Cancer

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   A patient with rectal cancer has become the first to have part of their tumour destroyed by ultrasound, say UK doctors. 
A team of radiologists, surgeons and oncologists at Hammersmith Hospital in London used high intensity ultrasound to heat up and kill the cancer. 
They say the technique will allow faster and more accurate targeting of tumours than conventional treatments. 
Hammersmith Hospital will offer the treatment to advanced stage patients. 

High intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is carried out under general anaesthetic. 
The device can treat tumours up to about 40cc volume and can heat the tissue up to 90 degrees centigrade. 

First patient
The first patient to have the procedure has requested anonymity.

They were given a low dose of heat at 70 degrees. 
Doctors say they are planning to treat 50 more patients and they will closely monitor them to discover the most effective temperature at which to perform the procedure. 
Unlike radiotherapy, HIFU, can be given to a patient a number of times with minimal risk of toxicity. 
The study leader, Professor Paul Abel, from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, said: "There is no incision made during the procedure, it's completely non-invasive, so recovery time will be quicker too. 
"As this is the first time this procedure has ever been performed for rectal cancer, we need to study a wider group of patients to assess how effective the treatment is and whether it has the potential to be curative or to lengthen a patient's life." 
A spokesman for the charity Beating Bowel Cancer said it welcomes "advances to improve the quality of patients' lives and relieve symptoms". 
"As this is a world first, we look forward to further studies and results with more patients over a longer period." 

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Hi Members Profile Find Members Posts Forum Regular Joined: 21 Nov 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 119	Quote Reply Topic: Cancer Posted: 26 Nov 2009 at 15:16
	A patient with rectal cancer has become the first to have part of their tumour destroyed by ultrasound, say UK doctors. A team of radiologists, surgeons and oncologists at Hammersmith Hospital in London used high intensity ultrasound to heat up and kill the cancer. They say the technique will allow faster and more accurate targeting of tumours than conventional treatments. Hammersmith Hospital will offer the treatment to advanced stage patients. High intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is carried out under general anaesthetic. The device can treat tumours up to about 40cc volume and can heat the tissue up to 90 degrees centigrade. First patient The first patient to have the procedure has requested anonymity. They were given a low dose of heat at 70 degrees. Doctors say they are planning to treat 50 more patients and they will closely monitor them to discover the most effective temperature at which to perform the procedure. Unlike radiotherapy, HIFU, can be given to a patient a number of times with minimal risk of toxicity. The study leader, Professor Paul Abel, from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, said: "There is no incision made during the procedure, it's completely non-invasive, so recovery time will be quicker too. "As this is the first time this procedure has ever been performed for rectal cancer, we need to study a wider group of patients to assess how effective the treatment is and whether it has the potential to be curative or to lengthen a patient's life." A spokesman for the charity Beating Bowel Cancer said it welcomes "advances to improve the quality of patients' lives and relieve symptoms". "As this is a world first, we look forward to further studies and results with more patients over a longer period."

basil Members Profile Find Members Posts Forum Regular Joined: 28 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 322	Quote Reply Posted: 30 Nov 2009 at 12:19
	Failure to pick up cancer at an early stage costs the lives of up to 10,000 a year in England, the government's cancer tsar says. National Cancer Director Professor Mike Richards described the situation as "unacceptable". Currently, 90% of patients are diagnosed by symptoms, rather than through screening. Professor Richards' comments will feature in a forthcoming article in the British Journal of Cancer. In the piece, Professor Richards says: "These delays in the patient presenting with symptoms and cancer being diagnosed at a late stage inevitably costs lives.

