Category Archives: Cancer Care

Strike Deadly Pancreatic Cancer: Healing Pillars from Bottleneck to Potentials

Cancer. The word itself can send shivers down your spine. How about pancreatic cancer? Consider these three facts:

A grim reality: Pancreatic cancer is a rare and deadly cancer. Estimated 66,440 people in the US will be diagnosed with and approximately 51,750 Americans will die of pancreatic cancer in 2024 (per American Cancer Society). Data also predicts the disease to become the second leading cause of cancer deaths by 2030.
A growing concern: Pancreatic cancer diagnoses in young adults (under 45) are on the rise. As the incidence increases, it’s becoming a public health problem too.
A glimmer of hope: Yes, let’s explore it as evolving breakthroughs combat this terrible disease!

First, let me briefly emphasize what makes pancreatic cancer extremely fatal. It is because of its key characteristics such as:

Asymptomatic nature in early stages (if any signs, vague or nonspecific)
No routine screening test available
Invasive early and rapid spread
Limited effective treatments
Therapy-resistant, with high rate of recurrence
Poor prognosis, with a 5-year survival rate about 10% or low long-term survival.

For the focus here, the most common type of pancreatic cancer (85% overwhelmingly) is pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC); its nature remains aggressive and multifaceted.

However, the mainstays for pancreatic cancer treatment are surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, which appear to reach a “bottleneck” status with unsatisfactory clinical results. Also sadly, most cancers have already metastasized at the time of diagnosis.

Despite its complexity, genetic research and scientists’ unwavering effort have propelled discoveries!

A hallmark of pancreatic cancer is KRAS mutation. KRAS is a tumor-promoting gene, and mutated in ~95% of pancreatic cancer patients. Studies indicate that KRAS mutation likely initiates human pancreatic cancer, and drives tumor growth and progression. Even so, targeting KRAS through pharmacological interventions—especially with single agent inhibitors in the past—has confronted an “undruggable” challenge.

Yet, researchers are unlocking new opportunities in various paths, with transformed treatments encompassing but not limited to:

Targeted therapy: Innovative therapies—such as the use of siRNAs (small interfering RNA) through nano-delivery, anticancer vaccine, and immune T-cell therapy—are driven against KRAS mutation. Additionally, a subgroup of pancreatic patients harboring BRCA1/2 mutation can benefit from platinum-based chemotherapy and Olaparib (a PARP inhibitor). Next-generation sequencing technology will facilitate genomic mapping of cancer cells to identify more treatment targets.
Immunotherapy: In the past, most pancreatic cancer didn’t respond to immunotherapy, likely attributed to its immuno-suppressive tumor microenvironment that facilitates tumor escape from immunosurveillance. Now, studies and clinical trials are ongoing to alter tumor microenvironment, and make tumors active immunologically or cytotoxic T-cells respond.
Liquid biopsy: This is an emerging, non-invasive, and less costly clinical tool to detect cancer biomarkers or “signatures” from blood circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) or circulating tumor cells, etc. It shows promises for early detection, treatment precision and monitoring, and offers prognostic value in pancreatic cancer.
Combined therapies: In addition to a targeting approach, combined drugs to simultaneously block multiple abnormal pathways in PDAC, or a combination of immuno- and chemotherapy, can also improve survival and/or quality of life in cancer patients.

Still today, early detection is crucial, because pancreatic cancer is curable at an earlier, localized, and surgically resectable stage.

If you experience persistent abdominal pain, unexplained loss of appetite or weight, or any concerning symptoms, don’t hesitate to see your doctor. For those with a hereditary risk, consult with oncologists to keep updated on helpful or applicable genetic development.

Finally, with a glimmer of light, a glimmer of joy for the positive impact on cancer patients, it also creates an urgent need for our awareness and actions. Spread words and modify lifestyle!

Image Credits: slidemodel.com; CancerPreventionDaily

Implication of Bacterial Toxins in Targeted Cancer Therapy

By Hui Xie-Zukauskas

When hearing “anthrax”, most people immediately fear either a serious infectious disease or a biological weapon. Do you know that scientists are harnessing certain toxins (such as anthrax) as a novel tool to kill cancer cells? A recent study (published in International Journal of Cancer, 2020) has demonstrated the effectiveness and safety of this approach specifically in targeting bladder cancer, one of the top common cancers with a high recurrent rate (~70%) and frequent resistance to chemotherapies.

A poor cure rate of bladder cancer remains a major challenge mixed with an opportunity. Unlike the normal bladder cells with a protective layer, bladder cancer cells uniquely overexpress epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) while being exposed to the bladder lumen in contact with urine. EGFR is a protein on the cell membrane, functioning like a lock for its key— epidermal growth factor (EGF), a protein binding to EGFR to drive cell growth.

Taking advantage of this characterization, lead author Jack and colleagues developed a compound by combining EGF with anthrax toxin, and then incubated bladder cancer cells (from mice, dogs and the humans, respectively) with the EGF-toxin in the presence of saline and urine. Because of a strong chemical/structural bond between EGF and EGFR, these cancer cells took up this toxic agent (or “bait”) as expected. Therefore, the EGF-toxin stuck firmly to and struck quickly at bladder cancer cells—by binding and internalizing then exercising toxin enzymatic activity—and ultimately eliminated an average 85% of human cancer cell population at concentrations below 10 nanomolar (nM) within minutes.

The high efficiency in toxin-triggered cancer cell death from in vitro studies encouraged the researchers to conduct in vivo analyses. First, in order to test potential adverse effects of the EGF-toxin, they injected this agent into the bladder of tumor-free animals (six mice and four dogs), and detected no toxicity after monitoring physical, urinary, blood, and biochemical measures over a month. Next, they proceeded to treat six tumor-bearing dogs, in which bladder cancer was massive, resistant to conventional therapy and verified with EGFR overexpression. The results showed that all dogs treated had an average of ~30% reduction in tumor size after a single cycle of 5-day therapy, and the treatment was well-tolerated. Adverse effects included mild bladder irritation, and slightly increased blood in urine or frequency of urination by day 5 treatment, but they were self-resolved without any intervention.

