Articles
May 29, 2018 – Gastric Cancer Screening in High-Risk Groups Cost-Effective
A new modeling study suggests that gastric-cancer screening could be cost-effective in high-risk racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. When diagnosed at an early stage, patients with gastric adenocarcinoma (GA) have a five-year survival rate of 95% to 99%. But, if detected later, the survival rate drops to less than 30%. Thus, it is…
Read MoreMay 23, 2018 – How gut microbes are joining the fight against cancer
Research has shown that certain gut bacteria appear to boost people’s response to cancer treatment. Some microbes can be adversary and activate inflammatory responses that disrupt the body’s protection mechanisms or make cells resistant to drugs, promoting cancer survival. Other gut bacteria, however, can help defend against tumors. Studies have shown that some cancer treatments…
Read MoreMay 14, 2018- Medical Marijuana: Efficacy, Toxicity, and Legality
Medical marijuana can exist in a variety of formulations such as dried flowers, resins, extracts and oils. It’s legalization and use for medical purposes is still a developing issue and the perspectives of many health care providers is also following the same path. Medical marijuana can be used to ease chronic pain, chemotherapy-induced nausea and…
Read MoreApril 2018 – Straight to the Heart
Certain cancers and their treatments can lead to heart problems. Generally this occurs in three ways: 1) cancer can metastasize to the heart or its lining 2) certain rare tumors can release chemicals into the bloodstream that damage the heart’s valves and muscles 3) certain white blood cell tumors secrete proteins that become sticky deposits…
Read MoreJanuary 19, 2018 HIPEC Increased Survival in Gastric Cancer with Peritoneal Metastasis
The goal of this study was to test the effect of HIPEC (Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy) on survival and postoperative outcomes after complete cytroreductive surgery compared with resection alone. At 3 years, HIPEC significantly improved overall survival with almost 26% of patients alive at 3 years compared with 13% of patients in the surgery alone group.…
Read MoreJanurary 19, 2018 – Single Blood Test Screens for Eight Cancer Types
John Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers developed a single blood test that can detect for eight common cancer types through assessment of the circulating proteins and mutations in cell-free DNA. The test, called CancerSEEK, is a unique noninvasive, multianalyte test that simultaneously evaluates levels of eight cancer proteins and the presence of cancer gene mutations from…
Read MoreNovember 23, 2017 – Long-Term Antacid Use Linked to Increased Stomach Cancer Risk
Scientists have found a higher incidence of gastric cancer in patients treated for H. pylori, a bacterium found in the stomach, if they took proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) over extended periods of time. The prolonged use of these antacids may worsen gastric atrophy and promote bacterial overgrowth. The results of the study conducted at the…
Read MoreSeptember 22, 2017 – FDA Approves Merck’s KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) for Previously Treated Patients with Recurrent Locally Advanced or Metastatic Gastric or Gastroesophageal Junction Cancer Whose Tumors Express PD-L1
Today, Merck announced that the FDA has approved the anti-PD-1 therapy, Keytruda (pembrolizumab) for the treatment of patients with recurrent locally advanced or metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma whose tumors express PD-L1. This makes Keytruda the first PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor approved in the United States for previously treated gastric or GEJ cancer. Treatment Options…
Read MoreAugust 17, 2017 – Stomach Stem Cells Pushing into Cancerous Overdrive by H. pylori
Scientists have suspected for some time that stomach cancer is mainly caused by a bacteria called Helicobacter pylori. Bacteria does not transfer DNA into infected cells, so it is still not well understood as to how H. pylori triggers cancer. While certain viruses are known to cause cancer, such as human papilloma virus (HPV), by…
Read MoreAugust 04, 2017- Reconstruction Method in Gastric CA Surgery Affects Bone Density
The standard reconstruction method may affect postoperative bone mineral density (BMD) loss in gastric cancer according to a study published in the Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. In multivariate analysis, researchers found that R-Y reconstruction was an independent risk factor for BMD loss after distal gastrectomy. B-I reconstruction was found to have superiority over R-Y…
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