Cancer discovery offers hope of tackling spread of disease

Scientists have discovered how cancerous cells can grow their way out of tumours, offering clues for new drugs to prevent cancers spreading. They say they have identified a protein called JAK which helps cancerous cells generate the force needed to move.

Writing in Cancer Cell, they say the cells contract like muscle to force their way out and around the body.

Cancer Research UK said the study provided fresh understanding of ways to stop cancer spreading.

When cancers spread, a process known as metastasis, they become more difficult to treat, as secondary tumours tend to be more aggressive. It is thought that 90% of cancer-related deaths occur after metastasis.

Scientists at the Institute of Cancer Research, who investigated the chemicals involved in cell migration in melanoma – skin cancer – say cancerous cells can move in two ways.

They can “elbow” their way out of a tumour or the tumour itself can form corridors down which the cells can escape.

Lead researcher Professor Chris Marshall said both processes were being controlled by the same chemical.

“There is a common theme of using force, force generated by the same mechanism – the same molecule, called JAK,” he said.

JAK is not a new culprit in cancer. It has been linked to leukaemia, so some drugs are already being developed which target the protein.

“Our new study suggests that such drugs may also stop the spread of cancer,” Professor Marshall said.

“The test will be when we start to see whether any of these agents will stop the spread. We’re thinking of clinical trials in the next few years.”

Dr Lesley Walker, Cancer Research UK’s director of cancer information, said: “A huge challenge in successfully treating cancer is stopping it from spreading around the body, and keeping cancer that has already spread at bay.

“Discovering how cancer cells can funnel grooves though tissues, to squeeze away from primary tumours and spread to new sites, gives scientists fresh understanding of ways to stop cancer spread – literally in its tracks.”

Cancer treatments hopes raises by anti cancer virus

An engineered virus which is injected into the blood, can selectively target cancer cells throughout the body in what researchers have labelled a medical first. The virus attacked only tumours, leaving the healthy tissue alone, in a small trial on 23 patients, according to the journal Nature.

Researchers said the findings could one day “truly transform” therapies. Cancer specialists said using viruses showed “real promise”.

Using viruses to attack cancers is not a new concept, but they have needed to be injected directly into tumours in order to evade the immune system.

Scientists modified the vaccinia virus, which is more famous for being used to develop a smallpox vaccine.

The virus, named JX-594, is dependent upon a chemical pathway which is common in some cancers in order to replicate.

It was injected at different doses into the blood of 23 patients with cancers which had spread to multiple organs in the body.

In the eight patients receiving the highest dose, seven had the virus replicating in their tumours, but not in healthy tissue.

Prof John Bell, lead researcher and from the University of Ottawa, said: “We are very excited because this is the first time in medical history that a viral therapy has been shown to consistently and selectively replicate in cancer tissue after intravenous infusion in humans.

“Intravenous delivery is crucial for cancer treatment because it allows us to target tumours throughout the body as opposed to just those that we can directly inject.”

Infection prevented further tumour growth in six patients for a time. However, the virus did not cure cancer. Patients were given only one dose of the virus as the trial was designed to test the safety of the virus.

It is thought that the virus could be used to deliver treatments directly to cancerous cells in high concentrations.

Prof Bell acknowledges that the research is still in the very early stages, but he said: “I believe that some day, viruses and other biological therapies could truly transform our approach for treating cancer.”

Cancer Research UK’s Prof Nick Lemoine, also director of Barts Cancer Institute, said: “Viruses that multiply in just tumour cells – avoiding healthy cells – are showing real promise as a new biological approach to target hard-to-treat cancers.”

“This new study is important because it shows that a virus previously used safely to vaccinate against smallpox in millions of people can now be modified to reach cancers through the bloodstream – even after cancer has spread widely through the patient’s body.

“It is particularly encouraging that responses were seen even in tumours like mesothelioma, a cancer which can be particularly hard to treat.”

Children’s school packed lunches lack fruit and veg

Parents are failing to put enough fruit and veg into their children’s packed lunches, health experts have warnedThe School Food Trust, which examined 3,500 packed lunches in England in 2009, says about 40% of lunchboxes do not contain any fruit or vegetables, compared with 10% of school dinners.

