Posts Tagged ‘cancer prevention’

Beating Breast & Prostate Cancer with the Help of 11 Alive News

October 5th, 2011 By Morgan Griffith

There are over 5 million people in the U.S. battling breast and prostate cancer. Breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting American women. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer affecting men in the U.S. So how can we take action to help the 5 million+ already fighting a battle against breast or prostate cancer, and how do we increase awareness and healthy habits to help lower incidence rates in the future?

One of the most important steps we can take in the fight against cancer is education. That’s why we’re partnering with 11 Alive News to bring our community an informative special covering both breast and prostate cancer, including insights from our team at the Winship Cancer Institute on cancer screening, prevention, risk, diagnosis, treatment options, and survivorship.

Cutting Edge Cancer Treatment SpecialIf you didn’t already know it, as an Atlanta resident, you have Georgia’s only National Cancer Institute designated cancer center in your back yard. As such, the  And did you also know that the cancer research that’s produced at the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University is used not only to advance technology and treatment options for cancer patients, but also to serve as an educational foundation to help our community make smart decisions when it comes to their health? As a leading cancer institute its our goal to raise community awareness around cancer through education.

11 Alive will feature their special on beating breast and prostate cancer on Saturday, October 8th at 8:00pm EST. If you’re able to, we highly encourage you to check it out. We’ll be tweeting live during the special, so if you’re watching it, you can join the discussion with us and the 11 Alive crew as well! Simply use the hashtag #cuttingedgemed If there are any questions we can’t answer for you, we’ll get you answers from our doctors. If you have questions now, you’re more than welcome to leave them in the comments below, and we’ll get in touch with our doctors to get you answers. Hope to see you on Twitter on the 8th!

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Get the 4-1-1 on Ovarian Cancer & Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

September 27th, 2011 By Emory Cancer Care

Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, and as the fifth most common cancer among women in the U.S., we want to share with you some general ovarian cancer information with you and steps you can take to assess your risk for ovarian cancer, and support your body in preventing such a disease.

Ovarian cancer is a gynecologic cancer that the National Cancer Institute (NCI) describes ovarian cancer as, “cancer that forms in tissues of the ovary (one of a pair of female reproductive glands in which the ova, or eggs, are formed). Most ovarian cancers are either ovarian epithelial carcinomas (cancer that begins in the cells on the surface of the ovary) or malignant germ cell tumors (cancer that begins in egg cells).”1 The NCI estimates that there will be 21,990 new cases of ovarian cancer in the United States in 2011, and that deaths from ovarian cancer in 2011 will hit 15,460.

Ovarian Cancer Risk Factors

  • Family history of cancer - A family history  of ovarian, breast, uterus, and rectal cancer. Keep in mind that paternal history is also important – that is, your father’s mother or sister’s having had ovarian or breast cancer puts you at higher risk.
  • Age - About 90%of women who get ovarian cancer are over the age of 40. Women over the age of 55 are at higher risk.
  • Never been pregnant - women who have given birth or been pregnant are at a lower risk for ovarian cancer than women who have never been pregnant.
  • Personal history of cancer - according to the NCI, women who have had breast, uterus, colon or rectal cancer are at a higher risk for ovarian cancer.

Ovarian Cancer Symptoms

  • Pressure or pain in the abdomen, pelvis, back, or legs
  • A swollen or bloated abdomen
  • Nausea, indigestion, gas, constipation, or diarrhea
  • Feeling very tired all the time
  • Shortness of breath
  • Feeling the need to urinate often
  • Unusual vaginal bleeding (heavy periods, or bleeding after menopause)

Ovarian Cancer Detection

Contrary to popular belief, pap tests or pap smears do not test for ovarian cancer. If you have any of the ovarian cancer symptoms listed above, you should see your doctor, who may recommend a more involved test, such as a rectovaginal pelvic exam or a transvaginal ultrasound.

Ovarian Cancer Prevention

Birth Control

You’ll need to consult with your physician to determine if birth control is a right for you, but women who use oral contraceptives may be at lower risk for ovarian cancer.

Nutrition

In general, fruits, vegetables and whole grains, among others, are known to contain vital nutrients that may help prevent cancer. Aside from maintaining a healthy diet, there are a few foods and beverages that studies have shown may be extremely powerful in preventing ovarian cancer:

Tea – Tea contains flavonoids that may also help prevent ovarian cancer. In fact, researchers in Sweden looked at tea consumption and ovarian cancer in more than 60,000 women over 15 years and discovered that women who drank two or more cups of tea a day had a 46 percent lower risk of ovarian cancer than those who didn’t drink tea.2
Tomatoes - Tomatoes contain lycopenes, and a study from the American Cancer Society shows that women who ate two or more one-half cup servings of tomato sauce per week had a 40 percent decrease in risk for ovarian cancer, compared to women who reported eating tomato sauce less than once a month.3

Lowering Ovarian Cancer Risk

Many risk factors for ovarian cancer, such as some of those listed above, cannot be prevented. While we can’t control our age or our family’s history of cancer, we can increase the protective and preventive steps we take to improve our overall health and help protect ourselves from cancers, such as ovarian cancer. Participating in regular exercise, reducing stress, avoiding smoking, and prioritizing good nutrition are all necessary steps to take when improving health and lowering cancer risk.

