Critical Illness Insurance Association Relaunches Website

The American Association for Critical Illness Insurance has relaunched the organization's website designed to create heightened awareness of and interest in cancer insurance as well as critical illness insurance.

"We intend for the new website to be the nation's primary and trusted resource for information," shares Jesse Slome, director of the organization first founded the critical illness insurance organization in 2009.   "Millions of Americans between the ages of 35 and 55 could greatly benefit by understanding how these two highly affordable forms of protection can provide enormous benefit in the event of a cancer diagnosis, a heart attack or stroke."

The new Association website will contain both relevant information on critical illness insurance protection as well as the three primary health conditions, cancer, heart attacks and strokes.

"Every single day, thousands of Americans hear the dreaded words, you have cancer," Slome explained.  "Every 40 seconds someone in the United States has a heart attack and another person has a stroke.  Most of these individuals today will survive but they and their family will face enormous financial consequences and many will go bankrupt, even when they have health insurance coverage."

Slome, who founded the Association at the request of several leading industry executives, noted the website relaunch was part of a planned ongoing awareness campaign.  "Our mission is twofold, first to educate consumers about this important topic," Slome noted.  "And, second, to support insurance professionals who market critical illness solutions."

The new website will have special sections focused on critical illness insurance planning, facts related to cancer, heart attacks and stroke as well as the beginnings of a center where insurance agents will be able to access information and tools.  "At the present time, there is no membership program for agents," Slome shared.  "We will see what level of interest develops over the next few months."

Most critical illness insurance policies are sold via the worksite with several major insurers comprising the largest industry players.  "We see two major trends, a number of new insurance companies that are launching new critical illness insurance products," Slome added.  "The second is an increase in the number of insurers as well as distributors who are promoting and encouraging the sale of critical illness insurance policies."

To learn more, visit the Association's website at https://www.criticalillnessinsuranceinfo.org.

Jesse Slome is founder and director of the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance, headquartered in Westlake Village, California.  Slome also heads up the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance as well as the American Association for Medicare Supplement Insurance.

Study Drug Shrinks Lung Cancer Tumors In Mice

A potential new drug for lung cancer has eliminated tumors in 50% of mice.

Researchers report that the drug also stopped lung cancer tumors from growing and becoming resistant to treatment. 

One in five people with lung cancer have small cell lung cancer and only three per cent of these people are expected to survive for five years. With this form of lung cancer, tumors spread quickly so it is rarely possible to remove the tumors surgically. Because of this, small cell lung cancer is treated with chemotherapy, with or without additional radiotherapy.

Initially, the treatment often appears to work, reducing the size of the tumors. However, the tumors usually grow back rapidly and then become resistant to further treatment.

The researchers have identified a drug that, in some mice, was able to completely shrink tumors away. In the mouse models, it was also able to stop tumors from growing and it helped other forms of chemotherapy to work more effectively. If the drug proves successful in humans, the researchers hope that it could help patients with this kind of lung cancer to live longer.

The Section of Molecular Oncology and Lung Cancer Research at Imperial College London which conducted the study suggests that it may be possible to develop the drug PD173074 into a new targeted therapy for small cell lung cancer. We hope to take this drug, or a similar drug that also stops FGF-2 from working, into clinical trials next year to see if it is a successful treatment for lung cancer in humans. An added bonus of this drug is that it could be taken orally, which would make it less invasive than some other forms of cancer therapy.

Lung cancer is one of the most common cancer killer in the world according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance.   Around one in five of people diagnosed with lung cancer will have small cell lung cancer. Although it responds to chemotherapy initially, the tumors soon become resistant to treatment and sadly nearly all people with the disease do not survive.

The Cancer Treatment and Research Trust, Cancer Research UK and the UK Department of Health funded the research. 

Free Membership Offer For Insurance Agents Ends Soon

The American Association for Critical Illness Insurance was established to build the market and sale of critical illness insurance products in the United States.

Launched in 2009, the organization recently unveiled an Online Learning, Marketing & Sales Center which is available exclusively to members of the organization.

As part of the launch, the organization offered free membership to all insurance and financial professionals.  The free offer ends December 31, 2009.  Those joining prior to that date will be members of the organization through December 31, 2010.

Starting in January 2010, the cost of membership in the organization will be $49 per-year.

For more information or to access the online sign-up page, go to:
http://www.criticalillnessinsuranceinfo.org/sales-center/

Breast Cancer Cured But Pain Survives

Nearly half of breast cancer survivors suffer from persistent pain.

