Sad News from HB's Relative

Good morning folks! It seems that the sky is still crying right now. I decided not to work in our garden today because of the rainy weather. I need sunshine now because it is getting cold again since the past two weeks. Back to my main topic. About a week ago, hubby received a call from one of his relatives telling him that another relative is not getting good right now. The doctor said that they can't do anything anymore with his sickness. I am not so sure if it is like a mesothelioma prognosis but since we are living in an industrial country, sickness like this cannot be avoided. The doctor said that only miracle can save my husband's relative. The cancerous cells are already scattered around his body. I asked HB what kind of cancer does his relative has but he also don't know the real story. Things like this is really very difficult to accept especially to the immediate family of the victim. Hubby said that he is on his 50's and he is really a very nice person. Our prayers for him. Take care folks!

Sad To Hear About Someone

Before the story begins, I would like to apologize about the hiatus that happened this morning in most of my blogs. The lay-outs were gone. It was a catastrophe! Just visit my other site, The World Wide Web for more updates. To the main story tonight, I felt sad as I heard from someone last Monday that a town mate is having a terminal sickness. I haven't talk to this lady after I visited her one time in 2004 to pick a "Balikbayan" box, which we use for sending presents back home. Besides that I am not really calling people just to talk non-sense things unless it is something important. I also heard that she already closed her Asian shop long time ago because maybe of her sickness. I really don't know this lady but I can say that as we bought something to her shop before, she was very friendly and nice. I guess it is not a Mesothelioma cancer that she has but another one. I am not so sure what it is exactly because I also did not asked this other lady who mentioned it to me. We just happened to see each other as I went grocery shopping last Monday. I hope and pray that God will perform a miracle to this poor lady. I believed she is a good person and sometimes I ask, why to this kind of person? Please let's pray for her! have a great night!

Malaysian medicine cuts chemo resistance

MONTREAL (UPI) -- A Canadian, U.S. and Austrian study has discovered a Malaysian folk medication reduces resistance to cancer chemotherapy treatments.

McGill University researchers said the study focused on a class of natural products known as cyclopenta benzofuran flavaglines, or CBFs. Working with mice genetically modified to mimic human leukemias, they found the CBF compound silvestrol can make tumors susceptible to the killing effects of anticancer drugs.

Silvestrol is a natural compound derived from a large genus of trees and shrubs found in Malaysia, South China and some Pacific islands, the scientists said. It's been used in Malaysian folk medicine for generations, but never as a cancer therapy.

The researchers cautioned trials in humans and possible treatments are still many years away.

The results of the study that included Boston University, the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the University of Vienna and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute are published in the June issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
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Mammogram, not biopsy, for breast lesions

SEATTLE (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say a woman with benign-looking breast lesions should not get not a biopsy but a follow-up mammogram.

In a study published in American Journal of Roentgenology, researchers said six-month short-interval follow-up diagnostic mammogram had an 83 percent sensitivity rating -- meaning a relatively high proportion of true cancers were being identified, with a low proportion of cases mistakenly deemed benign.

"Because the probability of cancer is so low, we don't want to put the patient through an unnecessary biopsy, which is an invasive procedure that increases both patient anxiety and medical costs," study lead author Erin J. Aiello Bowles of the Group Health Center for Health Studies in Seattle said in a statement.

The study included 45,007 initial short-interval follow-up mammograms. In the study, 360 women with "probably benign" lesions were diagnosed with breast cancer within six months, and 506 women were diagnosed with cancer within 12 months.

The approximately one out of a 100 probably benign lesions linked to a cancer diagnosis within the year points to a need to monitor these patients, because "we want to detect the cancers as early as possible," Bowles said. After the six-month diagnostic mammograms, follow-ups should continue for the next two to three years "until long-term stability is demonstrated."


Copyright 2008 by United Press International
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Viruses may be linked to lung cancer

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (UPI) -- U.S. and Israeli researchers suggest viruses may have a role in the development of lung cancer.

The researchers all agree smoking is by far the most important risk factor for lung cancer, but Dr. Arash Resazadeh and colleagues from the University of Louisville, Ky., found five out of 22 non-small-cell lung cancer samples tested positive for human papilloma virus.

"We think HPV has a role as a co-carcinogen which increases the risk of cancer in a smoking population," Resasadeh said in a statement.

In another study, Samuel Ariad from Soroka Medical Center in Beer Sheva, Israel, and colleagues found more than half of the 65 patients with non-small-cell lung cancer had evidence of measles virus in tissue samples taken from their cancer.

In his study, Ariad found the "measles virus is a ubiquitous human virus that may be involved in the pathogenesis of lung cancer. Most likely, it acts in modifying the effect of other carcinogens and not as a causative factor by itself."

Both studies have been presented at the First European Lung Cancer Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, jointly organized by the European Society for Medical Oncology and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International
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Study discovers how cancer cells spread

MONTREAL (UPI) -- Canadian scientists say they've discovered cancer cells spread by releasing protein "bubbles" -- a finding that might alter our concept of how cancer works.

The discovery was made by Dr. Janusz Rak and colleagues at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center in collaboration with Dr. Ab Guha of the University of Toronto.

The researchers found cancer cells are able to communicate with their more healthy counterparts by releasing vesicles -- bubble-like structures containing cancer-causing proteins that can trigger specific mechanisms when they merge into non- or less-malignant cells.

Rak said the finding demonstrates that cancer is a multi-cell process, where the cells "talk" to one another extensively.

"This goes against the traditional view that a single 'mutated' cell will simply multiply uncontrollably to the point of forming a tumor," said Rak. "This discovery opens exciting new research avenues, but we also hope that it will lead to positive outcomes for patients."

The study appears in the online edition of the journal Nature Cell Biology.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International
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The top five cancer-causing foods!!

TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEALTH, IT'S THE BEST INVESTMENT YOU'LL EVER MAKE-- FOR FREE!

The top five cancer-causing foods are:

1. Hot dogs
Because they are high in nitrates, the Cancer Prevention Coalition advises that children eat no more than 12 hot dogs a month. If you can't live without hot dogs, buy those made without sodium nitrate.

2. Processed meats and bacon
Also high in the same sodium nitrates found in hot dogs, bacon, and other processed meats raise the risk of heart disease. The saturated fat in bacon also contributes to cancer.

3. Doughnuts
Doughnuts are cancer-causing double trouble. First, they are made with white flour, sugar, and hydrogenated oils, then fried at high temperatures. Doughnuts, says Adams , may be the worst food you can possibly eat to raise your risk of cancer.

4. French fries
Like doughnuts, French fries are made with hydrogenated oils and then fried at high temperatures. They also contain cancer- causing acryl amides which occur during the frying process. They should be called cancer fries, not French fries,
said Adams .

5. Chips, crackers, and cookies
All are usually made with white flour and sugar. Even the ones whose labels claim to be free of trans-fats generally contain small amounts of trans-fats.