves survival of AML patients with FLT3 mutations, phase 1

NEW ORLEANS—A targeted drug that is active against acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is particularly effective when teamed with chemotherapy in patients whose cancer cells harbor a key genetic mutation, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and their colleagues will report at the American Society of Hematology's (ASH) annual meeting on Monday, Dec. 7 (Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, Room 343-345, 5:15 pm CT).

Spices halt growth of breast stem cells, study finds

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A new study finds that compounds derived from the spices turmeric and pepper could help prevent breast cancer by limiting the growth of stem cells, the small number of cells that fuel a tumor's growth.

Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have found that when the dietary compounds curcumin, which is derived from the Indian spice turmeric, and piperine, derived from black peppers, were applied to breast cells in culture, they decreased the number of stem cells while having no effect on normal differentiated cells.

H1N1 likely to do less damage than previously expected

Boston, MA -- A new study from researchers at the UK Medical Research Council and the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) projects that the severity of the H1N1 flu during the autumn-winter flu season in the U.S. will likely be less than previously feared. The estimates of hospitalizations and life-threatening events in the study are the most accurate to date of the H1N1 pandemic's impact in the U.S. The study appears online on December 7, 2009 in the journal PLoS Medicine.

ESC press release: BMI and waist circumference

Body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference are well known risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVD), but a new study reported in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (a journal of the European Society of Cardiology) today (7 December) now concludes that these risk factors, when accurately measured by trained staff, can actually predict the risk of fatal and non-fatal disease.(1) The findings, which emerged from a large prospective study of more than 20,000 Dutch men and women aged 20-65 years begun in 1993, show that the associations of BMI and

Higher risk for heart disease and diabetes associated with androgen deprivation therapy

Men of all ages treated for prostate cancer with androgen deprivation therapy, specifically with gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists (GnRH), have an increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, according to a new study published online December 7 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Previous studies indicate that older men who take androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer are at an increased risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease, but the relationship between the two among men of all ages is unclear.

Percentage of babies placed to sleep on their backs levels off

The rate of babies being placed on their backs to sleep—a sleep position associated with a dramatic decrease in the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)—has reached a plateau since 2001, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. In addition, racial disparities remain in infant sleeping position.

Troubled childhoods increase disease risk later in life, study suggests

Individuals who experience psychological or social adversity in childhood may have lasting emotional, immune and metabolic abnormalities that help explain why they develop more age-related diseases in adulthood, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Study discovers inverse relationship between gene duplication and alternative splicing

Athens, Ga. – University of Georgia scientists looking to understand the genetic mechanisms of plant defense and growth have found for the first time in plants an inverse relationship between gene duplication and alternative splicing. The finding has implications for diversity not only in plants, but in animals and humans.

The research will be published online in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Isolation, stress may contribute to breast cancer risk

Social isolation and related stress could contribute to human breast cancer susceptibility, research from a rat model designed at the University of Chicago to identify environmental mechanisms contributing to cancer risk shows.

The researchers found that isolation and stress result in a 3.3-fold increase in the risk of developing cancer among rats with naturally occurring mammary tumors.

New platinum compound shows promise in tumor cells

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — MIT chemists have developed a new platinum compound that is as powerful as the commonly used anticancer drug cisplatin but better able to destroy tumor cells.

The new compound, mitaplatin, combines cisplatin with another compound, dichloroacetate (DCA), which can alter the properties of mitochondria selectively in cancer cells. Cancer cells switch their mitochondrial properties to change the way they metabolize glucose compared to normal cells, and DCA specifically targets the altered mitochondria, leaving normal cells intact.