Ovarian cancer and stress
Anil K. Sood of the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center is a leading ovarian cancer researcher. In a recent publication his group has shown that stress can result in ovarian cancer tumors growing and spreading faster.
VEGF (Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor) is a growth factor that leads to the process of growing new blood vessels (angiogenesis). For tumors to be able to grow past a certain size they need more oxygen and to get that oxygen they need blood vessels.
Some researchers in Anil’s group had previously noticed that women with ovarian cancer who said they had high stress levels also had a greater amount of VEGF. And that women with more social support had lower levels.
Anil’s group then stressed some mice which had ovarian cancer. The mice that were stressed had more tumors and in many of them the tumors had spread to other parts of their body also.
What they also noticed was that these stressed mice also had higher levels of VEGF - as well as MMP2 and MMP9. The MMP (matrix metalloproteinase) proteins are a type of enzyme that breaks down proteins by breaking the bonds between the amino acids, specifically they are in a group called ‘endopeptidases’. Even more specifically MMP2 and MMP9 belong in a subgroup of the MMP proteins called gelatinases which are believed to be involved in metastasis (the spreading of cancer to different places in the body).
Stressed mice were then given a beta-blocker called propranolol. Beta-blockers block receptors for epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline) which are released in response to stress. The beta-blockers seem to be able to reverse the effect of the stress.
These results may be able to help researchers find new ways to fight cancer in the future.
I can’t help but think that all women who have ovarian cancer are likely to be stressed! Who wouldn’t be? Either way its one more reason to try to help reduce the stress in people with cancer. I have heard of cases where co-workers with cancer were not treated well at all. I’m sure most of us do whatever we can to make someone we love with cancer as comfortable as possible though.
Anil’s results can be found in Nature Medicine.
(Technorati Tags: ovarian cancer, stress, VEGF, MMP2, MMP9)
July 25, 2006
More bloggers blogging on my blog!
What I’d do differently if I had to start my blog again would be to set it up differently from the beginning or use different software so I could have other women blogging here too with their own blogs on my domain.
I would love to have other women here blogging about things I don’t know that much about or don’t have time for such as fashion, parenting, pregnancy, shopping, etc.
If I remember right wordpress can be set up for multiple bloggers, but I didn’t set it up that way to begin with and I don’t think it can be changed now. The other option would be to use drupal.
But since I’m not going to start all over again, my options are limited. What I may do is install another wordpress blog only with multiple bloggers and then just link it a lot to this one, so that they seem to all be part of the same thing. I wonder if that will work? I’ll have to try it sometime.
I’ll still have to figure out how to find other women bloggers to blog about what I can’t, I don’t know that many other people so that could still be a challenge. One thing at a time though.
(Technorati Tags: Darren Rowse, ProBlogger)
July 24, 2006
Medical care of the future?
I read an article today about a doctor who is helping to reinvent medical practice. She has gotten rid of receptionists and nurses to reduce her operating costs and passes the savings to her patients. She doesn’t deal with insurance companies either and primarily takes patients that have no health insurance. For a first time visit she only charges $45 - a lot less than what a person would normally pay if they didn’t have insurance.
She also spends more time with her patients - as well as with her kids. Her first visit with patients last an hour and she uses a web site and email to help with help communicate with patients.
This whole trend was started by Gordon Moore five years ago, and estimates are that around 100 or so other doctors around the country are running their practices this way also.
Do you think this trend will catch on with more doctors? Would you choose a doctor like this if you had a choice? It sounds great, but I do wonder if she still has malpractice insurance? I don’t see how a doctor could work without it anymore. It would certainly help with the doctor-patient relationship if doctors weren’t so rushed and people without insurance could afford to see a doctor more easily.
July 23, 2006
Coping with breast cancer through art.
On this blog I mostly write about the scientific and research aspects of breast cancer and other women’s illnesses. I decided to blog about another aspect of breast cancer in this post.
Coping with breast cancer with one’s self or a relative or close friend is very trying. People have various methods for expressing their emotions. One way a lot of women deal with it is through creative and artistic endeavors - either by doing the creating themselves or through the creations of others.
In Arizona a group of over 50 musicians recorded a CD to bring attention to some breast cancer issues but also donate 50% of their profits. They call themselves the ‘The Amada Project‘. Amada means ‘the loved one’ in Spanish and was inspired by a The Susan G. Komen Foundation race.
Kanika is an artist as well as an East African word that means ‘Black cloth’. She has created sculptures that depict survivors of breast cancer and celebrates their courage. Many of these sculptures are available as pendants.
Another great example of creative expressions of breast cancer is the Breast Cancer Answers Art Gallery - it is a collection of art from more than 25 people affected by cancer. It contains both images and poetry expressing strength, recovery, anger, fear, healing and more.
The above endeavors have not only helped the creators of the art but also anyone that views it. There is no doubt that expressing emotions through art can help with the healing process.
Do you feel the medical profession understands this fully? Do doctors realize its importance to their patients and their patients families? Do they need to? If so, in what ways can this need be communicated to those in the medical profession?
(Technorati Tags: breast cancer, art)
July 18, 2006
More lies from the Bush Administration
Jessica at Bush v. Choice recently blogged about a report that showed that 87 percent of federally funded ‘pregnancy resource centers’ lied to young women about non-existent health problems associated with abortions.
