cancer patients tagged posts

A new study published in Nature Communications provides a framework for researching whether earlier, model-guided treatment intensification can meaningfully improve survival for patients with aggressive disease.

“Early decline in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) to very low levels is one of the strongest predictors of long-term survival in metastatic prostate cancer. However, clinicians currently have to wait up to six months after starting therapy to see whether a patient achieves this favorable response. For patients who do not respond well, this delay may allow the cancer to progress and become more resistant to treatment,” said Soumyajit Roy, MD, a radiation oncologist at UH Seidman Cancer Center and first author of the study.

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A study by University of Liverpool researchers has identified new factors accompanying previous findings that frequent consumption of peanuts by cancer patients could increase risk of cancer spread.

The study, published in Carcinogenesis, shows that Peanut agglutinin (PNA) — a carbohydrate-binding protein that rapidly enters into the blood circulation after peanuts are eaten — interacts with blood vascular wall (endothelial) cells to produce cytokines.

The cytokines in question, IL-6 and MCP-1 are well-known promoters of cancer metastasis. The increased cytokine production causes other endothelial cells to express more cell surface adhesion molecules, making them more attractive to the circulating tumour cells and thus potentially promoting metastasis.

In an earlier study, Co...