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Oxygen treatment given to divers with decompression sickness may be able to help cancer patients suffering from the side effects of radiotherapy.
Hyperbaric oxygen treatment involves patients breathing 100% oxygen while in a pressurised treatment chamber.
The treatment is also used to help injured athletes heal more quickly.
The Institute of Cancer Research is to carry out trials at specialist centres in Plymouth, London, Chichester, Great Yarmouth, Hull, the Wirral and Cardiff.
Doctors hope the treatment will alleviate unpleasant side effects associated with radiotherapy for cancer in the pelvic region.
Pelvic cancers include those of the cervix, the ovaries, the prostate, the testicles, the bowel, the bladder and the womb.
Most patients return to normal within a few weeks of stopping radiotherapy, however about 30% develop long term problems that can interfere with their daily lives, including diarrhoea, stomach cramps and frequent bowel movements.
The clinical trials, involving 75 patients, are being run by Professor John Yarnold, from the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden Hospital.
He said: "It's very difficult for patients who have already suffered through cancer and radiotherapy treatment to be left with these debilitating side-effects.
"We hope to answer once and for all whether hyperbaric oxygen therapy will improve their quality of life."
The Diving Diseases Research Centre in Plymouth is a purpose-built research and treatment facility set up in 1996.
Other medical conditions treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy include carbon monoxide poisoning, smoke inhalation, diabetic wounds, exceptional blood loss, skin grafts and burns.
Hyperbaric chambers are also used at therapy centres to treat people with multiple sclerosis.
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Married people are more likely to survive cancer, whereas those going through a break-up have the worst chance of beating it, a study shows.
US researchers from Indiana University analysed data on 3.8m people diagnosed with cancer between 1973 and 2004.
They found people who were married had a 63% chance of surviving five years, compared to 45% of people who were separated, the journal Cancer reported.
The team said the stress of break-up probably affected survival rates.
Previous studies have looked at the impact of marriage on health outcomes.
Many have found a beneficial effect with experts suggesting the love and support of a partner is essential in battling against illness.
This theory is supported by the findings of the latest study, due to be published in November.
The researchers looked at five and 10-year survival rates for married, widowed, divorced and never-married patients as well as those going through a separation at the time of diagnosis.
After marriage, never-married patients had the best outcomes, followed by those who had been divorced and then widowers.
Lead researcher Dr Gwen Sprehn said: "Patients who are going through separation at the time of diagnosis may be a particularly vulnerable population for whom intervention could be prioritised.
"Identification of relationship-related stress at time of diagnosis could lead to early interventions which might favourably impact survival."
But she added more research was needed into the area and, in particular, why the pattern had emerged.
Martin Ledwick, head information nurse at Cancer Research UK, said the study was "by no means conclusive".
"There could be many reasons why those who were separated were less likely to survive cancer in this study.
"The most important factors, which will increase people's chance of surviving cancer, are being symptom aware and presenting to the doctor as early as possible and attending their treatment for the disease."
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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Monday that it had approved Afinitor oral tables (everolimus) for the treatment of advanced kidney cancer in patients where the disease continued to progress after treatment with other drugs.
Afinitor is manufactured by Novartis International AG of Basel, Switzerland.
Dr Robert Justice, director of the Division of Drug Oncology Products in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) said:
"Afinitor provides an option for patients with advanced renal cell cancer after failure of treatment with the cancer therapies sunitinib [Sutent, from Pfizer] or sorafenib [Nexavar, from Bayer]."
"Targeted cancer therapies like Afinitor have increased the number of months patients can live without the tumor progressing," he added.
The most common form of kidney cancer is renal cell carcinoma, which starts in the lining of the tiny tubules inside the kidney that clean the blood by filtering out the waste products of metabolism and other body processes. It accounts for about 2 per cent of all new cancers and rates of new cases are going up worldwide, partly because of smoking and obesity, according to sources cited in a Novartis press statement.
Renal cell carcinoma resists standards treatments like radiotherapy and chemo, and treatment usually starts with surgical removal of the affected kidney. If the cancer hasn't spread outside of the affected kidney, five year survival can be as much as 60 to 70 per cent, but it is much lower if the cancer has spread.