It said parents should consider switching to school meals.

Meanwhile, the World Cancer Research Fund has set up a website to give parents advice on healthier lunchboxes.

It says the same sort of changes as those made when TV chef Jamie Oliver championed school dinners are now needed.

It wants parents to ensure their children’s packed lunches always contain at least two portions of fruits and vegetables.

WCRF head of education Kate Mendoza said: “There is no doubt Jamie Oliver helped achieve great things for the food served in school canteens. But as the nutritional content of school canteen meals has improved, the healthiness of the content of lunchboxes has been left behind.

“It is disappointing that children are going to school with lunchboxes that are not playing their part in helping to encourage the kind of healthy diet that is so important for their future.”

“This is why we want to get across the message to parents that including a piece of fruit or using a portion of salad as a filling for a sandwich are positive things they can do for their children’s health.”

“It can sometimes be difficult for parents to control what their children eat, particularly if they are passing shops on the way home from school or visiting their friends. But parents can influence what is in their packed lunches and the fact that not all of them are doing so is a missed opportunity.”

She said they were aiming to advise parents about healthy options – rather than telling them what not to put in as has happened in the past.

Patricia Mucavele, research and nutrition manager at the School Food Trust, which offers its own advice on packed lunches, said, “School lunches are now the most nutritious choice for children and young people.

“Packed lunches aren’t as nutritious as school meals – they are typically higher in saturated fat, sugar and salt, and often contain foods that can’t be provided in schools, such as sweets and salted snacks.”

HEALTHY LUNCH OPTIONS

Butternut squash soup with wholegrain bread
Cous cous with roasted vegetables and chickpeas
Wholegrain pasta salad with tomatoes, green beans and sweetcorn in green pesto sauce
Low-fat cream cheese on wholegrain cracker with grapes
Carrot and cucumber sticks
Dried fruits

“Making healthy packed lunches that give children the variety they need in their diet takes a lot of time and effort. We have previously estimated that parents could spend almost eight days a year making packed lunches that meet the national standards for school food.”

“And when you look at how the prices compare, it gives parents wanting to give their children good food, and save time and money, something to think about.”

The trust’s 2009 Primary School Food Survey, included an in-depth look at the contents of almost 3,500 packed lunches across 135 schools in England.

It found 58% of those with packed lunches had items that could count towards their “five a day” fruit and vegetable target, compared with over 90% of those eating school meals.

Chocolate cuts stroke risk

Women who eat a bar of chocolate a week could reduce their chances of having a stroke by 20 per cent, according to a new research.A study of more than 33,000 Swedish women found that those who ate the most chocolate had the lowest chance of stroke.

People who ate 66g per week – about a bar and a half – were 20 per cent less likely to suffer a stroke, while those who consumed 8g a week or less were at the highest risk.

The findings, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, add further weight to previous studies which highlight the health benefits of eating chocolate and cocoa.

Earlier this year Cambridge University experts found that regular doses of chocolate can reduce the risk of heart disease by a third, while a separate study suggested it can be as good for the health as exercise.

Scientists from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm questioned 33,372 women about their eating habits in 1997 and over the next decade about 1,600 suffered strokes.
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Susanna Larsson, one of three researchers, said: “We followed 33,000 women over the course of 10 years, and we found that those who ate most chocolate had a much lower risk – 20 per cent lower – of suffering a stroke.”

Chocolate was expected to help protect against stroke because it lowers blood pressure, thereby reducing a key risk factor, she added.

The women who took part were not asked whether the chocolate they ate was dark or light, a distinction which would have helped establish a firmer connection between cocoa – the protective agent in chocolate – and stroke risk.

Chocolate is as good for you as exercise according to new research

Scientists found that small amounts of dark chocolate may improve health in a similar way to exercise.The researchers focused on the mitochondria, the tiny powerhouses in cells that generate energy, and discovered that a plant compound found in chocolate, called epicatechin, appeared to stimulate  the same muscle response as vigorous activity.

