Cancer: causes and cures

[Appollynon]

Teen cancer patient seeks to stop judge's treatment order

Here's the latest on this very interesting story. Im hoping now that full custody of the young lad has been given back to his parent (pending a further trial) that this madness will now end, and he may continue his homeopathic treatments as he chooses to do.

It would be really great if this "the state" got a kick in the ass for trying to interfere with the rights of young Abraham. Hopefully they will treat the family and him with respect by allowing them to make their own mind up about how to deal with his welfare and how best to treat this disease.

At least this week and for now the young lad and his parents aren't going to have chemo treatment forced upon them without their consent...I only hope this case works out for the family involved and that it may set a precedent for cases in the future when the nanny state tries to interfere.

They are right when they say this is a case about who gets to decide, the pathocratic "deciders" of the state or the boy and his own parents. I'm firmly with Abraham and his parents on this and their right to decide for themselves.

Found here
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=108097&ran=203691&tref=po

A 16-year-old Chincoteague boy with Hodgkin's disease will not have to resume conventional cancer treatment while another court hears his case.

Accomack County Circuit Court Judge Glen Tyler on Tuesday suspended lower court orders that the parents of Abraham Cherrix take their son to Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters in Norfolk this week and give their consent to whatever treatment the hospital deems necessary.

The judge also returned full custody of Abraham to his parents, pending a Circuit Court trial scheduled for Aug. 16.

Abraham and his family celebrated the decision Tuesday afternoon by hugging each other and their lawyers. "I feel like I have been released," Abraham said after the hearing.

Abraham wants to continue using an alternative treatment called the Hoxsey method, which consists of herbal supplements and an organic diet. He has been using the method with his parents' support since visiting a clinic in Tijuana, Mexico, in March.

Representatives from the Department of Social Services have asked the court to require he return to chemotherapy and radiation treatment for his own safety. A juvenile judge issued an order Friday that the parents return him to that treatment.

The case has drawn sharply divided opinions nationwide, with some maintaining that government has no right to interfere in a family's health-care choices, and others believing that Abraham needs to resume chemotherapy to save his life.

At Tuesday's hearing, John Stepanovich, who represents Abraham's parents, said if the boy were forced by the court to resume chemotherapy, his opportunity to appeal the decision would be taken away from him.

"There's no way to undo that treatment," Stepanovich said.

Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell filed a brief in juvenile court on Monday supporting that point, and requesting the juvenile court order be suspended, pending an appeal.

McDonnell's spokesman, J. Tucker Martin, said the attorney general was concerned about protecting people's right to an appeal in Circuit Court.

Carl Bundick, an attorney for the Accomack County Department of Social Services, told the judge the department wants Abraham to have appropriate treatment as soon as possible.

"Timing is of critical importance," Bundick said. "What the department is interested in is that this young man be cured of cancer."

The type of lymphatic cancer Abraham has is highly treatable in early stages. Abraham had court-ordered X-rays at CHKD in June. He also had a June follow-up exam with his doctors at the Biomedical Center in Mexico, where he's receiving the Hoxsey treatment.

Both exams showed that his tumors - one in his neck and one near his windpipe - had grown since February.

Tuesday's ruling suspends not just the orders issued by Judge Jesse E. Demps of Accomack County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, but also gives the family a trial independent of the lower court proceedings.

Tyler ruled that the Circuit Court proceedings would be open to the public, unlike the case's closed hearings in juvenile court.

The family has been fighting in court since May to allow Abraham to use the Hoxsey method. Abraham tried one round of chemotherapy at CHKD in Norfolk last fall, which left him nauseated, weak and feverish.

When tests in February found the cancer still active, doctors there ordered more chemotherapy, plus radiation. His parents believe CHKD officials reported them to Social Services.

"This is not a case about what treatment is best," Step?anovich said after the hearing. "It's a case about who gets to decide."

Officials from CHKD and Social Services have declined to comment to the press, citing federal privacy guidelines.


Staff writer Warren Fiske contributed to this report

 

[Cyre2067]

Teen cancer patient seeks to stop judge's treatment order

I mean, this boggles my mind.

"...Hoxsey method, which consists of herbal supplements and an organic diet."

vs

"...court to require he return to chemotherapy and radiation treatment for his own safety."