Nicotine, the substance in cigarette, contracts the vessels making healthy blood flow a quite complicated process. buy viagra in india Consult a tadalafil in canada doctor and discuss about all the problems you have faced in the bed. The amalgamation of these medications may cause critical outcomes, cialis generic cipla thus, it is suggested not to take kamagra when you need it. Men have always loved these vacuum based devices to support blood circulation but the 21th century gave a completely new definition to devices. buy viagra where Noted importantly is the specificity of this approach. They found that not only was the recognition of EGFR required for the EGF-toxin activity, but also the level of EGFR expression influenced their sensitivity to the toxin in targeted cells; which may explain why the EGF-toxin had little effect on normal bladder cells. In addition, high efficiency in treatment, shortened time for exposure (from hours to minutes), and safety profile are of clinical significance and highly beneficial for cancer patients.

Although their success limited in combating surface (i.e., non-invasive) bladder cancer from preclinical studies, the researchers speculated the bright potential of this therapeutic strategy for invasive bladder cancer. Overall, in searching for a “magic bullet” to fight “war on cancer”, using bacterial toxins for targeted cancer therapy should be cheered as a smart tactic to destroy some cancer cells.

Source / Reference:

Jack S, Madhivanan K, Ramadesikan S, Subramanian S, Edwards DF 2nd, Elzey BD, Dhawan D, McCluskey A, Kischuk EM, Loftis AR, Truex N, Santos M, Lu M, Rabideau A, Pentelute B, Collier J, Kaimakliotis H, Koch M, Ratliff TL, Knapp DW, Aguilar RC. A novel, safe, fast and efficient treatment for Her2-positive and negative bladder cancer utilizing an EGF-anthrax toxin chimera. Int J Cancer. 2020;146(2):449-460.

Image credit: Pixabay; CancerPreventionDaily

Amazing Five Breakthroughs on Cancer Treatment

By Hui Xie-Zukauskas

Cancer is a leading cause of death globally according to the World Health Organization. In 2020, it accounts for nearly 10 million deaths worldwide. The sad reality is that some malignant cancers remain incurable despite remarkable progress achieved in cancer diagnosis and treatment.

The good news is that novel therapeutic breakthroughs are continuously being made to fight cancer!

I’m going to highlight a few of numerous advances, especially those tackling common malignant cancers.

1. Precision oncology

Cancer differs from one individual to another. Precision oncology equips doctors to tailor cancer treatment specifically to a person’s cancer. Genes, proteins, or even blood vessels that promote cancer cells to grow and metastasize are targeted in these therapies. Leveraging biomarkers (genes, proteins, and different types of molecule) plays an essential role in personalized medicine and in fighting cancer. The validated biomarkers can improve risk stratification, cancer screening and differential diagnosis, evaluate cancer prognosis, and predict response to treatment. Along with the patient’s data, optimal therapy decision can be made. In other words, biomarkers facilitate the effort that can match the right patient with the right treatment at the right time. For instance, the innovation has been applied in diagnostic test for lung cancer and target treatment for metastatic breast cancer.

2. Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy harnesses your own immune system to beat cancer. It uses the immune cells from a patient or a transplant donor to attack blood cancer cells (e.g., in leukemia, lymphoma, or myeloma), especially cancers that are resistant to chemotherapy or remain after chemotherapy. Immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors has been approved for the first-line therapy of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Immunotherapy through novel approaches used alone or in combination has substantially improved clinical outcomes of oncology and hematology, including in metastatic melanoma. Certainly, immunotherapy is intriguing and full of complexity, especially when some cancers don’t respond to it well.

3. Controlled Nitric Oxide (NO) delivery

NO is a small, very reactive signaling molecule with a half-life less than 10 seconds. It regulates various key physiological functions, including blood vessel dilation, bronchial dilation, neuronal communication, and wound healing, etc. Underproduction of endogenous NO contributes to several chronic conditions from cardiovascular and lung diseases to cancer. Inhaled NO has been a valuable therapy for neonatal pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary inflammation control, and some heart and lung surgeries.

Not in India, you can find wonderful them throughout the world through several india pharmacy viagra online providers. This action helps your heart and blood vessels in the penis causing a lack of blood flow which in turn helps in preventing clotting in arteries and veins. best price sildenafil They other viagra for sale don’t even talk to their doctor about their symptoms. Due to the jelly format and being more than a treatment, tadalafil 20mg price it has has become a fantasy providing solution for men of older age. However, effects of NO on tumors are multifaced; promoting or inhibiting cancer growth depending on tumor microenvironment. Because NO has been implicated in many signaling pathways in colon cancer and exogenously sustained levels of NO cause cytotoxicity, NO-donor/agents has been employed to deliver a high level of NO to tumor sites in the colon. So, NO—a magic molecule—can be used for colon cancer therapy. Now it is recognized that a right concentration and duration of NO presence at a particular site plays a prominent role in the regulation of cancer biology.

4. Virus-based treatment or engineered oncolytic viruses

Multidrug resistance is a big problem in cancer therapy, especially chemotherapy. Now oncolytic viruses are used to kill cancer cells by exploiting cancer cell-specific vulnerabilities and infecting them while sparing normal cells. Unlike vaccine-strain viruses failing to meet some critical safety and efficacy criteria, these genetically engineered viruses (such as oncolytic measles virus or adenovirus) enhance cancer therapy in clinical efficiency. Virus-based treatment has been used in glioblastoma, a malignant brain tumor; also, in breast cancer and lung cancer.