Dr Moh Malek, from Wayne State University in Detroit, who led the US study on mice, said: ”Mitochondria produce energy which is used by the cells in the body. More mitochondria mean more energy is  produced the more work can be performed.

”Aerobic exercise, such as running or cycling, is known to increase the number of mitochondria in muscle cells. Our study has found that epicatechin seems to bring about the same response –  particularly in the heart and skeletal muscles.”

A specific type of epicatechin from cocoa was given to mice twice a day for 15 days.

At the same time, the animals underwent 30 minutes of treadmill training each day.

Researchers found that mice only fed epicatechin had the same exercise performance as those running on the treadmill.

The findings were published today in the Journal of Physiology.

The scientists hope their research will lead to better ways of combating age-related muscle wasting.

”The number of mitochondria decreases in skeletal muscle as we age, and this affects us physically in terms of both muscle energy production and endurance,” said Dr Malek. ”Applying what we know  about epicatechin’s ability to boost mitochondria numbers may provide an approach to reduce the effects of muscle ageing.”

Middle aged mice who both exercised and ate epicatechin showed an even greater benefit.

”It appears epicatechin treatment combined with exercised could be a viable means to offset muscle ageing,” said Dr Malek.

He added: ”At the moment it would be a leap of faith to say the same effects would be seen in humans. But it is something we hope to identify in future studies.”

Coffee may prevent depression scientists say

Women who drink two or more cups of coffee a day are less likely to get depressed, research suggests.It is not clear why it might have this effect, but the authors believe caffeine in coffee may alter the brain’s chemistry. Decaffeinated coffee did not have the same effect.

The findings, published in Archives of Internal Medicine, come from a study of more than 50,000 US female nurses.

The experts are now recommending more work to better understand the link.

And they say it is certainly too soon to start recommending that women should drink more coffee to boost mood.

The Harvard Medical School team tracked the health of the women over a decade from 1996 to 2006 and relied on questionnaires to record their coffee consumption.

Just over 2,600 of the women developed depression over this time period.

More of these women tended to be non- or low-coffee drinkers rather than frequent coffee consumers.

Compared with women who drank one cup of caffeinated coffee or less per week, those who consumed two to three cups per day had a 15% decreased risk of developing depression. Those who drank four or more cups a day cut their risk by 20%.

Regular coffee drinkers were more likely to smoke and drink alcohol and were less likely to be involved in church, volunteer or community groups. They were also less likely to be overweight and have high blood pressure or diabetes.

Even after controlling for all of these variables, the trend of increasing coffee consumption and lower depression remained.

The researchers say their findings add weight to the work of others which found lower suicide rates among coffee drinkers.

They suspect caffeine is the key player – it is known to enhance feelings of wellbeing and energy.

How much caffeine?

There is no recommended level a person should consume, but pregnant women are advised to consume less than 200mg a day

One mug of instant coffee: 100mgOne mug of filter coffee: 140mgOne mug of tea: 75mgOne can of cola: 40mgOne 50g bar of milk chocolate: about 25mg

Source: NHS Choices

And it has a physical effect on brain function and transmission by blocking certain chemical receptors, like adenosine. But more research is needed to show if this might mean it is useful for warding off depression.

Alternatively, it might be that people with low moods chose not to drink coffee because it contained caffeine, point out the researchers. One of the common symptoms of depression is disturbed sleep, and caffeine can exacerbate this because it is a stimulant.

Too much caffeine can also increase feelings of anxiety.

Prof Bertil Fredholm, an expert in pharmacology and physiology at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute, said the findings were reassuring for coffee-lovers.

“This fits nicely with a lot of the previous work and what we know about caffeine and the brain. It blocks adenosine, which produces a similar effect to increasing dopamine production. And it’s becoming increasingly clear that the dopamine-rich areas of the brain are much more important in depression that previously thought.

“Despite valiant efforts to show how dangerous coffee is for us, it is not proving so.  This removes yet another anxiety regarding caffeine use. Drunk in moderation, the evidence is strong that it is not one of the things we do that is going to damage your health.”