Herbs and organic food vs Chemicals and Radiation? How is there any argument here? Who are these insane people who want a court to ORDER a Teenager to imbibe chemicals and radiation over herbs and good food? Gah! This kinda stuff really drives me bonkers. Glad he won his appeal though.

 

[Appollynon]

Teen cancer patient seeks to stop judge's treatment order

Hi Cyre2067, unfortunateley young Abraham is not of of the woods yet, the original Juvenile court order has only been put on hold pending an apeal case . Maybe I've read this and another article on the subject I read wrong, but I think it says that "The State" still has a chance to overrule the recent order as this is all still dependant on the Circuit Court Case Appeal\against the lower court ruling scheduled Aug 16, and the way most of the US courts work, I wouldnt put it past them to overturn the recent ruling and force young Abraham back into State Care and forced Chemo treatments again. In the US, generally what "The State" wants, the state gets, although for Abraham and his family's sake I hope they win this series of court battles and give "The State" a middle finger.

I feel like borrowing Irini's Gandalf quote here.

There was only ever a fools hope

 

[Thomas Alan]

Teen cancer patient seeks to stop judge's treatment order

Do the medical authorities in these cases site any studies demonstrating the effectiveness of the chemotherapy and radiation that they are so adimunt about? In the reading I have done the patient gains a few extra months of life at the cost terrible suffering.

I've never seen a friend or loved one restored to health by chemotherapy. The fact that they are trying to force this kind of treatment is "red flag" that they are covering a lack of facts.

 

[vinny]

Teen cancer patient seeks to stop judge's treatment order

I've never seen a friend or loved one restored to health by chemotherap

I have. But even so, that doesn't mean it is the only or best treatment. As you say, the fact that they are pushing it so hard, is cause for suspicion in itself.

But in my opinion that's missing the more important point, as the article said:

"This is not a case about what treatment is best," Step?anovich said after the hearing. "It's a case about who gets to decide."

Freedom to decide, based on all pertinent information being freely available in order to make an educated decision. That is what is important. In this case, not only is the freedom to make the choice under debate, but ALSO, I very much doubt if all information regarding altrernative therapies is available, and/or presented in a balanced way, as this is information that tends to be heavily suppressed, and almost automatically filtered out by a combination of a pathocratised education of medical professionals, in combination with a corporatisation of the medical/pharmaceutical industry, and so a pathocratic control of funding and/or regulation of the medical profession.

 

[dant]

Teen cancer patient seeks to stop judge's treatment order

Here is a combination of thoughts that come to my mind:

1) The PTB and/or "medical establishment" and/or state and/or federal organizations:

(i) have records proving the high success rate of the treatment method used to reduce or cure
the cancer identified.
(ii) If the cancer is not known or identified, and hopefully with informed consent they will resort to
experimental treatments. Typically this may involve using a "witch brew" of chemicals (chemotherapy)
and/or radiation treatments until they can see some abatement of cancer growth. Other cases may
involve surgery if it that is possible.
(iii) they believe alternative medicine is crude, unscientific, unprovable, has no track record of success
rates for the cancer identified and so on.
(iv) they want the money, power, control, prestiege, ...
(v) they want to solve a mystery regardless of its the outcome to the current victim.
(vi) they are jealous because this treatment is in Mexico or any country other than the USA.
(vii) they are trying to retain control of all of its citizens and to keep the" money in the USA.
(viii) they are psychopaths and want to harm the victim.

2) The parents:

(i) have done their research, knows that the Hoxsey method treatment for this specific
cancer has a high probability rate of success.
(ii) do not have the facts. They have no information as to the success or failure rate of
the "Hoxsey method" and if this method is designed for the cancer being treated.
(iii) believes that regardless of the treatment methods chosen, they are exercising their right
as guardians to their children welfare and any outside interference is not to be tolerated.
(iv) believes via their own belief system and chooses their own means of treatment of
their own choosing (alternative, herbal, faith, religion, wicca, occult, ... )
(v) are psychopaths and want to harm their children.

I am sure more can be added to the list, but my point is... which one of these items listed or
not is the real motivation? Do we really know? Do the people in (1) have a right to interfere
(on parential rights) and is acting in the best interest of the patient or is it the parents? Which
of these two are the best for the patient?

