A medication commonly prescribed to treat enlarged prostates may have an even more important use: slowing the growth of early stage prostate cancer.
In a study published Monday in the journal The Lancet, Canadian researchers have found that dutasteride (often sold as Avodart) may eliminate the need for aggressive treatment in men with low-risk prostate cancer.
That's good news for those men whose cancer is growing so slowly, it's not expected to shorten their lives. These men are often told to take a "watch and wait" approach. But many have said they don't feel comfortable doing nothing about their cancer.
Now, Canadian researchers say dutasteride can help make watchful waiting more bearable.
The study followed 300 men, aged 48 to 82 years old, with low risk prostate cancer that was being actively watched by their doctors. Half the men were given a daily placebo, while the other half took 0.5 mg of dutasteride a day for three years.
The men then underwent biopsies at 18 months and three years later to measure their disease progression. The researchers found:
•48 per cent given the placebo experienced disease progression
•38 per cent of the men receiving dutasteride experienced disease progression
Additionally, men treated with dutasteride were more likely to have no cancer detected in their final biopsy. In 50 of the men on the dutasteride group, doctors could find no cancer, compared to 31 men in the placebo group.
It's not clear whether the drug helped to save any lives, since there were no prostate cancer-related deaths during the study, nor were there any instances of disease spread.
But the men taking the medication did report less anxiety in questionnaires throughout the study, compared with those given placebo.
The study's lead investigator, Dr. Neil Fleshner of Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, says the drug could allow more men to avoid surgery, which carries the risk of side effects such as impotence and incontinence.
"This drug may not save a life, but it will prevent men whose cancer will pose no long-term risk, stave off surgery or radiation or treatment with side effects," he told CTV News.
There were more drug-related side effects in the men in the dutasteride group compared to those given placebo. Those side effects included adverse sexual events or breast enlargement or tenderness.
And the authors note that they have no reason to believe the drug can help slow the progression of high-grade prostate cancer.
The study was sponsored by Avodart's maker, GlaxoSmithKline. Fleschner reports the company will not be seeking a formal approval for use of the drug in low-grade prostate cancer management.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Goodman Cancer Research Centre. at .mcgill university
highlight some of the critical work being done at the Goodman Cancer Research Centre, we gathered some of our top scientists, students, lab techs and dedicated volunteers, who turned on the music - and danced!
Thanks to our proud sponsor, Medicom, a donation will be made for each hit to support advances in cancer research at the Goodman Cancer Research Centre.
Visit:
http://cancercentre.mcgill.ca/
To make a direct gift, click under the photo.
Thank you for your tremendous interest and support!
Friday, January 20, 2012
Support Princess Margaret Hospital Canada .
Princess Margaret Hospital is located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada on University Avenue at College Street. It is part of the University Health Network. Located in the city's Discovery District, Princess Margaret is a cancer research hospital fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, and is under royal patronage of Anne, Princess Royal, as a member of the Canadian Royal Family. The hospital was named after the late Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth II.
The hospital specializes in the treatment of cancer, and offers the majority of its services to residents of the Greater Toronto Area. It frequently hosts patients from other parts of Canada for access to a high calibre of treatment.[citation needed]. In particular, the hospital offers expertise in the fields of surgical oncology, medical oncology including bone marrow transplantation, radiation oncology, psychosocial oncology, medical imaging, and radiation therapy.
The hospital houses one of the largest radiation therapy departments in the world. It has 17 radiation treatment machines, all of which are equipped with the latest technologies, a superficial ortho-voltage X-Ray machine, and operates a Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery machine in collaboration with Toronto Western Hospital.
[edit] EducationAs a teaching hospital of the University of Toronto, the hospital provides world class training to various medical professions. Most notable are clinical programs for medical doctors and radiation therapists.
[edit] ResearchIts related research arm, the Ontario Cancer Institute (OCI), has made world-renowned contributions[citation needed], and works in conjunction with the hospital in a mutually beneficial relationship. Many researchers at the OCI hold appointments at the University of Toronto, often within the Department of Medical Biophysics.
