Skin Cancer Screening Tool Can Help Reduce ‘Worry Time’

Skin Cancer Screening Tool Can Help Reduce ‘Worry Time’

These days, a cancer diagnosis—while upsetting and worrisome—is often no longer a death sentence. According to a recent joint study from Loyola University in Chicago and Harvard Medical School, regular physical activity in cancer patients could cut the risk of death nearly in half. However, the best way to fight cancer will always be early detection followed by aggressive medical treatment.

When it comes to skin, rather than wait for one’s annual check-up, it’s important to self-examine and notice if there are changes. Self-screening for potential skin cancer is easy– just pay attention to skin, particularly moles, birthmarks or freckles. If any of these change size, color or shape, or pop up out of the blue, one should take note and tell a dermatologist. It could be nothing, but better safe than sorry.

Melanomas in particular can metastasize if left unchecked. Caliber Imaging & Diagnostics (I.D.) is one company that knows the importance of screening for skin cancer, and is doing something to help. Based in Boston and Rochester, Caliber I.D. designs, develops and markets innovative imaging technology for examining skin tissue at the cellular level.

Caliber has created confocal microscopy devices called VivaScope®. This breakthrough technological advance can take pictures of an entire lesion layer by layer, and can help physicians to diagnose most skin diseases and disorders. Since there is no cutting involved, there is also no possibility of infection or scarring. Obtaining an image takes just a few minutes so the doctor can make a determination at the bedside, or the image can be transferred within minutes through the company’s VivaNet® system, so that a pathologist can diagnose it remotely. This significantly reduces the “worry time” associated with biopsies.

L. Michael Hone, CEO of Caliber I.D., says, “VivaScope is designed to help physicians improve the quality of care for patients who want medical advice about their skin without the disadvantages presented by traditional biopsy.”

Battling Cancer with Stem Cells: Is This Company’s Technology Changing the Game?

Battling Cancer with Stem Cells: Is This Company’s Technology Changing the Game?

Survival rates for stem cell transplants undergone by blood cancer patients have increased significantly over the past decade. This is true whether the stem cells come from related or unrelated donors. According to a joint study published in The Journal of Clinical Oncology last year, several factors are responsible; these include earlier referrals for transplantation, advances in tissue typing and better postoperative care.

The study was led by Theresa Hahn, Ph.D., of Roswell Park Cancer Center Institute, and jointly conducted with the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research and the Be the Match national registry. Working from data related to 70 to 90 percent of all blood stem cell transplants performed in the United States, the study analyzed outcomes over a 12-year period for some 38,000 transplant patients. “The study shows that we are making significant progress in transplantation on a national level,” said Dr. Hahn. “Our results demonstrate that these efforts have yielded an improvement in early survival rates and we will continue to work together to further improve long-term survival.”

 “We must and will continue to make strides in finding new treatments for blood cancers while also enhancing the effectiveness of the ones that already exist.”

Science Fiction Becomes Fact as Electricity Is Used Against Skin Cancer

Science Fiction Becomes Fact as Electricity Is Used Against Skin Cancer

Laboratory work has come a long way since 1818, when Mary Shelley published Frankenstein. Some consider her novel the first true science fiction tale because Dr. Victor Frankenstein harnessed modern experiments to achieve fantastic results. The fictional Dr. Frankenstein used electricity to create life. But a very real San Diego company named Oncosec Medical Inc. is now using electricity to try to save lives—specifically the lives of patients with advanced-stage skin cancers such as melanoma, Merkel cell carcinoma and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. In Frankenstein, the “patient” was hoisted through the ceiling so that bolts of lightning could reanimate his body parts. In contrast, OncoSec’s ImmunoPulse system involves electroporation—the administration of short, intense electric pulses to briefly open pores in the membrane of cancer cells. This allows certain drugs, such as the immunotherapy compound DNA IL-12, to enter into a tumor more easily. In one early-stage study with melanoma patients, OncoSec’s ImmunoPulse system demonstrated a significant effect after DNA IL-12 was introduced into tumor cells via electroporation. Studies have also shown an excellent safety profile. “Far too many of those diagnosed with skin cancer currently face limited treatment options,” says Punit Dhillon, OncoSec’s president and CEO. “ImmunoPulse is designed to target tumor cells with a local treatment but broad focus, using brief electrical pulses to deliver an anti-cancer agent. Our technology aims to harness the immune system to seek and destroy cancer cells.”

The Root Cause: Why People with Red Hair Are Prone to Skin Cancer

The Root Cause: Why People with Red Hair Are Prone to Skin Cancer

Red hair might look sexy on Sharon Osbourne, Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts, but if someone is a natural-born redhead, chances are they’ve been on the receiving end of too many jokes. The list includes Prince Harry, Bette Midler, Chuck Connors, Conan O’Brien, Sarah Duchess of York and countless others. Undoubtedly many of them have been teased as a “carrot top” and had to deny that they have a fiery temper.

