Heena Sharma Blog

Researchers have found that a simple blood test can detect breast cancer up to five years before there are any clinical signs of it. The blood test identifies the body's immune response to substances produced by tumour cells, according to the research presented at the 2019 NCRI (National Cancer Research Institute) Cancer Conference in Glasgow, UK, on Sunday. "We need to develop and further validate this test," said Daniyah Alfattani from University of Nottingham in Britain. "However, these results are encouraging and indicate that it's possible to detect a signal for early breast cancer. Once we have improved the accuracy of the test, then it opens the possibility of using a simple blood test to improve early detection of the disease," she said. Cancer cells produce proteins called antigens that trigger the body to make antibodies against them -- auto-antibodies. The researchers have found that these tumour-associated antigens (TAAs) are good

Patients suffering from cancer and those treated with chemotherapy may be at 40 per cent increased risk of developing shingles, compared with those not having cancer, finds a new study. Shingles (herpes zoster) -- marked by painful rashes and skin blisters -- is caused by the varicella zoster virus that causes chickenpox. The virus remains dormant in the body but causes shingles if it reactivates later in life. The study showed that patients with a blood-related cancer had the greatest shingles risk of more than three times compared to people without cancer, the Health Day reported. The higher risk among blood cancer patients was present two years before their cancer diagnosis. In addition, those with a solid tumour including cancer in the lung, breast, prostate or other organs had a 30 per cent higher risk of shingles than people without cancer, lead researcher Jiahui Qian from the University of New South Wales in Australia was quoted as saying. Read More

Turns out, women who are naturally early risers were found to have a lower risk of developing breast cancer . According to a study, one in 100 women who considered themselves morning people developed breast cancer , compared with two in every 100 women who called themselves evening people. Cancer risks associated with a person's body clock and sleep patterns have been reported in previous researches as well as any genetic factors underlying this. Self-reported preferences for mornings or evenings (by their own definition of that preference) were recorded in more than 180,000 women, led by Dr. Rebecca Richmond, a researcher. The team of researchers also analysed genetic variants linked to whether someone is a morning or night person in more than 220,000 women to find out if these could help provide a causal link to breast cancer. Read Complete Article Business Standard

Women, please take a note. Losing weight can help lower the risk of developing breast cancer in the post-menopausal stage, a new study has found. The study, published in the journal CANCER , found that among post-menopausal women, participants who lost weight had a lower risk of developing invasive breast cancer than those who maintained or gained weight. "Our study indicates that moderate, relatively short-term weight reduction was associated with a statistically significant reduction in breast cancer risk for postmenopausal women," said co-author Rowan Chlebowski from the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California. Although obesity has been strongly related to breast cancer risk, studies examining whether weight loss might reduce postmenopausal women's risk have provided mixed results, the researchers said. For the study, the research team analysed information on 61,335 women participating in the World Health Initiative Observationa

Apart from building healthy bones, vitamin D also may reduce cancer risk as well as breast cancer mortality, especially in women with a lower body mass index. Breast cancer remains the most common cancer in women worldwide and is the leading cause of death from cancer in women. Reproductive risk factors such as early onset of puberty, late menopause, later age at first pregnancy, never having been pregnant, obesity, and a family history have all been shown to be associated with breast cancer development. The role of vitamin D concentration in the development of breast cancer, however, continues to be debated. Researchers involved in the study concluded that postmenopausal women had an increased risk of vitamin D deficiency at the time of their breast cancer diagnoses, associated with higher rates of obesity than women of the same age group without cancer. Read Complete Article  

Having your last meal before 9 pm or at least two hours before going to bed could lower the risk of  breast  and  prostate cancer , suggests a new study. Compared to those who have supper after 10 pm or those who go to bed right after meal, people who take their evening meal before 9 pm or wait at least two hours before going to sleep have approximately 20 per cent lower risk of those types of cancers, the findings showed. "Our study concludes that adherence to diurnal eating patterns is associated with a lower risk of cancer," said lead author Manolis Kogevinas from the Barcelona Institute for  Global Health  (ISGlobal) in Spain. "The findings highlight the importance of assessing circadian rhythms in studies on diet and cancer," Kogevinas added. For the study, published in International Journal of Cancer, the team analysed data from 621 cases of prostate cancer and 1,205 cases of breast cancer, as well as 872 male and 1,321 female controls. Artic