Should Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy Be Prescribed Antioxidants?

2/19/2006 Thousand Oaks, CA Ralph W. Moss, PhD Integrative Cancer Therapies, Vol. 5, No. 1, 63-82 (2006) In September 2005, CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians published a warning by Gabriella D’Andrea, MD, against the concurrent use of antioxidants with radiotherapy and chemotherapy. However, several deficiencies of the CA article soon became apparent, not least the selective omission of prominent studies that contradicted the author’s conclusions. While acknowledging that only large-scale, randomized trials could provide a valid basis for therapeutic recommendations, the author sometimes relied on laboratory rather than clinical data to support her claim that harm resulted from the concurrent use of antioxidants and chemotherapy. She also sometimes extrapolated from chemoprevention studies rather than those on the concurrent use of antioxidants per se. The article overstated the degree to which the laboratory data diverged in regard to the safety and efficacy of antioxidant therapy: in fact, the preponderance of data suggests a synergistic or at least harmless effect with most high-dose dietary antioxidants and chemotherapy. The practical recommendations made in the article to avoid the general class of antioxidants during chemotherapy are inconsistent, in that if antioxidants were truly a threat to the efficacy of standard therapy, antioxidant-rich foods, especially fruits and vegetables, ought also be proscribed during treatment. Yet no such recommendation is made. Furthermore, the wide-scale use by both medical and radiation oncologists of synthetic antioxidants (eg, amifostine) to control the adverse effects of cytotoxic treatments is similarly overlooked. In sum, this CA article is incomplete: there [...]

2009-04-10T16:09:35-07:00February, 2006|Archive|

Multiple Robust Signatures for Detecting Lymph Node Metastasis in Head and Neck Cancer

2/19/2006 The Netherlands Paul Roepman et al. Cancer Research 66, 2361-2366, February 15, 2006 Genome-wide mRNA expression measurements can identify molecular signatures of cancer and are anticipated to improve patient management. Such expression profiles are currently being critically evaluated based on an apparent instability in gene composition and the limited overlap between signatures from different studies. We have recently identified a primary tumor signature for detection of lymph node metastasis in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. Before starting a large multicenter prospective validation, we have thoroughly evaluated the composition of this signature. A multiple training approach was used for validating the original set of predictive genes. Based on different combinations of training samples, multiple signatures were assessed for predictive accuracy and gene composition. The initial set of predictive genes is a subset of a larger group of 825 genes with predictive power. Many of the predictive genes are interchangeable because of a similar expression pattern across the tumor samples. The head and neck metastasis signature has a more stable gene composition than previous predictors. Exclusion of the strongest predictive genes could be compensated by raising the number of genes included in the signature. Multiple accurate predictive signatures can be designed using various subsets of predictive genes. The absence of genes with strong predictive power can be compensated by including more genes with lower predictive power. Lack of overlap between predictive signatures from different studies with the same goal may be explained by the fact that there are more predictive [...]

2009-04-10T16:09:03-07:00February, 2006|Archive|

Evaluating predictive factors for determining enteral nutrition in patients receiving radical radiotherapy for head and neck cancer: A retrospective review

2/19/2006 Manchester, UK Stephen Mangar et al. Radiother Oncol, February 5, 2006 Background and Purpose: To identify objective pre-treatment clinical parameters that could be used to predict for patients at high risk of requiring enteral tube feeding prior to head and neck radiotherapy. Pa;tients and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 160 consecutive patients attending for radiotherapy assessment. Regression analysis was used to determine various pre-treatment nutritional and tumour specific parameters associated with the use of enteral nutrition either before (prophylactic) or during (reactive) radiotherapy (RT). The significant parameters identified were then selected into categorical variables and compared between those who needed reactive enteral nutrition and the remainder of the group who did not. These results were used to generate predictive factors that could be used to identify those at high risk of malnutrition during RT for whom early or prophylactic enteral nutrition should be considered. Results: Fifty patients required enteral feeding of which 60% required this prior to radiotherapy. Multivariate analysis identified the following factors to be significant-body mass index, performance status (PS), advanced stage, pre-treatment weight loss, low serum albumin and protein, age, and smoking. The most significant categorical predictive parameters for reactive enteral feeding were stage 3-4 disease, PS 2-3, and smoking (3)20/day. The combination of these factors predicted a 75% chance of needing enteral nutrition. Conclusion: Nutritional assessment is important prior to radiotherapy and is multifactorial. Using a combination of relatively simple and objective parameters, (performance status, smoking and disease stage) it is possible to [...]

