Breast Cancer Risk Affected By Fertility Drugs As Indicated By Series Of Study.

 

Women using fertility drugs who did not conceive a 10-plus week pregnancy were at a statistically significant reduced risk of breast cancer compared to nonusers; however, women using the drugs who conceived a 10-plus week pregnancy had a statistically significant increased risk of breast cancer compared to unsuccessfully treated women, but a comparable risk to nonusers, according to a study published July 6 in the Journal of The National Cancer Institute.

Ovulation-stimulating fertility drugs temporarily elevate estrogen levels in women, and estrogen is known to play an important role in breast cancer.  While some studies report increased breast cancer risk following infertility treatment, other analyses have been inconclusive.

In order to determine the risk of young-onset breast cancer after use of ovulation-stimulating fertility drugs, Chunyuan Fei, Ph.D., at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), and colleagues, conducted a sister-matched case-control study, in part funded by Susan Komen for the Cure, called the Two Sister Study (which was developed from the Sister Study), which looked at women diagnosed with breast cancer under the age of 50 years and their breast cancer-free control sisters, who were studied between September 2008-December 2010.  They looked specifically at fertility-drug exposure according to whether or not it had resulted in a pregnancy lasting at least 10 weeks.

The researchers found that women who had used fertility drugs showed a non-statistically significantly reduced risk of breast cancer compared to women who did not use fertility drugs and women who used fertility drugs and did not conceive a 10-plus week pregnancy were at a statistically significantly lowered risk of breast cancer compared to nonusers.  Women who had used fertility drugs and conceived a 10-plus week pregnancy did, however, have a statistically significantly increased risk of breast cancer compared to women who had been unsuccessfully treated.  “Our data suggest that exposure to a stimulated pregnancy is enough to undo the reduction in risk associated with a history of exposure to ovulation-stimulating drugs,” the authors write.  They believe the exposure to the fertility drugs potentially raises risk by modifying pregnancy-related remodeling of breast tissue. However, successfully treated women had a comparable level of breast cancer risk to non-users.

The authors note a few limitations of the study, including the reliance on self-reported fertility drug usage, and lack of data on specific diagnosis for infertility.

In an accompanying editorial, Louise A. Brinton, Ph.D., of the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the National Cancer Institute, feels that the findings of the study are hard to understand in the context of previous studies with results ranging from a lowered risk to a higher risk to no relationship between the drugs and the risk of early onset of breast cancer.  Brinton explains that the reduced overall risk associated with drug usage may be related to the fact that one of the drugs, clomiphene, is a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) similar to tamoxifen, an established chemo-preventative.  On the other hand, increased risk seen in successfully treated women may be related to the increased exposure to ovarian hormones, as well as “the dual effect of pregnancy on breast cancer risk, namely a short-term transient increase that dissipates with time and eventually leads to a long-term risk reduction,” Brinton writes.  Another complicating factor in interpreting the study’s results is its focus on women who developed breast cancer before age 50, which is more often associated with genetic factors than breast cancers diagnosed at a later age.

Brinton concludes that additional research is needed to understand these associations.  “Because of such complexities, results from individual investigations must be cautiously interpreted and weighed against the considerable benefits associated with fertility drug usage, including a high probability of carrying pregnancies to term, which can lead to substantial long-term reductions in breast cancer risks.”

Source: Journal of The National Cancer Institute.

Follow @FoSHhizZleMAVIN

Heavy Tea Drinkers Are At Higher Risks Of Prostate Cancer.

A new study from Scotland has found that men who are heavy tea drinkers may be at higher risk for prostate cancer. However, the researchers point out their study was not designed to find causes, so all they can say is that heavy tea drinking is linked to a higher risk for prostate cancer and not necessarily the cause of it.

Study leader Dr Kashif Shafique of the Institute of Health & Wellbeing at the University of Glasgow, told the media:

"We don't know whether tea itself is a risk factor or if tea drinkers are generally healthier and live to an older age when prostate cancer is more common anyway."

"Most previous research has shown either no relationship with prostate cancer for black tea or some preventive effect of green tea," said Shafique.

He and his colleagues write about the findings of their prospective study in a paper that was published online in the journal Nutrition and Cancer on 14 June.

The data they used covered 6,016 Scottish men aged from 21 to 75 years who were enrolled on the Midspan Collaborative study between 1970 and 1973 and were followed for up to 37 years.

The men had filled in questionnaires about their general health, smoking habits, and usual consumption of tea, coffee, and alcohol, and they also attended a screening examination.

When they analyzed the data the researchers found a statistically significant link (P=0.02, so unlikely to be due to pure chance) between tea drinking and overall risk of developing prostate cancer.

After water, tea is the most widely consumed drink in the world.

They found the men who drank the most tea (more than seven cups a day, just under a quarter of all the men) had a 50% higher risk of developing prostate cancer than those who drank the least (0 to 3 cups a day).

Overall, 6.4% of the men who drank the most tea developed prostate cancer during the study period, compared with 4.6% of those who consumed the least. 