I do recall crazy [ignorant or psychopathic] parents and understand and agree to intervention
in these cases but then again, I also recall cases of crazy doctors that do more harm and good
too but in any case, we have very little information to go on about either at this point. All we can
do is to wait for the outcomes in the court(s) depending on if that information becomes public
or sealed.

 

[PopHistorian]

Teen cancer patient seeks to stop judge's treatment order

I recently heard about a condition the people call "Chemo Brain," in which the apparent side-effects of chemotherapy involve lasting brain damage. Holy crap. Maybe this is partly behind the PTB's support for chemotherapy. Here's a page with a bunch of links about it.

Google search on "chemotherapy"+"chemo brain" gets you 50,000+ hits, like this one:

(http:/)/www.lymphomation.org/side-effect-chemo-brain.htm

<< Here we provide resources and links to articles on "chemo brain" - a reported side effect of chemotherapy. It appears that additional studies will be needed to better measure and understand chemo-induced damage to cognitive and psychological brain function. >>

 

[paulnotbilly]

Teen cancer patient seeks to stop judge's treatment order

AdPop, I spotted this recently but there was an alternate take on the title relating a thing such as 'chemo head':

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5412614.stm

Chemo makes brain 'work' harder

Patients treated with chemotherapy can suffer from memory problems
Chemotherapy produces long-term changes in the part of the brain dealing with memory, US research suggests.

Scans of women treated for breast cancer five to 10 years earlier suggested the brain was having to work harder during memory tests.

Researchers said the findings may explain why some cancer survivors suffer from problems with memory, confusion, and concentration.

The study of 21 women is published in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.

But a Cancer Research UK research fellow said psychologists had looked at British women having the most common breast cancer treatments and found few had experienced memory or attention problems.

Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), used a technique called positron emission tomography to take images of key regions of the brain while participants performed memory-related tasks.

These women's brains were working harder than the control subjects' to recall the same information
Dr Daniel Silverman

They compared the results from 16 women who had received chemotherapy with five women who had been treated with surgery alone.

Images taken during a short-term recall test showed a significant increase in blood flow in a region called the frontal cortex in women who had been treated with chemotherapy, indicating a rapid jump in activity.

The women who had undergone chemotherapy also had lower levels of another measure of brain activity that looked at how the brain uses sugar to make energy, called brain metabolism.

Study leader Dr Daniel Silverman, who is associate professor of molecular and medical pharmacology at UCLA, said: "In effect, these women's brains were working harder than the control subjects' to recall the same information.

"We also found that the lower the patient's resting brain metabolism was, the more difficulty she had performing the memory test."

Women in the UK should not panic as the benefits of current breast cancer treatment are likely to far outweigh any small impairments in attention
Dr Valerie Jenkins

He said experts estimated at least a quarter of patients treated with chemotherapy were affected by symptoms of confusion, had difficulty in focusing and could not multi-task as they used to.

The study also looked at drug-specific effects in patients who had received tamoxifen. There was a significant drop in metabolism in a part of the brain that links thoughts and actions.

"Our study demonstrates for the first time that patients suffering from these cognitive symptoms have specific alterations in brain metabolism," he added.

Dr Valerie Jenkins, senior research fellow at Cancer Research UK's Psychosocial Oncology Group at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, said: "There are many reasons why brain activity found on PET scanning might differ, apart from the effects of cancer treatments.

"The type of problems women say they experience are poor attention and concentration but other things also affect cognition including age, level of intelligence, menopausal status, and mood state, particularly anxiety.

"Cancer Research UK psychologists have looked at women who were having the most common form of breast cancer treatments in the UK and found few women experienced any problems with their memory or attention.

"Women in the UK should not panic as the benefits of current breast cancer treatment are likely to far outweigh any small impairments in attention."

 

[PopHistorian]

Teen cancer patient seeks to stop judge's treatment order

<< Women in the UK should not panic as the benefits of current breast cancer treatment are likely to far outweigh any small impairments in attention >>

Damage control.

 

[Break_The_Barriers]

Processed Meats May Cause Cancer.

