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February
27, 2009
News
Headlines
Obama Cancer Cure Vow Requires More Funds:
Experts
Even a Little Alcohol Ups Cancer Risk in Women
RF Ablation Linked to Improved
Liver Cancer Survival
Exercise
Boosts Breast Cancer Patients' Well-Being
Experts Promote
Baldness Drug for Prostate Cancer
Urine Test May Tell of Breast Cancer's Spread
Cancerpage news is updated daily, Monday
through Friday, and on the weekends as
warranted. More than 23 new
articles have been added to cancerpage news since the last newsletter.
To see ALL the latest stories, go to the
cancerpage.com search page and click on Submit (but
leave search field black.)
Genetic Information
Nondiscrimination
If you have a cancer gene, or
fear that you might and because of that have refused to be tested for fear of
possible discrimination, you may soon breathe easier. First steps have been taken
toward implementing the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) of 2008.
The law "prohibits the use of genetic information in employment, prohibits the
intentional acquisition of genetic information about applicants and employees,
and imposes strict confidentiality requirements." GINA takes effect NOVEMBER 21,
2009. For
more information, read here.
Make-A-Wish Wedding for
9-Year-Old
Jayla Cooper's doctors say she probably only has a few
weeks left. She has finished all the treatment possible for the very aggressive
form of leukemia she has. What she wanted most was to marry her friend,
7-year-old Jose, who is also a cancer patient at the cancer center where
Jayla was receiving treatment. You can read about their story,
their committment ceremony and view a report from ABC
television here.
St. Baldrick's
Day
Raising money to cure cancer in kids
like Jayla and Jose. There's not really a Saint Baldrick's Day like there
is a St. Patrick's Day. There is a St. Baldrick's Foundation. It
sponsors events around the country every year around St. Patrick's Day to raise
money and awareness about childhood cancers at barbershops. You can be a shaver, a shavee, a
man or a woman. Find out more about the kids, the events and where there may be
an event near you. HERE
$634 Billion for Healthcare
Reform
Healthcare
reform THIS YEAR, and a cure for cancer IN OUR TIME. Pretty tall orders
from the President during his address to Congress Tuesday night. President Obama
vowed to carry through with his campaign promise to reform healthcare by
squeezing efficiencies out of the existing system and raising taxes on the
wealthiest Americans. The campaign to sell the plan began before the
Tuesday night speech with phone calls and meetings. The White House is set
to host a "Summit" next week. Read more in thisWashington
Post article or this Wall
Street Journal article.
Antibiotics May Not be
the Answer
You've seen the ads. Free antibiotics by this or
that supermarket pharmacy. As flu season
goes into full swing, the campaign sounds like a nice idea. But antibiotics don't work against
viral infections like the flu and the common cold. In fact, when
taken incorrectly, antibiotics can do more harm than good by spreading superbugs and
antibiotic resistance. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and
the Infectious Disease Society of America are urging supermarkets to join the
"Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics
Work" campaign. Instead of free antibiotics, the ISDA says
free flu shots might be a better idea.
A Drag
on Healthcare
Institute of Medicine report concludes that the "cost" of a growing population of uninsured population in a community results
in reduced quality of care for the entire community,
even those with insurance. "When a community has a high
rate of uninsurance, the financial impact on health care providers may be large enough to
affect the availability, quality, and cost of local services for everyone, even people
who have insurance," the report concludes. Read a summary of the report
here.
In the Lab/In the
Clinic
Researchers at Purdue University
believe they've discovered why obesity and eating a high-fat
diet increases cancer risk. Their work is limited to studying cancer
cell movement in rats but this is what they've found. Cancer cells
are naturally sticky and grow into a stickly clump. When a high-fat diet is
involved, the cancer cell membranes becomes rounder and less sticky
allowing some to break from the main tumor and move away, a process known
as metastasis. High fat diets increase lipids in the blood which
allow these free-moving cancer cells to move through the blood and through the
body more easily. "The rate of metastasis rose a dramatic 300 percent in the
mice fed a high-fat diet," the researchers found. Read more about the
research here.
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