For more information on ovarian cancer, you can visit the National Cancer Institute’s website on the topic. For information on how ovarian cancer is treated at an NCI designated cancer center, check out the Winship Cancer Institute’s ovarian cancer information.

The content of this blog post has been reviewed by a physician at the Winship Cancer Institute, Georgia’s only NCI-designated Cancer Center.

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HPV16 Vaccine Safe and Effective

September 19th, 2011 By Emory Cancer Care

Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University

Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University

Some cancers remain stubborn to treat. Pancreatic cancer, small cell lung cancer, late stage breast cancer and ovarian cancer are just a few of them. So when researchers find treatments – and even better, ways to prevent cancer – we celebrate.

Scientists at Winship Cancer Institute and many other research centers were therefore concerned about a recent statement that a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer causes mental illness. The statement is not accurate. The vaccine is safe. It is also effective. It is a great example of the medical advances that cancer researchers and clinicians can point to in the struggle against cancer.

The vaccine, which prevents the spread of Human Papilloma Virus-16 or HPV-16, has been approved by the FDA for use in girls who are not yet sexually active.  The vaccine is also under consideration for approval in boys to help prevent the spread of HPV16-related head and neck cancers caused by the same virus. Many researchers and clinicians consider HPV16-related head and neck cancers to be at epidemic levels.

“We don’t need to wait until all these molecular events are understood,” said Dong Moon Shin, M.D., director of Winship Cancer Institute’s head and neck cancer prevention program.  “This vaccine is successful in preventing cervical cancer, and we are hoping the vaccine provide similar preventive properties in head and neck cancer. We are very hopeful.”

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Myths About Tobacco-Related (Bladder) Cancer Go Up in Smoke

August 18th, 2011 By Emory Cancer Care

Smoking Bladder Cancer RiskMany people think that cigarette smoking causes only lung cancer. If you are one of them, think again.

A study published just this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) finds that risk of developing bladder cancer – for men and women – is higher among smokers than previously believed.

Doctors such as Dr. Viraj Master, associate professor of urology, Emory School of Medicine and director of clinical urology research at the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, see patients every week whose cancers likely were caused by smoking.

“Patients are often surprised to hear of the link between smoking and bladder cancer, but it’s there and it’s real,” says Dr. Master. “Smoking’s effects on the body are both pervasive and lethal.”

How could it be that cigarette smoke gets into your bladder? As it turns out, the actual smoke does not, but the carcinogens in tobacco smoke do get into your blood stream and thus into other parts of your body. The study, authored by researchers at the National Cancer Institute, suggests that an apparent increase in the concentration of carcinogens has occurred in the past 50 years, even as tar and nicotine concentrations have been reduced.

Other cancers caused from smoking include: throat, mouth, nasal cavity, esophagus, stomach, pancreas, kidney, bladder, cervix, and acute myeloid leukemia. If you or a loved one would like help to quit smoking, you can call the Georgia Tobacco Quit Line at 877-270-STOP (7867).

Also, if you are a heavy smoker between 55 and 74, you may be interested in having a CT screening of your lungs. Emory University Hospital began offering such scans in early August. A study published this summer in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that low-dose spiral CT scans of heavy smokers aged 55 to 74 reduced mortality by 20 percent. People who are screened need to be aware that false positives may occur and that further testing may be required.

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Lung Cancer Risk Reduction via Lung CT Scans Continue to Gain Momentum

August 11th, 2011 By Morgan Griffith

Lung CT Screening

Did you know that only 15% of lung cancer patients survive more than 5 years after their cancer has been identified? As Vicki Griffin of the Atlanta Journal Constitution puts it in a recent AJC article on lung cancer, “The bleak bottom line is that lung cancer overwhelmingly terminates lives within months of the initial diagnosis.” But as Dr. Curran of the Winship Cancer Institute reported weeks ago in a lung cancer blog post, this number could be improved. How, you ask? Through low-dose Lung CT scanning.

A recent 5 year study sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), which is the same organization that has designated the Winship Cancer Institute as one of only 65 NCI designated cancer centers in the United States, shows that when lung adenocarcinomas are caught in earlier, more treatable stages, lung cancer death rates for those at high risk are reduced by 20%. Based on our knowledge that 157,000 people died at the hands of lung cancer in the U.S. in 2010 alone, this means last year, over 31,000 lives could have been saved.

The study evaluated over 53,000 participants at high risk for lung cancer in 25 states, including Georgia. As part of the evaluation of the effectiveness of low-dose Lung CT scans, the study compared the ability for Lung CT screenings and the currently standard chest X-ray technology to identify lung cancer early on.

Emory was a participant in the NCI sponsored study, and we conducted trials across the state of Georgia. As a result of the study’s significant findings, our teams at the Emory Clinic and Emory University Hospital Midtown are now offering current and former smokers with a significant smoking history high risk for lung cancer an opportunity to get a Lung CT scan at very reasonable rates.

Lung cancer remains the number one cancer killer in the U.S., claiming more lives than the next three most common cancer killers — prostate, breast and colorectal cancers – combined. But Lung CT screening may help with the early diagnosis and ultimately, increased survival rates, for lung cancer patients.

For more information on Lung CT scanning, or to find out if you are a candidate for screening, please visit our newly launched website dedicated to educating our community on Lung CT screening and its benefits. You can also call us for more information at 404-778-7777.

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