The company, Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, are keen to test all of their own animals for the presence of Mad Cow disease - bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) - a progressive neurological disorder of cattle that results from infection by an unconventional transmissible agent.
Under current regulations, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) tests less than one percent of all slaughtered cows for the disease; the meat from affected animals is fatal to humans if it is eaten.
BSE first appeared in Europe in 1986 and caused a major epidemic in cattle; more than 183,000 cases of BSE were confirmed in the UK alone in more than 35,000 herds through to the end of November 2003.
The epidemic in the UK peaked in January 1993 at almost 1,000 new cases per week and experts believe the outbreak may have been the result of feeding sheep meat-and-bone meal which contained scrapie, to cattle.
Experts in the UK agree that the evidence suggests that the outbreak was exacerbated by the feeding of rendered bovine meat-and-bone meal to young calves.
By 2004, 157 people acquired and died of a disease with similar neurological symptoms subsequently called vCJD, or (new) variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
It is estimated that 400,000 cattle infected with BSE entered the human food chain in the 1980s in Britain and although the BSE epidemic was eventually brought under control by culling all suspect cattle populations, people are still being diagnosed with vCJD each year.
This is because the disease can have a long incubation period and it can be decades before symptoms appear.
As a result the full extent of the human vCJD outbreak is still not clear.
To date, there have only been three cases of Mad Cow disease in the United States, and the USDA who regulate the test, say widespread testing could lead to false positives that could potentially harm the meat industry.
If the company do test all of their own animals for the presence of BSE, Creekstone Farms will have a huge advantage over the bigger meat packers, who apparently have not considered such a move.
Even though a federal judge has ruled in favour of Creekstone, the USDA has said it will appeal, which means in effect that the meat packer will not be able start to tests until the appeals process is exhausted.
In a report in 2005 the consumer group Public Citizen found more than 800 Mad Cow safety violations at U.S. meat packing plants, 460 of which occurred because slaughter plants had inadequate systems for dealing with BSE in their food safety plans.
Of those 460 violations, 60 percent apparently had plans that did not even mention Mad Cow disease.
source:www.news-medical.net
Thursday, May 31, 2007
U.S. government prevents meat packer testing for mad cow disease
Monday, May 28, 2007
Acinar Cell Carcinoma (17 unread)
Pancreatic endocrine tumors with intraductal growth into the main pancreatic duct and tumor thrombus within the portal vein: a case report and review of the literature.
Pancreatic endocrine tumors with intraductal growth into the main pancreatic duct and tumor thrombus within the portal vein: a case report and review of the literature.
Intern Med. 2007;46(6):273-7
Authors: Kawakami H, Kuwatani M, Hirano S, Kondo S, Nakanishi Y, Itoh T, Asaka M
Pancreatic endocrine tumors are rare tumors classified into "functioning" and "nonfunctioning" tumors. A 68-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with the chief compliant of abdominal pain. Various imaging studies demonstrated a mass in the head of the pancreas with intraductal growth into the main pancreatic duct and an intraportal mass. The patient underwent a curative surgical operation. Histopathological examination revealed that it was nonfunctioning endocrine carcinoma of the pancreas. This is the first reported case of a pancreatic endocrine tumor with intraductal growth into the main pancreatic duct and tumor thrombus within the portal vein.
Atypical small acinar proliferation: biopsy artefact or distinct pathological entity?
OBJECTIVE: To determine if atypical small acinar proliferation (ASAP) represents minimally sampled prostate cancer not fully evaluated on a biopsy or a distinct pathological entity, by examining prostates removed at radical cystectomy, as a finding of ASAP of the prostate on needle-core biopsy is closely associated with the detection of cancer on subsequent biopsy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In all, 65 consecutive cystoprostatectomy specimens taken from June 1990 to March 2004 had prostatic material reviewed by one genitourinary pathologist (S.E.M.). The presence of high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN), ASAP, and adenocarcinoma was recorded. Foci of ASAP found in the absence of cancer were assessed with additional sectioning, high-molecular weight keratin (CK903), and alpha-methylacyl coenzyme A racemase (AMACR) immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: In all, 24 of 65 specimens (37%) had adenocarcinoma. Of the 41 without cancer, 18 (44%) had neither HGPIN nor ASAP, 14 (34%) had HGPIN alone, three (7%) had ASAP alone (four foci), and six had both HGPIN and ASAP (15%). Two foci of ASAP were not present on any further sectioning. The remaining eight foci all lacked CK903 stain, indicating disruption of the basal cell layer. Of these eight, only five were present for the AMACR stain, all of which were positive. Two of these five developed into a lesion considered cancer on further sectioning. CONCLUSION: ASAP identified in incidental prostates represented marginally sampled cancer in at least two of 10 foci assessed. The remainder could not be resolved as benign on further evaluation, and remained suspicious for malignancy.
source:http:news.rare-cancer.org
Breast cancer on the rise in Australia
ELEANOR HALL: Unhealthy lifestyles and women having children later in life are being blamed for an alarming rise in breast cancer amongst Australian women.