5. Proton beam therapy (PBT) as advanced radiation therapy

Radiation therapy has been advancing rapidly in various ways. One way is proton therapy. Protons are positively charged particles of energy, a form of radiation that can send an intense burst of energy to a highly focused area, which means it kills cancer cells without damaging healthy tissues nearby. PBT therapy has been used for several common cancers including the lung, breast and prostate cancer as well as brain cancer.

Although many challenges remain to reach the full therapeutic potentials of these advanced biomedical technologies, future treatments for patients with cancer are very promising!

These exciting breakthroughs inspire us to prevent cancer by strengthening our body’s natural defense, so that the immune system can watch for and attack cancer cells effectively. We can also take advantage of new technologies for protection from common cancers (e.g., colon, breast, cervical, and prostate cancer), because they can be controlled if detected early and treated adequately.

Image credit: Pixabay, Clipart-Library, CancerPreventionDaily

Protect Your Heart, Prevent COVID Heart

By Hui Xie-Zukauskas

You want a good, young heart, right?

What if your heart became a target of our enemy—coronavirus?

You’re in terror or at least concerned. And I’m here to help you.

Heart health is more critical in the COVID era than ever. This is why I’d like to deliver several key points for everyone through real life stories and tips.

Yes, these apply to virtually everybody; from healthy to frail populations, to cancer survivors with cardiovascular disorders who then contracted COVID-19, and to children, with specific strategies for each group.

Why does your heart deserve urgent and special attention?

Cardiovascular manifestations or lasting effects have emerged as one of the most significant and fatal complications of the COVID-19, although the primary target of coronavirus is known at the respiratory tract. COVID-19 affects the heart in both short-term and long-term.

This is because the virus can enter the human heart and cause damage, period. Notable and wide spectrum of injuries include myocarditis, acute cardiac injury, arrhythmia (irregular heartbeats), cardiovascular clots, heart failure, cardiac arrest, … etc., leading to higher mortality.

Look at this chest CT image—a large thrombus (a blood clot, indicated by red arrow) in the left ventricle of the heart (reported by Dr. Hudowenz’s team)

The case is about a 48-year-old man who presented at the clinic with typical COVID symptoms like fever, fatigue, breathing difficulty and coughing up blood, but actually had COVID associated myocarditis and other cardio-pulmonary damage.

(Fortunately, the intracardial thrombus was resolved through anticoagulation therapy, and the patient recovered.)

What are the best and safest ways to protect your heart?

Let’s start with the most vulnerable population.

Cancer patients with cardiovascular disorders and also contracting COVID-19

COVID-19 can damage the cardiovascular system, which is one of the disturbing concerns for cancer patients or survivors already managing cardiotoxicity developed during their treatment, esp. chemotherapy. When adding one more layer—old age, elderly cancer patients will be at a greater risk for sustaining worse outcomes. It’s understandable that medical care for this population has been uniquely challenging in times of the pandemic.

Both cancer and COVID coexisting cardiovascular complications are full of complexity. Case-by-case evaluation and treatment are more appropriate. That’s why I emphasize not to delay your cancer treatment and care.

To preserve your heart function and maximize cancer treatment, it’s crucial to continue vigilant monitoring, optimal treatment, and care for quality of life while practicing COVID safe measures, particularly with more contagious variants around.

Thus, telemedicine is so advantageous at this time. You receive necessary care for personalized treatment and its related toxicities without an in-person visit, which can minimize your exposure to the ill people and the virus.

The good news is—COVID vaccination can prevent and protect you from serious ailment and death! So, consult with your doctor or oncology team for your COVID-19 vaccine recommendation based on your specific case.

Also stay connected with your family, friends, and support system through various ways.

Aging folks and those with comorbidities or health issues

COVID-19 harshly affected older adults and people with chronic diseases. You know that you or your loved ones in this group are at a high risk for life-threatening consequences once getting COVID-19.

Despite common COVID-19 manifestations resulting from the viral spread by contact and droplets, it’s wise to take into account your unusual signs or symptoms. So, you can be benefited from timely medical attention. The following story tells you why.

Kaur et al. reported that a 43-year-old man with diabetes and hypertension experienced acute right leg pain and difficult breathing. At the ER, clinical examinations, electrocardiogram (ECG), CT and lab evaluations showed various abnormalities including positive coronavirus testing. He was intubated, and given therapies; among which was anticoagulation to reduce the blood clots in the limb. Sadly, he died from cardiac arrest 2 days later.
Do not take more than the recommended dose or duration of sildenafil cheap http://davidfraymusic.com/project/fray-a-triumph-performing-bach-boulez-schoenberg-and-brahms-in-chicago/ the cycle. Fiction: Only men with medical penile issue suffer from erectile problems. sildenafil pfizer What Is Sucralose? Sucralose is created by chlorinating sucrose, a naturally occurring carbohydrate found in cialis prescriptions browse around address many plants, which usually ends up in your sugar bowl. Serious erectile dysfunctions may require surgeries which include reconstruction of the arteries to discharge more blood flow into the penis. cialis pills price
Evidently, there are similar cases. The point is that acute limb ischemia may exhibit as one of COVID manifestations, in which the blood supply to an extremity is blocked. Again, take advantage of telemedicine for safety and catching early signs before any disease strikes.

I’d also emphasize that whether aging or suffering from comorbidities, these conditions are often accompanied by chronic, low-grade inflammation, imagine COVID driving a higher level of inflammation. To mitigate inflammation and improve complications, lifestyle changes (including diet, exercise, sleep, weight management) would be one of priorities. (though I won’t go beyond the scope of this post and there are plenty of tips available )

Of paramount importance for protecting your heart is to control your blood pressure. Undoubtedly, stress and anxiety, particularly higher in the midst of COVID, can impact your blood pressure. Paradoxically, some folks disregarded appropriate care or skipped appointments due to fear or disinformation. Alarmingly, hypertension can be asymptomatic but potentially fatal, and lead to heart attack and heart disease that are not always reversible.

