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It's the rate of change
December 2006
BALTIMORE - When it comes to predicting risks of prostate cancer, think velocity, scientists told MedPage Today.
It's the rate of change of prostate specific antigen - not the absolute PSA level - that’s key to telling who has a life-threatening malignancy and who doesn't, they say.
Typically, a PSA level of 4.0 ng/mL determines who needs treatment and who doesn't, noted Dr. H. Ballentine Carter, of Johns Hopkins University.
PSA velocity - the rate at which the hormone level is changing - is a better guide and can be evaluated years before diagnosis, Dr. Carter and colleagues noted in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
It's known PSA velocity is higher in men with prostate cancer and it's tied to some surrogate markers of adverse outcomes, Dr. Carter and colleagues said.
"An unanswered question is whether a higher PSA velocity could identify those men with life-threatening prostate cancer in a window of curability," scientists said.
Dr. Carter’s team used the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging and compared PSA histories of 20 men who died of prostate cancer, 104 men with prostate cancer who are still alive or have died of another cause, and 856 men without prostate cancer.
The study found PSA velocity measured 10 to 15 years before diagnosis (when most had PSA levels below 4.0 ng/mL) was tied to cancer-specific survival 25 years later.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - Mom knew broccoli was good for you, she just didn’t know it was this good. “Everyone knows broccoli is good for you and that it contains compounds known to lessen the occurrence of some types of cancer. We want to know how these compounds work and what their specific targets may be,” says Dr. Janet V. Cross, assistant professor of pathology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. She and colleague Dr. Dennis J. Templeton, chairman of the UVa Dept. of Pathology received a $1.3 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to study how specific nutrients in healthy vegetables like broccoli work to prevent cancer. Drs. Cross and Templeton found nutrients in broccoli unexpectedly bond with a specific enzyme in cells. This enzyme had been linked clearly to inflammatory disease processes, but Dr. Cross solidified a link with cancer when she found mice who didn’t have the gene for this enzyme developed far fewer cancers when given carcinogens. The incorporation of these compounds into a cancer prevention treatment that comes in a pill or liquid form could enhance the concept of stopping cancers before they start.
ONTARIO - Eating omega-3 enriched liquid eggs can improve blood triglyceride levels, boost heart health, and help families get daily suggested intake of omega-3, states a clinical trial in Food Research International. The trial done by University of Guelph researchers Emily L. Rose and Bruce J. Holub showed a breakfast consisting of omega-3 enriched liquid eggs cut blood triglyceride levels by 32%, reduced the triglyceride/HDL-cholesterol ratio by 37%, and produced a moderate reduction in blood pressure levels without affecting serum cholesterol. The EPA and DHA blood levels of the test subjects rose 96% and 210% respectively, significantly cutting their estimated cardiovascular risk. “The results of the study support enriched eggs as an excellent vehicle for the delivery of omega-3, and given their broad appeal, eggs have the potential to bridge a critical nutritional gap that exists in the North American diet,” said Bruce Holub, university professor emeritus of nutritional sciences.
DES MOINES, IA - The Associated Press reported women may give up more than a husband by divorcing - they may lose some of their good health, a study by Iowa State University found. The study focused on what happens to rural women's health after marriage ends versus women who stay married, said Fred Lorenz. "What we found was the act of getting a divorce produced no immediate effects on (physical) health, but it did have effects on mental health," Lorenz said. "Ten years later, those effects on mental health led to effects in physical health." The findings came from data gathered from rural Iowa women interviewed three times in the early 1990s, and again in 2001. All 416 women interviewed were the mothers of adolescent children when the study began. Among them, 102 women were recently divorced. In the years immediately after divorce - 1991 to 1994 - the divorced women reported 7% higher levels of psychological distress than married women. They didn’t report differences in physical illness at that time. A decade later, the divorced women noted 37% more physical illness, but no difference in psychological stress that could be directly linked to the divorce, said Lorenz.