[edit] HistoryThe hospital was founded as the Ontario Cancer Institute in 1952 by an Act of the Ontario legislature. Designed by the architect Henry Sproatt, it was originally located at 500 Sherbourne Street, beside the now demolished Wellesley Hospital, on Sherbourne Street north of Wellesley Avenue. The hospital at 500 Sherbourne was completed in 1958 and named the Princess Margaret Hospital after Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom. In 1995, the hospital relocated to 610 University Avenue (the short building once was head office for Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario).
During health restructuring legislated by the Harris Government in the late 1990s, Princess Margaret Hospital merged with The Toronto Hospital which was the entity formed by the merger of the Toronto General Hospital and the Toronto Western Hospital. The new entity was named University Health Network and the three hospital sites retain their original names within the new entity. Like many hospitals, Princess Margaret Hospital is served by a charitable foundation, the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation, which holds numerous events and a lottery to raise philanthropic funds to support research, education, and patient care.
Additional imagesPrincess Margaret Hospital seen from the southwest at sunset.
Princess Margaret Hospital seen from the northeast. Mount Sinai Hospital is to the south.
See alsoList of Canadian organizations with royal patronage
The Ride to Conquer Cancer
References[edit] External linksOntario Cancer Institute
Canadian Cancer Society
Princess Margaret Hospital
Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto
The hospital specializes in the treatment of cancer, and offers the majority of its services to residents of the Greater Toronto Area. It frequently hosts patients from other parts of Canada for access to a high calibre of treatment.[citation needed]. In particular, the hospital offers expertise in the fields of surgical oncology, medical oncology including bone marrow transplantation, radiation oncology, psychosocial oncology, medical imaging, and radiation therapy.
The hospital houses one of the largest radiation therapy departments in the world. It has 17 radiation treatment machines, all of which are equipped with the latest technologies, a superficial ortho-voltage X-Ray machine, and operates a Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery machine in collaboration with Toronto Western Hospital.
[edit] EducationAs a teaching hospital of the University of Toronto, the hospital provides world class training to various medical professions. Most notable are clinical programs for medical doctors and radiation therapists.
[edit] ResearchIts related research arm, the Ontario Cancer Institute (OCI), has made world-renowned contributions[citation needed], and works in conjunction with the hospital in a mutually beneficial relationship. Many researchers at the OCI hold appointments at the University of Toronto, often within the Department of Medical Biophysics.
[edit] HistoryThe hospital was founded as the Ontario Cancer Institute in 1952 by an Act of the Ontario legislature. Designed by the architect Henry Sproatt, it was originally located at 500 Sherbourne Street, beside the now demolished Wellesley Hospital, on Sherbourne Street north of Wellesley Avenue. The hospital at 500 Sherbourne was completed in 1958 and named the Princess Margaret Hospital after Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom. In 1995, the hospital relocated to 610 University Avenue (the short building once was head office for Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario).
During health restructuring legislated by the Harris Government in the late 1990s, Princess Margaret Hospital merged with The Toronto Hospital which was the entity formed by the merger of the Toronto General Hospital and the Toronto Western Hospital. The new entity was named University Health Network and the three hospital sites retain their original names within the new entity. Like many hospitals, Princess Margaret Hospital is served by a charitable foundation, the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation, which holds numerous events and a lottery to raise philanthropic funds to support research, education, and patient care.
Additional imagesPrincess Margaret Hospital seen from the southwest at sunset.
Princess Margaret Hospital seen from the northeast. Mount Sinai Hospital is to the south.
See alsoList of Canadian organizations with royal patronage
The Ride to Conquer Cancer
References[edit] External linksOntario Cancer Institute
Canadian Cancer Society
Princess Margaret Hospital
Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
University of Alberta DCA Research
DCA is an odourless, colourless, inexpensive, relatively non-toxic, small molecule. And researchers at the University of Alberta believe it may soon be used as an effective treatment for many forms of cancer.
Dr. Evangelos Michelakis, a professor at the U of A Department of Medicine, has shown that dichloroacetate (DCA) causes regression in several cancers, including lung, breast, and brain tumors.
Michelakis and his colleagues, including post-doctoral fellow Dr. Sebastien Bonnet, have published the results of their research in the journal Cancer Cell.