According to a report in today's Journal of the American Medical Association the pain exists even two or three years following treatment.  Almost 60% of the over 3,000 women surveyed experience other symptoms of nerve damage, such as numbness or tenderness, according to a study of women treated for breast cancer in 2005 and 2006.

The researchers noted that women under 40 and those who have more extensive surgery, such as a mastectomy, and radiation are the most likely to report pain.  Women, they report, also have more pain if surgeons removed many of the lymph nodes in their armpits, a common place for breast cancer to spread.

Most breast cancer patients can ease their symptoms with over-the-counter pain relievers.  Every year nearly 700,000 American women are diagnosed with cancer according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance.  About one in four women are diagnosed with breast cancer and as a result of early detection and improved treatment, most survice. 

While the medical experts explain that it is not always possible to prevent chronic pain, there are ways women can reduce their risk. 

Women should choose doctors who perform "sentinel-node" biopsies, one of the experts writing in the Journal noted. In the procedure, surgeons remove and test one or a few key lymph node for malignant cells instead of automatically removing all of the nodes. If the sentinel node is cancer-free, surgeons leave the others in place. The procedure also reduces the risk of lymphedema, a painful swelling in the arm.

Obesity Causes 100,000 U.S. Cancer Cases

Obesity causes more than 100,000 cases of cancer in the United States each year according to a report from the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance, creating a greater financial strain on health insurance companies and American families. 

Researchers estimate that obesity-related diseases account for nearly 10 percent of all medical spending in the United States or an estimated $147 billion a year.  Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the United States after heart disease. The American Cancer Society reports that nearl 1.5 million people will be diagnosed with cancer this year and 562,000 will die of the disease. 

Medical researchers at the American Institute for Cancer Research reported that having too much body fat causes nearly half the cases of endometrial cancer, which is a type of cancer of the uterus.  Too much body fat they note was also responsible for one third of esophageal cancer cases.

The researchers expect the number of cancer cases will likely rise as Americans get fatter.  Nearly a third of Americans are overweight, defined as having a BMI of 25 to 30.  

More than 26 percent of Americans are obese, defined as having a body mass index of 30 or higher. BMI is equal to weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. A person 5 feet 5 inches tall becomes obese at 180 pounds (82 kg). 

The American Institute for Cancer Research reported the percented of cancer cases that would be prevented if everyone in the United States maintained a healthy weight.  Here are some of its estimates of cancer types that could be prevented annually if Americans stayed slender:

Endometrium - 49 percent of cases or 20,700 people

Esophageal - 35 percent of cases or 5,800 people

Pancreatic - 28 percent or 11,900 people

Kidney - 24 percent or 13,900 people

Gallbladder - 21 percent or 2,000 people

Breast - 17 percent or 33,000 people

Colon - 9 percent or 13,200 people

 

Race, Income, Marital Status Has No Impact On Prostate Cancer Outcome

A patient's income, martial status and race has absolutely no impact on their outcome following curative radiation therapy for the treatment of prostate cancer.

A study conducted at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit found that socioeconomic status factors had no impact on predicting the outcome of treatment. All patients did equally well, based on the known prognostic factors.

The study, presented this week at the American Society for Radiation Oncology meeting in Chicago is unique in that nearly 50 percent of patients in the analysis are African American.

Prostate cancer affects one in six men in the United States according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance and the majority of all prostate cancer are diagnosed in men older than 65.  Most individuals diagnosed with the illness will survive.  Only one in 35 will die of prostate cancer.   Radiation therapy involves administering high-energy X-rays to kill cancer cells. 

According to the study's lead researcher, prior studies on socioeconomic status and cancer outcomes done by other groups have had conflicting results.  One study, for example, suggested that African Americans with breast or colon cancer do much worse than white patients because they receive care at hospitals with less expertise. 

Another study the medical experts noted show that men with prostate cancer who are married have better outcomes than those who are unmarried or without a partner. And yet other studies suggested that hospitals with large minority patient populations have higher mortality for cancer.

A shortcoming of many of the studies is the fact that they include a relatively small percentage of African American patients.  By comparison, almost half of the Ford study group was African American, which allowed researchers to undertake a more accurate assessment of how socioeconomic status affects prostate cancer outcomes.

