The Surgeon

The sequencing of the human genome has opened the door for proteomics by providing a sequence-based framework for mining proteomes. As a result, there is intense interest in applying proteomics to foster a better understanding of cancer processes, develop new biomarkers for diagnosis and early detection of cancer. Gastric carcinoma is one of the most common malignancies worldwide and is the most common cause of cancer-related death in China. The main barrier for improving survival rate is short of useful marker for early diagnosis.
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Scientists at Sunnybrook Research Institute (SRI) are developing and commercializing a promising novel therapy for the treatment of prostate cancer that may offer patients a faster and more precise treatment than existing clinical alternatives, with fewer side effects.
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Starving the body of food for a couple of days could help in the fight against cancer, according to new research.

Scientists have discovered that a 48-hour fast seems to protect the body’s healthy cells against the toxic effects of chemotherapy drugs.

The breakthrough could provide a solution to a problem that has confounded cancer experts for years – how to target chemotherapy so it destroys cancer cells but leaves healthy ones intact.
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No simple blood test exists to determine which of the millions of people infected with hepatitis C virus will develop cirrhosis of the liver or cancer. Now, researchers are developing new technology to find blood proteins that herald the earliest signs of chronic liver disease. If successful, they hope to extend the use of the technology, and to do the same for many other diseases and to make it commercially available for broad clinical use.
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As our population ages and senior citizens become a larger demographic, cancer researchers are focusing on the links between aging and cancer. Studies presented at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, April 12 – 16, highlight the biological aspects of aging that are key to greater risk and poorer prognosis, and surgical outcomes.
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A connection between vitamin D level and the risk of developing breast cancer has been implicated for a long time, but its clinical relevance had not yet been proven.

A revolutionary cancer treatment using microscopic magnets to enable ‘armed’ human cells to target tumours has been developed by researchers funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). Research published online today in the journal, Gene Therapy, shows that inserting these nanomagnets into cells carrying genes to fight tumours, results in many more cells successfully reaching and invading malignant tumours. (more…)

If lung cancer and heart disease aren’t bad enough, cigarette smokers are also at higher risk for developing, among other things, pancreatic cancer. Now, researchers at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson in Philadelphia have preliminary evidence indicating one possible reason why. Data being presented April 13, 2008 during the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research shows that they have found that nicotine in cigarettes increases the production of a protein that is known to promote cancer cell survival, invasion and spread.
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Triple-negative breast cancers are a heterogeneous group and may not always be associated with lymph node spread, a new study shows.

The study of 145 triple negative breast cancers (i.e, cancer which is estrogen receptor-negative, progesterone receptor-negative and HER2-negative) in 128 women found that about 23% were moderate or low-grade lesions, said Cecilia Mercado, MD, of New York University School of Medicine, and an author of the study.
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A breast cancer patient’s age alone should not determine whether or not she receives standard breast-conservation treatments, including a lumpectomy and radiation therapy; however, if additional health problems (comorbidities) are present, treatments should be individualized based on age and the type of comorbidities, according to a study in the April 1 edition of the International Journal for Radiation Oncology Biology Physics, the official journal of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.
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