Teasing is one thing, but now this: the chances of a redhead developing skin cancer are up to 100 times greater than the average person—even if they have avoided the sun. So concludes a study conducted last year by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine. The researchers found that the mutation responsible for red hair also promotes a significant cancer-causing pathway that can lead to melanoma.

According to study leader Dr. Wendi Wei of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center: “Our findings provide a possible molecular mechanism as to why red-haired individuals harboring MC1R mutations are much more susceptible to UV-induced skin damage than individuals with darker skin, resulting in a 10 to 100-fold higher frequency of melanoma.”

Early Detection of Skin Cancers between Ages 18-40 Crucial

Early Detection of Skin Cancers between Ages 18-40 Crucial

Despite a report from the American Cancer Society that the death rate from cancers in general has fallen 20 percent from its peak in 1991, skin cancers remain alarmingly on the upswing—especially among adults under 40. According to a recent study by the Mayo Clinic, young women are the most susceptible, particularly when it comes to melanoma. In fact, melanoma increased eightfold among young women between 1970 and 2009 and fourfold among men between the ages of 18 to 39.

What’s behind this epithelial epidemic in members of the fair sex? Is it simply that they have fairer skin? Not at all—the reasons are more behavioral than genetic. Several research reports have indicated that people who frequently use indoor tanning beds are considerably more likely to develop melanoma, and young women are more likely to use them than young men.

The good news, however, is that the majority of melanomas—even though they are the most pervasive form of skin cancer—have excellent survival rates when caught in time. Perhaps even better is that they can also now be detected noninvasively, without any permanent scarring as with some biopsies, and without having to wait days or weeks to get the results back.

What Are Asbestos-Related Lung Diseases?

What Are Asbestos-Related Lung Diseases?

Asbestos-related lung diseases are diseases caused by exposure to asbestos (as-BES-tos) fibers. Asbestos is a mineral that, in the past, was widely used in many industries.

Asbestos is made up of tiny fibers that can escape into the air. When breathed in, these fibers can stay in your lungs for a long time. If the fibers build up in your lungs, they can lead to:

Pleural plaque. In this condition, the tissue around the lungs and diaphragm (the muscle below your lungs) thickens and hardens. This tissue is called the pleura. Pleural plaque usually causes no symptoms. Rarely, as the pleura thickens, it can trap and compress part of the lung. This may show up as a mass on an x-ray image.

Pleural effusion. In this condition, excess fluid builds up in the pleural space. The pleural space is the area between the lungs and the chest wall.

Asbestosis (as-bes-TOE-sis). In this condition, the lung tissue becomes scarred. People who have asbestosis are at greater risk for lung cancer, especially if they smoke.

Lung cancer. This type of cancer forms in the lung tissue, usually in the cells lining the air passages.

Mesothelioma (MEZ-o-thee-lee-O-ma). This disease is cancer of the pleura.

Asbestos also can cause cancer in the lining of the abdominal cavity. This lining is known as the peritoneum (PER-ih-to-NE-um).

Asbestos-Related Lung Diseases

Overview

Until the 1970s, asbestos was widely used in many industries in the United States. For example, it was used to insulate pipes, boilers, and ships; make brakes; strengthen cement; and fireproof many items, such as drywall.

People who worked around asbestos during that time are at risk for asbestos-related lung diseases. People at highest risk include:

Unprotected workers who made, installed, or removed products containing asbestos. People who worked near others who did these jobs also are at risk.

Family members of workers who were exposed to asbestos. Family members may have breathed in asbestos fibers that workers brought home on their clothes, shoes, or bodies.

People who live in areas with large deposits of asbestos in the soil. This risk is limited to areas where the deposits were disturbed and asbestos fibers got into the air.

Asbestos fibers also can be released into the air when older buildings containing asbestos-made products are destroyed. Removing these products during building renovations also can release asbestos fibers into the air.

Generally, being around asbestos-made products isn’t a danger as long as the asbestos is enclosed. This prevents the fibers from getting into the air.

People in the United States are less likely to have asbestos-related lung diseases now because the mineral is no longer widely used.

The use of asbestos is heavily restricted, and rules and standards are now in place to protect workers and others from asbestos exposure. Asbestos is found in only a few new products, such as gaskets used in brakes.

However, many countries do not yet restrict asbestos use. People in those countries are still exposed to the mineral.

Outlook

The outlook for people who have asbestos-related lung diseases can vary. It will depend on which disease a person has and how much it has damaged the lungs.

No treatments can reverse the effects of asbestos on your lungs. However, treatments may help relieve symptoms, slow the progress of the disease, and prevent complications.

If you've been exposed to asbestos, let your doctor know. He or she can watch you for signs of asbestos-related problems and start treatment early, if needed. Early treatment may help prevent or delay complications.

Quitting smoking and making other lifestyle changes may help people who are at high risk for asbestos-related lung diseases. These lifestyle changes may prevent more serious diseases, such as cancer.