1/26/2005 Cancer, published online January 24, 2005 A new study debunks the theory that personality traits are risk factors for cancer. Scientists have hypothesized that a high degree of extroversion and a low degree of neuroticism are associated with an increased risk for cancer. The theory suggests extroverts have an increased risk because they seek social stimulation and as a result experience high levels of stress. People with low neuroticism have been thought to be at an increased risk for cancer because they tend to have a diminished emotional outlet and accumulate stress. However, some larger studies have found no such associations. Researchers at the Institute of Cancer Epidemiology in Copenhagen, Denmark, conducted one of the largest studies to date to examine this association. They followed 29,595 Swedish twins for 25 years examining cancer history, health behavior, and personality trait data. Collecting data on twins provides a unique opportunity, say the study authors, to look at the hypothesized association while adjusting for genetic factors and other risk factors. In the 1,898 cases of cancer reported among the group, no association was found between neuroticism or extroversion and any group of cancer. They also did not find any support for an indirect association where certain personality traits influence health behavior, such as smoking, and thus indirectly affect risk for cancer. Source: Cancer, January 24, 2005 as reported by Ivanhoe.com

1/25/2005 Mumbai, India Prachi Jatania Mumbai Newsline (cities.expressindia.com) A small, cramped office room at Bandra Reclamation. This is the war room for their ideas, which interestingly are a tad older than the thinkers themselves. The six of them, just out of college, can debate rock stars and oral cancer in the same afternoon, at an age when you usually discuss either rock stars or oral cancer—not both. Their mission—to stop the non-smoker from taking that first puff. ‘‘Cigarette companies need 4,000 new smokers everyday,’’ they rattle off. The group, with an average age of 20, met at the Bandra event management insitute where they study. And their big project right now is a rock concert they’re organising to spread the word. ‘‘Rock bands are usually associated with drugs and cigarettes, which the young blindly emulate. We thought why not use rock to say something positive,’’ says bespectacled Siddharth Jain aka ‘Squid’, the software whiz of the group. It all began with a college project that spiralled into a serious need to do “something constructive’’. The outcome was SWAT (Students Working Against Tobacco), which took off in October 2004, with a dozen additional members who felt the same way about tobacco. SWAT now has 30 full-time members and centres in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune. The core group focuses on college contact programmes where they make presentations and enact plays on the benefits of ‘‘staying off smoking’’. And the presentations are not amateur attempts at communication—they carry endorsements from youth icons like [...]

1/25/2005 Stanton Glantz et al. The Lancet (http:www.//thelancet.com) as reported by medicalnewstoday.com The strategies used by the tobacco industry to counteract research linking tobacco smoke to cancer-causing mutations in a gene called p53 are detailed in a study published online (Friday January 14, 2005) in The Lancet. (http:www.//thelancet.com) Damage to the p53 gene leads to uncontrolled cell division. Mutations in this gene are found in over 50% of all human tumours, including 60% of lung cancers. Benzo[a]pyrene, a potent carcinogen, was identified in cigarette smoke in 1952. In the 1990's, studies demonstrated patterned changes in p53 after exposure to benzo[a]pyrene. A 1996 landmark study showed benzo[a]pyrene's interaction with p53 mirrored mutations found in actual human lung tumours. This finding provided strong molecular evidence of the direct carcinogenic effect of a tobacco smoke constituent. Stanton Glantz (University of California, San Francisco, USA) and colleagues examined 43 previously confidential tobacco industry documents relating to p53 and tobacco smoke. The researchers found that prior to 1996, several tobacco companies supported research projects investigating the mechanisms of p53 mutations. Following the 1996 landmark study, tobacco companies planned a number of research projects in response and supported studies which appeared to cast doubt on a link between p53 damage and benzo[a]pyrene in tobacco smoke. In two instances research arguing against a connection was undertaken and published by individuals with links to tobacco companies. Both studies were published in a journal, whose editor-in-chief, has an extensive and undisclosed history of working as a tobacco industry researcher [...]