Afinitor is a kinase inhibitor: it stops tumors growing by blocking a specific protein called mTOR, the mammalian target of rapamycin. This action stops the cell to cell communications that help cancer cells to grow, divide and metabolize. In contrast, Sutent and Nexavar are multiple kinase inhibitors and work on several targets at the same time.
The FDA approval relied on the results of the RECORD-1 clinical trial that tested the safety and effectiveness of Afinitor given as a daily oral dose against placebo. The trial was stopped early because interim results showed that patients taking the drug experienced delayed tumor growth and spread compared to those who did not. Also, disease progression was delayed for about five months in 50 per cent of the patients who took the drug compared to only 2 months for those who did not.
According to the FDA announcement, the most frequent adverse reactions (1 in 5 patients had them) included: "inflammation in the mouth, loss of strength, diarrhea, poor appetite, fluid buildup in the extremities, shortness of breath, coughing, nausea, vomiting, rash, and fever".
Lab tests of blood samples also showed that at least half the patients were anemic, had low white blood counts, high cholesterol, high blood sugar and high triglycerides (blood fats), said the agency.
Dr Robert J Motzer, attending physician, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York and principal investigator of the trial told the press that:
"This approval provides a new and useful tool for treating advanced renal cell cancer, representing an important step forward in managing this disease."
"New treatment options are vital to help us continue to offer patients with advanced kidney cancer new ways to battle their difficult-to-treat disease. Based on clinical trial data, this option should be considered when sunitinib or sorafenib fail."
Novartis said in a press release that it has also filed for approval of Afinitor in the European Union, Switzerland and Japan, as well as with other regulatory agencies globally and that Phase III trials are underway to explore the potential of the drug in treating several other cancers.
David Epstein, President and CEO, Novartis Oncology, Novartis Molecular Diagnostics said:
"We continue to study Afinitor in kidney cancer, and through a broad clinical program to explore its potential in many other tumor types."
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A "danger receptor" that may kick-start an immune reaction to cancer in the body has been found by UK researchers.
It picks up signs of cell death caused by injury or tumours and mobilises the body's defences, Nature reports.
The finding may explain why some tumour-killing drugs partly work by setting off an immune response.
Better understanding of the receptor could help develop cancer treatments that harness the immune system, the London Research Institute team said.
Cell death is a normal process in the body which keeps growth and repair ticking over and keeps tissue healthy.
But sometimes there is an abnormal type of cell death called necrosis.
It has been thought for many years that the body somehow senses this abnormal cell death and sets off an immune reaction.
From an evolutionary point of view this would make sense as injury puts the body at risk of infection and an immune response would be a sensible precaution.
However, until now no receptor capable of detecting this abnormal cell death had been found.
The researchers discovered that the DNGR-1 receptor on a type of immune cell called a dendritic cell mobilises an immune response after coming across this abnormal cell death.
Dendritic cells act as messengers, alerting other types of immune cells to kill invaders, such as viruses and bacteria.
Trigger
The researchers said tumours could also trigger this type of immune reaction because they often contain clusters of cells undergoing this type of cell death as they have a limited blood supply.
Dr Caetano Reis e Sousa, lead author based at Cancer Research UK's London Research Institute, said: "After a 15-year hunt, we've identified the first 'danger receptor' - one which senses abnormal cell death and then triggers an immune response.
"The detection of 'danger' could explain some situations when a tumour triggers an immune reaction against itself."
He said manipulating this system could be beneficial in treating cancer but also in other areas, such as preventing rejection in organ transplantation.
"There is a theory that some cancer-killing drugs kill tumour cells in such a way that triggers the immune system against them so they have a double whammy."
Dr Lesley Walker, director of information at Cancer Research UK, said: "The concept of using the body's immune system to fight cancer has been around for decades, but advances in recent years have made this field of research a very exciting one.
"The results of this study are really important scientifically and a step towards understanding how to manipulate the immune system to treat cancer in the future."