2009-04-10T16:08:35-07:00February, 2006|Archive|

Novel Cancer Therapy Developed From Basic Research

2/19/2006 Martinsreid, Germany staff Medical News Today (www.medicalnewstoday.com) Cancer researcher Professor Axel Ullrich, a director at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried, Germany, already showed at the beginning of the 1990s that blocking blood vessel development in a tumour slows down its growth, and shrinks its tissue. This fundamental principle led to the development of SUTENTÂ, whose active ingredient is Sunitinib. SUTENTÂ was recently approved for clinical use in the United States, and it is expected to be brought onto the German market this year. When particular growth factors are bound to specific receptors on the surface of a cell, this can cause the cell to propagate itself and build certain tissue similar to blood vessels. Worldwide, research into receptors has focused on a special class of proteins, called tyrosine kinases. They are responsible for causing the received signal to be transduced through a long signalling cascade into the nucleus, triggering cell division and multiplication. Signalling cascades are absolutely necessary, if various tissues - like blood vessels, nerve tissue, and connective tissue - are to be built up during the development of an organism and in the process of tissue regeneration. Research has focussed on these tumour cell signalling cascades, because in cancers they are often disturbed. If there were a way to block growth factors, or the receptors on the cellular surface from tumour cells, that could lead to targeted therapies against cancers. Already in the 1980s, cancer researcher Axel Ullrich, then a scientist at Genentech (USA), [...]

2009-04-11T07:45:15-07:00February, 2006|Archive|

Anesthetic Gel Relieves Discomfort in Patients with Head and Neck Cancer

2/17/2006 Iowa City, IA staff CancerConsultants.com According to a study published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics, use of an oral anesthetic gel relieves the pain experienced by patients with oral mucositis following radiation therapy for head and neck cancer. Approximately 40,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with head and neck cancer every year. Cancers of the head and neck comprise several types of cancer affecting the nasal cavity, sinuses, oral cavity, nasopharynx, oropharynx, and other sites throughout the head and neck. Oral mucositis refers to inflammation of the oral mucosa (lining of the mouth) that results from chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Symptoms may include redness, swelling, and ulceration. When oral mucositis is severe, patients cannot swallow food or liquid and often have to be given nutrients through a vein. In addition, oral mucositis can cause severe pain, increase the risk of infection, and may limit a patient’s ability to tolerate further treatment. To assess the safety and feasibility of an oral anesthetic gel among patients with oral mucositis, researchers in Italy conducted a phase II clinical trial among 50 patients who had undergone radiation therapy for head and neck cancer. All patients were treated with a tetracaine-based oral gel. Use of the anesthetic gel appeared to be safe and feasible: -79% of patients reported a reduction in oral pain. -71% reported no difficulty in administering the gel. -12% of patients reported that the gel had an unpleasant taste, and 39% reported that the gel interfered [...]

2009-04-10T16:07:35-07:00February, 2006|Archive|

Treatment with Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy at the Same Time Improves Outcomes in Head and Neck Cancer

2/17/2006 Iowa City, IA staff CancerConsultants.com According to an article recently published in an early online version of BMC Cancer, administration of initial chemotherapy and radiation therapy at the same time improves outcomes compared to sequential administration in patients with advanced head and neck cancer. Cancers of the head and neck comprise several types of cancer affecting the nasal cavity, sinuses, oral cavity, nasopharynx, oropharynx, and other sites throughout the head and neck. The American Cancer Society estimated that 11,000 people would die from head and neck cancer in 2005. Stage IV head and neck cancer refers to the most advanced stage of cancer; cancer at this stage has spread extensively from its site of origin. Standard treatment for advanced head and neck cancer typically includes chemotherapy and radiation, particularly for patients who are not eligible for surgery. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy can be administered at the same time (concurrent or concomitant), or one type of therapy can be administered following completion of the other therapy (sequential). Both concurrent and sequential strategies may include several different types of regimens. Researchers continue to evaluate various schedules and regimens of chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy for the treatment of head and neck cancer. Researchers recently conducted a clinical trial to evaluate different regimens of chemotherapy and radiation therapy for the treatment of advanced head and neck cancer. This trial included 122 patients with stage IV head and neck cancer who were not eligible for surgery. Patients were treated between 1987 and 1995 and [...]

2009-04-10T16:07:03-07:00February, 2006|Archive|

Study finds excessive drinking may cause cancer

2/17/2006 Ithaca, NY Karin Fleming The Ithacan Online (www.ithaca.edu/ithacan) Decades after Joe Jackson’s hit song “Cancer,” his statement that everything causes cancer continues to be reinforced. The latest substance under attack is one that 23 percent of college students consume in excess — alcohol. A CNN study released Feb. 3 found a link between certain types of cancer and the intake of alcohol — the more alcohol consumed, the higher the risk for cancer. The 23 percent of students who drink excessively, as defined by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, drink four drinks a night if they’re women and five if they’re men, and they drink three or more times in two weeks. This intake and frequency can be linked to cancers of the mouth, larynx, liver, breast, lung and pancreas. “Cancer runs in my family, so hearing that drinking can increase the already high susceptibility I have for it is terrifying,” said junior Monica Marcenko. Drinking alcohol causes damage to the cells of the upper- respiratory tract, which could initiate cancer after prolonged periods of abuse, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research. Also, those who drink alcohol are six times more likely to develop oral cancer than those who abstain, and about 75 percent of oral cancer patients drank alcohol in excess. Women are also more prone to developing cancer than men, because of the different compositions of their bodies. Because women generally have more fat and less muscle tissue than men, alcohol — [...]

