High insulin levels enhance breast cancer risk

Elevated insulin levels in the blood seem to raise the risk of breast cancer in post-menopausal women, according to a new study.

Increased breast cancer risk for post-menopausal women has previously been linked to obesity and diabetes. Both conditions involve insulin resistance, which causes increases in circulating levels of insulin.

Since insulin is known to promote cell division and enhance breast tumour growth in animal models, Einstein College of Medicine scientists reasoned that relatively high insulin levels may contribute to breast cancer risk in women.

"Up to now, only a few studies have directly investigated whether insulin levels are associated with breast cancer risk, and those studies have yielded conflicting results," says Geoffrey Geoffrey Kabat, senior epidemiologist at Einstein and the study's co-author.

"Those other studies were based on just a single baseline measurement of insulin, while our study involved analysing repeated measurements of insulin taken over several years - which provides a more accurate picture of the possible association between insulin levels and breast cancer risk."

Kabat and colleagues analysed data on 5,450 women enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative, a large multi-centre study investigating the influence of a number of factors on women's health.

Most of the women had participated in the clinical trial part of the study and provided fasting blood samples at its start (baseline) and then at years one, three and six.

The remaining women, who were enrolled in a separate "observational" component of the study, provided fasting blood samples at baseline and at year three of the study. Among all these women, 190 cases of breast cancer were identified over eight years of follow-up.

The analysis revealed a strong association between elevated insulin levels and increased risk for breast cancer, said an Einstein release. These findings were published in online in the International Journal of Cancer. –The Times of India

A cancer drug that won't cause hair loss

Good morning friends. I don’t say it’s a good news for all cancer patient, but I may say that cancer patient will not be worry now for that they found a new drug that won’t cause hair loss.

Researchers have developed a way to deliver cancer drugs, which they claim will not cause the usual sickness and hair loss by just using a fat-rich coating.

Until now, treatment of cancer has relied mainly on surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Though these strategies have benefited millions of cancer patients to date, the lack of tumor specificity of some of these agents make patients feel sick or result in significant hair loss.

Now, an international team, led by Queensland University, has developed the way which can specifically shut down cancer-causing genes in tumor cells while sparing normal healthy tissues.

According to lead researcher Sherry Wu, the new method which involves the use of coatings rich in fats, will hasten the application of RNA interference or gene-silencing, a technology which can inactivate individual genes.

Using this technology, the team observed a 70% reduction in tumor size in a cervical cancer mouse model.

"The traditional ways of packaging these drugs into suitable carriers are often complex and labor-intensive. The resulting products are also unstable at room temperature which is obviously not ideal for their clinical use.

"In order to deliver these gene-silencing drugs safely and efficiently into tumor tissues in the body, we have to package them in lipid-rich carriers," Wu said. Added co-researcher Nigel McMillan: "We are excited about our findings and we are currently investigating the feasibility of combining this gene-silencing technology with low dose chemotherapeutic agents in cancer treatments." –The Times of India

Tadpoles 'could prevent skin cancer'

Good morning friends. Medicine is the best thing to use for any skin problem. But there is this other way that could prevent it.

Tadpoles could hold the key to developing skin cancer drugs, according to scientists. It has identified a compound which blocks the movement of the pigment cells that give the tadpoles their distinctive markings. It is the uncontrolled movement and growth of pigment cells that causes skin cancer in both humans and frogs. And by blocking their migration, the development and spread of cancerous tumours can potentially be prevented, the scientists have claimed.

The South African clawed frog tadpoles – Latin name Xenopus Laevis – have the same organs, molecules and physiology as humans. The close comparison means the same mechanisms are involved in causing cancer in both Xenopus tadpoles and humans. Until the 1960s, Xenopus Laevis frogs were used as the main human pregnancy test.

There would be a lot of testing to prove this test accurately. It shows that like tadpoles could lead to potential cancer drugs."

photo courtesy: sound waves

Bone drug can fight breast cancer - 2

The study was sponsored by Zometa's maker, Swiss-based Novartis AG, and the study leader consults for the company. With doctor fees, a Zometa infusion can run more than $1,200. In the study it was given every three weeks for four to six months.

Known side effects of Zometa and other bone-building bisphosphonate drugs like Fosamax include bone, joint or muscle pain and in rare cases, jawbone decay. They are mainly used to treat osteoporosis.

Also at the conference, several reports strengthened evidence that newer hormone-blockers called aromatase inhibitors, or AIs, do a better job of preventing cancer recurrences and may give a slight survival advantage over the long-used drug tamoxifen.

These drugs work against estrogen, which helps most breast tumors grow, and are given for about five years after surgery for early stage breast cancer to prevent its return.

Tamoxifen has been used for decades and is sold in generic form for about $70 a month. The newer drugs cost around $300 and come in three brands: AstraZeneca PLC's Arimidex (anastrozole), Pfizer Inc.'s Aromasin (exemestane) and Novartis' Femara (letrozole). They only work in women after menopause.

Doctors already know that women who take these newer drugs either as initial treatment or after a few years of tamoxifen have better chances of staying cancer-free. But which of these approaches is best is not known.

Results of a study led by Novartis consultant Dr. Henning Mouridsen of Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark mostly were a draw. There were trends toward improved survival for women starting on Femara, but the differences were so small they could have occurred by chance alone.

ref: the timesofindia