Processed meats such as bacon, ham, hot dogs, etc. contain a food additive called Sodium Nitrite (NaNO2), which in combination with proteins, in highly acidic conditions, such as the human stomach, can produce Nitrosamines, which are highly carcinogenic. Nitrosamines may also be found in beer, fish, and fish by products. Sodium Nitrite is responsible for the red color in processed meats, making them more appealing then the dull gray color the meat would have without the additive. Supposedly the USDA tried to ban sodium nitrite but was preempted by the meat processing industry. Heres an article from NewsTarget.com:

Consumer Warning:
Processed Meats Cause Cancer

From: NewsTarget.com
Source: www.newstarget.com/007024.html

Sunday, May 01, 2005

By Mike Adams
Processed meat consumption results in 67% increase in pancreatic cancer risk, says new research

Consuming processed meats increases the risk of pancreatic cancer, says new research conducted at the University of Hawaii that followed nearly 200,000 men and women for seven years. According to lead study author Ute Nothlings, people who consumed the most processed meats (hot dogs and sausage) showed a 67% increased risk of pancreatic cancer over those who consumed little or no meat products.

But researchers failed to accurately identify the culprit responsible for this increased risk of pancreatic cancer, says one author. The true cause of the heightened cancer risk is the widespread use of a carcinogenic precursor ingredient known as sodium nitrite by food processing companies, says nutritionist Mike Adams, author of the just-published Grocery Warning manual.

Nearly all processed meats are made with sodium nitrite: breakfast sausage, hot dogs, jerkies, bacon, lunch meat, and even meats in canned soup products. Yet this ingredient is a precursor to highly carcinogenic nitrosamines -- potent cancer-causing chemicals that accelerate the formation and growth of cancer cells throughout the body. When consumers eat sodium nitrite in popular meat products, nitrosamines are formed in the body where they promote the growth of various cancers, including colorectal cancer and pancreatic cancer, says Adams.

"Sodium nitrite is a dangerous, cancer-causing ingredient that has no place in the human food supply," he explains. The USDA actually tried to ban sodium nitrite in the 1970's, but was preempted by the meat processing industry, which relies on the ingredient as a color fixer to make foods look more visually appealing. "The meat industry uses sodium nitrite to sell more meat products at the expense of public health," says Adams. "And this new research clearly demonstrates the link between the consumption of processed meats and cancer."

Pancreatic cancer isn't the only negative side effect of consuming processed meats such as hot dogs. Leukemia also skyrockets by 700% following the consumption of hot dogs. (Preston-Martin, S. et al. "N-nitroso compounds and childhood brain tumors: A case-control study." Cancer Res. 1982; 42:5240-5.) Other links between processed meats and disease are covered in detail in the Grocery Warning manual.

Adams wrote Grocery Warning to warn consumers about the toxic, disease-causing ingredients found in everyday foods and groceries (see related ebook on groceries). "There are certain ingredients found in common grocery products that directly promote cancer, diabetes, heart disease, depression, Alzheimer's disease, osteoporosis and even behavioral disorders," Adams explains. His Grocery Warning manual covers them all, teaching readers how to prevent and even help reverse chronic diseases by avoiding the foods and food ingredients that cause disease.

According to Adams, consumers can help reduce the cancer-causing effects of sodium nitrite by consuming protective antioxidants before meals, such as vitamin C and vitamin E. But no vitamin offers 100% protection. The only safe strategy is to avoid sodium nitrite completely.

Adams especially warns expectant mothers to avoid consuming sodium nitrite due to the greatly heightened risk of brain tumors in infants. Parents are also warned to avoid feeding their children products that contain sodium nitrite, including all popular hot dogs, bacon, jerkies, breakfast sausages and pizzas made with pepperoni or other processed meats. "Sodium nitrite is especially dangerous to fetuses, infants and children," says Adams.

Sadly, nearly all school lunch programs currently serve schoolchildren meat products containing sodium nitrite. Hospital cafeterias also serve this cancer-causing ingredient to patients. Sodium nitrite is found in literally thousands of different menu items at fast food restaurants and dining establishments. "The use of this ingredient is widespread," says Adams, and it's part of the reason we're seeing skyrocketing rates of cancer in every society that consumes large quantities of processed meats."