Female staff on the Government Reform Committee posing as pregnant 17 year olds called up 23 so-called pregnancy resource centers and found that 87% of them gave out incorrect or misleading information.
One caller was told that an abortion would ‘affect the milk developing in her breasts’ and that the risk of breast cancer increased by as much as 80 percent after an abortion’. Other lies told to the callers included that ‘first-trimester abortion would raise the risk of infertility’ and ’stress suffered by women having abortions is ‘much like’ that seen in soldiers returning from Vietnam’, among other lies.
These Bush Administration funded ‘pregnancy resource centers’ have received over $30 million in federal funding.
So apparently the ‘god’ of the conservative right wing republicans teaches that its ok to lie.
For more information see the Committee on Government Reform web site.
July 17, 2006
Reduce ovarian cancer risk for BRCA1/2 women
Last week a new study came out concerning women with the BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations and breast cancer. Women with these mutations have a much greater chance of developing breast, ovarian, fallopian tube, and peritoneal cancer.
A large group of women - 1,828 to be exact - with these mutations were followed for 3 and a half years. It was found that the women who had their ovaries removed (known as an oophorectomy) lowered their chances of getting ovarian cancer by 80%!
It should be noted that these were women who had their ovaries removed before they had any known cancer, as a preventative measure.
On the other hand, about 4% of them still got cancer anyway.
You may ask - how could someone get ovarian cancer if they have no ovaries? Well, this is because they got the cancer in the lining of their abdomen (called the peritoneum), which is similiar tissue to that of the ovaries.
Many doctors recommend that women with the BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations have their ovaries removed once they are done having kids or by age 35 - 40.
Results of this study were published in the July 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
(Technorati Tags: ovarian cancer, BRCA1, BRCA2, mutations, women)
July 10, 2006
Breast cancer: BRCA2 and DNA repair
One of the genes associated with breast cancer and ovarian cancer is BRCA2. Mutations in BRCA2 can result in early onset breast and ovarian cancer. It was the second breast cancer susceptibility gene discovered - after BRCA1. It was found from positional cloning through women with inherited breast cancer.
Cell lines with mutations in BRCA2 are genetically unstable and can accumulate large chromosomal rearrangements. Double-stranded breaks (DSB) in DNA can occur due to exposure to DNA damaging substances such as UV light or as a consequence of regular metabolic activity.
BRCA2 is known to be involved in DNA repair through a process called ‘homology-directed repair’ - sometimes called ‘homologous recombination’. In homology-directed repair, the repair involves the use of DNA that is similiar in sequence to the DNA that needs to be repaired.
The Rad51 protein is also involved in homology-directed repair. It binds to damaged DNA to begin the repair process. Some mutations in Rad51 have also been associated with breast cancer.
The BRCA2 protein is 3418 amino acids in length. Its central region of around 1000 amino acids contains a series of 8 repeated motifs called BRC repeats. This region binds to Rad51. The C-terminal end binds to single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) and has some similarity to a protein called RPA (replication protein A) which also binds to single stranded DNA.
In a paper published in June in PNAS Maria Jasin’s group constructed fusion proteins composed of one or more of the BRC repeats and the large subunit of the RPA protein. What they found was that in cell lines containing a mutant form of BRCA2 they were able to restore homology-directed repair when both transiently and stably expressing these fusion proteins in the cells.
Cells with a mutant form of BRCA2 are especially sensitive to DNA damage. Cells transfected with the fusion proteins were resistant to this damage presumably because they were able to restore the DNA repair activity of the cell.
The authors concluded that the primary role of BRCA2 is to bring Rad51 to ssDNA to maintain the genetic integrity of cells.
BRCA1 is also known to interact with RAD51 and be involved with homology-directed repair of DNA.
Further research into the roles of BRCA2, BRCA1 and Rad51 in DNA repair is critical to the understanding and development of future prevention and/or treatment of breast and other cancers.
(Technorati Tags: BRCA1, BRCA2, breast cancer, Rad51, DNA, DNA repair)
July 6, 2006
News shorts: Ovarian cancer; breast feeding
Breast feeding and bed wetting
A study just published in the journal Pediatrics presents evidence that kids who were breast fed are less likely to have bed wetting problems later. It is believed that some bed wetting problems are due to delayed neurodevelopment and that breast fed babies may have a developmental advantage. Of course none of this implies that not breast feeding will cause a child to be a bed wetter - and I won’t even get into the whole Department of Health and Human Services campaign that is resulting in more women being made to feel guilty for not breast feeding. Breast feed if you can - it may give your child some number of benefits, but don’t feel bad if you can’t. Many of us weren’t and are doing just fine!
Ovarian cancer and acetaminophen
The British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and BBC report that regular use of acetaminophen (also known as paracetamol) may reduce the chance of developing ovarian cancer later in life. The study looked at 746,000 women over 6 years and found a reduction in ovarian cancer of around 30% in those that took the OTC pain killer regularly. Long term use of acetaminophen could result in liver and kidney failure however, so it is not recommended that women try taking it just to reduce their chances of getting ovarian cancer. Future research may determine what the connection between the two are and whether or not it is worth the health risk for women with a high risk of developing ovarian cancer.
(Technorati Tags: breast feeding, acetaminophen, paracetamol, ovarian cancer, health)
