Leukemia

Leukemia is the most common cancer for children to develop, but adults develop it as well. There are multiple types of leukemia, both acute and chronic in nature. Leukemia is problematic because by mutating the white blood cells it is not only inhibiting normal bleeding, but also the transport of oxygen throughout the body and resistance to infection. For more information on leukemia, please visit the leukemia page.

The personal stories page is also new, so if you have any stories to share, please post them there.

Informed Consent and Instrumentation

The informed consent page is new – please take a look at it. Your feedback is very important to me for my thesis project and I want you to know that when you leave feedback it is liable to be used in this project.

The instrumentation page is updated to better explain the importance of instrumentation and advances in it for the Human Genome Project, but also for research in general.

Viruses and Cancer

Although viruses generally do not cause cancers, some can. The human papillomavirus (HPV) can lead to cancer. “High-risk HPV infection accounts for approximately 5 percent of all cancers worldwide” (http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/HPV). For the most part, HPV does not progress to cancer, but it has the capacity to do so. HPV can cause cervical cancer or throat cancer. Risk factors such as smoking, chronic inflammation, or a weakened immune system increase the risk of developing cancer from high-risk HPV. To help prevent HPV-related cancers, there is an HPV vaccine. This vaccine has been shown to be roughly 100% effective for up to 6.4 years (http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/prevention/HPV-vaccine).

Lung Cancer

The lung cancer page is new this week.

One of the benefits, and challenges, with lung cancer is people knowing some of the risk factor associated with lung cancer. Although knowing these risk factors can help people avoid them and increase their likelihood of not developing lung cancer, it is not a complete prevention technique as some people would like to believe. Another setback is that lung cancer tends to develop in individuals around the age of 71. For many individuals as they are making choices throughout life, potentially developing harmful habits, they see 71 years old as far in their future and not something to worry about in the present. Choices now affect the future, and should be considered as such.

You can make a difference

Cancer research is an important field because many individuals are impacted by this disease every year, bou do not need to be directly involved with cancer research to make a difference in the lives of those with cancer. Several students from my university have worked with children with cancer in campus during the summer. They were able to touch the lives of these children and make a difference. Hope is a strong medicine and can keep people fighting.

Lex is a student I talked to about his experience working with children with cancer and their families. The camp Lex worked at focused on helping the children who had the cancer, as well as their siblings. Sometimes families become very focused on a single member when tragedy such as cancer strikes. It can be challenging for the siblings of the person diagnosed to no grow to resent the lack of attention they receive.

Lex worked at a sleep-away camp with a family for a week. He worked with a boy with cancer for half of the, then for the other half he worked with the brother.

The child with cancer was not allowed to be submerged in water because of his throat cancer. This child loved the water. Lex was able to give the child a fun experience in the water by being adaptable and working with the family and staff to develop fun activities without going completely in the water: bumper boats, big slip ‘n’ slides, and water basketball on Lex’s shoulders, for example.

The second half of the week, Lex worked with this child’s brother. Initially, the boy was frustrated with Lex, having seen Lex and his brother having fun together. He would say things like “Why are you spending time with me when I know you would rather be with ____?” Lex showed that he could have fun with both brothers and found a way to connect with the child. By the end of the week, the whole family saw Lex as a member of their family, and the two brothers came together and hugged.

Through the many challenges facing cancer research and treatments, one method has remained: kindness. Sometimes all it takes is a little kindness to make a difference in someone’s life. Everyone can make a difference if they are willing to take the initiative to help.

Genome Projects

The initial Human Genome Project covered a couple other species of animals and sequencing their genomes to use as comparisons and to give more reference points for the human genome. Researchers are currently expanding the genomes they are sequencing to include domestic dogs. The Dog Genome Project has mapped the genome of a boxer, and is currently seeking samples from other breads of dogs, with and without genetic disorders, to help them proceed in their progress. Learning more about the dog genomes will not only benefit the Human Genome Project by yielding more reference points and help to make discoveries which impact both species, but will also help pet owners who have pets with genetic disorders find effective treatments for helping their pets. It is a similar idea and process as is used in the Human Genome Project, and they can benefit each other.

For more information, go to: http://www.broadinstitute.org/mammals/dog. If you have a dog and would like to help in this process, please visit: http://www.broadinstitute.org/files/shared/mammals/dog/pdfs/dog_project_info.pdf. Everyone can make a difference.

Obstacles in Cancer Research

Many people get frustrated with the slow pace of cancer research. Although it is reported that there is around a 1-2% per year decrease in mortality by cancer, it is not seen as the most promising decrease. A lot of factors play into this decrease: a decrease in tobacco use, early screening, an increase in vaccines, genetic risk assessment, et cetera.

Some cancer prevention is based on behaviors, such as a decreased tobacco use, decreased UV exposure, and an increase in exercise. Some of it is genetic.

Knowledge of methods for decreasing the risk of developing cancers has been highly beneficial, but cancer research is an inherently challenging topic to address. Not only does cancer treatment affect each cancer differently, it affects each host differently. Another factor is a lack of funding. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has around a $5 billion budget. A lot of this money is allocated in advance, so less is able to go to new research. Roughly 14% of grant applications to the NCI are accepted. The culture of the research is currently to support “safe science” over “revolutionary science.” With limited funding, sacrifices in research are made and this had been the route chosen. Finding a way to bring all the data together has also been a challenge, and although we are working to share research in this field openly, it is still not completely an “open science.”

To learn more about these challenges and the National Cancer Institute, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L86kbzzHap4

Taxanes

Taxanes are a group of drug which have been used in cancer treatment. For cell division to occur, microtubules must break down and reassemble properly. Taxanes were discovered to inhibit this process, as well as to help create more microtubules which further crowd and inhibit the process from occurring properly. Although cancerous cells tend to bypass the cell cycle check points, they still require the same basic mechanisms for dividing as healthy cells do.

Paclitaxel is one of the drugs in the taxane family. This specific compound was isolated originally from the bark of the Pacific Yew. Since these trees have very specific growing regions, obtaining the compound without endangering the Pacific Yew was a challenge. Researches discovered that they could create a similar compound from the needles of European Yews. This was very beneficial, as the needles were in much greater supply and more readily renewable.

Paclitaxel treatments are approved for cancer patients when the cancer recurs within six months of chemotherapy or the cancer spreads to other parts of the body. Paclitaxel has been known to cause hypersensitivity as well as temporary damage to bone marrow. Bone marrow damage involves other side effects such as muscle pain and nausea.

Denaturing High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

Denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography has been added as a page today. This technique can tie in with mass spectrometry, and is useful for determining the sequences of DNA bases once they have been amplified using polymerase chain reaction. As you can tell, a lot of the techniques used for both the Human Genome Project and in aspects of cancer research are tied together and can influence each other. For this reason, advances in one technique or technology have a ripple effect.

Skin Cancer

The skin cancer page is new. UVB radiation is known to increase the risk of developing skin cancer. For this reason, using UVB radiation in phototherapy has been a concern as well. A literature review of eleven studies has shown that at that point no correlation was found. There is no proof that there is no correlation between the phototherapy and skin cancer, but the results of the studies indicate that this method can be an effective treatment for psoriasis without having increased risk of developing cancer.