Some companies are now offering nitrite-free and nitrate-free meat products, which are far healthier alternatives, but those products are difficult to find and are typically available only at health food stores or natural grocers. Consumers can look for "Nitrite-free" or "Nitrate-free" labels when shopping for meat products. They can also purchase fresh meats, which are almost never prepared with sodium nitrite.

The new research on processed meats points to a chemical toxin as the cause of the increased cancer risk. A heightened cancer risk of 67% is "gigantic," warns Adams. "This is clearly not due to macronutrient differences. This is the kind of risk increase you only see with ingredient toxicity. Something in these processed meats is poisoning people, and the evidence points straight to sodium nitrite."

To learn more about Grocery Warning, visit www.TruthPublishing.com/GroceryWarning.html

Heres what Wikipedia has to say about Sodium Nitrite:

As a food additive, it serves a dual purpose in the food industry since it both alters the color of preserved fish and meats and also prevents growth of Clostridium botulinum, the bacteria which causes botulism. In the European Union it may be used only as a mixture with salt containing at most 0.6 % sodium nitrite. It has the E number E250. Potassium nitrite (E249) is used in the same way.

While this chemical will prevent the growth of bacteria, it is also toxic for mammals. (LD50 in rats is 180 mg/kg.)

Various dangers of using this chemical as a food additive have been suggested and researched by scientists, although no conclusive evidence has been put forth. A principal concern is the formation of carcinogenic N-nitrosamines by reaction with sodium nitrite; other ingredients are often added to prevent nitrosamine-generating reactions.

Sodium nitrate (NaNO3), another food additive in meat, as well as an ingredient in explosives, may also produce nitrosamines.

From Wikipedia:

Sodium nitrate (not to be confused with sodium nitrite) is a type of salt (NaNO3) which has long been used as an ingredient in explosives and in solid rocket propellants, as well as in glass and pottery enamel, and as a food preservative (such as in hot dogs), and has been mined extensively for those purposes. It is also variously known as caliche, Chile saltpeter, saltpeter, and soda niter.

The compound has antimicrobial properties when used as a food preservative. It is found naturally in leafy green vegetables. It has possible health benefits for increasing oxygen to blood,[citation needed] as well as known health side effects in particular at high doses. Side effects may include increased risk of cancer (if intake occurs together with proteins, which builds cancerogenic nitrosamines), where according to MEDEM the US-NAS found no such evidence in experiments with laboratory animals. In case of overdosage the local poison control center is the contact of choice.

It can be used in the production of nitric acid by combining with sulfuric acid and subsequent separation through fractional distillation of the nitric acid, leaving behind a residue of sodium bisulfate.

Less common applications include an oxidizer used in gunpowder, in blackpowder rockets, and as replacement for potassium nitrate.

It can be used as a PCM.

 

[Mr. Premise]

Processed Meats May Cause Cancer.

This has been known for a long time. The Food and Drug Administration recommends nitrates in processed meat (it's a preservative) because the chance of death from a bacteriological infection from tainted preserved meat is greater than the added chance of death from cancer.

But then if you don't eat processed meat you don't have to worry as much about either ;)

 

[Keit]

Housework cuts breast cancer risk

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6214655.stm
Women who exercise by doing the housework can reduce their risk of breast cancer, a study suggests.
The research on more than 200,000 women from nine European countries found doing household chores was far more cancer protective than playing sport.

Dusting, mopping and vacuuming was also better than having a physical job.

The women in the Cancer Research UK-funded study spent an average of 16 to 17 hours a week cooking, cleaning and doing the washing.

Experts have long known that physical exercise can reduce the risk of breast cancer, probably through hormonal and metabolic changes.

But it has been less clear how much and what types of exercise are necessary for this risk reduction.

And much of past work has examined the link between exercise and breast cancer in post-menopausal women only.

The latest study looked at both pre- and post-menopausal women and a range of activities, including work, leisure and housework.

All forms of physical activity combined reduced the breast cancer risk in post-menopausal women, but had no obvious effect in pre-menopausal women.

Chores protected

Out of all of the activities, only housework significantly reduced the risk of both pre- and post-menopausal women getting the disease.

Housework cut breast cancer risk by 30% among the pre-menopausal women and 20% among the post-menopausal women.

The women were studied over an average of 6.4 years, during which time there were 3,423 cases of breast cancer.