A report conducted by the National Breast Cancer Centre indicates that over the past two decades the incidence of breast cancer has risen by almost 4 per cent every year.
Dr Helen Zorbas is Director of the centre, and she's been speaking to our reporter, Michael Edwards.
HELEN ZORBAS: There are more and more women diagnosed every year with this disease, and as I say, the incidence doesn't look like abating as we look into the future.
MICHAEL EDWARDS: What accounts for it?
HELEN ZORBAS: There are a number of factors that could account for the increase that we're seeing, and it's not something that is isolated to Australia, but something that we're seeing throughout the world, particularly in the western countries.
It's possibly related to lifestyle factors, and this would include factors like the lower numbers of children that women are having these days, that they're having them later in life, that they are breastfeeding them less. If we make those comparisons with women in under-developed countries, you know, there are quite stark differences.
There's also other factors such that overall we're more obese. We tend to have more sedentary lifestyles, we exercise less, and we are having, or consuming more alcohol.
MICHAEL EDWARDS: Do we have the medical infrastructure to deal with the increasing problem?
HELEN ZORBAS: Well, I think what we're seeing more and more is that the treatments are changing so much that the actual time within the hospital system tends to be constant, but it's just different treatments that are improving survival for women quite dramatically.
But certainly the demands in terms of the diagnostic areas are going to be needing to be improved in order to cope with the increasing numbers that we are predicting will be diagnosed within the next five to 10 years.
MICHAEL EDWARDS: So is it fair to say the bad news is there's going to be more cases of breast cancer, the good news is you've got a higher chance of surviving it?
HELEN ZORBAS: That's exactly right.
Although there will be more and more women who are diagnosed, there will be fewer women who are likely to die of their breast cancer, as we look into the future.
And that's certainly good news, and the report really also highlights the fact that Australian women are faring better than their counterparts in terms of survival and mortality than other women in very well developed countries, such as the USA, the UK, Canada and New Zealand.
ELEANOR HALL: And that's Dr Helen Zorbas from the Breast Cancer Centre.
source:www.abc.net.au
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Eat less to cut risk of cancer
Britain is facing a "cancer timebomb" because of rising levels of obesity, a senior doctor warned last night.
Cancer expert Dr Greg Martin said people needed to be fully aware of the hidden costs of a poor diet and lack of exercise.
Excess fat around the stomach increases the production of the hormone oestrogen, which can be carcinogenic, he said.
With predictions that 12.6million Britons will be classed as obese by 2010, Dr Martin said a surge in cancer cases would follow "as surely as night follows day".
But he said a crisis was avoidable if people made "simple changes" to their lifestyle.
"Ultimately each person has to make that commitment and at the moment too many people are dying because they are not taking action," he said.
Referring to the 12.6million prediction, he said: "It's a huge chunk of the population.
"Each of these people is going to have an increased risk of cancer – but this is an avoidable risk factor.
"This kind of increase cannot be explained by anything genetic. It's almost certainly a function of behaviour. It's something we can do something about."
Experts have already warned that rising levels of obesity will saddle the Health Service with many more cases of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.
But Dr Martin, science and research manager of the World Cancer Research Fund, said obesity was also linked to hormone-sensitive cancers such as breast cancer and cancer of the womb lining.
It is also known to be linked to oesophagus and bowel cancer.
He said obesity could trigger the disease because the adipose tissue, which stores fat around the stomach, produces the potentially carcinogenic hormone oestrogen.
"There has been plenty of attention recently on the problems of obesity, but a lot of people still do not realise how closely obesity is related to cancer," he continued.
"People getting fatter will lead to an increase in the number of cancer cases as surely as night follows day.
"You also have to add into the mix that cancer is largely an older person's disease, and the UK has an ageing population.
"So if you have an ageing population that is getting more obese, there could be really serious consequences in terms of the number of people getting cancer if we do not act now. It's a cancer timebomb."
In 1980, only 8 per cent of women and 6 per cent of men in the UK were classified as obese. Those figures have risen to 24 per cent of women and 23 per cent of men.
