An Austrian psychotherapist specialising in counselling breast cancer patients was in Kuala Lumpur for a conference recently to explain the psychological issues involved in a woman who has breast cancer.
WOMEN who have had mastectomy go through a mire of complex feelings which people might not be aware of.
While doctors look into the physical treatment of cancer patients, clinical psychologists, psychotherapists or psychiatrists trained in cancer patient care play an important role in addressing their psycho-social needs and serve as a link between doctors and patients.
For women who are depressed after a mastectomy, the latter would sit down with them and counsel them, said Dr Gabriele Traun-Vogt, a psychotherapist specialising in breast cancer care from the Medical University of Vienna.
“It’s normal for them not to want sex after a mastectomy. That’s because the same organ that gives pleasure in a relationship is now a source of danger,” she explained.
“Breast cancer is also a serious disease but the symptoms are not easily seen.
“They feel that their bodies have let them down,” she said.
To begin to experience healing, patients should start having a positive approach to the scarred breast, she said.
“Touch and feel the part. This is a complex mental process. People need time to realise that it is normal to have problems and they should try to regain their sense of well-being.
“They need to realise that the breast is also the ‘hurting’ part of the body and a woman should touch it lightly again to have a good feeling towards the breast again,” said Gabrielle, who has been a clinical psychologist since she was 21 and has worked with women with breast cancer for nine years.
The action is important because there is a tendency for women to avoid looking at their scarred breasts or touch them, she said.
“By touching it, you are saying to yourself that you are not hating your body.
“Start loving that hurt part by putting some nice cream on it. Buy a nice bra so that you feel better,” she said.
Being able to accept herself makes it easier for a woman to get back to her relationship, which she was not able to while undergoing and coping with treatment.
“Women usually do not share their fears with their husbands because sex is such a taboo subject, and they don’t share with other women because they feel inadequate,” she said.
While psychotherapists counsel the patient, it’s important that friends and relatives provide a listening ear, she said.
“What they need is to express their feelings. They just want to feel cared for,” she said.
Besides contending with sexuality issues, a woman may still wish to consider having children and may wonder if she can conceive, and if she can, she may have fears about the cancer recurring or that she has a shorter life-span.
Her husband too may not want the risk of raising a child all by himself in the event that she dies.
To give advice, oncologists and clinical psychologists usually work together. The oncologists would give medical information such as the risk of cancer recurring and personal prognosis while the clinical psychologists may give some guidance on coming to a decision, said Gabriele.
A woman usually needs a year to get over the chemotherapy side-effects, and she needs to discuss with her partner on how much he wants to have a child and if anything should happen, would they want to take the risk?
The greatest challenge for Gabriele is seeing young women with young children dying of breast cancer.
Usually, even doctors do not know how to help them with their issues, she said.
Under such a situation, she said she would encourage the women to bring in their children to see her as well.
“The children should know what is going on. Six- or seven-year-olds know that their mother can die from cancer and fear that they will not see their mother anymore.
“It’s important to explain to them that their mother may live for months or years and will not die ‘instantly’. That’s because they watch television and may equate death as something instant,” she said.
“It is also important to explain to children that it is not their fault that their mother has cancer because they may think that they, in some magical way, cause their mother to be sick and die.
“It is important to explain to them that cancer is a disease and it’s no one’s fault,” she said.
An example of how an incident may trigger the child to think that way – a mother has been upset with the child, which is common, and she may have said, “You really make me sick,” and when she has cancer, the boy remembers what she said and think that it was his fault and suffer from guilt as a result.
It is important for Malaysia to establish a multidisciplinary approach in cancer patient care because it requires team work from surgeons, oncologists, nurses, clinical psychologists and social workers, said Gabriele, who conducted the “Workshop Establishing Psycho-Oncology in Malaysia” in conjunction with the International Survivorship and Supportive Care Conference in Cancer recently.
“If the surgeon sees that the woman needs more help psychologically, they should know whom to call,” she said.
Psycho-oncology addresses the psychological responses of patients to cancer at all stages, and that of their families and caregivers, as well as the psychological, behavioural and social factors that may influence the disease process, said Gabriele, who oversees 400 newly diagnosed breast cancer patients every year at the university.
Are counsellors not adequate in helping cancer patients?
They usually refer more serious cases such as those suffering from severe anxiety, sleeping disorders, depression, and the danger of suicide to clinical psychologists, psychotherapists or psychiatrists trained in cancer patient, she said.
“If you are able to solve the problem in the beginning, it’ll be easier for the patients later,” she said.
In Malaysia, the field of psycho-oncology is almost unheard and in Europe, it is a relatively new discipline.
Psycho-oncology started in Austria 15 years ago and in Britain 20 years ago as the result of the patients’ rights movement. Patients want to be involved in the decision-making process and have options, said Gabriele.
“If you want to be a centre of excellence in health and medical care, international standards and guidelines require psychological support for the treatment of cancer,” she said.
thestar.com.my
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Studying cancer
How goes cancer research? In a nutshell, it’s going well, slowly, but surely.
WHY can’t we cure cancer when we could even land man on the moon back in 1969?
Inevitably, I get asked this question at every cocktail party when I introduce myself as an oncologist. The other common question is “What’s new in cancer treatment?” The somewhat more verbose and erudite will ask “What progress has there been lately in cancer research and treatment?”
Before I answer all these questions, let us get one thing clear. Cancer is not one disease. The word “cancer” encompasses about a hundred different entities.
Basic cancer research – molecular biology, biochemistry, cancer genomics and proteomics – attempts to tease out the similarities and differences amongst all these entities.
Based on this basic research, clinical cancer research is carried out. It usually entails testing out new treatments, eg a new drug, on patients with a certain cancer.
We have new drugs (sunitinib, sorafenib) to prolong the lives of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer that has spread widely in the body).
These drugs are different from the drugs (cisplatinum, vinorelbine) used to improve cure rates in patients who have undergone surgery for early lung cancer.
So, a suitable response to the question “Why can’t we cure cancer” is “Which subset of cancer are you speaking of?”.
For many subsets of cancer, cure is possible. For many others, lives are prolonged with meaning and dignity. For a small subset, we have done less well, but good palliation is always possible.
Sixty years ago, breast cancer was treated with surgery alone. To all intents, women were not given additional treatment (adjuvant treatment in medical parlance) after surgery. At least 80% of patients relapsed and eventually died of advanced metastatic disease.
Forty-five years ago, the first chemotherapy trials were started with CMF, an acronym for the three-drug combination of cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and 5-Fluorouracil.
Tamoxifen, an anti-oestrogenic drug, was introduced for early breast cancer almost 30 years ago. With these early developments in the chemical treatment of early breast cancer, only 50% of patients relapsed.
The 1980s and 1990s saw more chemotherapy agents which were effective in this setting ie early breast cancer. Doxorubicin, paclitaxel and docetaxel produced more cures.
A new class of hormonal therapy with greater efficacy and less side effects, the aromatase inhibitors (anastrozole, letrozole, exemestane), was introduced around the late 1990s.
In the early 2000s, trastuzumab, a highly effective targeted therapy (it targets tumours in 20% of women whose breast cancer expresses the HER2 receptor) was introduced.
Today, the overall relapse rate for early breast cancer is down to 30%!
Of course, each subset of early breast cancer patients will experience a different relapse rate. This only goes to reinforce the fact that cancer is a very heterogeneous disease.
We divide up all cancers into small groups and we divide up these groups again into smaller groups – subsets of subsets if you like. And then we treat each subset differently and achieve different rates of success.
The whole point of taking you through in detail the last 60 years of research and treatment in early breast cancer is to show that it is not an overnight business.
To some, 60 years is a long wait for a 50% gain. The impatient ones would like to see all cancer patients (all subsets, all stages, all scenarios) completely cured today.
In reality, scientific cancer research (a subset of all scientific research) is a slow, laborious, intellectually honest endeavour. It starts with hypothesis generation: based on all we know of this subset of cancer and based on the theoretical actions of the new drug, will it work?
We conduct Phase I trials, then phase II trials and finally the phase III randomised clinical trials. But wait, there is more. Findings of the phase III trials are presented and finally published in a peer-reviewed journal. This new drug will eventually be accepted by the mainstream oncological community and it becomes a new standard of treatment. It takes about 20 years for a drug to get from the “bench to the bed”.
No wonder then that alternative cancer treatment (or under another guise, traditional and complementary medicine) is so attractive to so many. It meets many unmet needs with so little hassle. There is no need to trawl through all the available data and scientific methodologies.
Nothing is obvious in science. Nothing is taken for granted. No leaps of faith and no extrapolations here.
Trastuzumab was initially shown to work very well in advanced breast cancer. A 50% response rate was obtained and lives were prolonged.
By simple deduction, trastuzumab should work even better in early breast cancer where the tumour load is much smaller. Yet four randomised clinical trials were conducted at the cost of US1.2bil (RM4.08bil) to see if this drug will also work in early breast cancer. The findings of these trials have now conclusively proven that trastuzumab works very well in early breast cancer.
What of the next 60 years of scientific research in cancer?
Expect more and watch this space carefully. But don’t look for that quick unproven fix offered at every dark street corner.
thestar.com.my
WHY can’t we cure cancer when we could even land man on the moon back in 1969?
Inevitably, I get asked this question at every cocktail party when I introduce myself as an oncologist. The other common question is “What’s new in cancer treatment?” The somewhat more verbose and erudite will ask “What progress has there been lately in cancer research and treatment?”
Before I answer all these questions, let us get one thing clear. Cancer is not one disease. The word “cancer” encompasses about a hundred different entities.
Basic cancer research – molecular biology, biochemistry, cancer genomics and proteomics – attempts to tease out the similarities and differences amongst all these entities.
Based on this basic research, clinical cancer research is carried out. It usually entails testing out new treatments, eg a new drug, on patients with a certain cancer.