The international authors said their results suggested that moderate forms of physical activity, such as housework, may be more important than less frequent but more intense recreational physical activity in reducing breast cancer risk.

Dr Lesley Walker of Cancer Research UK said: "We already know that women who keep a healthy weight are less likely to develop breast cancer.

"This study suggests that being physically active may also help reduce the risk and that something as simple and cheap as doing the housework can help."

He recommend that men and women take regular exercise and maintain a healthy body weight to help prevent cancer.

The research is published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention.

 

[Gimpy]

Nanotechnology possible for cancer treatment?

http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=17956&ch=nanotech


Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Remotely Activated Nanoparticles Destroy Cancer
Targeted nanotech-based treatments will enter clinical trials in 2007.
By Kevin Bullis

The first in a new generation of nanotechnology-based cancer treatments will likely begin clinical trials in 2007, and if the promise of animal trials carries through to human trials, these treatments will transform cancer therapy. By replacing surgery and conventional chemotherapy with noninvasive treatments targeted at cancerous tumors, this nanotech approach could reduce or eliminate side effects by avoiding damage to healthy tissue. It could also make it possible to destroy tumors that are inoperable or won't respond to current treatment.

One of these new approaches places gold-coated nanoparticles, called nanoshells, inside tumors and then heats them with infrared light until the cancer cells die. Because the nanoparticles also scatter light, they could be used to image tumors as well. Mauro Ferrari, a leader in the field of nanomedicine and professor of bioengineering at the University of Texas Health Science Center, says this is "very exciting" technology.

"With chemotherapy," Ferrari says, "we carpet bomb the patient, hoping to hit the lesions, the little foci of disease. To be able to shine the light only where you want this thing to heat up is a great advantage."

Although several groups are now working on similar localized treatments, Naomi Halas and Jennifer West have led the way in this area, and their work is the farthest along. (See "Nano Weapons Join the Fight Against Cancer.") Nearly ten years ago, Halas, professor of chemistry and electrical and computer engineering at Rice University, developed a precise and reliable method for making nanoshells, which can be hollow spheres of gold or, in the case of the cancer treatment, gold-coated glass spheres. These spheres are small enough (about 100 nanometers in diameter) to slip through gaps in blood vessels that feed tumors. So as they circulate in the bloodstream, they gradually accumulate at tumor sites.

Halas tuned the nanoparticles to absorb specific wavelengths of light by changing the thickness of the glass and gold. For the cancer treatment, she selected infrared wavelengths that pass easily through biological tissues without causing damage. To destroy a nanoshell-infiltrated tumor, the tumor is illuminated with a laser, either through the skin or via an optical fiber for areas such as the lungs.

"We shine light through the skin, and in just a few minutes, the tumor is heated up," Halas says. "In the studies that were initially reported--and this has been repeated now more than 20 times in at least three different animal models--we have seen essentially 100 percent tumor remission." The tests also suggest the nanoshells are nontoxic. Halas says they are eliminated from the body through the liver over several weeks. The technology was developed at Rice in collaboration with Jennifer West, a professor of bioengineering. It has been licensed by Nanospectra Biosciences, a startup based in Houston, TX, that is beginning the process of getting FDA approval for clinical trials for treating head and neck cancer. In the future, the technology could be used for a wide variety of cancers.


"There is a potential for this to bring a profound change in cancer treatment," Halas says. "For the case of someone discovering a lump in their breast, this would mean that a very simple procedure could be performed that would induce remission." She says that "for many, many cases of cancer, rather than the lengthy chemotherapy or radiation therapy," an individual would have "one simple treatment and very little side effects."

Halas anticipates that approval for the method will come quickly, in part because the nanotechnology is not a drug but a device, for which the approval process is simpler. Also, she expects it will perform the same in humans as in animal models, "because heat and light work in exactly the same way whether you're in a pig, a dog, [or] a human being."

Since their initial experiments, the researchers have been further developing the technology. They've demonstrated the ability to coat the nanoshells with antibodies that latch on to breast-cancer cells, further improving the selectivity of the treatment. They've also attached molecules that make the nanoshells into pH sensors that would be useful for both imaging tumors and as an "optical biopsy" for identifying cancers, Halas says.