Children

Cardiovascular impact on children cannot be ignored, because most cases of pediatric COVID-19 mortality presented with heart oriented multi-organ failure.

The outbreak also altered otherwise healthy behaviors of diet, daily routine and lifestyle. One of safeguards for heart is physical activity.

As the pandemic persists, children’s wellbeing deserves our attention as always. Parents, schools and communities need to be creative yet vigilant, figuring out how to let kids stay physically active while implement safety measures and precautions.

Safe locations to engage in physical activities can be parks or fields with proper social distancing without crowded environments, and our homes including the backyard. Family members can enjoy many activities with their children, such as running, jogging, bicycling, stair climbing, jumping, or gardening, or Tai Chi and Yoga. Household chores are good for children as long as age-proper, such as cleaning, doing laundry, vacuuming, sweeping floors, yards or drive ways, and mowing the lawn or carrying groceries. So, you get the picture. The goal is to avoid kids and teens being occupied with mobile devices, electronic games or social media and for extended hours of sitting.

One thing particularly imperative is personal hygiene; parents need to practice healthy hygiene with children and cultivate healthy behaviors for children’s long-term benefits.

Healthy individuals

Finally, if you are healthy and COVID-free now, cheers and keep doing the great job.

At the moment, I’d like to stress two points, essentially for everybody. First, exercise regularly and moderately, not going for high-intensity and long-duration or those activities with high risk of injury, because not only may they weaken your immune system, consequently increasing a risk of respiratory tract infection, but also potentially trigger over-burdening of our health care system or even increase your risk of exposure to the virus. And next, never let your guard down, because COVID-19, plus new variants surfacing, can hit anyone at any time without discrimination of age, race or health status.

A bonus tip—heed your genetic susceptibility. If you have a family history of cardiovascular disease, particularly any close family member(s) who have died of heart disease young, monitor your risk for developing a heart condition.

Extra point – Preventive care with COVID vaccination

Remember—anyone can get infected and re-infected. That’s why the vaccine’s winning game comes into play, not only can it protect you from the infection, but also lower your risk of becoming severely ill with COVID-19 and dying.

As recent variants exist in the world including the US, it made an extremely infectious coronavirus more threatening.

The more virus transmission spreads in our communities, the more opportunities this virus can mutate, leading to more variants. The more frequent variants arise and stay, the harder we control them. Consequently, the more danger COVID will pose to our heart.

So, go for vaccination to protect yourself and your family, and grab the life-saving reward!

Take home message –

Cardiovascular involvement is a significant risk factor for poor outcomes of COVID-19 at all ages. So, safeguard your heart health and stop the virus transmission.

The greater you become aware of heart problem in the COVID era, the greater you value your heart health. The good news is—heart disease is largely preventable!

If your New Year’s resolution is failing, and February Heart month ended on the calendar, one thing you can always do is to take special care of your heart today for your better tomorrow.

Image credits: Pixabay; CancerPreventionDaily

From Dilemma to Deadly Disease: How Do You Deal with It

By Hui Xie-Zukauskas

Do you have a loved one or friend suffering from cancer? How are they doing, particularly regarding wellbeing and cancer treatment aspect during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Also, are you one of the folks whose cancer screening is due or who may experience something uncomfortable, concerned yet reluctant to schedule a hospital visit?

I’m asking these questions because if the answer is yes, you are not alone. This is the reality and challenge we face now.

A dilemma is confronting us. Staying away from the hospitals may delay a critical treatment or a timely diagnosis, which could worsen cancer progression and prognosis; yet visiting the hospital may increase a risk for the coronavirus infection, which can lead to a potentially dangerous or destructive outcome.

So, I’m going to address this struggle and solutions to help you make a better decision about your health.

Balance current situation with long-term gain

Let’s face it. Oncologists have warned that delayed cancer screening and diagnosis during COVID-19 will result in thousands and more avoidable deaths in the coming decade.

The experts’ insight is clear. Although fearing of COVID-19 risk is understandable, there is also unintended consequence in cancer. I cannot emphasize enough that cancer develops through a multistep process over years. Regardless of what’s going on around the world and how many things we put on hold, malignant growth does not stop.

That is why detecting and treating early lesion(s) are critical. Cancelled or delayed cancer screenings suggest some undetected cancers because screening benefits are undeniable. Then undetected cancer that actually exist translate to the delay or loss of interventions, consequently allowing the cancer to grow or metastasize.

So, weigh in benefits and risks, or pros and cons, make cancer care or screening a priority and take COVID-19 precautions at the same time. Fortunately, it can be done safely.

The best example that early detection and treatment save lives is late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s cancer journey, during which she went through successful treatments with colon, lung and pancreatic cancer since 1999. We can take a brief note on what she taught us.

Learn from Justice Ginsburg’s cancer battle

First, we see hope and inspiration from advanced medical therapies, from her personal battles and survivorship. It’s truly extraordinary that Ginsburg fought five bouts of cancer last two decades and lived well to 87 years old.

Second, we learn her resilience and commitment to life, health and work. Ginsburg’s rigorous exercise routine, her dedication to the job she loved, exceptionally she rarely missed work while undergoing cancer treatments, her time with family and friends, all helped her combat cancers.

Finally, we can ascertain that early diagnosis and treatment matter, as they can steer cancer course towards cancer-free direction. In Ginsburg’s case, every time doctors found a new cancer by accident came as a result of her routine checkups or treatments for other conditions. Then immediate surgeries and therapies restored her health. You can view it as luck or timely discovery or both.

Because she recently died from complications of pancreatic cancer, let’s extend to the next point.

Zero in preventing pancreatic cancer
Vidaarikanda acts as an aphrodisiac and buy canada viagra http://secretworldchronicle.com/2014/01/ is known as vrishya. Some are victims secretworldchronicle.com levitra on line of genetic disorders. This disease in most cases coupled with depression, erection of penis arise when a man sexual get encouraged. online viagra canada These include Obsession by Calvin Klein price for generic viagra and Michael Kors.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most malignant and lethal diseases. It is highly invasive and can widely metastasize to various organs of the body. It’s also resistant to most treatments, with a poor prognosis (up to now a five-year survival rate is lower than 9%).