In 2003, an estimated 4.3million British men were obese – a figure that is expected to rise to 6.6million by 2010.
Obesity among women is predicted to rise from 4.8million to 6million by the same year.
Chillingly, Dr Martin compared the rise in obesity from generation to generation to "a virus spreading".
He added: "The frustrating thing is that people can make simple changes to their lifestyle to reduce their chances of getting cancer.
"It really is as simple as eating more healthily, making sure your portion size is not too big, and taking regular exercise.
"When you think what a devastating disease cancer is, it really is worth taking these simple steps because they can make a big difference."
Dr Martin's analysis of the effects of obesity also has serious implications for an already beleaguered NHS.
Two weeks ago, a Swedish study found that the UK had one of the worst records for providing access to cancer drugs in the western world.
It ranked the NHS in the bottom group, delivering a withering verdict on its slow and low' uptake of drugs.
Although five-year cancer survival rates are increasing – now at 53 per cent for women and 43 per cent for men – they remain much lower than comparable countries such as France, where the rates are 71 per cent and 53 per cent respectively.
Tomatoes could save your prostate
THE humble tomato could become a potent weapon in the fight against prostate cancer.
A number of studies have suggested that lycopene – a powerful antioxidant in tomatoes – could reduce a man’s chance of developing the disease.
And cancer charities believe that tomatoes and tomato-based products should play a prominent part in a varied and healthy diet.
The advice comes as research has revealed that a Mediterranean-style diet, which is rich in fresh vegetables and olive oils, is better for health than a typical Western diet.
Dr Ian Lewis, Tenovus’s scientific officer, said, “Many people believe that getting cancer is purely down to chance, but around a half of all cancers could be prevented if people made healthier lifestyle choices.
“Tenovus supplies many kinds of prevention advice and information brochures as well as funding important genetic research work which helps determine the likelihood of certain cancers. Increasingly, scientists are showing that a healthy, balanced diet is an important factor in the prevention of cancer. Tomatoes are high in content of a substance called lycopene which is found in many red fruits and vegetables. Although not fully understood as yet, it is thought that lycopene has a protective effect against prostate cancer when consumed as part of a healthy diet.
“Roasting tomatoes is thought to release the health benefits of the lycopene even further and tomato ketchup acts like a shot of lycopenes as the tomatoes have been concentrated.”
Increasing numbers of men are being diagnosed with prostate cancer in Wales – it is not yet clear whether this is due to increased awareness and the popularity of the PSA test, or whether it reflects a growing prevalence.
Cases of the disease in Wales rose by 38.9% between 2000 and 2004, from 1,647 to 2,288, according to figures from the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit.
Dr Chris Hiley, head of policy and research for the Prostate Cancer Charity, said, “Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant found in tomatoes, which may reduce the chance of prostate cancer developing.
“Processed tomatoes, especially tomato sauce, are particularly rich in lycopene. It is also found in other red fruits and vegetables, for example strawberries.
“Over recent years prostate cancer researchers have repeatedly returned to questions about the role of the antioxidant lycopene in diet – particularly from tomato-based products – in light of its apparent association with a reduced risk of prostate cancer.
“Not all studies are positive, but many are. We still cannot come to a firm conclusion that the risk of prostate cancer is reduced by increasing lycopene intake, but it is very clear that men should eat a varied and healthy diet, and tomato and tomato-based products have a place in that.
“We also advise men to eat a diet containing plenty of fruit and vegetables, to reduce their intake of animal fat, particularly red meat and, of course, keep their weight under control.”
The advice about tomatoes and lycopene comes after new evidence from the French research institute Inserm found that eating a Mediterranean diet halves the risk of serious lung diseases like emphysema and chronic bronchitis in comparison with those eating a more traditional Western diet.
Dr Paul Walker, chair of PHA Cymru, the Welsh Public Health Association, said, “We have known for many years that such a diet promotes cardiovascular health and reduces the risks of heart attacks, strokes and peripheral vascular disease and probably reduces the risks of certain cancers and of developing Alzheimer’s disease, but its protective impact on chronic respiratory disease is a recent finding.
“By the year 2020 it is estimated that chronic respiratory disease will be the world’s third leading cause of premature death so the implications of this new finding are truly global.
“It is not clear yet whether the protective effect of the Mediterranean diet for chronic respiratory disease is due solely to its high content of antioxidants which are known to reduce the risk of tissue inflammation, or whether the lower levels of sugars and nitrates in such a diet also contribute.”
