Medically confirmed use of green tea in cancer. Evidence based practice!!

The green tea has some uses in the treatment of cancer confirmed with clinical studies. So far, it has confirmed that green tea produces:

• durable reductions in the absolute lymphocyte count and/or lymphadenopathy in patients with early-stage chronic lymphocytic leukemia.  

• reduced risk of myelodysplastic syndromes

• topical application of green tea help relieves radiation-induced dermatitis in patients with breast cancer after mastectomy and adjuvant radiotherapy

No other uses in cancer has been confirmed in clinical trials so far!

Of the 175 small molecules approved for cancer treatment form 1940s to the end of 2014, 49% are natural products or modified natural products!

Below examples of some approved plant‐derived anti‐tumour compounds.

Vinblastine (Velban)

Vincristine (Oncovin)

Etoposide

Teniposide

Taxol (paclitaxel)

Navelbine (Vinorelbine)

Taxotere (Docetaxel)

Camptothecin (Camptosar, Campto)

Topotecan (Hycamtin)

Irinotecan

FDA Approves Non-radioactive Tracer Able to Detect Lymph Nodes Affected by Breast Cancer

Great news for breast cancer patients to educe the amount of radiation.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the non-radioactive tracer Magtrace for the pre-surgical detection of lymph nodes affected by breast cancer.

Magtrace is a non-radioactive liquid marker designed to reveal the route cancer cells are most likely to take when spreading from the primary tumor site. It is a dark solution of tiny iron particles coated with a sugar-like compound (carboxydextran).

Unlike other available tracers, Magtrace can be injected into the breast tissue up to a week before surgery, and can be detected just 20 minutes after administration. This is because of its size: small enough to be quickly absorbed, but big enough to be retained in the lymph nodes.

https://breastcancer-news.com/2018/08/10/fda-approves-non-radioactive-tracer-magtrace-to-ease-lymph-node-biopsy/?utm_source=Breast+Cancer+News&utm_campaign=057c221b05-RSS_MONDAY_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_US&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ea3614260e-057c221b05-72437561

Automated cell counting: Wallace H. Coulter

The development of automated cell counting was a major breakthrough which changes the practice of laboratory hematology. Wallace H. Coulter (1913-98) was an American electrical engineer, inventor and businessman. He studied electronics at Georgia Tech in early 1930s. The best known of his 85 patents is the “Coulter principle”, which provides a method for counting and sizing microscopic particles suspended in fluid. The instrument for automatic counting blood cells is known as the Coulter counter. This device counts more than 6000 cells   per second. His invention of the Coulter made possible today’s most common medical diagnostic test: the complete blood count, or full blood cells. Coulter counters have evolved, so that accurate differential white cell counts, platelets count, and reticulocyte counts can be provided automatically in seconds.