But when it comes to pancreatic cancer, it’s easy to permit a blind spot. This is because the disease rarely displays specific early signs and there is no acceptable screening test available at this time.

Even though one may experience some symptoms such as abdominal pain, stomach ache or lower back pain, jaundice, or bloating and weight loss, these indications can easily be brushed off in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. And worse, when these sufferings or concerns are presented, individuals already have an advanced pancreatic cancer that’s untreatable or unresectable.

More alarming is that incidence of pancreatic cancer has been increasing in recent years. Based on scientific projection, by 2030 it will end up second deadliest cancer in the U.S. next to lung cancer.

All the above-mentioned aspects, therefore, make the urgent need to understand causes and risk factors of pancreatic cancer. More important, the key is prevention and early detection.

After all, genetic factor is about 10%. Be watchful and eliminate the blind spot. Focus more on modifiable risk factors. Here are actions you can take:

Trust your instinct and science. Don’t put off cancer diagnosis or cancer-related visits. You can always consult via Telemedicine first if any need or troubling concern arises.
Open to necessary hospital/clinic visits. Don’t let fear and anxiety overwhelm you. Hospitals have made stringent protocols to ensure the safety of both patients and staff. I personally witnessed it at different hospitals from recent experience with my family member’s illnesses.
Go for genetic testing if you are a high-risk individual, such as having a family history of pancreatic cancer, other cancers or certain familial syndromes, and hereditary pancreatitis. It can detect a cancer-causing mutation that drives pancreatic tumor growth. Moreover, BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations trigger not only breast and ovarian cancer but also pancreatic cancer.
Beware changes in your body (including subtle ones). Don’t ignore symptoms that may indicate something is wrong.
Pay attention to elderly people. The risk goes up with aging, because ~80% diagnosed are 60 years old and up.
Control diabetes, chronic pancreatitis, and obesity, especially childhood obesity—all are well established risk factors.
Live a healthy lifestyle. No smoking, no heavy alcohol drinking, no high fat and high sugar food, and minimize red or processed meat consumption. Be physically active.
Maintain a good oral health. Emerging evidence has linked poor oral hygiene or poor periodontal health to a higher risk for pancreatic cancer. This relation between a chronic oral infection and carcinogenesis should be no surprise, given that chronic inflammation and bacterial/viral infection are underlying mechanisms for cancer development.
Build a powerful immune system. Make it your strong defense and preserve from diet, exercise to mentality and sleep.
Protect yourself, your family and your community whether it’s fighting against carcinogens or the coronavirus. This is a personal responsibility. Before having an effective and safe vaccine to prevent COVID-19, wear a mask when out in public, watch your space at least 6-feet apart from others, wash your hands frequently, and avoid close contact with people who are sick.

Conclusion

The fear of COVID-19 has influenced some people’s decision to cancel or act on cancer screening or treatment. However, one should make effort to prioritize cancer screening, diagnosis and care while taking precautions to minimize COVID-19 risk. And become vigilant about pancreatic cancer.

Image credit: Scientists & CPD

Rekindled Sense and Attention to Cancer Amid COVID-19

By Hui Xie-Zukauskas

Before Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) rises as a foremost source of mortality in front of our eyes this year, heart disease and cancer are the leading causes of global death.

Both COVID-19 and cancer do not discriminate (any age, race/ethnics or gender), and cause great global public health concern.

In March, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared the outbreak of COVID-19 a pandemic, after the disease spread to more than 100 countries leading to tens of thousands of cases within a few months worldwide.

Strictly speaking, a pandemic is defined when an epidemic spans various continents and affects a large number of people. Although the scientific community has not adapted the pandemic label for noncommunicable diseases such as heart disease and cancer, cancer certainly reaches pandemic proportion and severity (regardless of speed).

To be clear, my focus is not about terminology but about the brutality of a disease. However, if we view cancer morbidity and mortality through the lens of pandemic, without disputing the terminology or the precise term, we can implement protective measures and save more lives, especially from preventable cancers.

Here I examine what dire similarities COVID-19 and cancer share and how they differ.

	COVID-19 (Communicable disease)	Cancer (Noncommunicable disease)
Characteristic	Sudden outbreak, quickly, and highly infectious	Slowly developing over decades, noninfectious
Origin & Cause	Natural or animal origin, caused by a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)	Cells of origin, i.e. cellular mutation, due to a combination of genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors; <10% of hereditary cancers
Person-to-Person transmission	Yes	No in general, but some cancers can be passed from person to person through viral transmission.
Speed & Severity	Deadly in days	Deadly in years
Global death & mortality rate (MR)	145,500+ as of 4/16/2020 MR: *projected 2-3%, presently ~4% in US	Nearly 10 million annually; MR: rose by 17% since 1990, with age-standardized 0.05-0.15%
Human immunity	Nobody is immune to it at present and it can strike virtually everybody	Can strike virtually anyone
Effective treatment	No evidence yet	Yes, if at earlier stages.
Best weapon	Containment and mitigation to reduce community transmission	Risk factor prevention, early detection & treatment
Emotional difficulty, fear, anxiety, and powerlessness	Yes	Yes
Say Goodbye or celebrate a lost life in person	No	Yes
Public health urgency	Yes	? (ask ourselves)

Even though retail and network pharmacies female viagra buy provide offers and reduce the price of their drugs drastically, they are unable to compete with online pharmacies that source their medications from other countries. Treatment for Premature Ejaculation Poor communication, tension, stress, anxiety and relationship problems can cause a lot of issues have already been filed by males coming acquisition de viagra browse around description from different cultures. Our eyes are one of the most fragile sense organ that needs extreme care. viagra australia mastercard cialis samples in canada All profits from the concerts went to the “Heal the World Foundation”, raising countless dollars in relief.
*At this time, it is impossible to reach a precise MR of this outbreak.