The researchers found no significant link between tea drinking and low or high grade cancerincidence:

"Men with higher intake of tea are at greater risk of developing prostate cancer, but there is no association with more aggressive disease," write the authors, who conclude:

"Further research is needed to determine the underlying biological mechanisms for the association."

Shafique said:

"We found that heavy tea drinkers were more likely not to be overweight, be non alcohol-drinkers and have healthy cholesterol levels. However, we did adjust for these differences in our analysis and still found that men who drank the most tea were at greater risk of prostate cancer."

Dr Kate Holmes, Head of Research at The Prostate Cancer Charity, said in a statement released on Tuesday: 

"Whilst it does appear that - of the 6,000 men who took part in this study - those who drank seven or more cups of tea each day had an increased risk of developing prostate cancer, this did not take into consideration family history or any other dietary elements other than tea, coffee and alcohol intake. It is therefore unclear as to whether there were other factors in play which may have had a greater impact on risk."

"We would therefore not wish any man to be concerned, as a result of this study, that drinking a moderate amount of tea as part of a healthy diet will put them at an increased risk of developing prostate cancer," she added.

Dr Carrie Ruxton is a dietician who sits on the Tea Advisory Panel, a health information group funded by the tea industry's UK Tea Council. On Tuesday, the Telegraph reported her saying:

"The study doesn't show a cause and effect relationship between tea drinking and cancer risk."

"Tea drinking is simply a marker for some other issue. That may be down to issues with stress, or perhaps diet," said Ruxton.

In the ten years leading up to 2010, the incidence of prostate cancer in Scotland went up by 7.4%. It is the most common cancer amongst Scottish men. 

Follow @FoSHhizZleMAVIN

Treating Prostate Cancer Safely And Lowering The Risk Of Recurrence

A recent Phase I/II clinical trial has shown that a new combination of radiation therapies developed at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center escalates radiation doses to safely and effectively treat prostate cancer and lower the risk of recurrence with minimal radiation exposure to nearby healthy tissue and organs. 

Recently published in the journalBrachytherapy, a novel treatment protocol designed by Michael Hagan, M.D., Ph.D., radiation oncologist at VCU Massey Cancer Center, that combines intensity-modulated radiation therapy with high-dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy was tested on 26 prostate cancer patients. Intensity-modulated radiation therapy uses computer-controlled linear accelerators to modulate the intensity of an external radiation beam to more accurately deliver radiation to tumors. HDR brachytherapy is an internal form of radiation therapy that uses small radioactive pellets implanted near the tumor. 

"Recent studies have shown that both higher daily doses and higher total doses of radiation are better than standard doses in controlling prostate cancer, but these higher doses may be associated with higher rates of bladder and bowel complications," says the study's lead author Mitchell Anscher, M.D., Florence and Hyman Meyers Chair of Radiation Oncology and program co-leader of Radiation Biology and Oncology at VCU Massey Cancer Center. "Our study was designed to reduce radiation exposure to nearby healthy tissue and organs and we were pleased to find that this unique dosing schedule is safe and effective." 

The toxicity of the therapy was relatively low and all 26 patients were able to complete treatment. The treatment required only one HDR brachytherapy implant, and all participants were treated as outpatients. After 4.5 years, none of the patients relapsed and the rate of long-term side effects was low. 

"Our goal is to improve outcomes for our patients, so we are continually researching ways to reduce unnecessary radiation exposure to healthy tissues and make treatments shorter and more manageable. We're hopeful our findings will lead to better tumor control rates and fewer complications for men with prostate cancer," says Anscher. 

Moving forward, the researchers plan to continue exploring prostate cancer therapies using higher dose rates and shorter treatment times. The next step will likely be a four-treatment study utilizing stereotactic body radiosurgery, a technique popular with brain cancer that provides higher accuracy and requires fewer treatments by focusing high-powered X-rays on a very small area. 

Follow @FoSHhizZleMAVIN

Circumcision A Possible Protection Against Prostate Cancer.

A new analysis led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has found that circumcision before a male's first sexual intercourse may help protect against prostate cancer. Published early online inCancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study suggests that circumcision can hinder infection and inflammation that may lead to this malignancy. 

Infections are known to cause cancer, and research suggests that sexually transmitted infections may contribute to the development of prostate cancer. Also, certain sexually transmitted infections can be prevented by circumcision. Therefore, it stands to reason that circumcision should protect against the development of some cases of prostate cancer. This is what lead author Jonathan L. Wright, MD, an affiliate investigator in the Hutchinson Center's Public Health Sciences Division, and his colleagues set out to test. 

For their study, the investigators analyzed information from 3,399 men (1,754 with prostate cancer and 1,645 without). Men who had been circumcised before their first sexual intercourse were 15 percent less likely to develop prostate cancer than uncircumcised men. This reduced risk applied for both less aggressive and more aggressive cancers. (Specifically, men circumcised before their first sexual intercourse had a 12 percent reduced risk for developing less aggressive prostate cancer and an 18 percent reduced risk for developing more aggressive prostate cancer.) 

Sexually transmitted infections may lead to prostate cancer by causing chronic inflammation that creates a hospitable environment for cancer cells. Other mechanisms may also be involved. Circumcision may protect against sexually transmitted infections, and therefore prostate cancer, by toughening the inner foreskin and by getting rid of the moist space under the foreskin that may help pathogens survive. 

