breast cancer •

The Untold Love Story between Sugar and Cancer

January 2, 2016 By Bonnie Gleason Leave a Comment

A recent finding confirms that too much added sugar can lead to cancer.

A group of researchers at the University of Texas’s M.D. Anderson Cancer Center gained a deeper understanding of the untold love story between sugar and cancer and decided to share it with us.

Scientists noted that their mouse study might explain why added sugar promotes tumor growth. Their findings are consistent with a plethora of past studies that had shown a link between high sugar consumption and an elevated risk of developing cancer.

According to Lorenzo Cohen, co-author of the study, the new research suggests that what you eat after a cancer diagnosis is equally important to what you ate before you developed the disease.

Past research had shown that risk of cancer is higher when at least three risk factors are involved: unhealthy eating, lack of physical activity, and smoking. Especially the Western Diet which is rich in processed meats, fats, and added sugar was found to promote cancer.

The recent study showed that there is a significant link between added sugar and cancer risk. The research team found that fructose, a sugar substitute extracted from various plants, creates a good environment for cancer cells to reproduce and spread, or metastasize.

Cohen explained most cancer patients do not lose the battle against the disease because of their original tumor. They die when the cancer reaches an advanced stage and metastasizes.

Mouse experiments showed that cancer patients who consume a lot of sugar have a higher risk of developing advanced cancer than patients who have a healthier diet. Although mouse studies may have their limitations, Cohen’s team ensured that the body processes of the laboratory animals were similar to those observed in human patients.

Experiments showed that large intakes of added sugar fuel especially breast cancer. During their study, researchers fed mice large quantities of sugar that are very similar to the amount in the daily diet of average Americans. Plus, they used only mice with a high risk of developing breast cancer because of their genes.

Additionally, the team experimented with several types of sugars and starch. The study results showed that starch was not as harmful as sugar in promoting cancer growth. Of the mice on a starch-rich diet only 30 percent developed cancer, while more than half of those on diets rich in fructose and sucrose, also known as table sugar, developed breast tumors.

Scientists explained that both fructose and glucose in table sugar promote bodily inflammatory processes which boost the risk of cancer. But fructose was by far the most dangerous.

A research paper on the findings was published recently in Cancer Research.
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Superbug MRSA Can Now Become History, Study Reveals

October 15, 2015 By Sandy Morton Leave a Comment

Superbug MRSA can now become history, study reveals. The study was published in Nature Communications journal.

For many people, the superbug MRSA, also called methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, is a dreadful bacterium and that’s because it is not responsive to any treatment. This bacterium is known to have killed almost 3,000 Americans in 2013. Other people face infections which lead to dangerous complications which can end with losing a limb, for example.

For many years, public officials struggled to discover an efficient treatment, but they just couldn’t. Now the new study promises a solution against MRSA: tamoxifen.

Tamoxifen is a widely-known breast cancer pill used not only for treatment, but also for prevention. Apart from its role of fighting against tumors, this drug also creates extracellular traps which help the body fight against infections.

Researchers from the University of California made the test on mice. They injected the animals not only with tamoxifen, but also with a big quantity of MRSA. They observed that the chances of surviving increased by a third. Researcher Victor Nizet declared that this is a preliminary research and more research is needed before the testing could be applied on humans.

“We believe this is part of the larger need that we have in medicine to move to a more holistic approach to treating infections,” he declared.

Scientists also tested other methods in order to fight MRSA. At the beginning of this year, they said that a remedy made up of garlic, onion, copper, wine and ox gall could show some benefits as well.

Doctors hope that in the future these treatments will help people such as Daniel Fells, a player from Giants, to fight against this infection. On Sunday, New York Giants dedicated their game to Fells.
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Men Are No Longer Shielded from Breast Cancer

October 10, 2015 By Bonnie Gleason Leave a Comment

Although breast cancer is mostly a women’s disease, with men having a natural immunity against it, more and more cases of breast cancer in male patients made some doctors think that men are no longer shielded from breast cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society, more than 2,300 men would be diagnosed with breast cancer by the end of this year. Moreover, more than 400 men would lose the battle against the disease this year. Women, however, are still the most affected group with 231,840 new cases expected to emerge this year.

Lynda Weeks, chief of the Susan G. Komen Louisville, a breast cancer research center in Louisville, KY, explained that breast cancer in men is still “unusual” but because it is so unusual men learn that they have breast cancer when it is too late.