A factsheet on prostate cancer and diet is available from the Prostate Cancer Charity at www.prostate-cancer.org.uk
source:cwales.icnetwork.co.uk
Veterans exposed to Agent Orange have higher rates of prostate cancer recurrence
Veterans exposed to Agent Orange have a 48 percent increased risk of prostate cancer recurrence following surgery than their unexposed peers, and when the disease comes back, it seems more aggressive, researchers say.
"We need to be screening these patients earlier, treating their cancer aggressively and following them closely afterward because they are at higher risk for recurrence," says Dr. Martha Terris, chief of the Urology Department at the Augusta Veterans Affairs Medical Center and professor of urology at the Medical College of Georgia.
"We looked at all patients, whether they were exposed or not, to see which were more likely to develop a recurrence and patients with a history of Agent Orange exposure were more likely," says Dr. Sagar R. Shah, MCG urology resident who is presenting the data May 20 during the American Urological Association Annual Meeting in Anaheim, Calif.
The study looked at 1,653 veterans who had prostate cancer surgery at Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Centers in five cities between 1990 and 2006; 199 had been exposed to Agent Orange, a herbicide and defoliant sprayed on the dense forests of Vietnam during the war.
Agent Orange contains the carcinogen, dioxin, which can be stored in body fat and is believed to make its way into the cell nucleus and work as a tumor promoter. In the past, relatively higher mortality rates have been found in chemical plant workers and farmers with prostate cancer who were exposed to dioxin, the researchers write in their abstract.
Dioxin’s impact is dose-related, and while the researchers did not measure levels of dioxin or Agent Orange, they suspect that blacks, who were more likely to be ground troops, also were more likely to have had more Agent Orange exposure.
Researchers found veterans with Agent Orange exposure more likely to be black and younger at the time of surgery to remove their prostate gland. The disease appeared to be caught earlier in exposed veterans. Most had their disease staged as T1 by pathologists, which means it appeared confined to the prostate gland, and had lower pre-operative prostate specific antigen scores, an indicator of disease aggressiveness.
However, when the disease recurred, exposed veterans experienced a more rapid biochemical progression of their disease, which PSA measures. In blacks, the PSA doubled in almost half the time of their unexposed peers.
A blood PSA level screens for prostate cancer for most men beginning at age 50 and at age 40 for blacks and men with a family history. Black men have been shown by Dr. Terris and others to have more aggressive disease earlier in life.
To account for known racial differences, researchers also compared recurrence rates in exposed and non-exposed blacks and whites and the results held up.
"As a population in general, if you were exposed to Agent Orange, you’re more likely to have a recurrence," says Dr. Shah. "If you were black and exposed, you were more likely to recur than if you were black and unexposed."
If it sounds odd that men who had their prostate removed could have disease recurrence, Dr. Terris points out that microscopic cancer cells can migrate out of the area before surgery, becoming detectable later when they start pushing PSA levels back up.
In fact, following any type of prostate cancer treatment, men routinely get PSA levels checked for the rest of their lives. Without cancer recurrence, they should stay at zero.
source:foodconsumer.org
Research Supports Early Testing For Prostate Cancer
A SINGLE PSA MEASUREMENT IN MIDDLE AGE PREDICTS DIAGNOSIS OF ADVANCED PROSTATE CANCER UP TO 25 YEARS LATER IN AN UNSCREENED POPULATION (Abstract 1876)
Almost all advanced cancers could be found early by intense screening of at-risk patients, according to researchers from New York and Malmo, Sweden who analyzed samples taken from a population-based cohort of 21,277 men in Malmo, Sweden between 1974 and 1986 to determine whether initial PSA plasma levels correlated with future diagnosis of advanced disease.
Of the 21,277 cases, 498 men actually developed prostate cancer, and 161 suffered from advanced disease (greater than T3 or metastasis). Association between PSA levels and eventual development advanced disease was determined using conditional logistical regression. In men with a total PSA of .5, .75, 1., 1.5 and 2 ng/ml, the probability of being diagnosed with advanced disease by age 75 was 2 percent, 3 percent, 4 percent, 7 percent and 12 percent, respectively. Risk was highly concentrated, with 89 percent of advanced cancers occuring in men with the top 10 percent of PSA levels.
This abstract will be presented during Moderated Poster Session 59 on Wednesday, May 23 starting at 1:00 p.m.
CLINICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL FEATURES OF SCREEN VS. NON-SCREEN DETECTED PROSTATE CANCERS: IS THERE A DIFFERENCE" (Abstract 851)
Pathological stage and surgical margins are important predictors of prostate cancer recurrence after radical prostatectomy.
