mesothelioma

By Kevin Braddock

You may think you know what ultraviolet does, but do you know the difference between UVA and UVB, or that applying one sunscreen over another could provide less protection, not more? Here we offer the definitive guide to protecting yourself against ultraviolet - whether you are jetting off to the sun or making the most of a British summer.

Why do we need protection from UV rays?

All experts agree that everyone needs some sunshine - the rays trigger the production of Vitamin D, essential for absorption of calcium from food and may even protect us from some cancers. Those rays are ultraviolet (UV) - an invisible form of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the sun.

 

You may think you know what ultraviolet does, but do you know the difference between UVA and UVB, or that applying one sunscreen over another could provide less protection, not more? Here we offer the definitive guide to protecting yourself against ultraviolet - whether you are jetting off to the sun or making the most of a British summer.

Why do we need protection from UV rays?

All experts agree that everyone needs some sunshine - the rays trigger the production of Vitamin D, essential for absorption of calcium from food and may even protect us from some cancers. Those rays are ultraviolet (UV) - an invisible form of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the sun.

Exposure: Our lifestyles mean we are more vulnerable to UV rays than ever

 

How do sunscreens work?

The first sunscreen was invented by Professor Franz Greiter, an Austrian chemist who formulated an application after being burnt while mountaineering in the Swiss Alps. Since his 'Gletscher Cr¨¨me' (glacier cream) first went on sale in 1946, sunscreens have been made water-resistant, combined with moisturisers and adapted into a range of applicators including lotions, sprays and solid sticks.

SPF creams, sprays and lotions provide a layer of protection on the skin that either blocks or absorbs the harmful ultraviolet rays that cause sunburn.

Sunscreens usually contain two kinds of chemical filtering agents: organic, which absorb UV, and inorganic - very fine particles of titanium dioxide or zinc oxide which deflect UV from the skin and may leave you looking chalky-faced after you've applied it.

What is the SPF system?

The Sun Protection Factor system was established in 1962, also by Professor Greiter, as a guide for consumers on the effectiveness of sunscreens.

SPF is, in fact, the measurement of the time it takes human skin to burn when exposed to UV rays, known as erythema. Sunscreens are then created in differing strengths by multiplying the erythema base measurement.

'The erythema is the minimum amount of time it takes for skin to burn,' explains Sencan Tokgoz, research and development manager at Piz Buin. 'From this figure it is possible to calculate an SPF based on the predicted time in the sun.

'If the erythema is 12 minutes, a factor 10 would allow someone to be in the sun for 120 minutes before burning.'

This equation is what allows manufacturers to offer sunscreens in varying strengths - 10, 15, 20, 30 or 50 - and enables consumers to choose an SPF screen according to how long they plan to spend in the sun.

'SPF creams should not be used as a reason to stay out in the sun indefinitely,' says Tokgoz. 'It is also important to reapply the sunscreen every two to three hours and more frequently if doing activities where the SPF will rub off or wash away.'

What do other labels mean?

As well as SPF, a number of other labels can be found on sunscreens. SPF is only a measure of UVB protection and, according to Cancer Research, reports show that UVA rays can also cause skin cancer. Increasingly many manufacturers offer 'broad-spectrum' sunscreens that give protection against both UVA and UVB.

'UVA is very important with regard to skin ageing and cancer too,' says Sencan Tokgoz. 'It's best to have UVA and UVB protection in one cream.'

Labelling for UVA protection is less established than for SPF. In 1992, Boots introduced its 'star system' which outlines UVA content of sunscreen. A rating of up to five stars appears alongside the SPF rating.

'We recommend using a cream with SPF 15 and a four-star rating, which gives a decent balance between price and protection,' says Ed Yong, of Cancer Research.

According to new EU guidelines, an additional UVA labelling regime of low, medium, high and very high protection is being used alongside traditional SPF ratings to provide guidance for the choice of the appropriate sunscreen product. These guidelines have also banned the use of phrases including 'sunblock' and '100 per cent protection'. 'No sunscreen products can provide full protection against UV radiation,' Yong adds. 'The only way to protect yourself fully is to completely cover the skin.'

How much sunscreen should we use?