Because of the complexity and multifaceted mechanisms underlying cancer development, doing one or two things won’t be sufficient in beating cancer. We must take multiple actions with integrative approaches—some of the same protective measures can be put in place to prevent cancer amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

For example, strengthen the immune system—the most powerful defense we have. However, during physical distancing or home-bound time, stressful emotions such as fear, anxiety, and anger; sleepless nights; as well as unhealthy behaviors (e.g., poor diet, more alcohol consumption, less physical activity) can provoke the burden of noncommunicable disease (heart disease, diabetes and cancer) through weakening the immune functions.

COVID-19 will pass just like any other pandemic; it’s only a matter of time.

Unlike COVID-19, cancer persists as another health crisis and many are living with it now, which should not be forgotten. Compromised immune systems and complicated cancer treatments for cancer patients become more challenging at this troubling time, and personal stories should also not be forgotten. Thus, the battle against cancer should keep on. The book K ey Strategies for Cancer Prevention details how cancer is developed, as well as what you can do to prevent cancer and optimize your well-being. So, remember to pick up a copy for yourself or your loved ones.

Like COVID-19, cancer demands our rekindled attention and care. Behind the numbers are human lives.

Image credit: Amazon.in

Melatonin: Beyond Inducing Sound Sleep

By Hui Xie-Zukauskas

How would you like to learn more about melatonin? Better yet, what if I showed you how it can defend against cancer?

As you may have known, the human body produces melatonin naturally. Melatonin is a hormone synthesized and released by the pineal gland, and also from other sites including the immune system, gastrointestinal tract, brain and skin. Melatonin is well-known for its sleep-inducing benefit, and mostly used as a sleep aid for insomnia or improving sleep quality under various circumstances.

But its usage for sleep is not the attention here.

There are numerous novel insights into the actions of melatonin, based on credible evidence from experimental and human studies. I summarized them in three areas as follows:

1. Antioxidant properties

There is a causal relationship between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and many chronic conditions including cancer. Particularly, research reveals that ROS levels are higher in cancer cells than those of normal cells.

Melatonin is a bioactive molecule and ubiquitously distributed in the cells. It has remarkable antioxidant capabilities through direct detoxication of ROS, indirect stimulation of antioxidant enzymes, resulting in a decrease in cellular ROS. In addition, Melatonin may chelate transition metals involved in generating harmful free radicals. So, antioxidant effects of melatonin can prevent potential oxidative damage.

2. Anticancer effects

Compelling evidence shows that melatonin exerts inhibitory effects on cancer development through multiple mechanisms.

First, melatonin mitigates cancer at the initiation, progression and metastasis phases. The inhibition is attributed to suppressing tumor growth and promoting apoptosis (i.e., cell death) of many cancer cells. Importantly, melatonin also targets at blocking angiogenesis, thus cutting off nutrients and oxygen supply to cancer cells. This is of significance because increased angiogenesis is a key feature of cancer progression and metastasis. (Note that in tumor, angiogenesis implies the formation of new blood vessels that tumors need to grow.)

Women may think they’re no more appealing to female cialis online devensec.com their spouse. Some of the most popular kinds of generic drugs include same ingredient of the original and show viagra cheap no prescription parallel effects on male sexual potency. Doctors are very well aware of the clinical and performance advantages gained by restoring optimal mobility, viagra shipping flexibility, and stability to the muscle/joint complex. It is therefore important to do your homework. about viagra 100 mg viagra price in india Second, melatonin may combat inflammation and strengthen immune system. Poor sleep promotes inflammation as we know, and melatonin plays a role in anti-inflammation. It can modulate the immune response by producing Interleukin-1 and Interleukin-2, through these components to prevent microbial infections and control T cells, B cells as well as natural killer cells, thereby lowering cancer risk.

Third, melatonin inhibits a molecular process associated with metastasis by limiting cancer cells to enter into blood stream, and preventing them from establishing secondary growth at distant sites.

Lastly and clearly, although the influence of melatonin is mediated via the activation of its receptors (MT1 and MT2, proteins located on the cell membrane), many actions of melatonin can be receptor-dependent and receptor-independent. The later involves indirectly through alterations in intracellular events; for example, directly detoxifying ROS and promoting apoptosis by melatonin.

Because melatonin is generated and distributed in a variety of tissues, it may provide a defense against diverse types of cancer, including lung, breast, prostate, gastric, pancreatic, and colorectal cancer.

3. Synergetic advantages with chemotherapy

While increasing efficacy of chemotherapy, melatonin has the ability to attenuate acute and chronic drug toxicity, therefore, it can improve patients’ well-being.

Intriguingly, co-administration with melatonin can enhance the sensitivity of cancers to the inhibition by conventional chemo drugs, and reduce cancer’s previous or total resistance to the treatments. Many types of cancer are susceptible to melatonin-induced inhibition.

In brief, melatonin can cheer you up with cancer fighting spirit and shell while it calms you into a good night sleep.

References: Here

Image credit: https://www.baptisthealth.com/pages/home.aspx

Be Vaccine-Vigilant, Not Vaccine-Hesitant

By Hui Xie-Zukauskas

The latest victims of misinformation are hundreds of cases of measles outbreaks. Based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there have been a confirmed 764 cases of measles from January 1 to early May this year in 23 US states.