We have new drugs (sunitinib, sorafenib) to prolong the lives of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer that has spread widely in the body).
These drugs are different from the drugs (cisplatinum, vinorelbine) used to improve cure rates in patients who have undergone surgery for early lung cancer.
So, a suitable response to the question “Why can’t we cure cancer” is “Which subset of cancer are you speaking of?”.
For many subsets of cancer, cure is possible. For many others, lives are prolonged with meaning and dignity. For a small subset, we have done less well, but good palliation is always possible.
Sixty years ago, breast cancer was treated with surgery alone. To all intents, women were not given additional treatment (adjuvant treatment in medical parlance) after surgery. At least 80% of patients relapsed and eventually died of advanced metastatic disease.
Forty-five years ago, the first chemotherapy trials were started with CMF, an acronym for the three-drug combination of cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and 5-Fluorouracil.
Tamoxifen, an anti-oestrogenic drug, was introduced for early breast cancer almost 30 years ago. With these early developments in the chemical treatment of early breast cancer, only 50% of patients relapsed.
The 1980s and 1990s saw more chemotherapy agents which were effective in this setting ie early breast cancer. Doxorubicin, paclitaxel and docetaxel produced more cures.
A new class of hormonal therapy with greater efficacy and less side effects, the aromatase inhibitors (anastrozole, letrozole, exemestane), was introduced around the late 1990s.
In the early 2000s, trastuzumab, a highly effective targeted therapy (it targets tumours in 20% of women whose breast cancer expresses the HER2 receptor) was introduced.
Today, the overall relapse rate for early breast cancer is down to 30%!
Of course, each subset of early breast cancer patients will experience a different relapse rate. This only goes to reinforce the fact that cancer is a very heterogeneous disease.
We divide up all cancers into small groups and we divide up these groups again into smaller groups – subsets of subsets if you like. And then we treat each subset differently and achieve different rates of success.
The whole point of taking you through in detail the last 60 years of research and treatment in early breast cancer is to show that it is not an overnight business.
To some, 60 years is a long wait for a 50% gain. The impatient ones would like to see all cancer patients (all subsets, all stages, all scenarios) completely cured today.
In reality, scientific cancer research (a subset of all scientific research) is a slow, laborious, intellectually honest endeavour. It starts with hypothesis generation: based on all we know of this subset of cancer and based on the theoretical actions of the new drug, will it work?
We conduct Phase I trials, then phase II trials and finally the phase III randomised clinical trials. But wait, there is more. Findings of the phase III trials are presented and finally published in a peer-reviewed journal. This new drug will eventually be accepted by the mainstream oncological community and it becomes a new standard of treatment. It takes about 20 years for a drug to get from the “bench to the bed”.
No wonder then that alternative cancer treatment (or under another guise, traditional and complementary medicine) is so attractive to so many. It meets many unmet needs with so little hassle. There is no need to trawl through all the available data and scientific methodologies.
Nothing is obvious in science. Nothing is taken for granted. No leaps of faith and no extrapolations here.
Trastuzumab was initially shown to work very well in advanced breast cancer. A 50% response rate was obtained and lives were prolonged.
By simple deduction, trastuzumab should work even better in early breast cancer where the tumour load is much smaller. Yet four randomised clinical trials were conducted at the cost of US1.2bil (RM4.08bil) to see if this drug will also work in early breast cancer. The findings of these trials have now conclusively proven that trastuzumab works very well in early breast cancer.
What of the next 60 years of scientific research in cancer?
Expect more and watch this space carefully. But don’t look for that quick unproven fix offered at every dark street corner.
thestar.com.my
Experts push NHS to use US-style cancer care
LIKE many other British cancer sufferers before him, Rob Ellert travelled to one of America’s leading hospitals to give himself a better chance of survival.
Now in remission, he is so determined that National Health Service patients should no longer die unnecessarily that he has enlisted Lord Darzi, the health minister, to transfer best practice across the Atlantic. He has also set up a charity to promote American-style cancer treatment in Britain.
Ellert, a 61-year-old businessman, is part of a movement demanding a wholesale overhaul of NHS treatment of the disease. It is led by Professor Karol Sikora and Dr Maurice Slevin, two world-leading cancer experts who are based in Britain. They have set out the reforms needed by the NHS.
Figures published last week in the journal The Lancet Oncology showed that survival rates in this country are among the lowest in Europe, on a par with Poland.
Sikora, a former chief of the World Health Organisation cancer unit and now medical director of CancerPartnersUK, a private company, has taken senior Department of Health (DoH) officials on a tour of American cancer centres in the hope that they will bring back ideas to boost British survival rates.
He and Slevin, a consultant at the London Oncology Clinic, a private centre, have devised an action plan which they argue can be implemented within existing NHS budgets:
- NHS patients must be referred to a consultant within 24 hours of a GP suspecting cancer. At present, urgent cases are referred within 14 days, but many NHS cancer patients do not see a specialist for several weeks
- Scans and biopsies to determine how far a cancer has spread should be carried out within three days. At present, NHS patients can wait months.
- Surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy should begin within one week of diagnosis. At present, NHS patients can wait two months for treatment.
- Patients should be monitored weekly by a consultant during treatment to detect immediately if it is not working.
- Patients should be given wider access to powerful new medicines.
- Patients should receive the correct amount of radiotherapy at the correct time. A shortage of radiotherapy in Britain means that NHS patients face long delays and may not receive the correct amount of radiation.
- Patients should be treated in the evenings and at weekends to cut queues. In the NHS, expensive equipment is often switched off after 5pm.
Although the NHS has seen some improvements since the introduction of its cancer plan in 2000, experts believe that its targets are not sufficiently ambitious.
Sikora said: “There should be no delays for cancer treatment. A 62-day wait in the NHS is laughable. Patients can be waiting weeks for scans and months for radiotherapy. In Europe and the US this would all happen within 24 to 48 hours.”
Anni Matthews, 53, who is fighting breast cancer, was told by British doctors in February 2003 that she would be lucky to live until the Christmas of that year. Matthews, a former property company director, increased her chances of survival by travelling to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachu-setts, where her treatment was helped by new “wonder drugs”.
Matthews said: “The Food and Drug Administration [FDA] is known to be very pernickety about licensing new drugs due to fears of legal action. If the FDA approves a new cancer drug, why is there such a delay before it is available to British patients?”
The DoH said: “Last November we announced that we were developing a cancer reform strategy . . . We expect to publish the strategy by the end of the year.”
www.timesonline.co.uk
Now in remission, he is so determined that National Health Service patients should no longer die unnecessarily that he has enlisted Lord Darzi, the health minister, to transfer best practice across the Atlantic. He has also set up a charity to promote American-style cancer treatment in Britain.
Ellert, a 61-year-old businessman, is part of a movement demanding a wholesale overhaul of NHS treatment of the disease. It is led by Professor Karol Sikora and Dr Maurice Slevin, two world-leading cancer experts who are based in Britain. They have set out the reforms needed by the NHS.
Figures published last week in the journal The Lancet Oncology showed that survival rates in this country are among the lowest in Europe, on a par with Poland.
Sikora, a former chief of the World Health Organisation cancer unit and now medical director of CancerPartnersUK, a private company, has taken senior Department of Health (DoH) officials on a tour of American cancer centres in the hope that they will bring back ideas to boost British survival rates.
He and Slevin, a consultant at the London Oncology Clinic, a private centre, have devised an action plan which they argue can be implemented within existing NHS budgets:
- NHS patients must be referred to a consultant within 24 hours of a GP suspecting cancer. At present, urgent cases are referred within 14 days, but many NHS cancer patients do not see a specialist for several weeks
- Scans and biopsies to determine how far a cancer has spread should be carried out within three days. At present, NHS patients can wait months.
- Surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy should begin within one week of diagnosis. At present, NHS patients can wait two months for treatment.
- Patients should be monitored weekly by a consultant during treatment to detect immediately if it is not working.
- Patients should be given wider access to powerful new medicines.
- Patients should receive the correct amount of radiotherapy at the correct time. A shortage of radiotherapy in Britain means that NHS patients face long delays and may not receive the correct amount of radiation.
- Patients should be treated in the evenings and at weekends to cut queues. In the NHS, expensive equipment is often switched off after 5pm.
Although the NHS has seen some improvements since the introduction of its cancer plan in 2000, experts believe that its targets are not sufficiently ambitious.
Sikora said: “There should be no delays for cancer treatment. A 62-day wait in the NHS is laughable. Patients can be waiting weeks for scans and months for radiotherapy. In Europe and the US this would all happen within 24 to 48 hours.”
Anni Matthews, 53, who is fighting breast cancer, was told by British doctors in February 2003 that she would be lucky to live until the Christmas of that year. Matthews, a former property company director, increased her chances of survival by travelling to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachu-setts, where her treatment was helped by new “wonder drugs”.
Matthews said: “The Food and Drug Administration [FDA] is known to be very pernickety about licensing new drugs due to fears of legal action. If the FDA approves a new cancer drug, why is there such a delay before it is available to British patients?”
The DoH said: “Last November we announced that we were developing a cancer reform strategy . . . We expect to publish the strategy by the end of the year.”
www.timesonline.co.uk
Talcum powder 'poses cancer risk to women'
The practice of discreetly puffing underwear with a dab of talcum powder may be increasing women's risk of ovarian cancer.
Research shows that women who use talc have a 17 per cent higher risk of getting the cancer. Researchers say using a small amount of talc in the pelvic area may lead to it reaching the ovaries and increasing the risk of the most common gynaecological cancer in the UK, with more than 4,000 deaths a year.
In the research, published in the International Journal of Cancer this week, data on more than 3,000 women was compared. "We confirmed a statistically significant increase in ovarian cancer risk associated with use of talc in the pelvic region," say the researchers, who are from hospitals and centres taking part in the Australian Ovarian Cancer Study Group.
