Posted by su2c on October 7, 2011 10:54 AM
Breast Cancer: Treatment is no longer one-size-fits-allTumors are discovered in the breasts of nearly 290,000 women in the U.S. each year, according to the American Cancer Society. Until 40 years ago, women were treated more or less uniformly, with radical mastectomy, radiation and some form of primitive hormone therapy, such as removal of the pituitary gland. However, as scientists have learned more about the molecular underpinnings of breast cancer, doctors have come to see it not as a single disease but as a family of ailments for which they can tailor therapies accordingly. This kind of increasingly detailed knowledge is transforming the way breast cancer is treated. "Breast cancer is a more complicated disease than we used to think," says Dr. Armando E. Giuliano, a surgical oncologist and co-director of the Breast Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. "By looking at the markers and molecular sub-types, we see major differences in how you might treat them." Now, some doctors are optimistic that by learning more about the molecular characteristics of breast cancers, they'll be able to classify them more narrowly and do a better job of matching tumors to treatments. They are hopeful this could help make certain types of breast cancer as manageable as chronic illnesses like diabetes one day.
http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-breast-cancer-treatment-20111001,0,1048617.story
New Evidence in the Connection Between HPV and Oral Cancer
Throat cancers caused by a virus transmitted during oral sex have increased significantly in the United States in recent years, researchers reported on Monday.
Throat cancers caused by a virus transmitted during oral sex have increased significantly in the United States in recent years, researchers reported on Monday.
The virus is the same one that causes many cases of cervical cancer: human papillomavirus (HPV) Type 16. Researchers tested tumor samples from 271 patients with certain types of throat cancer diagnosed from 1984 to 2004. The virus was found in only 16 percent of the samples from the 1980s--but in 72 percent of those collected after 2000. The researchers estimated that over all, throat cancers caused by the virus have increased to 2.6 per 100,000 people in 2004 from 0.8 cases per 100,000 people in 1988. If the trend continues by 2020 the virus will be causing more throat cancer than cervical cancer. Doctors in the U.S. and other countries had already noticed increases in throat cancers caused by HPV, but this study offers the first definitive evidence.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/health/research/04hpv.html?_r=1&scp=6&sq=cancer&st=cse
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/health/research/04hpv.html?_r=1&scp=6&sq=cancer&st=cse
Men May Need Screening for Colon Cancer Earlier than Women do
New research from the Medical University of Vienna in Austria suggests that men may need to begin colon cancer screening earlier than women. The study, published in the September 28 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that men were far more likely to have potentially precancerous lesions (also called polyps or adenomas) in their colon -- 24.9 percent of men compared to 14.8 percent of women -- and to have them at an earlier age. However, at least one U.S. expert says that screening guidelines don't need to be changed based on these findings alone. "There were very few people under 50 in this study, and all of those were referred because they have a high risk of colon cancer," said Dr. David Bernstein, chief of the division of gastroenterology at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y. He noted that all of these people would have been referred for screening in the United States because they were already high risk. He also added that while the issue might warrant further investigation, he doesn't see any need to make gender-based screening recommendations for colorectal cancer as of yet. Current colorectal cancer screening guidelines recommend that both men and women begin colonoscopy screening at age 50 unless they are told by a physician that they may have a higher risk of developing it.
http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/medical/menshealth/story/2011-10-01/Study-Men-may-need-colon-cancer-screening-earlier-than-women-do/50619690/1
New research from the Medical University of Vienna in Austria suggests that men may need to begin colon cancer screening earlier than women. The study, published in the September 28 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that men were far more likely to have potentially precancerous lesions (also called polyps or adenomas) in their colon -- 24.9 percent of men compared to 14.8 percent of women -- and to have them at an earlier age. However, at least one U.S. expert says that screening guidelines don't need to be changed based on these findings alone. "There were very few people under 50 in this study, and all of those were referred because they have a high risk of colon cancer," said Dr. David Bernstein, chief of the division of gastroenterology at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y. He noted that all of these people would have been referred for screening in the United States because they were already high risk. He also added that while the issue might warrant further investigation, he doesn't see any need to make gender-based screening recommendations for colorectal cancer as of yet. Current colorectal cancer screening guidelines recommend that both men and women begin colonoscopy screening at age 50 unless they are told by a physician that they may have a higher risk of developing it.
http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/medical/menshealth/story/2011-10-01/Study-Men-may-need-colon-cancer-screening-earlier-than-women-do/50619690/1
The Cancer Kiss Off: Getting Dumped After Diagnosis
Getting diagnosed with breast cancer is bad enough. But getting dumped by your significant other right afterwards is sort of like finding a piece of spoiled lettuce on your crap sandwich. Interestingly enough, people have actually studied this phenomenon and discovered that a woman is six times more likely to be separated of divorced shortly after diagnosis of cancer or multiple sclerosis than a man diagnosed with the same diseases. Researchers from three medical centers looked at 515 patients with various types of cancer and multiple sclerosis. Almost half of the patients were women. "The results were similar across all three cohorts," says Dr. Marc Chamberlain, chief neuro-oncology at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and co-author of the 2009 study entitled, "Gender Disparity in the Rate of Partner Abandonment in Patients with Serious Medical Illness." "We did find women who had abandoned male partners, but the differences were striking. There (were) a disproportionate number of partner abandonments in female patients."
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44709926/ns/today-today_health/t/cancer-kiss-off-getting-dumped-after-diagnosis/
Getting diagnosed with breast cancer is bad enough. But getting dumped by your significant other right afterwards is sort of like finding a piece of spoiled lettuce on your crap sandwich. Interestingly enough, people have actually studied this phenomenon and discovered that a woman is six times more likely to be separated of divorced shortly after diagnosis of cancer or multiple sclerosis than a man diagnosed with the same diseases. Researchers from three medical centers looked at 515 patients with various types of cancer and multiple sclerosis. Almost half of the patients were women. "The results were similar across all three cohorts," says Dr. Marc Chamberlain, chief neuro-oncology at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and co-author of the 2009 study entitled, "Gender Disparity in the Rate of Partner Abandonment in Patients with Serious Medical Illness." "We did find women who had abandoned male partners, but the differences were striking. There (were) a disproportionate number of partner abandonments in female patients."
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44709926/ns/today-today_health/t/cancer-kiss-off-getting-dumped-after-diagnosis/
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