1/25/2005 Mississauga, Ontario, Canada press release Yahoo! Finance (biz.yahoo.com) Results Permit Pediatric Brain Cancer Trial to be Converted into Pivotal Randomized First-Line Therapy Trial YM BioSciences Inc. today announced that it has been advised by its European partner, Oncoscience AG, that the Phase II trial in children with brain cancer (glioma) utilizing the EGF receptor monoclonal antibody (h-R3) as a monotherapy achieved the clinical milestone that permits conversion of the trial into a pivotal trial in this population. The new study will be a randomized Phase III trial comparing radiation (the standard-of-care) to radiation plus h-R3 as a first-line therapy following surgery. YM has been advised that the trial is expected to enroll 100 patients and is targeted for completion in the second quarter of 2006. Results from the original trial will be formally presented at the "European High-Grade Glioma Meeting" on February 25-26, 2005 in Regensburg, Germany. "Although the results are preliminary in nature, we have been advised that at least three patients responded to the treatment, allowing the early conversion of the trial into a more significant pivotal trial. This is a welcome and unanticipated result in a patient population for whom no other therapy is available and prognosis is very poor," said David Allan, Chairman of YM BioSciences. The study is being conducted in Germany by YM's partner in Europe, Oncoscience AG, and is the first trial of this antibody as a monotherapy and its first trial in children. "Early termination of the trial for success in [...]

1/24/2005 J Huston J Hum Nutr Diet, December 1, 2004; 17(6): 577-8 The Time Out Project at Barts and the London NHS Trust is designed to allow allied health professionals (AHP) to develop their research skills. This is done by funding a locum to cover an AHP's post for 10 working days to allow them to undertake a mini research project. Background: Head and neck cancer (HNC) patients are at high risk of nutrition-related problems due to the nature of their disease and the side effects of cancer treatment. Emergency admissions to hospital for nutrition-related and dehydration problems are common in this group of patients due to difficulties associated with administering nutrition and fluids. The aim of this project was to examine the efficacy of prophylactic gastrostomy tubes in HNC patients undergoing cancer therapy. The objectives were to review current literature relating to the use of feeding tubes in such patients and to develop guidelines on which group of patients benefit from prophylactic placement of a gastrostomy. Method: The Medline database, 1996 to February 2003, was searched for relevant papers. Other papers cited in these were also used, if they were pertinent to the project. Medline was also searched between 1966 and March 2003 for any randomized controlled trials in this clinical area. The Cochrane Database was reviewed to see whether any systematic reviews relating to the subject matter were available. Inclusion criteriaExclusion criteriaStudies looking at enteral feeding in HNC patientsStudies looking at total parenteral nutrition, immunonutrition or jejunal feedingStudies [...]

1/24/2005 HealthDayNews The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the Amgen intravenous drug Kepivance (palifermin) to prevent mucositis, a common side effect among blood cancer patients who have chemotherapy before bone marrow transplants. Patients with mucositis, characterized by debilitating, painful sores in the lining of the mouth and throat, often have trouble eating, drinking and swallowing. Some 11,000 adults with hematologic cancers -- including non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, leukemia and multiple myeloma -- have bone marrow transplants each year, Amgen said. The new drug works to stimulate the growth of cells in the mouth and throat that protect tissue from the harmful effects of chemotherapy and/or radiation. The most common side effects of Kepivance use were skin rash, tingling sensations in the mouth and throat, and an increase in certain blood proteins that signal pancreatic irritation. None of these conditions is considered serious, the FDA said. as reported by rednova.com

1/24/2005 S Choi, DL Schwartz, DG Farwell, M Austin-Seymour, and N Futran Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg, November 1, 2004; 130(11): 1308-12 Objective: To determine whether external beam radiation therapy (XRT), administered either before or after surgery, increases the rate and/or severity of local postoperative complications in patients with head and neck cancer who undergo microvascular free flap reconstruction. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, a tertiary care hospital. Patients: A total of 100 consecutive patients underwent fibular free flap reconstruction of the mandible. The study cohort was divided according to radiation treatment status: (1) no XRT (28 patients), (2) preoperative XRT (37 patients), and (3) postoperative XRT (35 patients). The median follow-up after surgery was 11 months (range, 1-89 months). Main Outcome Measures: Rate and severity of local postoperative complications. Results: Fifty-four patients (54%) had at least 1 postoperative complication. There were no differences among the 3 XRT subgroups in the overall proportion of patients with complications of any severity (15 [54%] of 28 patients in the no XRT group, 24 [65%] of 37 patients in the preoperative XRT group, and 16 [46%] of 35 patients in the postoperative XRT group; P = .26, chi(2) analysis). There were also no differences seen when mild and severe complication rates were specifically examined (P = .58 and P = .10, respectively). No case of complete flap loss was observed. We noted no significant correlations between the rate of postoperative complications and the following covariates: total radiation [...]