The increased risk was specifically related to talc use in the pelvic region. Use on other body sites showed no association. "This suggests that use of only a small amount of talc may be required for some talc to reach the ovaries and increase risk of cancer," says the report.
It's not clear how talc could trigger the cancer. One theory is it may be carcinogenic to the covering layer of the ovaries when it get through the vagina, uterus and fallopian tubes to the ovary.
news.independent.co.uk
Research shows that women who use talc have a 17 per cent higher risk of getting the cancer. Researchers say using a small amount of talc in the pelvic area may lead to it reaching the ovaries and increasing the risk of the most common gynaecological cancer in the UK, with more than 4,000 deaths a year.
In the research, published in the International Journal of Cancer this week, data on more than 3,000 women was compared. "We confirmed a statistically significant increase in ovarian cancer risk associated with use of talc in the pelvic region," say the researchers, who are from hospitals and centres taking part in the Australian Ovarian Cancer Study Group.
The increased risk was specifically related to talc use in the pelvic region. Use on other body sites showed no association. "This suggests that use of only a small amount of talc may be required for some talc to reach the ovaries and increase risk of cancer," says the report.
It's not clear how talc could trigger the cancer. One theory is it may be carcinogenic to the covering layer of the ovaries when it get through the vagina, uterus and fallopian tubes to the ovary.
news.independent.co.uk
Eating healthy fruit, vegetables won't stop cancer
FRUIT and vegetables provide no protection against cancer, according to latest Australian research that has shocked nutritionists.
In a discovery that turns conventional advice on its head, experts have admitted there is "zero evidence'' that eating fruit and vegetables can help people avoid a disease that kills nearly 40,000 Australians every year.
Research presented for the first time at last week's CSIRO Prospects for Cancer Prevention Symposium shows that what people eat is far less important in cancer prevention than previously believed.
Instead, the three prime risk factors driving up Australian cancer rates have been identified as obesity, drinking too much alcohol and smoking.
Staying within a healthy body weight range was found to be more important than following particular nutritional guidelines.
This means a slim person who doesn't eat enough fruit and vegetables would probably have a lower risk of developing cancer than someone who is overweight but eats the recommended daily amount of fruit and vegetables.
The findings emerged from the Cancer Council's Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study, an ongoing research project involving 42,000 Australians who have been monitored since 1990.
Revealed exclusively to The Sunday Telegraph, they challenge widespread belief in the power of juices and vegetable-based ``anti-cancer'' diets to avoid or fight various types of the disease.
Dr Peter Clifton, director of the CSIRO's Nutrition Clinic, told The Sunday Telegraph there was ``zero evidence'' that eating fruit and vegetables could protect against cancer.
Heart disease is Australia's biggest killer, so fruit and vegetables are still regarded as important in maintaining health.
Professor Dallas English, of the Cancer Council of Victoria, told the symposium that despite decades of research, there was no convincing evidence on how Australians could modify their diet to reduce the risk of cancer.
``The most important thing about diet is limiting energy (kilojoule) intake so people don't become overweight or obese, because this has emerged as a risk factor for a number of cancers, including breast, prostate, bowel and endometrial (uterus),'' he said.
The link between eating red meat and bowel cancer was ``weak'' and the Cancer Council supported guidelines advising people to eat red meat three or four times a week, Professor English said.
His advice comes after Health Minister Tony Abbott last week backed a report, funded by Meat & Livestock Australia, on the dietary role of red meat.
Surprisingly, fibre was deemed to have no significant benefit in avoiding bowel cancer _ although calcium was associated with a 20 per cent reduced risk.
Likewise, a high intake of fat, considered a prime culprit since the 1970s, was found to have only a ``modest'' link to breast cancer.
Smoking caused one in five cancer deaths, while regularly drinking too much alcohol boosted the risk of several cancers including breast and bowel, Professor English said.
He and Dr Clifton acknowledged that eating fruit and vegetables might help people avoid obesity, as they were lower in kilojoules than other foods.
``The risk of every type of cancer is increased by obesity,'' Dr Clifton added.
Both experts predict a surge in cancer as a result of Australia's obesity epidemic, but say exercise can play a vital role in cutting cancer rates, potentially halving the risk of some cancers.
Sydney mother Tauri Smart, 29, said the findings ``take the pressure off'' meal preparation.
She and her husband try to eat healthily and want to set a good example for their daughters Poppy, 3, and Sadie, six weeks.
``I've always tried to push fruit and vegetables, and have a vegetarian meal at least once a week,'' Ms Smart said. ``Being able to have meat makes it easier.''
Nutritionist Dr Rosemary Stanton cast doubt on the findings and suggested the study could be flawed.
www.news.com.au
In a discovery that turns conventional advice on its head, experts have admitted there is "zero evidence'' that eating fruit and vegetables can help people avoid a disease that kills nearly 40,000 Australians every year.
Research presented for the first time at last week's CSIRO Prospects for Cancer Prevention Symposium shows that what people eat is far less important in cancer prevention than previously believed.
Instead, the three prime risk factors driving up Australian cancer rates have been identified as obesity, drinking too much alcohol and smoking.
Staying within a healthy body weight range was found to be more important than following particular nutritional guidelines.
This means a slim person who doesn't eat enough fruit and vegetables would probably have a lower risk of developing cancer than someone who is overweight but eats the recommended daily amount of fruit and vegetables.
The findings emerged from the Cancer Council's Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study, an ongoing research project involving 42,000 Australians who have been monitored since 1990.
Revealed exclusively to The Sunday Telegraph, they challenge widespread belief in the power of juices and vegetable-based ``anti-cancer'' diets to avoid or fight various types of the disease.
Dr Peter Clifton, director of the CSIRO's Nutrition Clinic, told The Sunday Telegraph there was ``zero evidence'' that eating fruit and vegetables could protect against cancer.
Heart disease is Australia's biggest killer, so fruit and vegetables are still regarded as important in maintaining health.
Professor Dallas English, of the Cancer Council of Victoria, told the symposium that despite decades of research, there was no convincing evidence on how Australians could modify their diet to reduce the risk of cancer.
``The most important thing about diet is limiting energy (kilojoule) intake so people don't become overweight or obese, because this has emerged as a risk factor for a number of cancers, including breast, prostate, bowel and endometrial (uterus),'' he said.
The link between eating red meat and bowel cancer was ``weak'' and the Cancer Council supported guidelines advising people to eat red meat three or four times a week, Professor English said.
His advice comes after Health Minister Tony Abbott last week backed a report, funded by Meat & Livestock Australia, on the dietary role of red meat.
Surprisingly, fibre was deemed to have no significant benefit in avoiding bowel cancer _ although calcium was associated with a 20 per cent reduced risk.
Likewise, a high intake of fat, considered a prime culprit since the 1970s, was found to have only a ``modest'' link to breast cancer.
Smoking caused one in five cancer deaths, while regularly drinking too much alcohol boosted the risk of several cancers including breast and bowel, Professor English said.
He and Dr Clifton acknowledged that eating fruit and vegetables might help people avoid obesity, as they were lower in kilojoules than other foods.
``The risk of every type of cancer is increased by obesity,'' Dr Clifton added.
Both experts predict a surge in cancer as a result of Australia's obesity epidemic, but say exercise can play a vital role in cutting cancer rates, potentially halving the risk of some cancers.
Sydney mother Tauri Smart, 29, said the findings ``take the pressure off'' meal preparation.
She and her husband try to eat healthily and want to set a good example for their daughters Poppy, 3, and Sadie, six weeks.
``I've always tried to push fruit and vegetables, and have a vegetarian meal at least once a week,'' Ms Smart said. ``Being able to have meat makes it easier.''
Nutritionist Dr Rosemary Stanton cast doubt on the findings and suggested the study could be flawed.
www.news.com.au
Cancer's New Pitch
Sept. 3, 2007 issue - Two summers ago a group of Philadelphia-area women who were preparing for the Breast Cancer 3-Day charity walk met to decide their team name. Kelly Rooney, then a 42-year-old with five children and stage-three breast cancer, tossed out an idea: how about "Save 2nd Base," a playful allusion to that quaint high-school system in which the bases signify the progression from kissing to sex? Rooney designed a T shirt, drawing two baseballs at breast level above the slogan. By the time of the fund-raiser Rooney was too sick to walk, but her teammates wore the shirts—and many spectators commented on how much they loved the idea. So Rooney's sister Erin O'Brien Dugery and friend Kelly Day spent close to $10,000 to trademark the Save 2nd Base tagline and began selling the T shirts online and in boutiques (total sales so far: 1,000). "We can't keep them in stock—they're catching on like fire," says Jen Dailey at People People, a boutique in Stone Harbor, N.J. The women selling the shirts have pledged that after they earn back the money they've invested, 50 percent of profits will go to a breast cancer foundation set up in memory of Rooney, who died last summer.
The 2nd Base shirts aren't the only edgy brand of breast-cancer apparel out there. Since 2004, Los Angeles designer Julie Fikse has sold more than 80,000 shirts carrying variations on the message "Save the Ta-Tas"—and donated $80,000 of her profits to breast-cancer charities. Both slogans garner mostly chuckles and enthusiasm, though a few people have reacted negatively, criticizing them as too crude. (To counter that, Dugery and Day launched a more demure line carrying the slogan "S2B.")
Most people under 60 understand what "second base" means, but the motto creates occasional confusion: Dailey recalls watching an American teenager use pantomime to explain the concept to a Japanese foreign-exchange student, and Dailey had to provide a definition for her sixtysomething mother. But usually, "when someone reads it, they get it, they start laughing," says Dugery, co-owner of the company behind the shirts. And in the face of a devastating disease, a little laughter can feel like a home run.
www.msnbc.msn.com
The 2nd Base shirts aren't the only edgy brand of breast-cancer apparel out there. Since 2004, Los Angeles designer Julie Fikse has sold more than 80,000 shirts carrying variations on the message "Save the Ta-Tas"—and donated $80,000 of her profits to breast-cancer charities. Both slogans garner mostly chuckles and enthusiasm, though a few people have reacted negatively, criticizing them as too crude. (To counter that, Dugery and Day launched a more demure line carrying the slogan "S2B.")