Cancers detected in a PSA-screening population from Tyrol, Austria, had a statistically significant lower rate of extracapsular extension and positive surgical margins than those found in a non-screened population despite similar preoperative PSA levels. Researchers evaluated 997 radical prostatectomy patients from Innsbruck undergoing surgery between February 1999 through March 2006. Within that group, 806 were participants in the PSA screening Tyrol Prostate Cancer Demonstration Project and 191 represented the non-screening group. Preoperative total PSA, age, pathological characteristics and prostate volume were analyzed. Screen-detected cancers were significantly more likely to be organ confined at the time of treatment with radical prostatectomy.
This abstract will be presented during Podium Session 29 on Monday, May 21 starting at 10:00 a.m.
BASELINE CHARACTERISTICS AND PREDICTORS OF PROGRESSION IN AN ACTIVE SURVEILLANCE COHORT: THE UCSF EXPERIENCE (Abstract 611)
Active surveillance with delayed intervention is a viable option for well-selected patients with favorable risk prostate cancer. But is there a single characteristic that could help determine which of these patients are likely to progress" What is the best predictor of subsequent intervention with treatment" To determine the best predictor of secondary treatment, researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), examined demographic and clinical characteristics of men electing active surveillance.
The researchers led by Peter R. Carroll, M.D., characterized disease progression in a subset of men with low-risk disease enrolled in an active surveillance protocol at UCSF. Patients received repeat prostate needle biopsies at 12-24 month intervals, trans-rectal ultrasound (TRUS) every 6-12 months and PSA measurements every three months to track progression. Researchers defined progression as a change in PSA of greater than 0.75 ng/ml per year, increase in lesion size (as determined by TRUS) or change in Gleason sum. Of those three predictors, change in tumor grade was the most significant predictor of delayed intervention, with 35 percent of the subjects experiencing an increase in Gleason score on surveillance. There were no baseline demographic or clinical characteristics that could accurately predict disease progression in this population.
This abstract was presented during Podium Session 21 on Sunday, May 20.
OUTCOMES OF MEN MANAGED WITH WATCHFUL WAITING IN THE PSA FOLLOW-UP STUDY (Abstract 610)
There are many questions surrounding watchful waiting/active surveillance as an initial treatment for prostate cancer and whether outcomes vary from patients who elect a more aggressive treatment sooner after diagnosis. Researchers from Northwestern University, led by William Catalona, M.D., reviewed a large, community-based cohort of men with screen-detected prostate cancer electing watchful waiting as initial management for their disease.
A group of 347 men selecting watchful waiting as their initial treatment were followed with biannual PSA tests. Of this group, 36 percent showed evidence of biochemical progression and/or underwent secondary treatment. Overall mortality was 30 percent and disease-specific mortality was 8 percent. There were no deaths in the group electing secondary treatment while 8 died in the non-treatment group.
This abstract was presented during Podium Session 21 on Sunday, May 20.
INTERMITTENT ANDROGEN DEPRIVATION IN PATIENTS WITH PSA-RELAPSE AFTER RADICAL PROSTATECTOMY - FINAL RESULTS OF A EUROPEAN RANDOMIZED PROSPECTIVE PHASE III CLINICAL TRIAL (Abstract 600)
In men with PSA relapse following prostatectomy, androgen deprivation is commonly used to slow tumor progression. However, reducing androgen (namely testosterone) levels can seriously impact quality of life for patients undergoing this treatment. Researchers from Germany presented data comparing the use of continuous androgen deprivation (CAD) therapy to intermittent androgen deprivation (IAD) therapy in these patients to compare both efficacy and patient tolerability between these two forms of hormonal treatment.
No statistically significant difference was seen in androgen-independent disease progression between the two groups. However, patients treated with IAD had an improved quality of life and fewer hot flashes than the CAD group indicating that IAD may be a more attractive treatment option for patients with PSA relapse after primary treatment.
This abstract was presented during Podium Session 20 on May 20.
About the American Urological Association: Founded in 1902 and headquartered near Baltimore, Maryland, the American Urological Association is the pre-eminent professional organization for urologists, with more than 15,000 members throughout the world. An educational nonprofit organization, the AUA pursues its mission of fostering the highest standards of urologic care by carrying out a wide variety of programs for members and their patients, including UrologyHealth.org, an award-winning on-line patient education resource, and the American Urological Association Foundation, Inc., formerly AFUD.
source:www.medicalnewstoday.com