Cancer Research advises that SPF treatments will achieve their full effectiveness only when applied to the skin in a quantity of 36 grams - roughly two teaspoons applied generously and evenly to the head and neck, and two tablespoons for the body. This complies with EU guidelines.

The British Association of Dermatologists recommends sunscreens with SPF 30 or higher as we tend to use less than half the amount needed to achieve the SPF on the bottle.

'SPF gives a reasonable guidance to the public as to how much protection they might expect,' says Dr Webb. 'A cream with an SPF of 30 will protect better than an SPF of 10 as long as it is used properly.'

Yong adds: 'To get the amount of protection offered by a particular SPF, it needs to be applied generously. Most of us apply too light a layer.' The common practice of doubling up sunscreens - adding, say, an SPF 10 to an SPF 15 in the hope of creating SPF 25 - is ineffective, say experts.

'One will rub off the other,' says Sencan Tokgoz.

By Sharon Barbour
BBC News

The anti-cancer properties of carrots are more potent if the vegetable is not cut up before cooking, research shows.

Scientists found "boiled before cut" carrots contained 25% more of the anti-cancer compound falcarinol than those chopped up first.

Experiments on rats fed falcarinol have shown they develop fewer tumours.

The Newcastle University study will be presented at NutrEvent, a conference on nutrition and health, to be held in France.

Lead researcher Dr Kirsten Brandt, from Newcastle University's School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, said: "Chopping up your carrots increases the surface area so more of the nutrients leach out into the water while they are cooked.

"By keeping them whole and chopping them up afterwards you are locking in nutrients and the taste, so the carrot is better for you all round."

The Newcastle scientist, along with colleagues at the University of Denmark, discovered the health benefits of falcarinol in carrots four years ago.

Heat effect

Rats fed on a diet containing carrots or falcarinol were found to be one-third less likely to develop full-scale tumours than those in the control group.

 

Since then the scientists in Newcastle have been studying what happens when carrots are chopped and cooked.

The latest findings show that when carrots are heated, the heat kills the cells, so they lose the ability to hold on to the water inside them, increasing the concentration of falcarinol as the carrots lose water.

However, the heat also softens the cell walls, allowing water-soluble compounds such as sugar and vitamin C to be lost via the surface of the tissue, leading to the leaching out of other compounds such as falcarinol.

If the carrot is cut before being boiled, the surface area becomes much greater - and so the loss of nutrients is increased.

More tasty

Dr Brandt added that in blind taste studies the whole carrots also tasted much better.

Eight of ten people favoured the whole vegetables over those that were pre-chopped.

This is because the naturally occurring sugars which are responsible for giving the carrot its distinctively sweet flavour were also found in higher concentrations in the carrot that had been cooked whole.

Dr Brandt said: "The great thing about this is it's a simple way for people to increase their uptake of a compound we know is good for you.

"All you need is a bigger saucepan."

Dr Kat Arney, of the charity Cancer Research UK, remained unconvinced that keeping carrots whole would have any impact on cancer risk.

She said: "When it comes to eating, we know that a healthy balanced diet - rich in a range of fruit and vegetables - plays an important part in reducing the risk of many types of cancer, rather than any one specific food."

by Neharika Sabharwal

Study author Rajinder Singh said previous studies have revealed a connection between toxic substances in tobacco smoke and DNA damage, which is further associated with an increased risk of developing lung cancer or other cancers.

But this connection was never before substantiated with regard to marijuana smoke.

Toxic chemical acetaldehyde focus of the study
The focus of the research was the toxicity of the chemical acetaldehyde, present in both tobacco and marijuana. The experts used a high-sensitivity process of modified mass spectrometry in order to determine exactly how acetaldehyde affected DNA under laboratory conditions.

The scientists declared: "It is known that tobacco smoke contains 4000 chemicals of which 60 are classed as carcinogens. Cannabis in contrast has not been so well studied. It is less combustible than tobacco and is often mixed with tobacco in use. Cannabis smoke contains 400 compounds including 60 cannabinoids.

“However, because of its lower combustibility it contains 50% more carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons including naphthalene, benzanthracene, and benzopyrene, than tobacco smoke."

Damaging potential of marijuana smoke
The researchers added that because marijuana smokers inhale more deeply than cigarette smokers, it may give the toxic substance more time to damage DNA.