LONDON - Women tested negative for the two inherited breast cancer genes are still at increased risk of getting the disease, suggests research in the Journal of Medical Genetics. They should be screened regularly from 35 or 40 onwards, say the authors. The team assessed families of 277 women in whom faults in the breast cancer genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 were found. Faults in these genes increase substantially a woman’s chances of developing early breast and/or ovarian cancer versus the general population, and “predictive” testing is usually offered to other blood relatives. Among the 531 female relatives tested for genetic faults, 49% tested negative. Of these, 28 developed breast cancer and four developed ovarian cancer. Among the 184 first degree relatives testing negative, four different BRCA1 and two “phenocopies” were identified, accounting for around one in four test results. A phenocopy is when a patient develops the condition that a particular gene predisposes them to, but they test negative for the inherited genetic fault. Authors calculated first degree relatives tested negative for BRCA1 and two had around three times the risk of developing breast cancer by 50 as the general population.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - Mom knew broccoli was good for you, she just didn’t know it was this good. “Everyone knows broccoli is good for you and that it contains compounds known to lessen the occurrence of some types of cancer. We want to know how these compounds work and what their specific targets may be,” says Dr. Janet V. Cross, assistant professor of pathology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. She and colleague Dr. Dennis J. Templeton, chairman of the UVa Dept. of Pathology received a $1.3 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to study how specific nutrients in healthy vegetables like broccoli work to prevent cancer. Drs. Cross and Templeton found nutrients in broccoli unexpectedly bond with a specific enzyme in cells. This enzyme had been linked clearly to inflammatory disease processes, but Dr. Cross solidified a link with cancer when she found mice who didn’t have the gene for this enzyme developed far fewer cancers when given carcinogens. The incorporation of these compounds into a cancer prevention treatment that comes in a pill or liquid form could enhance the concept of stopping cancers before they start.
ONTARIO - Eating omega-3 enriched liquid eggs can improve blood triglyceride levels, boost heart health, and help families get daily suggested intake of omega-3, states a clinical trial in Food Research International. The trial done by University of Guelph researchers Emily L. Rose and Bruce J. Holub showed a breakfast consisting of omega-3 enriched liquid eggs cut blood triglyceride levels by 32%, reduced the triglyceride/HDL-cholesterol ratio by 37%, and produced a moderate reduction in blood pressure levels without affecting serum cholesterol. The EPA and DHA blood levels of the test subjects rose 96% and 210% respectively, significantly cutting their estimated cardiovascular risk. “The results of the study support enriched eggs as an excellent vehicle for the delivery of omega-3, and given their broad appeal, eggs have the potential to bridge a critical nutritional gap that exists in the North American diet,” said Bruce Holub, university professor emeritus of nutritional sciences.
DES MOINES, IA - The Associated Press reported women may give up more than a husband by divorcing - they may lose some of their good health, a study by Iowa State University found. The study focused on what happens to rural women's health after marriage ends versus women who stay married, said Fred Lorenz. "What we found was the act of getting a divorce produced no immediate effects on (physical) health, but it did have effects on mental health," Lorenz said. "Ten years later, those effects on mental health led to effects in physical health." The findings came from data gathered from rural Iowa women interviewed three times in the early 1990s, and again in 2001. All 416 women interviewed were the mothers of adolescent children when the study began. Among them, 102 women were recently divorced. In the years immediately after divorce - 1991 to 1994 - the divorced women reported 7% higher levels of psychological distress than married women. They didn’t report differences in physical illness at that time. A decade later, the divorced women noted 37% more physical illness, but no difference in psychological stress that could be directly linked to the divorce, said Lorenz.
LONDON - Women tested negative for the two inherited breast cancer genes are still at increased risk of getting the disease, suggests research in the Journal of Medical Genetics. They should be screened regularly from 35 or 40 onwards, say the authors. The team assessed families of 277 women in whom faults in the breast cancer genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 were found. Faults in these genes increase substantially a woman’s chances of developing early breast and/or ovarian cancer versus the general population, and “predictive” testing is usually offered to other blood relatives. Among the 531 female relatives tested for genetic faults, 49% tested negative. Of these, 28 developed breast cancer and four developed ovarian cancer. Among the 184 first degree relatives testing negative, four different BRCA1 and two “phenocopies” were identified, accounting for around one in four test results. A phenocopy is when a patient develops the condition that a particular gene predisposes them to, but they test negative for the inherited genetic fault. Authors calculated first degree relatives tested negative for BRCA1 and two had around three times the risk of developing breast cancer by 50 as the general population.