Obviously, there is a growing public health threat from measles. I’d like to highlight 5 key points why measles vaccination is critical:

Measles is a highly contagious disease caused by morbillivirus. Severe complications and death can result from measles infection.
Yet some parents resist or hesitate vaccinating their children with the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine (MMR). However, they should have peace of mind based on solid science: MMR is very safe and effective in preventing measles, mumps, and rubella. There is NO evidence that measles vaccination causes autism, period.
The World Health Organization (WHO) placed vaccine hesitancy on the list of the top 10 threats to global health in 2019. Measles remains a common disease in many parts of the world, and unvaccinated people can get infected. Such people may be at risk of being exposed to and contracting measles on their next international trip or while on a cruise ship.
Take viral infection seriously because virus infection is a well-known cause of cancer in humans. Some common examples: hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a primary carcinogenic agent of liver cancer; human papillomavirus (HPV) causes cancers of the cervix, anus, oral cavity, and pharynx. Simply and conclusively, chronic inflammation as a result of persistent viral infection significantly increases the chance of cancer development.

Though the product is great and has beneficial effects, but it has to be used only as per the recommendation guidelines provided by Botaniex achat viagra pfizer experts. The medication is popularly recognized as the best and the safest as compared to other drugs it gives more effects and power which others fail to give. robertrobb.com purchase cheap viagra On the off chance that any of these impacts endure or intensify, inform your speviagra on line http://robertrobb.com/2017/04/t or drug speviagrat for more subtle elements.Give up from consuming grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice while utilizing this drug unless your speviagra on linet or drug sperobertrobb.comt says you may do so securely. Men with premature ejaculation have a series of symptoms, such as bitter mouth and dry throat, lowest price viagra dark urine, stranguria with turbid discharge, pain in the pelvic area, groin or pain in testicles, scrotum, lower back, lower abdomen, and perineum, etc.

Last but not least, understand that there is misinformation circulating across the Internet, and it comes with a price of some sobering health consequences. Be aware and cautious with what you read. Trust reputable medical authorities and consult your physician when in doubt.

The thoughtful bottom line is:

It is a risky and even dangerous choice not to get children vaccinated. It can endanger the health of a child, the family, neighboring kids and adults, all unvaccinated individuals, and the community as a whole. Significantly, it can also harm very vulnerable cancer patients whose immune functions are compromised.

So rather than being vaccine-hesitant, become Vaccine-Vigilant.

Image credit: https://lookingglass.svc.edu

Care about Childhood Cancers

By Hui Xie-Zukauskas

Your cute baby girl is your joy of life, yet she is suffering from leukemia. A neighbor’s little boy with a gorgeous smile just completed his cancer treatment. Sadly, many precious young lives have been taken away by childhood cancers…

If you’d like to learn ways to protect children from cancer, to help childhood cancer patients, and/or to improve the quality of life for pediatric cancer survivors, you came to the right place.

Let’s start with the challenges of childhood cancer patients and survivors.

Unique risk factors

Children are not “small adults”. In general, their care challenges are attributed to multiple factors, including their growth and development, psychological features, health condition, socioeconomic status, family and cultural dynamics, nurture at home and support outside of the home.

Childhood cancers are full of complexity and unknown. However, some known risk factors for childhood cancer have been established – mainly genetic and non-genetic ones.

Genetic or inherent risk factors include parental age, birth weight and congenital abnormalities. Some pediatric cancer incidences also vary by age, sex, and race or ethnicity.

Non-genetic factors are controllable and preventable, such as

High-dose radiation (The human fetus is very sensitive to radiation)
Prior chemotherapy
Exposure to environmental toxins or carcinogens, pesticides and air pollution
Exposure to infections – especially related to risk of acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL)
Pre- and perinatal lifestyle factors: parental diet, maternal smoking, alcohol or marijuana use, maternal medication, etc.

Here’s a natural Yoga solution for a “pill popping” culture that does not take levitra on sale side-effects seriously, until they feel them, or worse. Atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries produces potentially serious complications like high blood pressure, heart attack, sickle cell disease, liver disease, stomach or intestinal ulcers, bleeding disorder, http://cute-n-tiny.com/tag/spaghetti/ viagra sales cancer, frequent heartburn, HIV infection, low blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and eye problems. Key ingredients in Saffron M Power capsules and Saffron M oil effectively addresses the root cause of the problems and eliminates impotence naturally. cialis generic overnight But, we are now living in the age of modern hurry. cialis in canada
Things we can help

Keeping these risk factors in mind, each of us can do our part at each stage of a child’s life. Here is a list of things:

Take a good care during pre-conception and pregnancy period. Unhealthy diet, maternal tobacco or alcohol use, medications and radiation are among the casual link of environmental factors to childhood cancer risk. Particularly, maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with not only childhood cancer but also weight problems, other health and behavior issues. Avoid or minimize your exposure to second-hand and third-hand smoke too.
Eliminate toxins and carcinogens from home and environment at large. Endless exposure to toxic chemicals through air, water, foods, and products results in a serious impact on public health. Then imagine the threat to pediatric cancer patients and survivors as well as all children, how harmful an early life exposure to toxic chemicals can affect their health decades later. It’s critical to underscore that only a small number of chemical exposures are known – leaving the unknowns are our exposure to many more chemicals in daily life and disease consequences. That’s why environmental protection is vitally important, and a green planet signifies healthful generations.
Get genetic consultation if you question any genetic abnormality. Evaluate how parents’ occupational, environmental, medical or other exposures may contribute to a child’s cancer risk.
Prevent childhood obesity. This should start as early as possible. Maternal smoking during pregnancy has been linked to childhood obesity, and that may pose a risk to develop obesity in adult.
Monitor and control kids’ screen time. The radiation emitted from cell phone has been proposed as “a possible carcinogen for humans” by International Agency for Research on Cancer, though controversies still exist. Given the fact that it poses a cancer risk and cell phone exposure or use often begins from an earlier age, it’s wise to keep cell phone safety in mind.
Ensure overall health status, such as promoting healthy lifestyle, enough sleep and sun protection.
Foster individual hygiene and infection prevention.
Get vaccinated. Parents should encourage and educate their children/teens to have vaccinated against HPV and practice safe sex.
Team up care from society such as in the school setting and community setting. Family dynamic considerations, socioeconomic status or poverty, violence issues are various factors that contribute to pediatric health challenges.
Advocate healthcare models or payment changes to ease financial burdens of childhood cancer treatment, and to drive disease prevention.