Scientists and doctors have used DCA for decades to treat children with inborn errors of metabolism due to mitochondrial diseases. Mitochondria, the energy producing units in cells, have been connected with cancer since the 1930s, when researchers first noticed that these organelles dysfunction when cancer is present.
Until recently, researchers believed that cancer-affected mitochondria are permanently damaged and that this damage is the result, not the cause, of the cancer. But Michelakis, a cardiologist, questioned this belief and began testing DCA, which activates a critical mitochondrial enzyme, as a way to "revive" cancer-affected mitochondria.
The results astounded him.
Michelakis and his colleagues found that DCA normalized the mitochondrial function in many cancers, showing that their function was actively suppressed by the cancer but was not permanently damaged by it.
More importantly, they found that the normalization of mitochondrial function resulted in a significant decrease in tumor growth both in test tubes and in animal models. Also, they noted that DCA, unlike most currently used chemotherapies, did not have any effects on normal, non-cancerous tissues.
"I think DCA can be selective for cancer because it attacks a fundamental process in cancer development that is unique to cancer cells," Michelakis said. "One of the really exciting things about this compound is that it might be able to treat many different forms of cancer".
Another encouraging thing about DCA is that, being so small, it is easily absorbed in the body, and, after oral intake, it can reach areas in the body that other drugs cannot, making it possible to treat brain cancers, for example.
Also, because DCA has been used in both healthy people and sick patients with mitochondrial diseases, researchers already know that it is a relatively non-toxic molecule that can be immediately tested patients with cancer.
"The results are intriguing because they point to the critical role that mitochondria play: they impart a unique trait to cancer cells that can be exploited for cancer therapy"
Dario Alteri
Director University of Massachusetts Cancer Center
Investing in Research
The DCA compound is not patented and not owned by any pharmaceutical company, and, therefore, would likely be an inexpensive drug to administer, says Michelakis, the Canada Research Chair in Pulmonary Hypertension and Director of the Pulmonary Hypertension Program with Capital Health, one of Canada's largest health authorities.
However, as DCA is not patented, Michelakis is concerned that it may be difficult to find funding from private investors to test DCA in clinical trials. He is grateful for the support he has already received from publicly funded agencies, such as the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), and he is hopeful such support will continue and allow him to conduct clinical trials of DCA on cancer patients.
Michelakis' research is currently funded by the CIHR, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Canada Research Chairs program, and the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research.
"This preliminary research is encouraging and offers hope to thousands of Canadians and all others around the world who are afflicted by cancer, as it accelerates our understanding of and action around targeted cancer treatments," said Dr. Philip Branton, Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Cancer.
DCA and Cancer Patients
The University of Alberta's DCA Research Team is set to launch clinical trials on humans in the spring of 2007 pending government approval. Knowing that thousands of cancer patients die weekly while waiting for a cure, Dr. Michelakis and his team are working at accelerated speed, condensing research that usually takes years into months. Fundraisers at the University of Alberta are determined to raise the money to allow this next phase of research to begin. Once Health Canada grants formal approval, the University of Alberta's Research Team will begin testing DCA on patients living with cancer. Results with regards to the safety and efficacy of treatment should be known late this year.
"If there were a magic bullet, though, it might be something like dichloroacetate, or DCA..."
Newsweek, January 23, 2007
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
National Non-Smoking Week (NNSW) Canadian Council for Tobacco Control
National Non-Smoking Week (NNSW) has been observed for more than 30 years. It is one of the longest running and most important events in Canada’s ongoing public health education efforts. Established in 1977 by the Canadian Council for Tobacco Control (CCTC), its goals are:
to educate Canadians about the dangers of smoking;
to prevent people who do not smoke from beginning to smoke and becoming addicted to tobacco;
to help people quit smoking;
to promote the right of individuals to breathe air unpolluted by tobacco smoke;
to denormalize the tobacco industry, tobacco industry marketing practices, tobacco products, and tobacco use; and
to assist in the attainment of a smoke-free society in Canada.
Want to help support NNSW? Consider a charitable donation to the CCTC.
to educate Canadians about the dangers of smoking;
to prevent people who do not smoke from beginning to smoke and becoming addicted to tobacco;
to help people quit smoking;
to promote the right of individuals to breathe air unpolluted by tobacco smoke;
to denormalize the tobacco industry, tobacco industry marketing practices, tobacco products, and tobacco use; and
to assist in the attainment of a smoke-free society in Canada.