"The smoking of 3-4 cannabis cigarettes a day is associated with the same degree of damage to bronchial mucus membranes as 20 or more tobacco cigarettes a day," the scientists said.

“These results provide evidence for the DNA damaging potential of cannabis [marijuana] smoke, implying that the consumption of cannabis cigarettes may be detrimental to human health with the possibility to initiate cancer development.

“The data obtained from this study suggesting the DNA damaging potential of cannabis smoke highlight the need for stringent regulation of the consumption of cannabis cigarettes, thus limiting the development of adverse health effects such as cancer,” they further said.

The study was funded by the European Union Network of Excellence ECNIS, the Medical Research Council and Cancer Research UK.

The findings were published in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology.

The research was carried out by Rajinder Singh, Jatinderpal Sandhu, Balvinder Kaur, Tina Juren, William P. Steward, Dan Segerback and Peter B. Farmer from the Cancer Biomarkers and Prevention Group, Department of Cancer Studies and Molecular Medicine and Karolinska Institute, Sweden.

from BBC news

The reluctance of men to adopt a healthy lifestyle and visit the doctor may be fuelling a gender gap in cancer cases and deaths, experts say.

Among cancers which affect both sexes, men are 60% more likely to develop the disease and 70% more likely to die from it, Cancer Research UK said.

There is no known biological reason for this but it may be because women take better care of themselves, they said.

Experts said men needed to be made aware of the risks they faced.

It is thought half of all cancers can be prevented through lifestyle changes.

For the latest report, published to coincide with Men's Health Week, researchers first analysed data on all cancers from 2006 and 2007.

They found that overall men are 40% more likely than women to die from cancer and 16% more likely to develop the disease in the first place.

But excluding breast cancer and other cancers that are gender specific, as well as lung cancer which is more likely to affect men because more men smoke, the difference between the sexes was far greater.

The researchers had expected to see that men and women are just as likely as each other to develop and die from the disease.

However, the figures showed that men are significantly more likely than women to be diagnosed with and die from every one of the specific types of cancer considered, apart from melanoma.

'Surprise result'

Professor David Forman, information lead for the National Cancer Intelligence Network, which helped carry out the research, said: "For many of the types of cancer we looked at that affect both sexes, there's no known biological reason why men should be at a greater risk than women, so we were surprised to see such consistent differences."

He added: "Men have a reputation for having a 'stiff upper lip' and not being as health conscious as women.

"What we see from this report could be a reflection of this attitude, meaning men are less likely to make lifestyle changes that could reduce their risk of the disease and less likely to go to their doctor with cancer symptoms."

By Anthony Castrovince / MLB.com

Indians players, cancer patients and their families flank team president Paul Dolan. (Dan Mendlik/Indians)

 

CLEVELAND -- Cancer had invaded young Quinn Clarke's body once when he was 2 years old, and he successfully fought it off. When it returned in a more aggressive and rare form last summer, the 9-year-old Quinn was fed up.

"Mom, we need to have a cure for cancer," Quinn told his mother, Allison, one day last August. "What if we had a kickball game to raise money to cure cancer?"

As Allison put it, "Only a 9-year-old could come up with that idea."

And it was brilliant.

Five days later, 500 people of all ages from Quinn's neighborhood in Chagrin Falls showed up for a kickball tournament that generated thousands of dollars for Flashes of Hope, the non-profit organization Allison and her husband, Kip, founded to raise money for pediatric cancer research. And on Friday, the Indians announced their involvement with a new community initiative that takes Quinn's idea to new heights.

Together with Flashes of Hope, the Tribe will sell "Kick It" kickball kits for $29.95 through kick-it.org and all Indians Team Shops. The kits include a kickball, banner and buttons, wristbands and temporary tattoos, a how-to-play guide and a donation envelope. Basically, they have everything you need to set up a kickball gathering to help kick cancer to the curb.

All proceeds will benefit pediatric, adolescent and young adult cancer research.

"We had been looking to expand what Cleveland Indians Charities and the Cleveland Indians do for a while now," team president Paul Dolan said. "We wanted to find something to address a real medical cause in the community. We came across Flashes of Hope, and we found the combination of their cause and their approach so unique. We just knew this was the right fit."

