“Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves.”

I wish all followers of Doctor Mendoza Cancer News Blog a very peaceful Merry Christmas

The use of biomarkers to target treatment improves patient outcomes by making earlier and more appropriate treatment selections, and the number of markers has increased dramatically in the past decade.  Breast cancer was highly segmented even in the early 2000s, but the addition of the BRCA 1/2 genetic marker further isolates responders to specific treatments.

 

Smoking causes more deaths each year than Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) + illegal drug use + Alcohol use + Motor vehicle injuries + Firearm-related incidents (combined!)

Interesting discovery: A dye will help neurosurgeons to get complete resection surgeries for brain tumors.

A new study in 99 patients with suspected high-grade (fast-growing) gliomas were colored after given a drink containing 5-ALA before surgery. "The beauty of 5-ALA is that neuro-surgeons can see where high-grade glioma is, while they're operating.". The use of 5-ALA  will help to get complete resection of the brain tumors and increase the chance of cur in these patients.

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-46073972#

Challenges of patients participating in clinical trials

 

A most recent comprehensive review found stronger evidence in support of corticosteroids to decrease "early treatment failure" in addition to the mortality benefit for severe pneumonia in adults. This was a controversial topic for years leading to the discontinuation of steroids in this setting. Although, this practice remained in Spain and there is a large number of oncologists using the steroids to treat complex lung infections with great outcome in immunoc-ompromised cancer patients.  

Preseentation of a data about 3000+ glioblastoma multiform at the european Medical Society Oncology 2018

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is the month where is done a worldwide annual campaign involving thousands of organisations. The idea is to highlight the importance of breast awareness, education and research

 

Very sadly inequity for access to the oncologists in poor countries…the graph doesn’t show the situation in some countries in the center of Africa which is very far worse than India.

 

Prostate cancer care in elderly men costs Medicare $1.2 billion

The study, published in JAMA Oncology (Sept. 13, 2018, was based on an analysis of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare linked database. Looking at the period between 2004 and 2007. The authors identified nearly 50,000 men who were diagnosed with nonmetastatic prostate cancer at 70 years of age or older. About half of the patients were 76 years of age or older. While many patients in the US can’t afford curative cancer treatments, a recent report has shown that the Medicare is spending a median of $14,453 per patient within 3 years after the diagnosis of localized prostate cancer in elderly men. The total Medicare estimated 3-year costs is $1.2 billion.  Localized prostate cancer is a condition that is rarely fatal, especially in elderly men because localized prostate cancer grows slowly such that there are higher chances of the patient dying of something else. Therefore, is questionable the spending of a big amount of taxpayers’ money…. since there is no prevention of prostate cancer in those patients…

News against the fight of human papillomavirus-induced cancers with the preventive vaccine.

Gardasil 9 (HPV 9-valent Vaccine, Recombinant), a vaccine for the prevention of HPV, has been approved by the FDA for use in males and females aged 9 through 45 years.

Gardasil 9 was previously approved by the FDA in 2014 for use in males and females aged 9 through 26 years. The vaccine has been shown to prevent cancers and other diseases caused by the 9 types of HPV: 6, 11, 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, and 58.

Meta-analysis highlights link between processed meat and breast cancer

Studies regarding the link between processed meat and risk of breast cancer have presented inconsistent results. This problem was addressed by a recently published meta-analysis in the International Journal of Cancer, examining 15 studies published on the subject. From this the reviewers concluded that high processed meat consumption increased the risk of developing breast cancer by 9%. No significant association was observed between unprocessed red meat intake and cancer risk.

'Red' meat is any meat that has a dark red colour before it is cooked – this includes meats such as beef, lamb and pork. 'Processed' meat is meat that is not sold fresh but has been preserved. For example, the meat may have been smoked, cured, or had chemical preservatives added.

 

Prostate cancer and famous people!

Prostate cancer is a malignant tumour in the prostate. Most prostate cancers develop slowly and do not cause symptoms. Fast-growing prostate cancer is less common. The risk of getting prostate cancer increases with age. The average age for diagnosis of prostate cancer is 69.

Because of the development in diagnostic tools and longer life expectancy, more prostate cancer are now detected. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in elderly me. The survival rate for prostate cancer in Europe is relatively high and is still going up.

 

Eating Broccoli Sprouts While Pregnant May Help Prevent Breast Cancer in Child Decades Later, Mouse Study Shows

 

https://breastcancer-news.com/2018/09/10/broccoli-sprouts-helped-prevent-breast-cancer-offspring-pregnant-mice/?utm_source=Breast+Cancer+News&utm_campaign=4661daa00b-RSS_MONDAY_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_US&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ea3614260e-4661daa00b-72437561

 

Machine-learning Technique May Speed Identifying ER-positive Breast Cancers

Researchers have developed a technique that showed potential to identify estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancers much faster and easier than current methods, potentially speeding a patient’s diagnosis and advancing the possibility of more personalized treatment.