2009-04-10T16:06:28-07:00February, 2006|Archive|

Doctors taking cancer treatment technology back to Taiwan

2/17/2006 Shreveport, LA James Ramage Shreveport Times (www.shreveportimes.com) Doctors from Taiwan are so impressed with a relatively new and flexible radiation treatment system for cancer patients that the Willis-Knighton Cancer Center specializes in, called TomoTherapy, they ventured to Shreveport to learn more about it. And training under cancer center experts here gives the Taiwanese physicians the ability to establish a unit in their own hospital, they said. From Sunday through Wednesday, two doctors from the radiation oncology department at the 1,200-bed Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, in the city of Taichung, visited Shreveport to learn from the experts at Willis-Knighton, which says, with more than 450 patients treated with TomoTherapy, it is the most experienced in the world at treating cancer patients with the system. Following an October visit to Taiwan from Dr. Lane Rosen, director of radiation oncology at Willis-Knighton Cancer Center, Drs. Hsien-Chun Tseng and Shih-Tsung Chang during their visit have gained hands-on experience with how TomoTherapy works. They have learned how to use image-guided intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), which employs hundreds of tiny beams of radiation, which can each be controlled to focus on a tumor to destroy cancer cells and minimize radiation to healthy tissue around that tumor, Rosen said. The system also provides three-dimensional images of the tumor just prior to each treatment and delivers precise doses of radiation from 360 degrees, Rosen said. "We came here and wanted to see a doctor actually use the machine," Chang said. "We'll return to Taiwan to [...]

2009-04-10T16:05:28-07:00February, 2006|Archive|

Cauliflower And Broccoli Boost Cancer Protection

2/14/2006 United Kingdom staff Biocompare Life Science News (news.biocompare.com) Naturally occurring chemicals found in certain vegetables, like broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage, can enhance DNA repair in cells, perhaps helping to stop them becoming cancerous, according to a report published in the British Journal of Cancer today (Tuesday). The researchers, based at Georgetown University in Washington DC, have shown that a compound called I3C** found in these vegetables, and a chemical called genistein found in soy beans, both increase the levels of vital DNA repair proteins in cancer cells. Although population studies have suggested a link between eating such vegetables and protection against cancer before, this study now puts forward a molecular mechanism on how they might work. The repair proteins, regulated by genes called BRCA1 and BRCA2, are important for preventing damaged genetic information being passed on to the next generation of cells. If people have a faulty BRCA gene they are at a higher risk of developing some forms of cancer, including breast, ovarian and prostate cancer. Since decreased amounts of the BRCA proteins are seen in cancer cells, higher levels might prevent cancer developing. The ability of I3C and genistein to boost the amount of BRCA proteins could explain their protective effects. Professor Eliot M. Rosen, senior author of the report, said: "Studies that monitor people¿s diets and their health have found links between certain types of food and cancer risk. However, before we can say a food protects against cancer, we have to understand how it does [...]

2009-04-10T16:04:54-07:00February, 2006|Archive|

MRI Drug May Improve Cancer-Killing Ability of Chemotherapy, Study Says

2/14/2006 Bethesda, MD press release Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 98, No. 4, 221, February 15, 2006 A contrast agent currently used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), called mangafodipir, may increase the cancer-killing ability of some chemotherapy drugs while protecting normal cells, according to a study in the February 15 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Many anticancer drugs work by increasing the levels of tumor cell hydrogen peroxide. Tumor cells are particularly sensitive to hydrogen peroxide and die as a result. However, certain enzymes in the body can work to protect cells from this kind of damage, rendering certain cancer drugs less effective. In addition, the drugs are toxic to normal cells. The drug mangafodipir, a contrast agent given to patients before they have an MRI, helps promote the production of hydrogen peroxide while at the same time, through different biologic mechanisms, protects healthy cells from the negative effects of oxidative damage. Jérôme Alexandre, M.D., of the Groupe hospitalier Cochin-Saint Vincent de Paul in Paris, and colleagues exposed tumor cells and white blood cells from 10 cancer patients and white blood cells from six control subjects to three chemotherapy drugs—paclitaxel, oxaliplatin, and 5-fluorouracil—in the presence or absence of mangafodipir. They also studied the effects of mangafodipir on colon cancer cells in mice treated with paclitaxel. The authors found that mangafodipir protected the white blood cells taken from healthy volunteers and from cancer patients. The drug also protected paclitaxel-treated mice from infection that would cause [...]

2009-04-10T16:04:24-07:00February, 2006|Archive|
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