Last but not the least, improve care and support for pediatric cancer patients and survivors, including all generations of these individuals (i.e. some of them are adults now). Consider what would their life after cancer look like – because of some painful and practical challenges they are facing in daily lives.

Let me elaborate a little more on this. Thanks to medical and technological breakthrough, 5-year survival rates for childhood cancer patients exceed 80%. However, the long-term effects of cancer and its treatment on the quality of life take a huge toll among these survivors.

Specifically, because their treatments take place when they are very young, especially during vulnerable periods of development, the complications from cancer treatment have significant, long-lasting health impacts on these children. The complications of cancer therapy range from impaired growth and development, neurocognitive and psychosocial deficits, cardiovascular diseases, endocrine organ dysfunctions, and gastrointestinal problems.

In addition, children who survive their initial cancers remain at risk for having a cancer recurrence or developing new cancers (secondary malignancies), yet a majority of cancer survivors do not receive risk-based care.

Summary

Cancer impacts our children’s well-being and life. We all have the responsibility to take care of children, and to protect them from a variety of dangers, including interruptions during pregnancy, genetic anomalies, perinatal injuries, congenital defects, malnutrition, environmental hazards, infections, poverty, violence, and trauma. So, we can do a lot to help address their unique needs and find solutions when we open our hearts and minds.

Please share your thoughts and let us know how we can help pediatric cancer patients – via

Support@CancerPreventionDaily.com OR http://www.cancerpreventiondaily.com/contact/

Image credit: https://www.pixelsquid.com; http://www.icpcn.org; CPD

What Cancer Reminds Us of Today

By Hui Xie-Zukauskas

Cancer, the word and the disease, has no voice but says much. It has destroyed past lives and gravely impacted the lives of those living. It brings tons of emotions—sadness, fear, anxiety, anger, and stress. We all know this about cancer and many have experienced it. It is the story of the painful suffering cancer survivors go through.

But beyond distressing emotions, cancer also reminds us of several other things:

Reality

Cancer reminds us of a troubling reality that is partly captured by a snapshot of sober statistics. Despite cutting-edge cancer therapies and declining cancer mortality, an estimated 1,735,350 new cancer cases will be diagnosed and 609,640 cancer deaths will occur in the U.S. in 2018, based on an American Cancer Society report. It can hit anybody regardless of age, gender or genetic makeup.

Hope

The good news is that cancer is no longer a “death sentence,” because we see new promise and hope in the fight against this terrible disease. Cancer genomic profiling and precision medicine have made remarkable progress on on cancer risk stratification and targeted cancer treatments. There are also other breakthroughs in the field of immune-oncology. For example, CAR-T therapy can improve certain leukemia and lymphoma (such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia), with a survival rate of 80% or higher, by reengineering patients’ immune cells (T cells) in vitro to express a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) and empower immune responses so that, when infused into the body, they effectively fight against cancer cells.

Challenges

We also should be reminded of remaining challenges: there are still severe side effects from promising therapies and drugs, effective early screening tests remain underdeveloped, and more research and clinical trials needed.

Financial Strain

Cancer reminds us of the financial strains it often causes. We all know that cancer treatments are costly. How to pay for treatment, especially for those without health insurance, is a big issue. CAR-T therapy mentioned above was acknowledged as a “miracle cure,” but the whole package (infusion, diagnosis, hospitalization, etc.) costs reportedly more than $500,000. Imagine how much this burden adds to a person and family already dealing with overwhelming stress and illness at hand.

Risks & Concerns

Cancer reminds us of other health concerns. Thirteen million people live with cancer. There are health problems and comorbidities that come with or after cancer treatments. Of significance are cardiovascular conditions, heart attack, and stroke. Proposed explanations for these adverse effects include side effects from anti-cancer drugs or therapies, a by-product of cancer itself, or other as-yet unclear causes. So, it is important to consider the overall health and quality of life of those living with cancer and find ways to make them better.

Action & Prevention

Finally, cancer reminds us of positive critical actions that each individual can take to guard against this terrible disease.

Early detection is one action that is a key to successful treatment and saving lives.
Getting vaccinated is an action, because available immunizations offer protection from certain viral-infection-caused cancers.
Prevention is an action, because about 50% of cancers can be prevented by living a healthy, active lifestyle, quitting tobacco, limiting alcohol, and avoiding exposure to cancer-causing agents or toxins.

Limit or manage the production of Uric Acid in the body. viagra buy cheap Reason why these many people cheap cialis professional do not feel erotic even after cuddling and this will ruin relationship status as well. Did you know that cases like ear infections to davidfraymusic.com tadalafil 20mg from india children can also be alleviated by this health discipline? It is truly hard to find out the best one. With the help of vigrx plus, you will get that kind of cheapest generic tadalafil made of Sildenafil citrate of same effect and same power. levitra is a high cost medicine and will be highly side effective.
These are actions that can be taken now and can make a real difference.

Image credit: https://pixabay.com – the-topic-of-cancer

Cancer Prevention Daily

Lifestyle for Staying Cancer-free & Solutions to Cancer Prevention

Category Archives: Cancer Care

Strike Deadly Pancreatic Cancer: Healing Pillars from Bottleneck to Potentials

Implication of Bacterial Toxins in Targeted Cancer Therapy

Amazing Five Breakthroughs on Cancer Treatment

Protect Your Heart, Prevent COVID Heart

From Dilemma to Deadly Disease: How Do You Deal with It

Rekindled Sense and Attention to Cancer Amid COVID-19

Melatonin: Beyond Inducing Sound Sleep

Be Vaccine-Vigilant, Not Vaccine-Hesitant

Care about Childhood Cancers

What Cancer Reminds Us of Today