The study included 788 Henry Ford Hospital patients with localized prostate cancer who were treated with external beam radiation therapy. Among those in the study, 48.5 percent were African American with a median household income $36,917, and 46 percent were white with a median household income of $60,190. The patients' ages ranged from 44 to 90.

While there was a large difference in median household income among African Americans and whites, none of the socioeconomic factors examined predicted for patient outcome. Only known disease risk factors determined overall survival or biochemical (PSA) control rates.

Study Reports Cholesterol Medicines Effective Against Cancer

Research shows that medicines based on statins used to lower blood cholesterol may also be effective in the treatment of cancer.

Statins lower cholesterol by blocking certain enzymes involved in metabolism.   Medical experts note that  they have also been shown to help proteins attach to cell membranes.  Because many of the proteins that are lipid-modified cause cancer, there are now hopes that it will be possible to use statins in the treatment of cancer.

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Germany, conducted studies that show statins can have a dramatic inhibitory effect on growth and development.  The researchers note that their results support the idea that statins can be used in more ways than just to lower cholesterol.  Not least that they can prevent the growth of cancer cells caused by lipid-modified proteins, but also that they can be effective in the treatment of diabetes and neurological disorders such as Parkinson's. 

The findings were published in the article Statins Inhibit Protein Lipidation and Induce the Unfolded Protein Response in the Non-Sterol Producing Nematode C. elegans, published in the journal PNAS.  The study is the result of a research partnership between the University of Gothenburg, Chalmers University of Technology.

Information on critical illness is gathered and posted by the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance, the national trade organization focused on helping individuals understand the importance of protecting their financial futures.

Drinking Coffee May Slow Development Of Liver Disease

Coffee slows the progression of advanced liver disease in people with chronic hepatitis C.

New research published in the November issue of the journal Hepatology reveals information on the first study to address the association between liver disease progression related to hepatitis C and coffee intake. 

Researchers studies nearly 800 patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) who were asked to report their intake of coffee, green tea and black tea. The patients were seen every three months during the nearly four-year study, and liver biopsies were taken at 18 months and 3.5 years to determine the progression of liver disease. 

Patients who drank three or more cups of coffee per day were 53 percent less likely to have liver disease progression than those who didn't drink coffee. Green and black tea didn't appear to have an effect, but tea consumption was low among the study participants, the researchers noted in the report. 

Given the large number of people affected by HCV, the researchers noted the importance of identifying modifiable risk factors associated with the progression of liver disease.  Although we cannot rule out a possible role for other factors that go along with drinking coffee, results from our study suggest that patients with high coffee intake had a lower risk of disease progression, the study concluded.

HCV infects about 2.2 percent of the worldwide population, including more than 3 million Americans according to the Ameriocan Association for Critical Illness Insurance. The virus is the leading cause of liver transplantation in the United States and is responsible for 8,000 to 10,000 deaths in the country each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Link Between Depression And Kidney Disease Identified

A new study finds that one in five patients with chronic kidney disease is depressed, even before beginning long-term dialysis therapy or developing end-stage renal disease.

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center conducted the first study to examine the relationship. Medical experts have noted that patients in the early stages of chronic kidney disease are at increased risk for clinical depression according to the study in the current issue of the American Journal of Kidney Diseases.

According to the American Association for Critical Illness insurance, some 26 million Americans have chronic kidney disease and millions more are at increased risk. If treatment does not begin early, the condition progresses to end-stage renal disease. At that point, a patient's kidneys have failed to the point where dialysis is needed. Dialysis involves filtering of toxic chemicals in the blood and removing fluid to help control blood pressure.

Previous research has shown that depression rates in the general community are 2 percent to 4 percent. Among diabetes patients, the rate is 11 percent. Among congestive heart failure patients, 14 percent; and among coronary artery disease after heart attack patients, 16 percent.

Chronic kidney disease patient depression numbers may be higher due to the presence of the same simultaneously occurring conditions that resulted in progressive kidney disease, such as diabetes and atherosclerotic vascular disease, one of the researchers noted.

Some 21 percent of those studied by researchers were found to be depressed. The mean age of depressed patients was about 65. The researchers also found that diabetic patients were twice as likely to be depressed as those without diabetes; 63 percent of patients had at least three other medical conditions; and 41 percent had at least four other diseases.

Expenditures for end-stage renal disease patients totaled $15.5 billion, which is approximately 6 percent of the entire Medicare budget, and are projected to consume $28 billion by 2010.