Want to help support NNSW? Consider a charitable donation to the CCTC.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Your leader wants you to butt out.
Your leader wants you to butt out.
National Non-Smoking Week began Sunday, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a statement encouraging smokers to make a resolution "to quit the habit both for themselves and for their loved ones.
"Every year smoking adversely impacts the health of millions of Canadians - including those affected by second-hand smoke - heightening their risk of cancer, heart disease, emphysema and a number of other conditions. It also costs our healthcare system - and therefore taxpayers - a substantial amount of money" Harper said in the statement released Sunday.
The Ontario Pharmacists' Association (OPA) also took the opportunity to remind Ontarians that eligible patients who want to stop smoking can receive free counselling at many of the province's pharmacies.
According to Health Canada, our government invests $15.8 million annually to help people stop smoking, prevent youth from starting to smoke, and protect Canadians from exposure to second-hand smoke. It says Canada has one of the lowest smoking rates in the world, but that tobacco use is still the most significant cause of preventable disease, disability, and premature death in Canada, and is responsible for more than 37,000 deaths every year.
National Non-Smoking Week began Sunday, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a statement encouraging smokers to make a resolution "to quit the habit both for themselves and for their loved ones.
"Every year smoking adversely impacts the health of millions of Canadians - including those affected by second-hand smoke - heightening their risk of cancer, heart disease, emphysema and a number of other conditions. It also costs our healthcare system - and therefore taxpayers - a substantial amount of money" Harper said in the statement released Sunday.
The Ontario Pharmacists' Association (OPA) also took the opportunity to remind Ontarians that eligible patients who want to stop smoking can receive free counselling at many of the province's pharmacies.
According to Health Canada, our government invests $15.8 million annually to help people stop smoking, prevent youth from starting to smoke, and protect Canadians from exposure to second-hand smoke. It says Canada has one of the lowest smoking rates in the world, but that tobacco use is still the most significant cause of preventable disease, disability, and premature death in Canada, and is responsible for more than 37,000 deaths every year.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Canada's justice minister says all same-sex marriages performed in Canada are legally recognized and the government is working to ensure foreign couples married here can divorce if they chose to.
Canada's justice minister says all same-sex marriages performed in Canada are legally recognized and the government is working to ensure foreign couples married here can divorce if they chose to.
"Marriages performed in Canada that aren't recognized in couple's home jurisdiction will be recognized in Canada," Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said Friday in Toronto.
"I want to be very clear that our government has no intention of reopening the debate on the definition of marriage," he added.
The statement comes one day after it was learned Justice Department lawyers were arguing a foreign lesbian couple that married in Canada could not apply for divorce here because their marriage wasn't valid.
Nicholson said the Divorce Act will be updated so those couples can apply for divorce in Canada if they feel the need to.
"I want to make it clear that in our government's view, these marriages are valid," Nicholson said.
The justice minister blamed the former Liberal government that legalized gay marriage for the "legislative gap" that resulted in the confusion.
He also said the Civil Marriage Act will be changed so that all marriages performed in Canada that aren't recognized by the couple's own jurisdiction will still be recognized in Canada.
Political opponents of the Harper government jumped on the opportunity to suggest the Conservatives were reopening the gay marriage debate.
One Canadian legal expert on same-sex marriage said she's quite concerned that the Conservatives have decided to tinker with the Civil Marriage Act.
"With a majority government in place, I think that's a risk that Canadian society cannot afford to take," Queen's University law professor Kathleen Lahey said in a telephone interview from Kinsgton, Ont.
She argues that re-opening the act in Parliament is a back-door way to introduce other changes to the act.
"The real problem with fixing an alleged legislative gap in the Civil Marriage Act is that there is no legislative gap in that act, and therefore, there is nothing to fix in that act," Lahey said. "If opening that act up is supposed to introduce a fix, then presumably someone might want to do something else with it while it is open and in front of Parliament."
She said the government could just simply withdraw its legal case before the courts to resolve the issue.
