Articles

Vitamin E, a fat-soluble vitamin that is considered an antioxidant, may prevent DNA damage. Moreover, a diet high in vitamin E or vitamin E from supplements may lower the risk of liver cancer, according to a study conducted by investigators from the National Cancer Institute, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, and the Shanghai Cancer Institute.

The third most common cause of cancer mortality in the world is liver cancer, and approximately 85% of liver cancers occur in developing nations, with 54% in China alone.

Current guidelines recommend screening for depression in cancer patients; however, it has been uncertain whether interventions are effective. Now, a recent study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute supports interventions designed to treat depression in patients with cancer. Researchers from the University of Colorado Cancer Center and other institutions performed a meta-analysis of 10 studies encompassing 1362 patients and determined that cognitive behavioral therapy and pharmacologic interventions decrease depressive symptoms in cancer patients.

Kyprolis (carfilzomib) was recently approved by the FDA to treat patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least 2 prior therapies, including treatment with Velcade (bortezomib) and an immunomodulatory therapy.

New research published in the journal Cancer shows the social, psychological, and informational support that adolescents and young adult cancer patients need may be unmet.

Compared with children and older adult patients with cancer, patients aged 14 to 39 years exhibit unique psychological and social needs after diagnosis due to their age-related development. Treatment settings, whether pediatric or adult, can influence these patients’ clinical and psychosocial well-being.

Breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer death among women. Targeting the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a key molecule in the growth of blood vessels in tumors, is one promising approach to treating metastatic breast cancer. At present, trials of drugs that target VEGF are limited to bevacizumab (Avastin).

Hospira, Inc. is further informing the general public about a previously released user level recall of a total of 19 lots of carboplatin, cytarabine, paclitaxel, and methotrexate in the United States. The recall is due to visible particles embedded in the glass at the neck of the vial.

Following treatment with hormone-suppressing drugs, women who are obese continue to have higher levels of estrogen than women of normal weight. Thus, a team from The Institute of Cancer Research in London and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust examined the possibility that women who are obese might benefit from changes to their treatment.

The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, found that hormone-suppressing drugs noticeably reduced estrogen levels in obese women, yet levels of estrogen remained more than double those in women of normal weight.

A report published in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition suggests raising the RDA of vitamin C from the current levels of 75 mg for women and 90 mg for men to an overall 200 mg per day for adults.

Beyond preventing the vitamin C deficiency disease of scurvy, researchers say it’s appropriate to seek optimum vitamin C levels that will saturate cells and tissues, pose no risk, and may have significant effects on public health. All of these benefits come at almost no expense (approximately a penny a day), if taken as a dietary supplement, researchers add.

In 2002, the highly publicized Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) established that risks outweighed benefits with regard to hormone therapy for the prevention of chronic disease. Thus began 10 years of debate regarding hormone therapy use. Now 15 top medical organizations have joined together to issue a statement of agreement pertaining to the benefits of hormone therapy for symptomatic menopausal women.

Patients investigate their illnesses online to become better informed and prepared to play an active role in their care, a new study by researchers at University of California (UC), Davis suggests.