For more information on critical illness insurance and to learn the cost for this protection, visit the website of the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance where you can access a free cost calculator to look up rates for coverage starting at $10,000 and increasing to $50,000.

Researchers Find Stroke Treatment Allows More Time

Researchers have found that treatment of stroke sufferers are effective within four and a half hours rather than the three hour time period previously recommended.

Every 40 seconds, an American has a stroke according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance, the non-profit, Los Angeles based industry professional organization.  Some 600,000 people will have their first stroke explains Jesse Slome, executive director.

Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) treatment benefits stroke patients when used up to 4.5 hours after a stroke, according to German researchers who said their findings provide further evidence to increase the tPA treatment window from the current three hours to 4.5 hours.

Previously published findings indicated that tPA treatment led to better outcomes than placebo in stroke patients treated from three hours to 4.5 hours post-stroke.

In this new study, medical researchers at the University of Heidelberg, and colleagues conducted a secondary analysis of data using different endpoints. They focused on the efficacy and safety of tPA treatment and also looked for any factors or patient subgroups that might affect treatment outcome.

The study included patients who received alteplase from three hours to 4.5 hours after a stroke, and patients who received a placebo. The results showed a clear benefit from treatment with alteplase in all types of patients, including those younger and older than 65 years, men and women, and those with or without a history of diabetes, stroke or high blood pressure.

The researchers also found that alteplase was beneficial, regardless of the severity of the stroke.

The study was released online in advance of publication in the December print issue of The Lancet.   Medical experts explain that a physician must, as always, diligently undertake a careful history and physical examination, look at the non-contrast brain CT scan carefully, and follow the appropriate protocol. All of these steps will result in substantial benefit to public health and will safely benefit many patients. But 'time is brain,' and therapy must be given as soon as possible after the patient arrives and there is indeed not a moment to lose, they add.     SOURCE: The Lancet, news release, Oct. 20, 2009.

Breast Tenderness Linked To Elevated Cancer Risk

October 16, 2009.   Women who developed new-onset breast tenderness after starting estrogen plus progestin hormone replacement therapy were at significantly higher risk for developing breast cancer.  This compared to women on the combination therapy who didn't experience such tenderness. 

Breat cancer is the most common cancer among women according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance.  Some 692,000 women were diagnosed with cancer last year; about 26 percent with breast cancer.

According to researchers at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA they are not certain why breast tenderness indicates increased cancer risk among women on the combination therapy.

The researchers based their findings by examining data on more than 16,000 participants in the Women's Health Initiative estrogen-plus- progestin clinical trial.   They speculated that it may be because the hormone therapy is causing breast-tissue cells to multiply more rapidly, which causes breast tenderness and at the same time indicates increased cancer risk. 

The UCLA research, published in the Oct. 12 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, compared the daily use of oral conjugated equine estrogens (0.625 mg) plus medroxyprogesterone acetate (2.5 mg), or CEE+MPA, with the daily use of a placebo pill. 

Of the participants in the trial, over 8,500 took estrogen plus progestin and just over 8,100 were given placebos. Participants underwent mammography and clinical breast exams at the start of the trial and annually thereafter. Self-reported breast tenderness was assessed at the beginning of the trial and one year later, and invasive breast cancer over the next 5.6 years was confirmed by medical record review. 

Women on the combination therapy who did not have breast tenderness at the trial's inception were found to have a threefold greater risk of developing tenderness at the one-year mark, compared with participants who were assigned placebos (36.1 percent vs. 11.8 percent). Among the women who did report breast tenderness at the beginning, the risk at one-year was about 1.26 times that of their counterparts on placebos. 

Of the women who reported new-onset breast tenderness, 76.3 percent had been on the combination therapy.

Women in the combination therapy group who did not have breast tenderness at the outset but experienced new-onset tenderness at the first annual follow-up had a 48 percent higher risk of invasive breast cancer than their counterparts on combination therapy who did not have breast tenderness at the first-year follow-up.

Green Tea May Curb Some Cancers

October 15, 2009.  Drinking green tea may lower your risk of developing certain blood cancers.

According to a study by Japanese researchers noted that it may take at least  5 cups a day to reduce the risk.

Drinking green tea has been associated with lower risk of dying and heart disease deaths, medical experts have reported.  The just-released study notes that drinking green tea may have a favorable effect "for particular cancers."

Researchers gathered information on the diets and green tea drinking habits of a large group of Japanese adults aged 40 to 79 years old.  They followed the group for development of blood and "lymph system" cancers. The lymph system is a major component of the body's immune system.