The clinical trials this year will not take advantage of these advances. But eventually the antibody targeting could make preventative cancer treatments possible. "If you have the genetic profile for prostate cancer occurring in your family, one could imagine treating extremely early stages, when you have something a millimeter or smaller which you could barely visualize," Halas says. "With antibody targeting and then illumination of that region, you could destroy those cells at a very early stage. You could have a treatment every five to ten years, and then you would be free of the disease." The nanotechnology could also be used to eradicate cancers that have spread too much to be removed by surgery.

While people will not be able to take advantage of these advances in the near future, Halas says that treatments based on the original design could be available in a couple of years. Ferrari cautions that most treatments do not make it through clinical trials, but, he says, "I'm hopeful that their clinical trials will yield great results."

Copyright Technology Review 2007.

 

[Gimpy]

Chili peppers for Cancer? Bring on Dave's Insanity Sauce!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6244715.stm


How spicy foods can kill cancers
Scientists have discovered the key to the ability of spicy foods to kill cancer cells.

They found capsaicin, an ingredient of jalapeno peppers, triggers cancer cell death by attacking mitochondria - the cells' energy-generating boiler rooms.

The research raises the possibility that other cancer drugs could be developed to target mitochondria.

The Nottingham University study features in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications.

The study showed that the family of molecules to which capsaicin belongs, the vanilloids, bind to proteins in the cancer cell mitochondria to trigger apoptosis, or cell death, without harming surrounding healthy cells.

We believe that we have in effect discovered a fundamental 'Achilles heel' for all cancers
Dr Timothy Bates

Capsaicin was tested on cultures of human lung cancer cells and on pancreatic cancers.

Lead researcher Dr Timothy Bates said: "As these compounds attack the very heart of the tumour cells, we believe that we have in effect discovered a fundamental 'Achilles heel' for all cancers.

"The biochemistry of the mitochondria in cancer cells is very different from that in normal cells.

"This is an innate selective vulnerability of cancer cells."

He said a dose of capsaicin that could cause a cancer cell to enter apoptosis, would not have the same effect on a normal cell.

Cancer Research UK recommends reducing your risk of cancer by eating a healthy, balanced diet, with plenty of vegetables and fruit
Josephine Querido

Potential Drugs

The fact that capsaicin and other vanilloids are already commonly found in the diet proves they are safe to eat.

This could make development of a drug containing them a much quicker and cheaper process.

Dr Bates said: "Capsaicin, for example, is already found in treatments for muscle strain and psoriasis - which raises the question of whether an adapted topical treatment could be used to treat certain types of skin cancer.

"It's also possible that cancer patients or those at risk of developing cancer could be advised to eat a diet which is richer in spicy foods to help treat or prevent the disease."

However, Josephine Querido, cancer information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: "This research does not suggest that eating vast quantities of chilli pepper will help prevent or treat cancer.

"The experiments showed that pepper extracts killed cancer cells grown in the laboratory, but these have not yet been tested to see if they are safe and effective in humans."

Cancer Research UK recommends reducing the risk of cancer by eating a healthy, balanced diet, with plenty of vegetables and fruit.

Dr Bates added that the mitochondria in cancer cells could also be targeted by other compounds.

He said the investigation and development of anti-mitochondrial drugs for cancer chemotherapy was likely to be "extremely significant" in the fight against cancer.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/6244715.stm

Published: 2007/01/09 16:18:14 GMT

© BBC MMVII


Link to the 'hottest sauce in the Universe':

http:(2slsh)www(dot)davesgourmet.com/


Note: I've never tried Dave's Insanity Sauce. I've wanted to buy some for a while though.

 

[CarpeDiem]

Chili peppers for Cancer? Bring on Dave's Insanity Sauce!

and this is on cayenne. Long live Mexicans!

From the September 1999 Idaho Observer:
Cayenne Pepper (Capsicum Anum)

Disclaimer: If you believe that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is the authority on how you should or should not take care of yourself then there is no reason to continue reading this article.
Cayenne is possibly the single most wonderful, beneficial plant to grow and have on hand (the granulated form) in case of emergencies. I have witnessed countless experiences of its virtues when I have shared how to use it with my friends. One lady who went to Mexico every winter had complained to me that despite being very careful about only drinking bottled water and restricting her diet, she still experienced “Montezuma's Revenge