Most people under 60 understand what "second base" means, but the motto creates occasional confusion: Dailey recalls watching an American teenager use pantomime to explain the concept to a Japanese foreign-exchange student, and Dailey had to provide a definition for her sixtysomething mother. But usually, "when someone reads it, they get it, they start laughing," says Dugery, co-owner of the company behind the shirts. And in the face of a devastating disease, a little laughter can feel like a home run.
www.msnbc.msn.com
Cancer fight gets a boost
Sun Media -- Cancer researchers at the University of Manitoba have landed some major funding from the federal government under a program intended to award funds to the best of the best.
Two of the seven projects being funded across Canada as part of a five-year, $10.1 million initiative will take place here in Manitoba.
Each project will receive about $300,000 a year for five years.
"This is huge," said Donna Turner, an epidemiologist with CancerCare Manitoba who will work on both Manitoba projects. "This is a big coup for Manitoba."
All the projects, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, focus not on clinical research seeking a cure, but on the care received by cancer patients, both in terms of access and quality. The projects were selected by CIHR via a peer-review process that aimed to choose the most promising projects based on "scientific excellence," ensuring that only the cream of the crop were chosen.
One of the two Manitoba-based projects will look at patterns of cancer incidence, risk factors and care within aboriginal populations in the province.
"One of the things we've never been able to do is separate out what's happening with cancer in our aboriginal populations," said Turner. "We think, based on what other jurisdictions like Ontario have found, that cancer is probably on the rise (among aboriginal people)."
The project should produce a cancer control strategy specific to First Nations.
The second Manitoba project will focus on the role of primary health care providers like family doctors and nurse practitioners in screening for colorectal cancer, as well as their role following treatment.
Led by Alan Katz, an associate professor of family medicine at the U of M, the research team will try to determine how primary health care providers can help improve screening for a form of cancer with high death rates often linked with late detection.
The project will also examine the best way to transfer some of the post-treatment care back from the cancer specialists to the primary care providers.
winnipegsun.com
Two of the seven projects being funded across Canada as part of a five-year, $10.1 million initiative will take place here in Manitoba.
Each project will receive about $300,000 a year for five years.
"This is huge," said Donna Turner, an epidemiologist with CancerCare Manitoba who will work on both Manitoba projects. "This is a big coup for Manitoba."
All the projects, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, focus not on clinical research seeking a cure, but on the care received by cancer patients, both in terms of access and quality. The projects were selected by CIHR via a peer-review process that aimed to choose the most promising projects based on "scientific excellence," ensuring that only the cream of the crop were chosen.
One of the two Manitoba-based projects will look at patterns of cancer incidence, risk factors and care within aboriginal populations in the province.
"One of the things we've never been able to do is separate out what's happening with cancer in our aboriginal populations," said Turner. "We think, based on what other jurisdictions like Ontario have found, that cancer is probably on the rise (among aboriginal people)."
The project should produce a cancer control strategy specific to First Nations.
The second Manitoba project will focus on the role of primary health care providers like family doctors and nurse practitioners in screening for colorectal cancer, as well as their role following treatment.
Led by Alan Katz, an associate professor of family medicine at the U of M, the research team will try to determine how primary health care providers can help improve screening for a form of cancer with high death rates often linked with late detection.
The project will also examine the best way to transfer some of the post-treatment care back from the cancer specialists to the primary care providers.
winnipegsun.com
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Pregnancy Life Line center to open in Galena
Pregnancy Life Line of Stone County announced today it will open a Galena center to better serve north Stone County clients.
Pregnancy Life Line is a nonprofit entity that helps those facing unplanned pregnancies. The Galena office is tentatively scheduled to open Oct. 15 at 103A N. Main St.
The additional center was needed because some clients had trouble attending sessions because of high gasoline prices.
The Galena office will offer services from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday until anticipated growth requires additional hours.
Pregnancy Life Line also has a Kimberling City location.
www.news-leader.com
Pregnancy Life Line is a nonprofit entity that helps those facing unplanned pregnancies. The Galena office is tentatively scheduled to open Oct. 15 at 103A N. Main St.
The additional center was needed because some clients had trouble attending sessions because of high gasoline prices.
The Galena office will offer services from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday until anticipated growth requires additional hours.
Pregnancy Life Line also has a Kimberling City location.
www.news-leader.com
Teen pregnancy higher than normal
The teen pregnancy rate in Nanaimo is in decline, but still higher than the provincial and national averages, a possible indicator that health care, social services and education for young women are lagging, according to a researcher.
In 2003, the most recent data available, a rate of 44 pregnancies for every 1,000 girls between ages 15 and 19 was reported.
While that’s down from 76 in 1994, it’s still higher than the 2003 national rate of 32 or the B.C. rate of 30 per 1,000.
Alexander McKay, research coordinator at the Sex Information and Education Council of Canada in Toronto, has studied teen pregnancy rates across the country.
He said research shows that higher teen pregnancy rates generally occur in communities where girls lack a sense of empowerment over their health and future.
“What it really boils down to is that young women who have hope and confidence for their own futures are much more likely to take conscious actions to control their own sexual and reproductive health,” he said.
But, he noted, the factors that influence teens can also be highly individual, and cultural factors can play a role.
Younger pregnancies are considered normal, and even healthy, in some aboriginal communities, where parenting is shared by the extended family, he said.
Noella Rickaby, clinic supervisor at Options for Sexual Health Nanaimo (formerly known as Planned Parenthood), said that while sex educators are in Nanaimo public schools from Grade 5, the curriculum only covers the basics.
“When I would go in to do one class, like one session for a Grade 8 class, it’s not enough. It’s just not enough. Because there’s so much more to sexual health education than knowing about birth control methods and STIs and STDs,” she said.
“That’s definitely a part of it, but there’s also knowing what a healthy relationship looks like, knowing about how to evaluate your own values and beliefs, knowing how to communicate, knowing how to think these things through.
“There’s so much that surrounds it, because really it’s all about healthy relationships.”
www.nanaimobulletin.com
In 2003, the most recent data available, a rate of 44 pregnancies for every 1,000 girls between ages 15 and 19 was reported.
While that’s down from 76 in 1994, it’s still higher than the 2003 national rate of 32 or the B.C. rate of 30 per 1,000.
Alexander McKay, research coordinator at the Sex Information and Education Council of Canada in Toronto, has studied teen pregnancy rates across the country.
He said research shows that higher teen pregnancy rates generally occur in communities where girls lack a sense of empowerment over their health and future.
“What it really boils down to is that young women who have hope and confidence for their own futures are much more likely to take conscious actions to control their own sexual and reproductive health,” he said.
But, he noted, the factors that influence teens can also be highly individual, and cultural factors can play a role.
Younger pregnancies are considered normal, and even healthy, in some aboriginal communities, where parenting is shared by the extended family, he said.
Noella Rickaby, clinic supervisor at Options for Sexual Health Nanaimo (formerly known as Planned Parenthood), said that while sex educators are in Nanaimo public schools from Grade 5, the curriculum only covers the basics.
“When I would go in to do one class, like one session for a Grade 8 class, it’s not enough. It’s just not enough. Because there’s so much more to sexual health education than knowing about birth control methods and STIs and STDs,” she said.
“That’s definitely a part of it, but there’s also knowing what a healthy relationship looks like, knowing about how to evaluate your own values and beliefs, knowing how to communicate, knowing how to think these things through.
“There’s so much that surrounds it, because really it’s all about healthy relationships.”
www.nanaimobulletin.com
Hilarious pregnancy jest
CONGRATULATIONS Judd Apatow, you have brought into the world a newborn lead comic actor who will have cinemagoers wailing with laughter for years to come.
His name is Seth Rogen. Who? If you saw The 40 Year Old Virgin, he was the stockroom guy, Cal.
He has “man boobs”, is Canadian and has a wonderful wry line in self-deprecating wit. Rogen’s side-splitting performance as a weed-smoking loser who gets a beautiful blonde pregnant after a drunken one-night stand is what makes Knocked Up a delight.
Director Apatow, who also made The 40 Year Old Virgin, clearly has an eye for talent. A lot of Knocked Up was filmed off the cuff, providing a dangerous edge missing in rom-coms.
The morning after Rogen’s character Ben Stone bedded television presenter Alison Scott, played by Katherine Heigl (from Grey’s Anatomy) the pair go for breakfast. Ben tries to explain that the website he is planning to launch finds nude scenes in movies and boasts: “I’ll show you Meg Ryan’s b***.”
It is risque humour for Hollywood.
Apatow cast Rogen’s real-life best friends as his cannabis-smoking mates. This creates a natural banter, which again pushes the boundaries of good taste.
So what’s not to like? Well, at two hours nine minutes Knocked Up is a bit long for a comedy. Inevitably, the cast struggle to keep up the laugh count over such a period.
The film comes to a close with probably the funniest birth scene ever.
The Sneak left the cinema looking forward to Apatow’s next creation, and hoping the wonderfully immature Rogen doesn’t grow up.
BEST LINE: There are too many to choose from, but the scene where Alison’s bosses are telling her she doesn’t need to lose weight, just to “tighten” was very funny.
The Sneak at the Movies
Pregnant pause ... Ben and Alison visit docs
Pregnant pause ... Ben and Alison visit docs
RELATED STORIES
• Top DVDs of the week
FULL MOVIES INDEX ››
Hilarious pregnancy jest
August 24, 2007
Knocked Up
(15) 129mins
CONGRATULATIONS Judd Apatow, you have brought into the world a newborn lead comic actor who will have cinemagoers wailing with laughter for years to come.