Some 40,000 men and women who participated in the study had no previous history of cancer.  During 9 years of follow up, 157 blood, bone marrow, and lymph system cancers developed in the study group.

The researchers found that the overall risk for blood cancers was 42 percent lower among study participants who drank 5 or more, versus 1 or fewer, cups of green tea daily.  Drinking 5 or more cups of green tea daily was also associated with 48 percent lower risk for lymph system cancers.

These associations held up in analyses that allowed for age, gender, education, smoking status and history, alcohol use, and fish and soybean consumption.  The report appears in the American Journal of Epidemiology, September 15, 2009. 

October 15, 2009.  Drinking green tea may lower your risk of developing certain blood cancers.

According to a study by Japanese researchers noted that it may take at least  5 cups a day to reduce the risk.

Drinking green tea has been associated with lower risk of dying and heart disease deaths, medical experts have reported.  The just-released study notes that drinking green tea may have a favorable effect "for particular cancers."

Researchers gathered information on the diets and green tea drinking habits of a large group of Japanese adults aged 40 to 79 years old.  They followed the group for development of blood and "lymph system" cancers. The lymph system is a major component of the body's immune system.

Some 40,000 men and women who participated in the study had no previous history of cancer.  During 9 years of follow up, 157 blood, bone marrow, and lymph system cancers developed in the study group.

The researchers found that the overall risk for blood cancers was 42 percent lower among study participants who drank 5 or more, versus 1 or fewer, cups of green tea daily.  Drinking 5 or more cups of green tea daily was also associated with 48 percent lower risk for lymph system cancers.

These associations held up in analyses that allowed for age, gender, education, smoking status and history, alcohol use, and fish and soybean consumption.  The report appears in the American Journal of Epidemiology, September 15, 2009.

Posted by Jesse Slome
American Association for Critical Illness Insurance

Skin Cancer Can Be Inherited

Two new studies suggest that skin cancer can be inhereited.

One study found that having an identical twin with melanoma increased a person's own risk of developing the disease much more than having a fraternal twin with this type of skin cancer.  The other study revealed that having a parent or sibling with one of several different types of non-melanoma skin cancer increased risk as well. 

Having an identical twin with melanoma increased a person's own risk of the disease nearly 10-fold, while melanoma associated with having a non-identical twin with the disease was roughly doubled. 

Prior studies have suggested melanoma and other skin cancers run in families.  But medical experts note it has been difficult to separate the difference between the influence of genes and those caused by other environmental conditions.  Some 1.4 million Americans are diagnosed with cancer each year according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance. 

A study conducted by researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia looked at twin pairs in which at least one sibling had been diagnosed with melanoma.  After looking at hundreds of candidates, the researchers found that in four of the 27 identical twin pairs, both had melanoma, while three of the 98 fraternal twin pairs had both been diagnosed with the deadly skin cancer. 

In the second study conducted at the University of California Los Angeles, researchers looked at the Swedish Family-Cancer Database to gauge the risk for several types of skin cancer among siblings and children of people diagnosed with these diseases.

They found that people with a sibling or parent diagnosed with some types of skin cancer were more likely to develop skin cancers of various types, not just the ones their relatives had. When tumors occurred at parts of the body more likely to have been exposed to the sun (such as the face, compared to the torso), the familial risk was stronger.  The findings were reported in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, September 2009.

Women With Breast Cancer Have Low Vitamin D Levels

October 11, 2009.   Women with breast cancer are likely to have low levels of vitamin D, which could contribute to decreased bone mass and greater risk of fractures.

The finding comes from scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center who recommend women should be given high doses of vitamin D. The U.S. Institute of Medicine suggests that blood levels nearing 32 nanograms per milliliter are adequate.

Vitamin D, obtained from milk, fortified cereals and exposure to sunlight, is well known to play an essential role in cell growth, in boosting the body's immune system and in strengthening bones. In a study of women undergoing treatment for breast cancer, nearly 70 percent had low levels of vitamin D in their blood, according to a study presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's Breast Cancer Symposium in San Francisco.

The analysis showed women with late-stage disease and non-Caucasian women had even lower levels. Scientists analyzed vitamin D levels in each woman. They found the average level was 27 nanograms per milliliter. More than two-thirds of the women had vitamin deficiency.