Ko Members Profile Find Members Posts Forum Newbie Joined: 21 Nov 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 12	Quote Reply Posted: 01 Dec 2009 at 16:22
	The NHS in England must get better at diagnosing cancers at an earlier stage if it is to continue to improve survival rates, the cancer tsar says. Prof Mike Richards wants more focus on one-year survival rates, an indication cancer is spotted at a treatable stage. His report found huge disparity, with lung cancer sufferers in Kensington and Chelsea three times more likely to live a year than those in Herefordshire. To date, the health service has used figures based on five-year survival. One-year survival - that is surviving a year after cancer is first spotted - is key in regard to measuring early diagnosis because death before the one-year mark is likely to be due to the disease only being identified at a late stage. Surviving to the five-year mark also requires early detection but other factors such as access to drugs and surgery become important too. The NHS is on the brink of hitting its 2010 goal of reducing deaths at the five-year mark by a fifth, based on figures from the mid-1990s. The recommendations by the cancer tsar were made in his second annual report following publication of the Cancer Reform Strategy in 2007. The five-year plan promised an extra £370m to help improve care. It has led to more screening, faster drug approval, extra training and more money for radiography equipment. His latest report, which has received the backing of Health Secretary Andy Burnham, revealed local survival rates for the first time. Nearly all trusts failed to match the best rates elsewhere in Europe for the "big four" cancers - breast, colon, lung and prostate. There was also a great deal of variation. For example, the one-year survival rate for lung cancer patients in Herefordshire was just 15.4%, compared to Kensington and Chelsea's rate of 43.7%. The national average of 28.1%.

Ko Members Profile Find Members Posts Forum Newbie Joined: 21 Nov 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 12	Quote Reply Posted: 13 Jan 2010 at 10:36
	Drinking green tea may offer some protection against lung cancer, say experts who studied the disease at a medical university in Taiwan. The latest work in more than 500 people adds to growing evidence suggesting the beverage has anti-cancer powers. In the study, smokers and non-smokers who drank at least a cup a day cut their lung cancer risk significantly, a US cancer research conference heard. The protection was greatest for people carrying certain genes. But cancer experts said the findings did not change the fact that smoking is bad for health.

Keymaster Members Profile Find Members Posts Forum Regular Joined: 27 Sep 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 289	Quote Reply Posted: 07 Feb 2010 at 14:54
	Every cancer patient in England will be offered free, one-to-one home care by specialist nurses if Labour wins the election, Gordon Brown is to pledge. In a speech to the King's Fund think tank on Monday, the PM is expected to pledge access to home treatment for every cancer patient within five years. Labour says this would save over £2.5bn a year by reducing hospital admissions. But shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley called on ministers to say what they would cut to pay for the move.

basil Members Profile Find Members Posts Forum Regular Joined: 28 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 322	Quote Reply Posted: 19 Feb 2010 at 08:30
	Personalised blood tests which could track whether cancer treatment is working or if the disease has come back have been developed by US researchers. The test identifies tumour DNA "rearrangements" which are specific to the individual patient. In the future, this "genetic fingerprint" could be used to pick out tiny remnants of a tumour, Science Translational Medicine reports. Such techniques are currently very expensive but costs are falling. The researchers hope that one day the technology could be used to spot cancer recurrence before they would be picked up by scans. DNA from volunteer patients was scanned for rearrangements of large chunks of genetic information which occur in cancer cells but not normal cells.

Keymaster Members Profile Find Members Posts Forum Regular Joined: 27 Sep 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 289	Quote Reply Posted: 27 Jul 2010 at 15:30
	The government has announced a £50m fund which should give very sick cancer patients access to drugs sooner. It will mean that from October, rather than next year, doctors in England can offer drugs which have not been approved by the rationing body NICE. The announcement was made at the launch of a study showing that the UK lags in providing the newest cancer drugs. The fund will be financed by ditching the former government's plan for free personal care for the old. It means that cancer patients will be able to access new drugs earlier to help extend life by weeks or months or improve quality of life in the final stages of the disease. The government's cancer tsar Professor Sir Mike Richards, who led the research into the UK's ranking on drug provision, stressed however it would not improve overall survival rates. Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: "I promised that I would help patients in England get cancer drugs that are readily available in the rest of Europe. "It's a scandal that we are strong in cancer research and participation in clinical trials in the UK, yet NHS patients aren't always seeing the benefits from the research swiftly enough. "Patients should have access to innovative cancer drugs that can extend or improve their quality of life and which their doctors have recommended, which is why I'm determined to take action now."