His name is Seth Rogen. Who? If you saw The 40 Year Old Virgin, he was the stockroom guy, Cal.
He has “man boobs”, is Canadian and has a wonderful wry line in self-deprecating wit. Rogen’s side-splitting performance as a weed-smoking loser who gets a beautiful blonde pregnant after a drunken one-night stand is what makes Knocked Up a delight.
Director Apatow, who also made The 40 Year Old Virgin, clearly has an eye for talent. A lot of Knocked Up was filmed off the cuff, providing a dangerous edge missing in rom-coms.
The morning after Rogen’s character Ben Stone bedded television presenter Alison Scott, played by Katherine Heigl (from Grey’s Anatomy) the pair go for breakfast. Ben tries to explain that the website he is planning to launch finds nude scenes in movies and boasts: “I’ll show you Meg Ryan’s b***.”
It is risque humour for Hollywood.
Apatow cast Rogen’s real-life best friends as his cannabis-smoking mates. This creates a natural banter, which again pushes the boundaries of good taste.
House about that then ... Ben Stone plays for laughs
House about that then ... Ben Stone plays for laughs
His friend Martin has agreed not to shave or cut his hair for a year as a bet and this results in the others referring to him as shoe bomber Richard Reid and saying he looks like a “woman’s vagina”.
The Sneak is not normally a huge fan of such puerile humour but in Knocked Up it seems to work.
Visits to various gynaecologists, clumsy sex and plenty of embarrassing fumbling make this movie a hysterical reflection of reality. And beneath all the sexual gags is a film with heart. Despite being mismatched, Alison and Ben decide to keep the baby.
Over seven months Ben slowly wakes from his stoned haze and learns enough life lessons to become a great future dad.
Stone me ... Rogen's real-life friends star alongside him as cannabis-smoking mates
Stone me ... Rogen's real-life friends star alongside him as cannabis-smoking mates
So what’s not to like? Well, at two hours nine minutes Knocked Up is a bit long for a comedy. Inevitably, the cast struggle to keep up the laugh count over such a period.
The film comes to a close with probably the funniest birth scene ever.
The Sneak left the cinema looking forward to Apatow’s next creation, and hoping the wonderfully immature Rogen doesn’t grow up.
BEST LINE: There are too many to choose from, but the scene where Alison’s bosses are telling her she doesn’t need to lose weight, just to “tighten” was very funny.
BEST CHARACTER: Ben Stone is the perfect slacker.
FAMILY RATING: Too much sex, drugs and bad language for all the family.
BUM NUMBNESS: It should have been 15 minutes shorter.
Beret good
Finish it ... you just want this movie to end
Finish it ... you just want this movie to end
Seraphim Falls
(15) 112mins
NEAR the end of this Western Liam Neeson’s character Colonel Morsman Carver lays on the floor unarmed and tells Pierce Brosnan’s pistol-pointing Gideon to “go on, finish it”.
At that moment a critic sitting behind The Sneak said under his breath: “Please . . .”.
It was something that your film reviewer had been thinking for the previous half-hour.
At first, you want Gideon to make good his escape in this chase film.
Especially, after he bravely yanks a bullet out of his arm with his knife. Seeing off an adversary by sitting in a tree and dropping his blade on to his head was a pretty impressive move as well.
But as Gideon misses chance after chance to break free from the posse on his tail, you just want Seraphim Falls to end.
www.thesun.co.uk
His name is Seth Rogen. Who? If you saw The 40 Year Old Virgin, he was the stockroom guy, Cal.
He has “man boobs”, is Canadian and has a wonderful wry line in self-deprecating wit. Rogen’s side-splitting performance as a weed-smoking loser who gets a beautiful blonde pregnant after a drunken one-night stand is what makes Knocked Up a delight.
Director Apatow, who also made The 40 Year Old Virgin, clearly has an eye for talent. A lot of Knocked Up was filmed off the cuff, providing a dangerous edge missing in rom-coms.
The morning after Rogen’s character Ben Stone bedded television presenter Alison Scott, played by Katherine Heigl (from Grey’s Anatomy) the pair go for breakfast. Ben tries to explain that the website he is planning to launch finds nude scenes in movies and boasts: “I’ll show you Meg Ryan’s b***.”
It is risque humour for Hollywood.
Apatow cast Rogen’s real-life best friends as his cannabis-smoking mates. This creates a natural banter, which again pushes the boundaries of good taste.
So what’s not to like? Well, at two hours nine minutes Knocked Up is a bit long for a comedy. Inevitably, the cast struggle to keep up the laugh count over such a period.
The film comes to a close with probably the funniest birth scene ever.
The Sneak left the cinema looking forward to Apatow’s next creation, and hoping the wonderfully immature Rogen doesn’t grow up.
BEST LINE: There are too many to choose from, but the scene where Alison’s bosses are telling her she doesn’t need to lose weight, just to “tighten” was very funny.
The Sneak at the Movies
Pregnant pause ... Ben and Alison visit docs
Pregnant pause ... Ben and Alison visit docs
RELATED STORIES
• Top DVDs of the week
FULL MOVIES INDEX ››
Hilarious pregnancy jest
August 24, 2007
Knocked Up
(15) 129mins
CONGRATULATIONS Judd Apatow, you have brought into the world a newborn lead comic actor who will have cinemagoers wailing with laughter for years to come.
His name is Seth Rogen. Who? If you saw The 40 Year Old Virgin, he was the stockroom guy, Cal.
He has “man boobs”, is Canadian and has a wonderful wry line in self-deprecating wit. Rogen’s side-splitting performance as a weed-smoking loser who gets a beautiful blonde pregnant after a drunken one-night stand is what makes Knocked Up a delight.
Director Apatow, who also made The 40 Year Old Virgin, clearly has an eye for talent. A lot of Knocked Up was filmed off the cuff, providing a dangerous edge missing in rom-coms.
The morning after Rogen’s character Ben Stone bedded television presenter Alison Scott, played by Katherine Heigl (from Grey’s Anatomy) the pair go for breakfast. Ben tries to explain that the website he is planning to launch finds nude scenes in movies and boasts: “I’ll show you Meg Ryan’s b***.”
It is risque humour for Hollywood.
Apatow cast Rogen’s real-life best friends as his cannabis-smoking mates. This creates a natural banter, which again pushes the boundaries of good taste.
House about that then ... Ben Stone plays for laughs
House about that then ... Ben Stone plays for laughs
His friend Martin has agreed not to shave or cut his hair for a year as a bet and this results in the others referring to him as shoe bomber Richard Reid and saying he looks like a “woman’s vagina”.
The Sneak is not normally a huge fan of such puerile humour but in Knocked Up it seems to work.
Visits to various gynaecologists, clumsy sex and plenty of embarrassing fumbling make this movie a hysterical reflection of reality. And beneath all the sexual gags is a film with heart. Despite being mismatched, Alison and Ben decide to keep the baby.
Over seven months Ben slowly wakes from his stoned haze and learns enough life lessons to become a great future dad.
Stone me ... Rogen's real-life friends star alongside him as cannabis-smoking mates
Stone me ... Rogen's real-life friends star alongside him as cannabis-smoking mates
So what’s not to like? Well, at two hours nine minutes Knocked Up is a bit long for a comedy. Inevitably, the cast struggle to keep up the laugh count over such a period.
The film comes to a close with probably the funniest birth scene ever.
The Sneak left the cinema looking forward to Apatow’s next creation, and hoping the wonderfully immature Rogen doesn’t grow up.
BEST LINE: There are too many to choose from, but the scene where Alison’s bosses are telling her she doesn’t need to lose weight, just to “tighten” was very funny.
BEST CHARACTER: Ben Stone is the perfect slacker.
FAMILY RATING: Too much sex, drugs and bad language for all the family.
BUM NUMBNESS: It should have been 15 minutes shorter.
Beret good
Finish it ... you just want this movie to end
Finish it ... you just want this movie to end
Seraphim Falls
(15) 112mins
NEAR the end of this Western Liam Neeson’s character Colonel Morsman Carver lays on the floor unarmed and tells Pierce Brosnan’s pistol-pointing Gideon to “go on, finish it”.
At that moment a critic sitting behind The Sneak said under his breath: “Please . . .”.
It was something that your film reviewer had been thinking for the previous half-hour.
At first, you want Gideon to make good his escape in this chase film.
Especially, after he bravely yanks a bullet out of his arm with his knife. Seeing off an adversary by sitting in a tree and dropping his blade on to his head was a pretty impressive move as well.
But as Gideon misses chance after chance to break free from the posse on his tail, you just want Seraphim Falls to end.
www.thesun.co.uk
Magnitude of teen pregnancy
On Page B-1 of Sunday's paper, there is an article by Tyeesha Dixon declaring the good news that state and national teen-birth rates are decreasing. According to David Landry of Guttmacher Institute, this is because "[Teenagers] are having sex at a later age."
Ironically, Page B-7 that same day contains an article about a 25-year-old man having "consensual" sex with a 13-year-old girl.
The article defines teenagers as ages 15 to 19. At BETA Center, we are seeing pregnant girls younger than ever before -- as young as 11 or 12. The younger the mother, the more likely the pregnancy has come about as a result of non-voluntary sex (including rape and incest) or victimization by older predatory males.
When you include all adolescents -- that is, ages 11 to 19 -- you get a clearer representation of the magnitude of the problem. In Orange County, teen births have increased each year since 2002 -- the greatest increases are in mothers younger than 14 years old. Clearly teen pregnancy remains a critical issue in Central Florida, one that we cannot ignore.
www.orlandosentinel.com
Ironically, Page B-7 that same day contains an article about a 25-year-old man having "consensual" sex with a 13-year-old girl.