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The first baby in the UK tested before conception for a genetic form of breast cancer has been born.
Doctors at University College London said the girl and her mother were doing well following the birth this week.
The embryo was screened for the altered BRCA1 gene, which would have meant the girl had a 80% chance of developing breast cancer.
Women in three generations of her husband's family have been diagnosed with the disease in their 20s.
Paul Serhal, the fertility expert who treated the couple, said: "This little girl will not face the spectre of developing this genetic form of breast cancer or ovarian cancer in her adult life.
"The parents will have been spared the risk of inflicting this disease on their daughter.
"The lasting legacy is the eradication of the transmission of this form of cancer that has blighted these families for generations."
Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) involves taking a cell from an embryo at the eight-cell stage of development, when it is around three-days old, and testing it.
Using PGD to ensure a baby does not carry an altered gene which would guarantee a baby would inherit a disease such as cystic fibrosis, is well-established.
But in 2006, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority said doctors could test for so-called susceptibility genes, such as BRCA1.
Everybody carries a version of these genes - in fact a properly functioning BRCA1 protein helps stop cancer before it starts - but some particular variations of the genes greatly increase the risk of cancer.
Increased chance
Carrying the key BRCA1 mutation in this family's case would have given the increased chance of breast cancer and 50% chance of ovarian cancer later in life.
The couple, who wish to remain anonymous, wanted to eradicate the gene flaw from their family.
The husband's grandmother, mother, sister and a cousin have been diagnosed with the disease.
If the 27-year-old woman and her husband had had a son, he could have been a carrier and passed it on to any daughters.
Josephine Quintavalle, of the campaign group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, said: "This is nothing personal towards the girl, but I think we have gone too far.
"Underlying all this is eugenics."
Dr Sarah Cant, of the charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said: "The decision to screen embryos to see whether they have a faulty breast cancer gene is a complex and very personal issue.
"Women with a family history of breast cancer tell us that what might be right for one person may not be right for another.
"It's important for anyone affected to have appropriate information and support so they can make the right choice for them."
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Cancer is a term used for diseases in which abnormal cells divide without control and are able to invade other tissues. Cancer cells can spread to other parts of the body through the blood and lymph systems.
Cancer is not just one disease but many diseases. There are more than 100 different types of cancer. Most cancers are named for the organ or type of cell in which they start -- for example, cancer that begins in the colon is called colon cancer; cancer that begins in basal cells of the skin is called basal cell carcinoma.
Cancer types can be grouped into broader categories. The main categories of cancer include:
Carcinoma - cancer that begins in the skin or in tissues that line or cover internal organs.
Sarcoma - cancer that begins in bone, cartilage, fat, muscle, blood vessels, or other connective or supportive tissue.
Leukemia - cancer that starts in blood-forming tissue such as the bone marrow and causes large numbers of abnormal blood cells to be produced and enter the blood.
Lymphoma and myeloma - cancers that begin in the cells of the immune system.
Central nervous system cancers - cancers that begin in the tissues of the brain and spinal cord.
Origins of cancer
All cancers begin in cells, the body's basic unit of life. To understand cancer, it's helpful to know what happens when normal cells become cancer cells.
The body is made up of many types of cells. These cells grow and divide in a controlled way to produce more cells as they are needed to keep the body healthy. When cells become old or damaged, they die and are replaced with new cells.
However, sometimes this orderly process goes wrong. The genetic material (DNA) of a cell can become damaged or changed, producing mutations that affect normal cell growth and division. When this happens, cells do not die when they should and new cells form when the body does not need them. The extra cells may form a mass of tissue called a tumor.
Not all tumors are cancerous; tumors can be benign or malignant.
Benign tumors aren't cancerous. They can often be removed, and, in most cases, they do not come back. Cells in benign tumors do not spread to other parts of the body.
Malignant tumors are cancerous. Cells in these tumors can invade nearby tissues and spread to other parts of the body. The spread of cancer from one part of the body to another is called metastasis.
Some cancers do not form tumors. For example, leukemia is a cancer of the bone marrow and blood.
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