Weekly supplementation with high doses of vitamin D -- 50,000 international units or more -- improved the levels, according to the researchers. Previous studies have shown that nearly half of all men and women are deficient in the nutrient, with vitamin D levels below 32 nanograms per milliliter. Symptoms of Vitamin D deficiency include muscle pain, low energy and fatigue, lowered immunity, symptoms of depression and sleep irregularities.

Some 692,000 American women are diagnosed annually with cancer in the United States according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance, the national trade group. Breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting 26 percent of women diagnosed with the illness.

Shingles Raises Risk Of Stroke In Adults

Adults with shingles were about 30 percent more likely to have a stroke during a one-year follow-up than adults without shingles.

According to a study published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association the risk was even greater when the infection involved the eyes.  Every 40 seconds someone in America has a stroke, according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance.  Stroke is the leading cause of serious, long-term disability in the United States.

Shingles, also called herpes zoster, is a painful skin rash caused by the varicella zoster virus; the same virus that causes chickenpox. After a person recovers from chickenpox, the virus stays in the body. Usually the virus doesn’t cause problems, but it can reappear years later, causing shingles. 

Studies have shown that people with herpes zoster infection are more likely to develop stroke. The researchers noted that this is the first study to demonstrate the actual risk of stroke following herpes zoster infection.

Medical experts at the Taipei Medical University Hospital studied some 8,000 patients 18 years and older who received shingles treatment between 1997 and 2001. These people were matched by age and gender with 23,280 adults who weren’t treated for shingles (controls). 

During the one-year follow-up, 133 shingles patients (about 1.7 percent) and 306 of the controls (about 1.3 percent) had strokes.   The researchers noted that people treated for a shingles infection were 31 percent more likely to have a stroke, compared with patients without a shingles infection.

Patients with shingles infections that involved the skin around the eye and the eye itself were 4.28 times more likely to have a stroke than patients without shingles.  Shingles patients were 31 percent more likely to develop an ischemic stroke during the one-year follow-up than those without shingles. 

Ischemic strokes, which are caused by the blockage of an artery, account for 87 percent of the new or recurrent strokes that strike some 800,000 Americans yearly, Jesse Slome, executive director of the critical illness insurance trade group. 

Shingles usually starts as a rash on one side of the face or body. The rash starts as blisters that scab after three to five days and usually clears within two to four weeks. There is often pain, itching or tingling in the area where the rash develops.

Stem Cell Research Offers Colon Cancer Vaccine Hope

October 10, 2009.  Human stem cells may provide a means of creating a vaccine against colon cancer and other types of cancers.

Some 1.4 million Americans are diagnosed with cancer annually according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance, the national trade orgganization.  "Some 10 percent of cases in both men and women are colon cancer," notes Jesse Slome, executive director.

American and Chinese scientists reporting noted that cancer and stem cells share many molecular and biological features.   Dr. Zihai Li, of the University of Connecticut Stem Cell Institute, said in a news release that by immunizing the host with stem cells, the researchers were are able to 'fool' the immune system to believe that cancer cells are present and thus to initiate a tumor-combating immune program.  The research by Li and colleagues is the first to make the connection between human stem cells and colon cancer vaccination.

 

The study authors noted that, it has long been believed that immunizing people with embryonic materials may trigger an anti-tumor response by the immune system, but this theory has never advanced beyond animal research. The finding that human stem cells may help immunize against colon cancer is new and unexpected they added.  The study was published online Oct. 7 in the journal Stem Cells.

 

The researchers vaccinated mice with human embryonic stem cells and found that the mice developed a consistent immune response against colon cancer cells. The vaccinated mice showed a dramatic decline in tumor growth, compared with non-vaccinated mice.

Vigorous Exercise Associated With Reduced Breast Cancer Risk

October 8, 2009.  October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and there's good news for post-menopausal women.  Engaging in moderate to vigorous exercise may result in a reduced risk of breast cancer.

Nearly 700,000 American women are diagnosed with cancer according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance.  About one quarter (26%) have breast cancer recognized as the most common cancer affecting U.S. women,

Researchers writing the open access journal BMC Cancer investigated the link between breast cancer and exercise.  According to the international team of researchers headed by the U.S. National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, this new study is one of the first prospective investigations to look at the importance of various intensities of exercise at different stages in an individual's life. 

Over 110,000 post menopausal women were asked to rate their level of physical activity at ages 15-18, 19-29, 35-39, and in the past 10 years. It was found, over 6.6 years of follow up, that women who engaged in more than 7 hours per week of moderate-to-vigorous exercise for the last ten years were 16% less likely to develop breast cancer than those who were inactive. 

