Heena Sharma Blog

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

Hormone therapy for prostate cancer can go either way, while some patents withstand the therapy, others outwit a standard hormone therapy, causing cancer to spread. A recent study explores the reason behind this. The research also points to a simple blood test that may help doctors predict when this type of hormone therapy resistance will occur. The study also explores how prostate cancer can sometimes withstand and outwit a standard hormone therapy, causing the cancer to spread. The findings also point to a simple blood test that may help doctors predict when this type of hormone therapy resistance will occur. Prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in men, behind lung cancer, killing nearly 30,000 in the U.S. each year, according to the American Cancer Society. In its early stag s, the most common type, adenocarcinoma, is curable and generall ey responds well to therapies, including those that target androgen (a male sex hormone that stimulates