1/24/2005 Carlisle, PA Leah Farr www.cumberlink.com Marty Frost hit a low point in his life last year. In July, he was diagnosed with mouth cancer. Then in October doctors discovered he also had throat cancer. Frost began a long — and sometimes extremely painful — treatment plan that included surgery and 31 radiation treatments. However, the pain was eased with his discovery of reiki, a therapy that he says gives him rest and renewed hope. Frost and other cancer patients are finding that yoga, massage therapy and reiki, a gentle touch long practiced in Eastern cultures to promote relaxation and energy, can help improve their quality of life. They can receive these complementary therapies at the Carlisle YWCA through a nine-month pilot program funded by a grant from the Carlisle Area Health and Wellness Foundation. Designed for people in all stages of the disease - from those who are newly diagnosed to anyone 18 months post treatment - "this program can be like an oasis for people in the middle of treatment," reiki practitioner Gigi Jantos says. It also "empowers the individual to participate fully in their recovery" as well as "improves their sense of physical and emotional well-being." The treatments are known as complementary therapies because they are not a substitute for proven medical treatment. "The main goal of the program is to improve the life quality," Jantos says. The medical benefits include reducing anxiety, stress, pain, nausea and fatigue. Other options The American Cancer Society estimates that more [...]

1/24/2005 William M. Mendenhall J. Clin. Oncol. published 1 November 2004, 10.1200/JCO.2004.09.959 The presentation of osteoradionecrosis (ORN) after radiotherapy (RT) for head and neck cancer varies from small, asymptomatic bone exposures that may remain stable for months to years or heal with conservative management, to severe necroses necessitating surgical intervention and reconstruction. The risk of developing ORN depends on a number of factors, including primary site, T stage, proximity of the tumor to bone, dentition, type of treatment (external beam RT, brachytherapy, surgery, and chemotherapy), and RT dose. Other factors that probably influence the likelihood of developing ORN include the nutritional status of the patient and continued tobacco or alcohol abuse. The mandible is the most common site of ORN, probably because it is often necessary to deliver a high RT dose to tumors near the mandible and possibly also because the blood supply may be less abundant than that of the maxilla. Although patients treated with definitive RT for oral cavity malignancies are more likely to experience minor or moderate bone complications compared with those treated with surgery and adjuvant RT, the likelihood of severe ORN is probably similar after either treatment strategy.2,3 Patients in whom the RT portals include only the angle or ramus of the mandible, such as those with laryngeal or hypopharyngeal cancers, have a very low likelihood of experiencing severe ORN. Edentulous patients probably have a lower risk of developing ORN than dentulous patients. Patients with poor dentition whose teeth will be in the high-dose [...]

1/22/2005 editorial staff Anticancer Research Journal reported by Cancer Weekly via NewsRx.com Resveratrol. It may be a mouthful to pronounce, but new research suggests the importance of choosing foods like cranberries that naturally contain this anticancer compound. Researchers have linked resveratrol to the prevention of a wide variety of types of cancer including: -Breast Cancer -Prostate Cancer -Lymphoma -Leukemia -Colon Cancer -Pancreatic Cancer -Gastric Cancer -Melanoma -Lung Cancer -Liver Cancer -Thyroid, Head and Neck Cancers -Ovarian and Endometrial Cancers A research team led by Dr. Bharat Aggarwal at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, in conjunction with Dr. Navindra Seeram of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, David Geffen School of Medicine, published their review article in a recent issue of the journal Anticancer Research. According to Seeram, "We reviewed over seventy previous studies examining resveratrol's ability to cause cancer cells to stop from spreading and in fact cause cell death in existing cancer cells. Foods containing this compound - like grapes, peanuts, cranberries and other berries - belong in a healthy diet." In vitro (studies conducted in a test tube or outside a living organism) and animal studies comprised the majority of the research reviewed by Seeram and Aggarwal, though several of the leukemia studies were in vivo (inside the animal). The research points to anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of resveratrol as well. In addition to helping with cancer prevention, cranberries pack a powerhouse of protective properties that may prevent a number of other conditions. The antiadhesion [...]