The article defines teenagers as ages 15 to 19. At BETA Center, we are seeing pregnant girls younger than ever before -- as young as 11 or 12. The younger the mother, the more likely the pregnancy has come about as a result of non-voluntary sex (including rape and incest) or victimization by older predatory males.
When you include all adolescents -- that is, ages 11 to 19 -- you get a clearer representation of the magnitude of the problem. In Orange County, teen births have increased each year since 2002 -- the greatest increases are in mothers younger than 14 years old. Clearly teen pregnancy remains a critical issue in Central Florida, one that we cannot ignore.
www.orlandosentinel.com
Fake cancer woman sentenced to 28 months jail
A WEST Australian woman who faked vaginal cancer to get thousands of dollars in donations has been sentenced to 28 months in jail.
Mother-of-two Lisa Marie Mackay, 28, of Port Kennedy, was sentenced today in the West Australian District Court after pleading guilty last week to 25 fraud offences from 2004. She was arrested in 2006.
Judge Michael O'Sullivan said Mackay had received donations including $4,100 from the proceeds of the Karratha Police ball and $1,500 from the Karratha Lions club in north-west WA.
He said she also took the last $50 from a woman whose sister had cancer.
"She apologised for the small amount,'' Judge O'Sullivan said.
"It is a measure of your criminality you were undeterred by this and accepted the money,'' he said.
Mackay also accepted $1755 from a 71-year-old man who had asked her how short she was of the target for her medical treatment.
"Not surprisingly I have received a number of victim impact statements,'' the judge said today.
"The writers of them feeling cheated by you.''
Mackay started pretending to friends and family in 2004 that she had vaginal cancer, forging hospital reports to raise funds for special cancer treatment.
She received donations after publicising her faked plight in a national magazine and two regional WA newspapers.
Judge O'Sullivan said she deserved immediate imprisonment for her criminality.
"The harm done to organised charities operating legitimately has potentially been considerable,'' he said.
He sentenced her to 28 months in jail. He made her eligible for parole, but did not say when.
www.news.com.au
Mother-of-two Lisa Marie Mackay, 28, of Port Kennedy, was sentenced today in the West Australian District Court after pleading guilty last week to 25 fraud offences from 2004. She was arrested in 2006.
Judge Michael O'Sullivan said Mackay had received donations including $4,100 from the proceeds of the Karratha Police ball and $1,500 from the Karratha Lions club in north-west WA.
He said she also took the last $50 from a woman whose sister had cancer.
"She apologised for the small amount,'' Judge O'Sullivan said.
"It is a measure of your criminality you were undeterred by this and accepted the money,'' he said.
Mackay also accepted $1755 from a 71-year-old man who had asked her how short she was of the target for her medical treatment.
"Not surprisingly I have received a number of victim impact statements,'' the judge said today.
"The writers of them feeling cheated by you.''
Mackay started pretending to friends and family in 2004 that she had vaginal cancer, forging hospital reports to raise funds for special cancer treatment.
She received donations after publicising her faked plight in a national magazine and two regional WA newspapers.
Judge O'Sullivan said she deserved immediate imprisonment for her criminality.
"The harm done to organised charities operating legitimately has potentially been considerable,'' he said.
He sentenced her to 28 months in jail. He made her eligible for parole, but did not say when.
www.news.com.au
Cancer victim's plight gets action on solariums
BRAVE cancer patient Clare Oliver is heartened by the community's response to her story that has led the State Government to act.
Ms Oliver was too ill to see visitors yesterday and was trying to retain her strength to celebrate her 26th birthday with friends and family tomorrow.
But in a statement she said she was pleased her story had touched so many people and led the Government to act on solariums.
"I am completely and utterly overjoyed at the fact that such a small action from me can cause such a huge chain reaction in the community," Ms Oliver said.
"I also want to thank everyone who has sent messages of love and support.
"These messages have given me strength."
Ms Oliver this week told how excessive solarium use and sunbaking left her with a melanoma and other cancers that will soon kill her.
Health Minister Daniel Andrews said the voluntary code of conduct for the solarium industry would be made mandatory.
The new rules will mean:
# It will be illegal to provide solarium services to children under 16.
# Those aged 16 or 17 must have parental permission.
# Compulsory health warnings.
The rules, which will be made under the Radiation Act, will be enforced from later this year.
Mr Andrews said it was believed 70-80 per cent of solariums complied with the existing voluntary code.
"We will take action. But we need to get it right.
"It is appropriate over the next couple of months we work through some of the detail.
"There are issues about whether staff have to be trained to a certain level.
"Some issues (are) in terms of fines.
"We will effectively licence each of the 500 solariums, and then there will be obviously a proper enforcement process."
Changes were first flagged in May by then health minister Bronwyn Pike, but had been fast-tracked since Ms Oliver's story went public.
Australian Solarium Association public officer Patrick Holly said he was happy with the announcement.
"We stand behind regulation of the industry," he said.
"Unfortunately, the voluntary code has not worked.
"Compliance ... is easy. Unfortunately, too many people got complacent."
Mr Holly said many Melbourne salons had not complied with standards; some had wrongly allowed unlimited use.
"It's a bit like the cigarette industry. A lot of people comply, but one or two do not."
www.news.com.au
Ms Oliver was too ill to see visitors yesterday and was trying to retain her strength to celebrate her 26th birthday with friends and family tomorrow.
But in a statement she said she was pleased her story had touched so many people and led the Government to act on solariums.
"I am completely and utterly overjoyed at the fact that such a small action from me can cause such a huge chain reaction in the community," Ms Oliver said.
"I also want to thank everyone who has sent messages of love and support.
"These messages have given me strength."
Ms Oliver this week told how excessive solarium use and sunbaking left her with a melanoma and other cancers that will soon kill her.
Health Minister Daniel Andrews said the voluntary code of conduct for the solarium industry would be made mandatory.
The new rules will mean:
# It will be illegal to provide solarium services to children under 16.
# Those aged 16 or 17 must have parental permission.
# Compulsory health warnings.
The rules, which will be made under the Radiation Act, will be enforced from later this year.
Mr Andrews said it was believed 70-80 per cent of solariums complied with the existing voluntary code.
"We will take action. But we need to get it right.
"It is appropriate over the next couple of months we work through some of the detail.
"There are issues about whether staff have to be trained to a certain level.
"Some issues (are) in terms of fines.
"We will effectively licence each of the 500 solariums, and then there will be obviously a proper enforcement process."
Changes were first flagged in May by then health minister Bronwyn Pike, but had been fast-tracked since Ms Oliver's story went public.
Australian Solarium Association public officer Patrick Holly said he was happy with the announcement.
"We stand behind regulation of the industry," he said.
"Unfortunately, the voluntary code has not worked.
"Compliance ... is easy. Unfortunately, too many people got complacent."
Mr Holly said many Melbourne salons had not complied with standards; some had wrongly allowed unlimited use.
"It's a bit like the cigarette industry. A lot of people comply, but one or two do not."
www.news.com.au
New Cancer Weapon: Nuclear Nanocapsules
Science Daily — Rice University chemists have found a way to package some of nature's most powerful radioactive particles inside DNA-sized tubes of pure carbon -- a method they hope to use to target tiny tumors and even lone leukemia cells.
"There are no FDA-approved cancer therapies that employ alpha-particle radiation," said lead researcher Lon Wilson, professor of chemistry. "Approved therapies that use beta particles are not well-suited for treating cancer at the single-cell level because it takes thousands of beta particles to kill a lone cell. By contrast, cancer cells can be destroyed with just one direct hit from an alpha particle on a cell nucleus."
In the study, Wilson, Rice graduate student Keith Hartman, University of Washington (UW) radiation oncologist Scott Wilbur and UW research scientist Donald Hamlin, developed and tested a process to load astatine atoms inside short sections of carbon nanotubes. Because astatine is the rarest naturally occurring element on Earth -- with less than a teaspoon estimated to exist in the Earth's crust at any given time -- the research was conducted using astatine created in a UW cyclotron.
Astatine, like radium and uranium, emits alpha particles via radioactive decay. Alpha particles, which contain two protons and two neutrons, are the most massive particles emitted as radiation. They are about 4,000 times more massive than the electrons emitted by beta decay -- the type of radiation most commonly used to treat cancer.
"It's something like the difference between a cannon shell and a BB," Wilson said. "The extra mass increases the amount of damage alpha particles can inflict on cancer cells."
The speed of radioactive particles is also an important factor in medical use. Beta particles travel very fast. This, combined with their small size, gives them significant penetrating power. In cancer treatment, for example, beams of beta particles can be created outside the patient's body and directed at tumors. Alpha particles move much more slowly, and because they are also massive, they have very little penetrating power. They can be stopped by something as flimsy as tissue paper.
"The unique combination of low penetrating power and large particle mass make alpha particle ideal for targeting cancer at the single-cell level," Wilson said. "The difficulty in developing ways to use them to treat cancer has come in finding ways to deliver them quickly and directly to the cancer site."
In prior work, Wilson and colleagues developed techniques to attach antibodies to carbon fullerenes like nanotubes. Antibodies are proteins produced by white blood cells. Each antibody is designed to recognize and bind only with a specific antigen, and doctors have identified a host of cancer-specific antibodies that can be used to kill cancer cells.
In follow-up research, Wilson hopes to test the single-celled cancer targeting approach by attaching cancer-specific antibodies to astatine-loaded nanotubes.
One complicating factor in any astatine-based cancer therapy will be the element's short, 7.5-hour half-life. In radioactive decay, the term half-life refers to the time required for any quantity of a substance to decay by half its initial mass. Due to astatine's brief half-life, any treatment must be delivered in a timely way, before the particles lose their potency.
The study's results are available online and slated to appear in an upcoming issue of the journal Small.
The research was funded by the Welch Foundation, Rice's Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology, NASA's Johnson Space Center, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and the National Cancer Institute, a division of the National Institutes of Health. Carbon nanotubes were provided by Carbon Nanotechnologies Inc.
