Cancer Research Lab

A component of green tea combined with a low dose of a COX-2 inhibitor may act in concert to slow the spread of human prostate cancer.

In the journal Clinical Cancer Research, they report that low doses of the COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib (sold as Celebrex), given along with a green tea polyphenol slowed the growth of prostate cancer in cell cultures and in a mouse model of the disease.

“Celecoxib and green tea have a synergistic effect, each triggering cellular pathways, that, combined, are more powerful than either agent alone,” Dr. Hasan Mukhtar from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, said in a statement.

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A new study suggests that drinking a single alcoholic beverage daily may increase a woman’s risk of developing invasive breast cancer by 9 percent.

Drinking just over two drinks daily may increase their breast cancer risk by 32 percent, Dr. Shumin M. Zhang of Harvard Medical School in Boston and colleagues found.

“Moderate alcohol consumption increases your risk of breast cancer,” Zhang said “If you drink alcohol, you should think about the risks and benefits, there is a risk definitely.”

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Men with false-positive prostate cancer screening results report increased cancer-related worry and more problems with sexual function, despite having negative biopsy findings, according to researchers.

Because of this, lead investigator Dr. David A. Katz said, “the psychological consequences of screening are non-trivial and should be accounted for in evaluating the risks and benefits of screening in the general population.”

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Compared with conservative “watchful waiting,” which is often recommended for men with high-grade prostate cancer because of the difficulty of treating it, radiation therapy or radical prostatectomy can lead to a significant improvement in survival, New York-based researchers report.

“Patients with the most aggressive non-metastatic prostate cancers — Gleason scores 8-10 — if treated with prostatectomy or radiation, can expect to live more than 14 years,” lead investigator Dr. Ashutosh Tewari said. “Those treated conservatively will live, on average, less than 7 years.”

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Superoxide produced by Enterococcus faecalis promotes chromosomal instability in hamster cells in vitro, according to a report in the February issue of Gastroenterology.

“I like to think of our project as the colonic variation of the Helicobacter pylori and gastric cancer story,” Dr. Mark M. Huycke from University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma said. “We hypothesize that commensal bacteria play a significant role in generating chromosomal instability by abnormally activating colonic macrophages and that this leads to sporadic colorectal cancer through a bystander effect.

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Following induction chemotherapy for patients with stage IIIA-N2 non-small-cell lung cancer, radiation therapy rather than surgery should be considered the preferred locoregional treatment, according to investigators in Europe.

Dr. Jan P. van Meerbeeck, from University Hospital Ghent in Belgium, and his associates studied 332 patients with stage IIIA-N2 cancer who responded to three cycles of platinum-based chemotherapy. Patients were randomly assigned to radiotherapy (n = 165) or to surgery (n = 167).

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Thirty years after treatment for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), survivors remain at increased risk for developing a second malignancy, according to a new report.

“Today, prognosis from childhood ALL is excellent, so now, more and more patients become long-term survivors,” Dr. Nobuko Hijiya from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee.

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Supracervical hysterectomy may be a reasonable alternative to total abdominal hysterectomy for women with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer, according to a report in the March Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Although oncologists have traditionally recommended total abdominal hysterectomy for women with ovarian cancer, the authors explain, many oncologists now recommend supracervical hysterectomy for those who will receive intraperitoneal chemotherapy because it may limit vaginal leakage of the chemotherapeutic agents.

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Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) appears safe for men who experience hypogonadal symptoms after brachytherapy for prostate cancer.

“Men who have undergone potentially curative treatment for prostate cancer but also suffer from severe effects of hypogonadism may benefit from a trial of testosterone replacement, with close monitoring of the PSA,” Dr. Michael F. Sarosdy from South Texas Urology and Urologic Oncology, San Antonio, said. “In our experience, most have done well.”

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Merck & Co. Thursday said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has adopted the recommendation of an advisory panel that the drugmaker’s vaccine against cervical cancer routinely be given to females aged 11 through 26.

The recommendations for use of the Gardasil vaccine, which provides protection against two strains of the human papillomavirus responsible for most cases of cervical cancer, were issued by the FDA’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in June 2006.

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