Critics have questioned why a government lawyer was arguing a marriage was not legal in Canada because the couple's home jurisdiction did not recognize gay marriage. It's unclear where the lawyer's direction was coming from.
Lahey said in her experience, it's unlikely that this specific legal case didn't draw the attention of senior officials.
"Lawyers who are willing to be aggressive in seeking out virtually any argument to defeat equality claims are allowed to do so," she said. "I don't know what level of scrutiny was put in this case, but the fact that both levels of government are in a simple divorce case is an indicator to me that somewhere higher up, someone was watching this.
"I'm not convinced that this is just a fluke or an accident that this argument was raised in this way."
Egale Canada, a lesbian, gay, bisexual,
and transgender (LGBT) human rights group, said it was pleased with the government's quick action.
"We see this as a good first step toward opening dialogue between this government and the LGBT community in Canada. We are open and eager to meet with this majority government to build a credible relationship that is not based on fear," the group's executive director, Helen Kennedy, said in a statement.
The Harper government went into damage control Thursday and has denied that they were looking into reopening any debate on same-sex marriage.
"We're not going to reopen that particular issue," Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters Thursday.
Read more: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20120113/gay-marriage-legal-nicholson-120113/#ixzz1jNQhxfKO
"Marriages performed in Canada that aren't recognized in couple's home jurisdiction will be recognized in Canada," Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said Friday in Toronto.
"I want to be very clear that our government has no intention of reopening the debate on the definition of marriage," he added.
The statement comes one day after it was learned Justice Department lawyers were arguing a foreign lesbian couple that married in Canada could not apply for divorce here because their marriage wasn't valid.
Nicholson said the Divorce Act will be updated so those couples can apply for divorce in Canada if they feel the need to.
"I want to make it clear that in our government's view, these marriages are valid," Nicholson said.
The justice minister blamed the former Liberal government that legalized gay marriage for the "legislative gap" that resulted in the confusion.
He also said the Civil Marriage Act will be changed so that all marriages performed in Canada that aren't recognized by the couple's own jurisdiction will still be recognized in Canada.
Political opponents of the Harper government jumped on the opportunity to suggest the Conservatives were reopening the gay marriage debate.
One Canadian legal expert on same-sex marriage said she's quite concerned that the Conservatives have decided to tinker with the Civil Marriage Act.
"With a majority government in place, I think that's a risk that Canadian society cannot afford to take," Queen's University law professor Kathleen Lahey said in a telephone interview from Kinsgton, Ont.
She argues that re-opening the act in Parliament is a back-door way to introduce other changes to the act.
"The real problem with fixing an alleged legislative gap in the Civil Marriage Act is that there is no legislative gap in that act, and therefore, there is nothing to fix in that act," Lahey said. "If opening that act up is supposed to introduce a fix, then presumably someone might want to do something else with it while it is open and in front of Parliament."
She said the government could just simply withdraw its legal case before the courts to resolve the issue.
Critics have questioned why a government lawyer was arguing a marriage was not legal in Canada because the couple's home jurisdiction did not recognize gay marriage. It's unclear where the lawyer's direction was coming from.
Lahey said in her experience, it's unlikely that this specific legal case didn't draw the attention of senior officials.
"Lawyers who are willing to be aggressive in seeking out virtually any argument to defeat equality claims are allowed to do so," she said. "I don't know what level of scrutiny was put in this case, but the fact that both levels of government are in a simple divorce case is an indicator to me that somewhere higher up, someone was watching this.
"I'm not convinced that this is just a fluke or an accident that this argument was raised in this way."
Egale Canada, a lesbian, gay, bisexual,
and transgender (LGBT) human rights group, said it was pleased with the government's quick action.
"We see this as a good first step toward opening dialogue between this government and the LGBT community in Canada. We are open and eager to meet with this majority government to build a credible relationship that is not based on fear," the group's executive director, Helen Kennedy, said in a statement.
The Harper government went into damage control Thursday and has denied that they were looking into reopening any debate on same-sex marriage.
"We're not going to reopen that particular issue," Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters Thursday.
Read more: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20120113/gay-marriage-legal-nicholson-120113/#ixzz1jNQhxfKO
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