"There are no FDA-approved cancer therapies that employ alpha-particle radiation," said lead researcher Lon Wilson, professor of chemistry. "Approved therapies that use beta particles are not well-suited for treating cancer at the single-cell level because it takes thousands of beta particles to kill a lone cell. By contrast, cancer cells can be destroyed with just one direct hit from an alpha particle on a cell nucleus."
In the study, Wilson, Rice graduate student Keith Hartman, University of Washington (UW) radiation oncologist Scott Wilbur and UW research scientist Donald Hamlin, developed and tested a process to load astatine atoms inside short sections of carbon nanotubes. Because astatine is the rarest naturally occurring element on Earth -- with less than a teaspoon estimated to exist in the Earth's crust at any given time -- the research was conducted using astatine created in a UW cyclotron.
Astatine, like radium and uranium, emits alpha particles via radioactive decay. Alpha particles, which contain two protons and two neutrons, are the most massive particles emitted as radiation. They are about 4,000 times more massive than the electrons emitted by beta decay -- the type of radiation most commonly used to treat cancer.
"It's something like the difference between a cannon shell and a BB," Wilson said. "The extra mass increases the amount of damage alpha particles can inflict on cancer cells."
The speed of radioactive particles is also an important factor in medical use. Beta particles travel very fast. This, combined with their small size, gives them significant penetrating power. In cancer treatment, for example, beams of beta particles can be created outside the patient's body and directed at tumors. Alpha particles move much more slowly, and because they are also massive, they have very little penetrating power. They can be stopped by something as flimsy as tissue paper.
"The unique combination of low penetrating power and large particle mass make alpha particle ideal for targeting cancer at the single-cell level," Wilson said. "The difficulty in developing ways to use them to treat cancer has come in finding ways to deliver them quickly and directly to the cancer site."
In prior work, Wilson and colleagues developed techniques to attach antibodies to carbon fullerenes like nanotubes. Antibodies are proteins produced by white blood cells. Each antibody is designed to recognize and bind only with a specific antigen, and doctors have identified a host of cancer-specific antibodies that can be used to kill cancer cells.
In follow-up research, Wilson hopes to test the single-celled cancer targeting approach by attaching cancer-specific antibodies to astatine-loaded nanotubes.
One complicating factor in any astatine-based cancer therapy will be the element's short, 7.5-hour half-life. In radioactive decay, the term half-life refers to the time required for any quantity of a substance to decay by half its initial mass. Due to astatine's brief half-life, any treatment must be delivered in a timely way, before the particles lose their potency.
The study's results are available online and slated to appear in an upcoming issue of the journal Small.
The research was funded by the Welch Foundation, Rice's Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology, NASA's Johnson Space Center, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and the National Cancer Institute, a division of the National Institutes of Health. Carbon nanotubes were provided by Carbon Nanotechnologies Inc.
Cancer plan 'achieving little'
Two years after the launch of the Government's Cancer Control Action Plan, detection and access to treatment remain "uncoordinated and ad hoc" throughout New Zealand, says the Cancer Society.
Society chief executive Dalton Kelly said yesterday's report by the Health Ministry's Cancer Control Council showed it was doing "a very good job of monitoring what progress has occurred".
"But what is the point of detecting cancer if we don't have the people, equipment and medicines to treat it?
"Simply monitoring on its own is not going to achieve any results."
The council was "hamstrung" because it had no authority or independence to implement the action plan, he said.
Decision-making and funding control remained in the hands of district health boards.
"What this report shows is that despite the Government's priority objective of reducing the incidence and impact of cancer, its failure to provide any particular body with the responsibility to lead, coordinate and drive the action plan means that very little has, in reality, been achieved."
The effect on patients was that children with cancer were being sent to hospitals in different regions and women with breast cancer were sent to Australia for radiation treatment, while others were being treated with "a truncated, unproven course of Herceptin while desperately raising funds to personally fund the extended course".
Mr Kelly said it was "intolerable" that nine years after the need was identified, cancer patients in the Wellington region were still waiting for a third radiation machine.
The $5 million linear accelerator, which fires a beam to destroy tumours, cannot be installed till the ministry and DHBs decide who will pay an estimated shortfall of $500,000 in treatment funding.
Nursing shortages and the number of radiation therapists and specialists leaving the country highlighted a lack of workforce planning.
Health Minister Pete Hodgson said "good progress" was being made toward reducing the burden of cancer - but there was more work to be done.
About 70 per cent of the milestones in the first phase of the action plan had been achieved or were in progress, particularly under the goals of cancer prevention, screening and early detection.
However, the report highlighted "uneven" progress on goals for diagnosis and treatment, improving quality of life for people with cancer, service delivery, research and surveillance.
Mr Hodgson welcomed the fact that several district health boards were building capacity and capability of the cancer nursing workforce. Work was also under way to develop a national education and training framework for cancer and palliative care nursing.
"There are many good initiatives happening at a local level, and within particular district health boards," he said.
"The challenge now is to make sure these are taken up consistently across New Zealand."
www.stuff.co.nz
Society chief executive Dalton Kelly said yesterday's report by the Health Ministry's Cancer Control Council showed it was doing "a very good job of monitoring what progress has occurred".
"But what is the point of detecting cancer if we don't have the people, equipment and medicines to treat it?
"Simply monitoring on its own is not going to achieve any results."
The council was "hamstrung" because it had no authority or independence to implement the action plan, he said.
Decision-making and funding control remained in the hands of district health boards.
"What this report shows is that despite the Government's priority objective of reducing the incidence and impact of cancer, its failure to provide any particular body with the responsibility to lead, coordinate and drive the action plan means that very little has, in reality, been achieved."
The effect on patients was that children with cancer were being sent to hospitals in different regions and women with breast cancer were sent to Australia for radiation treatment, while others were being treated with "a truncated, unproven course of Herceptin while desperately raising funds to personally fund the extended course".
Mr Kelly said it was "intolerable" that nine years after the need was identified, cancer patients in the Wellington region were still waiting for a third radiation machine.
The $5 million linear accelerator, which fires a beam to destroy tumours, cannot be installed till the ministry and DHBs decide who will pay an estimated shortfall of $500,000 in treatment funding.
Nursing shortages and the number of radiation therapists and specialists leaving the country highlighted a lack of workforce planning.
Health Minister Pete Hodgson said "good progress" was being made toward reducing the burden of cancer - but there was more work to be done.
About 70 per cent of the milestones in the first phase of the action plan had been achieved or were in progress, particularly under the goals of cancer prevention, screening and early detection.
However, the report highlighted "uneven" progress on goals for diagnosis and treatment, improving quality of life for people with cancer, service delivery, research and surveillance.
Mr Hodgson welcomed the fact that several district health boards were building capacity and capability of the cancer nursing workforce. Work was also under way to develop a national education and training framework for cancer and palliative care nursing.
"There are many good initiatives happening at a local level, and within particular district health boards," he said.
"The challenge now is to make sure these are taken up consistently across New Zealand."
www.stuff.co.nz
NSW boosts cancer funding
It will allocate $3.5 million to creating an additional 25 metropolitan and rural cancer specialist teams.
Another $1.5 million will go towards a new radiation oncology research and teaching network to encourage more medical students to take up careers in cancer care.
The Government says the funding addresses a shortage of cancer specialists across the state.
The Minister for Science, Medical Research and Cancer, Verity Firth, says governments must do more in the fight against cancer.
"We know that cancer is a disease that will affect the health of one-in-two men and one-in-three women during their lifetime," she said.
"So to mark Daffodil Day, we're encouraging the public obviously to donate generously to the Cancer Council but the Government is also wanting to put its money where its mouth is."
Ms Firth says it is vital that efforts are made to attract students to specialist cancer treatment and research.
"This is about encouraging our brightest and best students to enter cancer research and to help find a cure for this disease, which remains the single biggest cause of premature death in New South Wales," she said.
www.abc.net.au
Another $1.5 million will go towards a new radiation oncology research and teaching network to encourage more medical students to take up careers in cancer care.
The Government says the funding addresses a shortage of cancer specialists across the state.
The Minister for Science, Medical Research and Cancer, Verity Firth, says governments must do more in the fight against cancer.
"We know that cancer is a disease that will affect the health of one-in-two men and one-in-three women during their lifetime," she said.
"So to mark Daffodil Day, we're encouraging the public obviously to donate generously to the Cancer Council but the Government is also wanting to put its money where its mouth is."
Ms Firth says it is vital that efforts are made to attract students to specialist cancer treatment and research.
"This is about encouraging our brightest and best students to enter cancer research and to help find a cure for this disease, which remains the single biggest cause of premature death in New South Wales," she said.
www.abc.net.au
Breast Cancer Not Regulated to Women; Some Men Battle It too
According to the American Cancer Society, one in eight women has a chance of developing invasive breast cancer in her life.
But the disease, which is aligned closely with women, can also affect men. One retired San Antonio judge discovered that personally.
James Barlow always prided himself on being prepared to tackle anything, both in his long legal career and in life. But late this spring, doctors shocked the grandfather with the news he had breast cancer.
"You can't prepare for that because it's totally unexpected," he said.
A Family History
For Barlow, his personal diagnosis was not his first encounter with breast cancer. Both his daughters already had been diagnosed with the disease — daughter Melissa in 2003, and Becky last year.
"The most difficult part was telling my mom," said Becky Dorsey. "[That was] because she was already dealing with my sister. Her response was, 'This was just too much.'"
With two daughters already battling breast cancer, the family decided to get genetic testing for a cancer gene.
"They wanted to study why my two daughters both have it," Barlow said.
To the family's surprise, James, not his wife, Virginia, was the carrier. For years doctors believed that breast cancer was inherited only from the mother's side. But as Barlow's case proves, breast cancer can be passed down from either parent.