No link was observed between breast cancer risk and physical activity in women who were active at a younger age.  The findings could help inform the mechanisms of the physical activity-breast cancer relationship.

New Test Assesses Individual Breast Cancer Risk

October 7, 2009.  Some 692,000 American women are diagnosed with cancer according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance.  About one quarter (26%) have breast cancer.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and a new report notes that analyzing individual breast tissue for specific structural characteristics may more precisely determine a woman's risk for developing breast cancer.

Reporting in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, researchers report that the more acini a woman has and the larger her breast lobules, the higher the chance she will get breast cancer.  Acini, the medical experts note, refers to a cluster of cells that in this instance are the sacs that produce milk.

Currently, factors such as family history of breast cancer, number of pregnancies and age at first pregnancy are helpful in predicting how often breast cancer will arise in a larger population. But, reserachers note, these same tools are poor indicators of individual risk. 

Other than family history and genetics, the best tool experts have to predict individual breast cancer risk is the Gail model, which takes into account age and number of previous biopsies, as well as family history and pregnancy history.   But, the authors of the report note that the Gail model is "only slightly better than chance alone. 

Breast cancer originates in the breast lobules. The lobules are supposed to disappear as a woman ages, reducing her breast cancer risk, but this doesn't always happen.  The researchers tissue from women with breast cancer (as well as earlier tissue samples taken before they developed the cancer).  The more acini per lobule a woman had and the larger the lobule, the higher her risk for developing breast cancer, the researchers found.   This new technique proved more accurate than the Gail model.

Mini-Stroke Precedes Just 1 In 8 Strokes

October 1, 2009.  One out of every eight strokes is preceded by a milder interruption of blood flow to the brain, called a transient ischemic attack (TIA).  Canadian researchers conclude that such an attack is not the crucial warning sign that physicians need.

For the study published in the Sept. 29 issue of Neurology, researchers found that, of the 16,409 people diagnosed with stroke over a four-year period, 2,032 -- or 12.4 percent of them -- had a TIA in the weeks before the stroke.

As a result, the medical experts concluded that a TIA does not have enough predictive power to warrant intensive preventive measures.

A TIA, which some refer to as a mini-stroke, occurs when a clot briefly blocks a brain artery. Symptoms of a TIA are the same as those of a stroke -- sudden onset of weakness or numbness in an arm or leg, loss of vision or double vision, speech difficulty, dizziness, loss of balance -- but they go away, often in a few minutes. Many people ignore the symptoms, but they are clear signs of possible trouble.

Dr. Larry B. Goldstein, director of the Duke Stroke Center. But he disagrees with the Canadian report's  interpretation of the predictive importance of TIAs.  "They predict 10 to 15 percent of strokes," Goldstein said. "This is not a small number, so it is an opportunity to prevent stroke that you don't want to miss when it happens."

Some medical experts noted that better predictive tools are available.  Many prefers carotid ultrasound, an inexpensive way to listen to blood flow in the main artery to the brain.

Stroke is a leading cause of critical illness with over one million new cases diagnosed in the United States annually according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance the national trade organization.

Exercise May Prevent Protate Cancer

September 28, 2009.  Regular exercise may help protect men from prostate cancer.

According to a new study released today by Duke University Medical Center men who were moderately active were significantly less likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer.  Moderately active was defined as anything equivalent to walking at a moderate pace for several hours a week.

The researchers looked at men who had a prostate biopsy and found that exercise was associated with less aggressive disease in men who did develop prostate cancer.  As the amount of exercise increased, the risk of cancer decreased, the study's lead author said in a news release.

The majority (58 percent) of the men in this study were sedentary, which means they exercised less than the equivalent of one hour per week of easy walking.

Prostate cancer is the third most common cause of death from cancer in men of all ages and is the most common cause of death from cancer in men over 75 years old according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance . Prostate cancer is rarely found in men younger than 40.

 

Men at higher risk include African-America men older than 60, farmers, tire plant workers, painters, and men exposed to cadmium. The lowest number of cases occurs in Japanese men and those who do not eat meat (vegetarians).

 

Prostate cancers are grouped according to tumor size, any spreading outside the prostate (and how far), and how different tumor cells are from normal tissue. This is called staging. Identifying the correct stage may help the doctor determine which treatment is best.