"These data are in line with an infectious/inflammatory pathway which may be involved in the risk of prostate cancer in some men," said Dr. Wright, who is also an assistant professor of urology at the University of Washington School of Medicine. "Although observational only, these data suggest a biologically plausible mechanism through which circumcision may decrease the risk of prostate cancer. Future research of this relationship is warranted," he added. 

Follow @FoSHhizZleMAVIN

Causes of Prostate Cancer

What are the causes of prostate cancer?

Nobody is really sure of what the specific causes are. There are so many possible factors, including age, race, lifestyle, medications, and genetics, to name a few.

• Age
  
  Age is considered as the primary risk factor. The older a man is, the higher is his risk. Prostate cancer is rare among men under the age of 45, but much more common after the age of 50.


• Genetics
  
  Statistics indicate that genetics is definitely a factor in prostate cancer risk. It is more common among certain racial groups - in the USA prostate cancer is significantly more common and also more deadly among Afro-Americans than White-Americans. A man has a much higher risk of developing cancer if his identical twin has it. A man whose brother or father had/had prostate cancer runs twice the risk of developing it, compared to other men. Studies indicate that the two genes - BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 - which are important risk factors for breast cancer and ovarian cancer have also been implicated in prostate cancer.
  
  In a study scientists found seven new sites in the human genome that are linked to men's risk of developing prostate cancer.


• Diet
  
  
  
  A review of diets indicated that the Mediterranean diet may reduce a person's chances of developing prostate cancer.Another study indicates that soy, selenium and green tea, offer additional possibilities for disease prevention - however, a more recent study indicated that combination therapy of vitamin E, selenium and soy does not prevent the progression from high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN) to prostate cancer. A diet high in vegetable consumption was found in a study to be beneficial.
  
  A US pilot study on men with low risk prostate cancer found that following an intensive healthy diet and lifestyle regime focusing on low meat and high vegetable and fruit intake, regular exercise, yoga stretching, meditation and support group participation, can alter the way that genes behave and change the progress of cancer, for instance by switching on tumor killers and turning down tumor promoters.
  
  Other studies have indicated that lack of vitamin D, a diet high in red meat may raise a person's chances of developing prostate cancer.


• Medication
  
  Some studies say there might be a link between the daily use of anti-inflammatory medicines and prostate cancer risk. A study found that statins, which are used to lower cholesterol levels, may lower a person's risk of developing prostate cancer.


• Obesity
  
  A study found a clear link between obesity and raised prostate cancer risk, as well as a higher risk of metastasis and death among obese people who develop prostate cancer.


• Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) 
  
  Men who have had gonorrhea have a higher chance of developing prostate cancer, according to research from the University of Michigan Health System.


• Agent Orange
  
  Veterans exposed to Agent Orange have a 48% higher risk of prostate cancer recurrence following surgery than their unexposed peers, and when the disease comes back, it seems more aggressive, researchers say. Another study found that Vietnam War veterans who had been exposed to Agent Orange have significantly increased risks of prostate cancer and even greater risks of getting the most aggressive form of the disease as compared to those who were not exposed.

Follow @FoSHhizZleMAVIN

Symptoms of Prostate Cancer

What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?

During the early stages of prostate cancer there are usually no symptoms. Most men at this stage find out they have prostate cancer after a routine check up or blood test. When symptoms do exist, they are usually one or more of the following:

• The patient urinates more often
• The patient gets up at night more often to urinate
• He may find it hard to start urinating
• He may find it hard to keep urinating once he has started
• There may be blood in the urine
• Urination might be painful
• Ejaculation may be painful (less common)
• Achieving or maintaining an erection may be difficult (less common)

If the prostate cancer is advanced the following symptoms are also possible:

• Bone pain, often in the spine (vertebrae), pelvis, or ribs
• The proximal part of the femur can be painful
• Leg weakness (if cancer has spread to the spine and compressed the spinal cord)
• Urinary incontinence (if cancer has spread to the spine and compressed the spinal cord)
• Fecal incontinence (if cancer has spread to the spine and compressed the spinal cord)

Follow @FoSHhizZleMAVIN

Recurrent and Metastatic Breast Cancer

I know you really don't want to be here, reading about breast cancer recurrence or metastasis. If you've had breast cancer, the possibility of recurrence and spread (metastasis) of breast cancer stays with you. You may be here because you fear this possibility. Or you may be here because it's already happened.

Keep in mind that a recurrence of breast cancer or metastatic (advanced) disease is NOT hopeless. Many women continue to live long, productive lives with breast cancer in this stage. It is also likely that your experience with treatment this time will be somewhat different from last time. There are so many options for your care and so many ways to chart your progress as you move through diagnosis, treatment, and beyond.

Because there are so many options, this is a long section. You may want to read just a few pages at a time. You might find it very difficult to concentrate, think straight, and remember what you've read. That's natural when you're anxious, uncertain, overwhelmed. We'll do our best to help you find what you're looking for.

Follow @FoSHhizZleMAVIN