All summer, kids can register their kickball teams at Indians.com and kick-it.org to hold games in their community from July until September. Certain teams of kids will then be selected to play "Kick It" games at Progressive Field after five Sunday home games in August and September, beginning Aug. 2.

To get the kickball season going in earnest, manager Eric Wedge and several Indians players, including Cliff Lee, Jamey Carroll, Jensen Lewis, Trevor Crowe and Josh Barfield, took part in a game against Quinn and his friends in the outfield grass at Progressive Field on Friday afternoon.

"We're right in our element here," Wedge said. "Everybody played kickball. There was always somebody's backyard where you could go play kickball or whiffle ball. It's a great idea and a fantastic program.

These kids were at the hospital getting treatment this morning, and now they're out here playing kickball with the Cliff Lees of the world. That's pretty neat stuff."

from bbc news

A breakthrough could lead to drugs to alleviate the pain experienced by cancer patients.

The biology of cancer pain is different to other types of pain, often rendering analgesic drugs ineffective.

Work by a German team, published in Nature Medicine, shows that blocking a specific type of hormone-like molecule produced by tumours could help.

The team showed that the molecules make nerve endings grow in nearby tissue, causing an acute sensation of pain.

Pain is one of the most debilitating symptoms associated with the many forms of the disease.

It can become excruciating as cancer advances, but tackling it has proved difficult for doctors.

The molecules highlighted by the latest study, by a team at Heidelberg University, were known to play a role in the development of blood cells in the bone marrow.

But this is the first time they have also been shown to have a role in causing pain.

New drugs

The researchers hope their work could lead to new drugs to block this action.

Dr Mark Matfield is scientific adviser to the Association for International Cancer Research, which partly funded the work.

He said: "Identifying one of the ways in which cancer causes pain - in fact, perhaps the main mechanism - is a crucial step towards drugs that could bring relief to cancer sufferers across the world."

Dr Joanna Owens, of the charity Cancer Research UK, said: "It's important that we continue to improve pain relief for people with cancer, and this study reveals an intriguing new avenue to explore.

"What's particularly encouraging is that this research could one day lead to drugs that can block pain locally at the tumour site - which could ultimately lead to more effective pain relief with fewer side effects."

By: Web Staff

CENTRAL NEW YORK -- Motorcyclists geared up and rode out to find a cure for breast cancer Saturday. The sixth annual Ride for Research started at the Quaker Steak and Lube in Syracuse and continued for 40 miles throughout Central New York.

The event was hosted by the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Foundation. All money raised stays local, going to University Hospital for research.
Six hundred riders were expected to get on their bikes for the cause.

"It is so inspiring when you see all those people and that ride leaves it just touches you. It's amazing," said Donna Boyd, Carol M. Baldwin Foundation.

So far, the Carol M. Baldwin Foundation has raised over $1 million for breast cancer research.

From BBC NEWS

Scientists believe they have found a potential way to stop cancers establishing themselves in the brain, and essentially becoming terminal.

A UK team discovered cancer cells hijack the brain's blood vessels to get all the nourishment they need to seed themselves there.

Key to this is a protein on the surface of cancer cells called integrin which allows them to stick to the vessels.

Drugs that block integrin may stop cancer spread PLoS ONE journal reports.

A fifth of all cancer patients will eventually have disease that has spread to the brain.

Indeed, brain metastases are the most common malignant tumours of the central nervous system, outnumbering by 10 times those that originate in the brain.

Once a cancer has spread to the brain the outlook is not good - even with maximal treatment the median survival is nine months.

Scientists at Oxford University, with funding from Cancer Research UK, the Medical Research Council and the US National Institutes of Health, wanted to investigate exactly how cancers spread.

New understanding

Previously it had generally been assumed that tumour cells grew on the cells that make up the grey and white matter of the brain - the neurons and glial cells.

But Dr Shawn Carbonell and his team found that the metastatic cancer cells start to grow on the walls of blood vessels in the brain in over 95% of cases, and not on the nerve cells.

They looked at samples of a range of cancer cell types from humans and mice.

From this they also discovered that the removal of the integrin stopped the cancer cells from attaching to the blood vessels and starting to grow.

