Posted on 10/30/2005 10:46:01 PM PST by neverdem
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School are part of a team that has discovered a possible cause of prostate cancer, a finding they say could result in better forms of treatment or possibly a cure.
The findings show a recurring pattern of scrambled chromosomes that leads to the merging of specific genes. The activity occurs only in prostate cancer.
The Michigan researchers, with researchers at the Harvard Medical School-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, found the abnormality in the majority of prostate cancer tissue samples they analyzed. The gene fusion was not found in non-cancerous prostate tissue.
The study is being published in Friday's issue of Science.
The research could lead to a more accurate prostate cancer diagnostic test and - with more research - to a new, effective treatment for the disease, said Dr. Arul M. Chinnaiyan, a Michigan pathology professor who directed the study.
"We'd like to think it's the first step," Chinnaiyan told The Detroit News. "A lot of work still needs to be done."
The finding suggests that a similar chromosomal rearrangement could be involved in the development of other solid tumor cancers such as cancers of the lung, breast, colon, ovary and liver.
Prostate cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths in men, according to the American Cancer Society. The society estimates that, in 2005, 232,000 men in the United States will be diagnosed with the disease and 30,350 men will die from it.
Support for the study came from the American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute's Early Detection Research Network and the institute's Specialized Program of Research Excellence in Prostate Cancer, the Department of Defense, the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center Bioinformatics Core and the university's Medical Scientist Training Program.
On the Net:
University of Michigan Health System: http://www.med.umich.edu
Brigham and Women's Hospital: http://www.brighamandwomens.org
Science magazine: http://www.sciencemag.org/
There have been some very promising recent developments in cryogenic therapy for prostate cancer.
Along with this, and some of the advances in other types of cancer, it would seem the war on cancer is finally starting to pay some very good dividends.
Common cancers will be cured or near cured. Will that lead to another wave of cancers that aren't so common?
The war against cancer will NEVER end, simply because there is WAY too much money involved.
I suppose it's possible. But remember, the number one killer is still cardiac related problems.
And while alot of folks might call it fringe science, the discoveries about EDTA might remedy alot of that!
If I could live comfortably and happy and productive till my mid 80's or so, I suppose that would be good enough.
You are clueless.
There has been some major advancements in cancer treatment because of millions of dollars spent toward research.
To believe you one would have to assume that researchers are just sitting back racking in the money without making any progress, which isn't true. Where do you think the money comes from for research and drug development?
Clueless, Okay.
I've been called worse. By better.
Have the kind of day you have earned.
Taurus expelled intestinal matter!...
In this mortal world, people will always live until they die, and often will get decrepit on the way. Thus there will never, ever, be a lack of health frontiers to push at.
Excellent news. Of the approx. 40 known cancers I think there are cures for 6.
I shall not take the cheap, obvious humor attendant with scrambled genes and butt tumors. I'm just not that kind of guy. Well...OK, then. Michael Moore.
Thank God, I have earned a few more years by the research and development of advanced cancer drugs. So, I certainly will enjoy every extra day that I "have earned".
Chelation therapy is junk science. And dangerous. There is absolutely no way I would ever inject myself with that crap - our bodies are very finely calibrated when it comes to metal ions, and ripping them out wholesale is just begging for disaster.
Congressional testimony contradicts your assertions.
http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/gro/hgo59973.000/hgo59973_0.htm
In the future, I recommend you be better prepared before class.
It all depends on how you define "major progress". Most "major advance" announcements in cancer treatment typically involve an "increase in cure rate" from maybe 20% to maybe 30%. Sorry, but to my way of thinking, that in no way constitutes a "major advance". A major advance would be an increase in cure rate from 20% to 80%.
But there HAS been some progress of late which shows promise.
Don't forget this annual treat: http://www.booksaloud.org/images/news/btw.gif
Then we must define "cured". The five year stat does not impress me. Cured to me would mean that the individual could expect to live a normal life span.
My precious 27 year old grandson had testicular cancer. My idea of a cure is to see him live to be at least 80.
A child from England moved to Pittsburgh to receive EDTA chelation by a physician to treat his autism. The child died in the office during an infusion (this past summer). About the only LEGITIMATE use for EDTA chelation is for heavy metal poisoning (lead toxicity); chelation to treat cancer, autism, etc. is BOGUS.
Dan Burton is on the committee. His grandson has autism. Junk scientists will have you believe that autism is caused by mercury toxicity from receiving vaccines (scientifically unproven). Just because they found someone to testify before congress on EDTA, doesn't mean that the testimony has a sound scientific basis. Sorry; Burton is biased. I don't buy it.
Not to mention Dennis Kucinich, a big fan of crackpot new age humbug. Unfortunately, rounding up a gaggle of idiot enthusiasts and recording their unsubstantiated opinions is a far cry from scientific validation. There's a reason why the real medical oganizations will not confirm the worth of chelation for other than acute heavy metal poisoning--when tested, it doesn't work--anecdotes notwithstanding.
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