Treatment decisions and patient management in breast cancer depends greatly on the presence of specific markers – cancer cells with receptors for estrogen and other hormones – as these markers are associated with different responses to current therapies.
ER-positive breast cancers account for more than 70 percent of all such cancers, and these patients are often treated with one of two classes of therapies after surgery.
In the U.S., the standard procedure to characterize breast tumors uses immunohistochemistry, a method in which biopsies slides are analyzed under a microscope for the presence of specific markers. However, this process is expensive, slow – taking weeks to provide results – and somewhat inconsistent, as different laboratories may reach different results.
While the results of the new technique are promising, further validation is needed before the technique might be applied in the clinical setting, and the researchers expect that tests involving larger groups of patients will also improve the machine’s predictive accuracy.

 

Father of modern surgery

Sir Joseph Lister Bt (1827-1912), was a British surgeon and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery. Lister championed the use of carbolic acid as an antiseptic, so that it became the first widely used antiseptic in surgery. He first suspected it would prove an adequate disinfectant because it was used to ease the stench from fields irrigated with sewage waste. He presumed it was safe because fields treated with carbolic acid produced no apparent ill-effects on the livestock that later grazed upon them. Lister's work led to a reduction in post-operative infections and made surgery safer for patients, distinguishing him as the "father of modern surgery".

Sir (William) Richard Shaboe Doll (1912–2005), described by the British Medical Journal as “perhaps Britain’s most eminent doctor was the first determined the link between smoking and lung cancer

Do you know that tobacco can provoke different type of cancers but also smoking can shrink your brain, it makes your memory worse and makes you twice as likely to get dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease

 

 

Bacopa monnieri also called “Brahmi,” in Hindi has been used as natural medicine to treat anxiety, epilepsy, cardiac tonic, etc. In this paper is also demosstrated its anticancer effects. What great is the nature!

BREAKING NEWS:

NICE have issued draft guidance concluding that the CAR-T cell therapy Kymriah® is too expensive to recommend as a treatment for adults with lymphoma.

 

A pack of cigarettes, lighter and lung tumor showed at the same time in the chest CT scan...... look carefully what arrows are pointing out.

Diseases which are the world's biggest killers.

Cancer.
Diabetes.
Lung disease.
Heart diseases.
Stroke.

Cancer Will Kill About 10 Million People This Year, Experts Predict

Nearly 10 million people around the world will die of cancer this year, according to new estimates from the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

 

The IARC’s report, which was published the Cancer Journal for Clinicians, was based on cancer incidence data from 185 countries around the world. Researchers estimated that there will be 18.1 million new diagnoses of cancer and 9.6 million cancer deaths in 2018. Those numbers — a marked increase from just six years ago, when cancer diagnoses were estimated at 14.1 million, and deaths at 8.2 million — reflect the world’s aging and growing population. About one in eight men, and one in 11 women, will eventually die of cancer, the report says.

Potential clinical applications of circulating tumor DNA in patients receiving new immunotherapies.

It is not sci-fi. It should be -or it will be soon- part of the management of cancer testament !

 

Worldwide Who's Who Names Luis Mendoza, MD, Ph.D. Professional of the Year in Oncology

https://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release/worldwide-whos-who-names-luis-mendoza-md-phd-professional-of-the-year-in-oncology-275764.php

My last publication

The therapeutic effect of  specific CDK4/6 inhibitors in treating HR positive and HER2 negative advanced breast cancer

https://www.linkos.cz/files/klinicka-onkologie/442/5371.pdf

Presentation about Dr Mendoza's medical experience

 

Human papilloma virus (HPV) causes 70% of oropharyngeal cancer

HPV can infect the mouth and throat and cause cancers of the oropharynx (back of the throat, including the base of the tongue and tonsils). This is called oropharyngeal cancer. HPV is thought to cause 70% of oropharyngeal cancers in the United States.

 

 

Diagram of the oral cavity and oropharynx. The oral cavity includes the lips, the labial and buccal mucosa, the front two-thirds of the tongue, the retromolar pad, the floor of the mouth, the gingiva, and the hard palate. The oropharynx includes the palatine and lingual tonsils, the back one-third base of the tongue, the soft palate, and the posterior pharyngeal wall.

 

A new interesting information from a research higlights the difference of genes related to cancer between elephants and humans. 

An estimated 17 percent of humans worldwide die from cancer, but less than five percent of captive elephants -- who also live for about 70 years, and have about 100 times as many potentially cancerous cells as humans -- die from the disease.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180814173643.htm

Brassica genus vegetables prevent colon cancer, study said.

Eating vegetables such as kale, cabbage and broccoli may help prevent the development of colon cancer later in life, a new study has claimed. Research conducted in London has found that certain chemicals produced in these vegetables can reduce inflammation of the gut and the colon, thus decreasing the likelihood of colon cancer. The study, which was published in the medical journal Immunity, explored the health benefits of a diet rich in indole-3-carbinol (I3C). I3C is produced in the body when vegetables from the Brassica genus are digested. Vegetables in the brassica genus plant family include broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage and kale. The researchers carried out the study by studying genetically modified mice and feeding them a diet rich in I3C.