According to a Susan G. Komen Louisville report, one in 1,000 men in the Western world is diagnosed with cancer every year. Dr. Janell Seeger from the Norton Cancer Institute in Louisville recently said that the number of breast cancer cases among men in on the rise so men are no longer shielded from breast cancer. Past studies had shown a rise of 25 percent in the only 25 years.

Hugh Campbell, a 54 year-old man from Louisville, learned he had cancer when he was 45. At that time he decided to have a mammogram after he learned that his mother was diagnosed with the disease. Doctors told him that the lump in his left breast was benign.

A year later, he was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. He had his left breast completely removed by the time he turned 47 and underwent chemotherapy. His condition is now stable.

“He was very scared about what was going to happen, because men don’t think they have breasts,”

his wife Kim recalls.

Dr. Seeger explained that because men do not have too much breast tissue, cancer or any abnormalities can be easily detected. Yet, because there is not that much tissue there, tumors can easily spread to muscles, nipples, lymph nodes, and skin. Most breast cancers detected in males already reached other parts of the body when they were discovered.

Harvey Ragland was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1990. Back then he couldn’t believe his years. Doctors were shocked as well. His case was one in 200,000. He was 40 years old when he received the diagnosis. He recalls that he felt pain in his left breast. After his GP gave him antibiotics, the condition worsened. Another doctor told him he had cancer and in less than a week he had a radical mastectomy.

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Breast Biopsy May Uncover More Serious Dangers

January 3, 2015 By William Bland Leave a Comment

Medical experts now believe there is a much greater risk for developing breast cancer in women who are diagnosed with atypical hyperplasia, a precancerous condition, discovered through a typical biopsy.

Researchers at the Rochester Minnesota Mayo Clinic found that within 25 years of receiving a diagnosis of atypical hyperplasia, roughly 30% of women developed breast cancer. With this condition, there is an overgrowth of cells that occur in a distorted type pattern. Currently, atypical hyperplasia is found in over one million biopsies performed in the United States annually. However, these are biopsies that came back with benign results for actual cancer.

According to Dr. Lynn Hartmann, study researcher and professor of oncology at Rochester’s Mayo Clinic, it has long been known that this precancerous condition raises the risk for the development of breast cancer but now, women now better understand the real risk involved.

Prior to this new study, medical experts thought the risk for women getting breast cancer following a diagnosis of atypical hyperplasia was about four times greater but women were not provided specific information pertaining to their individual risk.

In the study, a team of professionals closely monitored nearly 700 women who had been given a diagnosis of this precancerous condition from 1967 to 2001 while visiting the Mayo Clinic. In a follow-up of around 12 years, 143 of the women who participated had developed cancer of the breast.

Furthermore, Hartmann and her team were able to validate the findings by studying another group of women at Vanderbilt University, also diagnosed with atypical hyperplasia. The combined data from the two groups show that nearly 30% of women diagnosed with the precancerous condition had in fact developed breast cancer.

Based on this new research, women have the opportunity to gain far more valuable information. As stated by Robert Smith, director of cancer screening with the American Cancer Society, a primary strength of this particular study was the significant number of women involved who were monitored for an extended period of time.

Smith went on to say that medical experts have always known that women with atypical hyperplasia were at higher risk for breast cancer but with the extended data gathered, the risk is much greater than initially believed.

Dr. Laura Kruper, co-director of the Breast Cancer Program at the California’s City of Hope Cancer Center and renowned breast surgeon feels this new insight into atypical hyperplasia is far more serious than what medical experts believed.

In looking at the American Cancer Society’s estimates, of women in the US, overall 12% which is equivalent to one in eight will at some time in life develop breast cancer. Kruper said the medical community as a whole needs to focus more on the information uncovered pertaining to this precancerous condition.

Experts agree that if a woman is diagnosed with atypical hyperplasia, it is imperative for her to talk to a reputable doctor about using tamoxifen, aromatase inhibitors, or some other chemo-preventative medication, drugs commonly used for women considered at high risk for breast cancer.

Hartmann noted that a large number of women involved in the Mayo Clinic study developed estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, which requires the growth of estrogen. Therefore, chemo-preventative medications that reduce estrogen would help lower the risk. In addition, some women might consider having an MRI screening performed in conjunction with a mammogram.

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