"I think it may be more common than we think," Barlow said.
At least one family member wasn't surprised by the revelation.
"I wasn't as surprised we inherited the gene from him, as I was [that he] got breast cancer," said Melissa Barlow-Fischer.
According to the National Institutes of Health's Web site, male breast cancer is rare and most commonly occurs in men between ages 60 and 70. Risk factors include radiation exposure, a family history of breast cancer and having high estrogen levels.
For the Barlows, the uncommon diagnosis was most difficult for Virginia.
"Each time someone in the family got it, it was equally hard," she said.
www.abcnews.go.com
But the disease, which is aligned closely with women, can also affect men. One retired San Antonio judge discovered that personally.
James Barlow always prided himself on being prepared to tackle anything, both in his long legal career and in life. But late this spring, doctors shocked the grandfather with the news he had breast cancer.
"You can't prepare for that because it's totally unexpected," he said.
A Family History
For Barlow, his personal diagnosis was not his first encounter with breast cancer. Both his daughters already had been diagnosed with the disease — daughter Melissa in 2003, and Becky last year.
"The most difficult part was telling my mom," said Becky Dorsey. "[That was] because she was already dealing with my sister. Her response was, 'This was just too much.'"
With two daughters already battling breast cancer, the family decided to get genetic testing for a cancer gene.
"They wanted to study why my two daughters both have it," Barlow said.
To the family's surprise, James, not his wife, Virginia, was the carrier. For years doctors believed that breast cancer was inherited only from the mother's side. But as Barlow's case proves, breast cancer can be passed down from either parent.
"I think it may be more common than we think," Barlow said.
At least one family member wasn't surprised by the revelation.
"I wasn't as surprised we inherited the gene from him, as I was [that he] got breast cancer," said Melissa Barlow-Fischer.
According to the National Institutes of Health's Web site, male breast cancer is rare and most commonly occurs in men between ages 60 and 70. Risk factors include radiation exposure, a family history of breast cancer and having high estrogen levels.
For the Barlows, the uncommon diagnosis was most difficult for Virginia.
"Each time someone in the family got it, it was equally hard," she said.
www.abcnews.go.com
New Breast Cancer Clinical Data Accepted for Presentation at San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium
Predictive medicine company PreMD Inc. today announced that an abstract entitled, 'Galactose oxidase Schiff's reactivity is higher in nipple aspirate fluid from cancerous breasts than from healthy patients' has been accepted for presentation at the 30th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS). The SABCS is a leading international symposium for physicians and healthcare researchers involved in breast cancer research.
"We are extremely pleased and honored that this abstract has been accepted for presentation at this influential symposium," said Brent Norton, president and chief executive officer of PreMD Inc. "This study provides valuable clinical insight as to how women with unilateral breast cancer may benefit from testing with galactose oxidase Schiff's (GOS) reactivity. This presentation further strengthens our clinical data and our entire cancer franchise, which we are progressively developing."
GOS reactivity is significantly different between nipple aspirate fluid (NAF) taken from cancerous versus non-cancerous breasts of women with unilateral breast cancer. This study extends these findings and evaluates GOS reactivity in healthy control patients.
The lead author on the study is Dr. Anees B. Chagpar from the University of Louisville. The San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium takes place on December 13-16, 2007, in San Antonio, Texas.
About PreMD Inc.
PreMD Inc. is a leader in predictive medicine, dedicated to developing rapid, non-invasive tests for the early detection of life-threatening diseases. PreMD's cardiovascular products are branded as PREVU(x) Skin Cholesterol Test, to be marketed and distributed by AstraZeneca. The company's cancer tests include ColorectAlert(TM), LungAlert(TM) and a breast cancer test. PreMD's head office is located in Toronto, Ontario and its research and product development facility is at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. For further information, please visit www.premdinc.com. For more information about PREVU(x), please visit www.prevu.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the success of a plan for regaining compliance with certain continued listing standards of the American Stock Exchange, successful development or marketing of the Company's products, the competitiveness of the Company's products if successfully commercialized, the lack of operating profit and availability of funds and resources to pursue R&D projects, the successful and timely completion of clinical studies, product liability, reliance on third-party manufacturers, the ability of the Company to take advantage of business opportunities, uncertainties related to the regulatory process, and general changes in economic conditions.
In addition, while the Company routinely obtains patents for its products and technology, the protection offered by the Company's patents and patent applications may be challenged, invalidated or circumvented by our competitors and there can be no guarantee of our ability to obtain or maintain patent protection for our products or product candidates.
Investors should consult the Company's quarterly and annual filings with the Canadian and U.S. securities commissions for additional information on risks and uncertainties relating to the forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. PreMD is providing this information as of the date of this press release and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
money.cnn.com
"We are extremely pleased and honored that this abstract has been accepted for presentation at this influential symposium," said Brent Norton, president and chief executive officer of PreMD Inc. "This study provides valuable clinical insight as to how women with unilateral breast cancer may benefit from testing with galactose oxidase Schiff's (GOS) reactivity. This presentation further strengthens our clinical data and our entire cancer franchise, which we are progressively developing."
GOS reactivity is significantly different between nipple aspirate fluid (NAF) taken from cancerous versus non-cancerous breasts of women with unilateral breast cancer. This study extends these findings and evaluates GOS reactivity in healthy control patients.
The lead author on the study is Dr. Anees B. Chagpar from the University of Louisville. The San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium takes place on December 13-16, 2007, in San Antonio, Texas.
About PreMD Inc.
PreMD Inc. is a leader in predictive medicine, dedicated to developing rapid, non-invasive tests for the early detection of life-threatening diseases. PreMD's cardiovascular products are branded as PREVU(x) Skin Cholesterol Test, to be marketed and distributed by AstraZeneca. The company's cancer tests include ColorectAlert(TM), LungAlert(TM) and a breast cancer test. PreMD's head office is located in Toronto, Ontario and its research and product development facility is at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. For further information, please visit www.premdinc.com. For more information about PREVU(x), please visit www.prevu.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the success of a plan for regaining compliance with certain continued listing standards of the American Stock Exchange, successful development or marketing of the Company's products, the competitiveness of the Company's products if successfully commercialized, the lack of operating profit and availability of funds and resources to pursue R&D projects, the successful and timely completion of clinical studies, product liability, reliance on third-party manufacturers, the ability of the Company to take advantage of business opportunities, uncertainties related to the regulatory process, and general changes in economic conditions.
In addition, while the Company routinely obtains patents for its products and technology, the protection offered by the Company's patents and patent applications may be challenged, invalidated or circumvented by our competitors and there can be no guarantee of our ability to obtain or maintain patent protection for our products or product candidates.
Investors should consult the Company's quarterly and annual filings with the Canadian and U.S. securities commissions for additional information on risks and uncertainties relating to the forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. PreMD is providing this information as of the date of this press release and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
money.cnn.com
Housework cuts cancer risk, says researcher
CALGARY -- Doing chores can help reduce your risk of cancer, says a Calgary health researcher.
Pre-menopausal women who are physically active, especially those who spend a lot of time keeping house, seem to reduce their risk of developing endometrial cancer, which attacks the lining of the uterus.
Stats from a six-year study on European woman showed that about four hours of moderate housework a day was enough to halve a woman's risk of getting this type of cancer.
"In some of those countries, those women were doing an enormous amount of household activity," said Christine Friedenreich of the Alberta Cancer Board.
The amount of exercise women get from doing chores often has been ignored in past studies, Friedenreich said. Her past studies have shown that exercise has a preventative effect against breast cancer, as well.
"It's about trying to get people to increase activity into as many parts of their lives as they can," she said.
www.canada.com
Pre-menopausal women who are physically active, especially those who spend a lot of time keeping house, seem to reduce their risk of developing endometrial cancer, which attacks the lining of the uterus.
Stats from a six-year study on European woman showed that about four hours of moderate housework a day was enough to halve a woman's risk of getting this type of cancer.
"In some of those countries, those women were doing an enormous amount of household activity," said Christine Friedenreich of the Alberta Cancer Board.
The amount of exercise women get from doing chores often has been ignored in past studies, Friedenreich said. Her past studies have shown that exercise has a preventative effect against breast cancer, as well.
"It's about trying to get people to increase activity into as many parts of their lives as they can," she said.
www.canada.com
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Baby Watch: Halle Berry
With all the celebrities both adopting and having babies the good old fashioned way, Halle Berry looks to be getting jealous. In fact, some sources are saying the Monster’s Ball actress has a bun in the oven herself.
According to the rumor mill, the X-Men star is two months along in her pregnancy. The father of the child is said to be Gabriel Aubry.
And the expecting mother couldn’t be happier about her soon-to-be-born. A source close to the actress told press, “Halle is so happy right now. She’s wanted a baby for so long.”
With her joy comes the realization that her Diabetes could cause some complications along the way. An insider told press, “But at the same time she’s scared because she is very aware of the complications that having diabetes can cause during pregnancy. She’s doing everything possible to make sure her baby is born healthy.”
Enjoy the pictures of Halle out shopping at Bristol Farms (August 16). Do you think that these photos validate the baby talk? Leave a comment and let us know!
www.celebrity-gossip.net
According to the rumor mill, the X-Men star is two months along in her pregnancy. The father of the child is said to be Gabriel Aubry.
And the expecting mother couldn’t be happier about her soon-to-be-born. A source close to the actress told press, “Halle is so happy right now. She’s wanted a baby for so long.”
With her joy comes the realization that her Diabetes could cause some complications along the way. An insider told press, “But at the same time she’s scared because she is very aware of the complications that having diabetes can cause during pregnancy. She’s doing everything possible to make sure her baby is born healthy.”
Enjoy the pictures of Halle out shopping at Bristol Farms (August 16). Do you think that these photos validate the baby talk? Leave a comment and let us know!
www.celebrity-gossip.net
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