Dr Carbonell said although this finding was still a long way from coming up with a new treatment for those with brain metastases, it was exciting.

"We have identified the protein that cancer cells use to anchor themselves to blood vessels in the brain. Now we can try to come up with drugs to target this protein and stop metastatic cancer cells from taking hold in the brain."

Dr Helen George of Cancer Research UK said the discovery was "an important part of the puzzle" and paved the way for new and much-needed treatments to tackle cancers that have spread to the brain.

we hope Dr Helen George can get the full part of the puzzle.

By Kristofer Karol • DAILY PRESS & ARGUS • June 5, 2009

If Michelle Vincent was going to paint the town pink, she knew she was going to have to do it in style.

That might explain the pink tutu on her head as she, and upward of 1,000 more came out to the Pink Party breast cancer benefit in downtown Howell on Thursday night.

"It's my daughter's tutu from her dress-up box," Vincent said with a laugh outside the party's base at the historical Livingston County Courthouse. "My girls will not be playing dress-up tonight."

The event featured dozens of activities and discounts at more than 40 downtown stores, restaurants, offices and service providers, including massages, pink hair dye, wine tasting, 15-minute yoga, and more. Proceeds went to the Susan G. Komen For the Cure breast cancer foundation.

One of the first things Marion Township's Lora Garcelon hit up was the free massage chair at The Opera House.

"It was very relaxing ?it was one of the reasons I came," Garcelon said. "This is great. Everybody I talked to said, 'I'm going to the Pink Party.' "

Larger packs of pink-clad women were escorted by "man servants," decked out in tuxedoes. The man servants were responsible for ensuring the women had a good night, as well as offering them very frequent compliments, holding their bags and, in the case of Howell's Andy Michels, hopping into the bellydancing circle.

"My grandmother is a survivor ?it runs in the family, and I love women," Michels said of his participation, then jesting, "I've been doing bellydancing for going on 15 years."

Organizer Kim Wilson, who also operates Carriage House Designs in downtown Howell, was excited by the turnout, which, prior to the event, stood at 900 tickets. Tickets were also being sold at the event, making it too early to state how much money had been raised.

"I think it's just really good for the community to come together," said Wilson, donning a skirt with breast cancer survivors' names written onto it in marker.

Howell's Shelly Peach is a breast cancer survivor. She said she came out because she knew she would have a fun time.

It also helped she had a group of about 10 friends with her.

"I think it's wonderful," Peach said of her group's participation. "They're all supporting me."

From BBC News:

A common anti-diabetes drug may boost the potency of vaccines against cancer, research suggests.

Tests on mice found metformin, used for Type 2 diabetes, helps the body's T-cells work more effectively.

These cells, the body's key defenders against disease, "remember" former infections or vaccinations, enabling them to fight subsequent illness.

Writing in the journal Nature, a US team said metformin appeared to improve this important memory of disease.

This ability to remember disease has been the subject of much research, but there has been little understanding of the cellular mechanisms behind it.

The team from McGill University and the University of Pennsylvania used an experimental cancer vaccine and found that when administered in mice, the diabetes drug appeared to improve the strength of the inoculation.

Diseases 'linked'

Several studies in recent years have shown that people with diabetes may be more likely to develop certain cancers, although the exact nature of the relationship is unclear. Type 2 diabetes is associated with extra weight for instance, as are certain types of cancer.

But there also appear to be similarities between the basic chemical reactions which happen in the cells when affected by either of these diseases.

"Many genes involved in diabetes regulation also play a role in cancer progression," said Dr Russell Jones of McGill's Goodman Cancer Centre, one of the report's author.

"There is also a significant body of data suggesting that diabetics are more prone to certain cancers. However, our study is the first to suggest that by targeting the same metabolic pathways that play a role in diabetes, you can alter how well your immune system functions."

This is turn could help the body fight cancer more effectively with a vaccine.

Cancer vaccines are still at an early stage, but ideally could help both stop the disease developing in the first place or treat it when it arises.

Dr Kat Arney, Cancer Research UK's senior science information officer, said: "This is a fascinating piece of research, which sheds light on the complex links between the immune system, cell metabolism and cancer.

"At the moment, this research has only been done in mice and there is a long way to go before it can be applied to cancer patients, but it certainly holds promise for the future."