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HPV vaccine

New Study Emphasizes The Importance Of Men And Boys Getting The HPV Vaccine 

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The HPV vaccine is widely known, and has been historically framed, as protection against cervical cancer in women. Now, according to a large new study published in JAMA Oncology, young men and boys who received the human papilloma virus, HPV, vaccine had around half the risk of developing related cancers compared to those who were unvaccinated. 

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The study wants parents of both young men and women to do the research to learn more about what HPV is in general, the cancers it’s linked to, and the benefits of the vaccine. 

CNN wellness expert Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and adjunct associate professor at George Washington University who was previously Baltimore’s health commissioner, recently spoke to the publication regarding this new study. 

“HPV is an extremely common virus transmitted through intimate skin-to-skin contact. The vast majority of those who are sexually active will be exposed to it at some point in their lives.”

“This applies to both men and women. According to the National Cancer Institute, nearly all sexually active people are infected with HPV within months to a few years of starting sexual activity,” Dr. Wen explained to CNN. 

“About half of these infections are with a high-risk HPV type that increases the likelihood of developing cancers. Most infections go away on their own as the immune system clears them, but some persist and can cause cellular changes that can become cancerous over time.”

Wen explained that HPV is linked to a range of cancers in both men and women. In women, it’s most commonly linked to cervical cancer, but it can also cause other cancers in the vagina and vulva. In men, HPV is linked to cancers of the penis, anus, head, and neck. 

“Over 90% of anal cancer is caused by HPV. Oropharyngeal cancer, also called throat cancer, is highly associated with HPV as well, with about 70% attributed to HPV. And more than 60% of penile cancer is caused by HPV,” Wen pointed out. 

The study that Wen is citing utilized a global database of over 615,000 men aged 9 to 26 who received the nonvalent HPV vaccine and over 2 million who did not. The researchers analyzed about half a million individuals from each group that were concluded to be comparable. 

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“They found that men who were vaccinated had a significantly lower risk of developing HPV-related cancers. Overall, vaccination was associated with about a 46% reduction in risk, meaning those who received the vaccine had roughly half the risk compared with those who were unvaccinated,” Wen said. 

“The benefit was seen across different groups studied. Those vaccinated between ages 9 and 14 had about a 42% lower risk, while those vaccinated between 15 and 26 had about a 50% lower risk.”

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends routine vaccination of preteens at 11 or 12-years-old. The HPV vaccine can be given at the same time as other vaccines. 

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends routine HPV vaccination for all adolescents starting between 9 and 12-years-old. Getting your children vaccinated during their earlier years “focuses on the goal to vaccinate before any exposure to HPV occurs.

According to the AAP, there is no known downside to starting HPV vaccinations early. The immune response is strong at younger ages, and there has not been evidence of significant waning protection,” Wen cited. 

To parents who may be skeptical, Wen emphasized the importance of speaking with their medical provider, but also that the main component of this vaccine is its ability to prevent cancer later in life. 

“This vaccine is about preventing cancer. It protects against infections that can lead to serious disease many years later. We now have strong evidence that it benefits everyone. The safety profile of the vaccine is well-established, and the effectiveness in preventing HPV-related disease is very high. As a mom of two children, choosing vaccination is an opportunity to reduce the risk of serious illness for our children in the future.”

healthy

More Than A Third Of All Global Cancer Cases Are Preventable Through Lifestyle Changes, WHO Says 

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According to a new study and analysis from the World Health Organization (WHO), more than a third of all cancer cases globally are preventable. There are several ways in which we can reduce the odds of many different kinds of cancers developing, and a lot of it has to do with our overall lifestyle habits. 

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The organization wrote that lung, stomach, and cervical cancers make up nearly half of those cases, meaning that millions of deadly cancers every year could be prevented through medical intervention, behavior changes, reducing occupational risks, and/or combatting environmental pollutants, according to ScienceAlert. 

The study itself was published in Nature Medicine.

“Addressing these preventable causes represents one of the most powerful opportunities to reduce the global cancer burden,” says Isabelle Soerjomataram, medical epidemiologist at WHO and senior author of the analysis.

The specific analysis found that in 2022 there were about 19 million new cases of cancer, and about 38% of those diagnoses were related to 30 changeable risk factors. 

It was reported that these risk factors include “tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, high body mass index, insufficient physical activity, smokeless tobacco (like chewing tobacco), a traditional stimulant known as areca nut, suboptimal breastfeeding, air pollution, ultraviolet radiation, infectious agents, and over a dozen occupational exposures.”

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Smoking tobacco was the number one preventable factor associated with cancer, and was linked to 15% of all cancer cases in 2022. 

For men specifically this risk was particularly high, and smoking contributed to 23% of all new cancer cases globally in men that year. 

Air pollution also plays a major role in cancer cases, and varies by region. In East Asia, it was reported that around 15% of all lung cancer cases in women were due to air pollution. In Northern Africa and Western Asia, about 20% of all lung cancer cases in men were also due to air pollution. 

Drinking alcohol was the second changeable lifestyle factor that was linked to 3.2% (around 700,000) of all new cancer cases. 

Certain infections within the body were also linked to about 10% of new cancer cases. In women, the largest share of preventable cancers were due to high-risk human papillomavirus, or HPV, which has been known to potentially lead to cervical cancer. 

“By examining patterns across countries and population groups, we can provide governments and individuals with more specific information to help prevent many cancer cases before they start,” says André Ilbawi, WHO Team Lead for Cancer Control and co-author of the analysis.

New Simple Blood Test Can Predict Which Breast Cancer Treatment Would Work Best For Patients

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According to a new study, scientists have developed a simple DNA blood test that can predict how well certain breast cancer treatments will work for patients, offering up the most effective options to boost the individual’s chances of beating the disease.

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fast food

Ultra-Processed Foods May Increase Risk of Precancerous Polyps in Younger Women, Large Study Suggests

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A major new study has found that women under 50 who eat higher amounts of ultra-processed foods are more likely to develop precancerous growths in the colon, adding a significant new clue to the mystery of why colorectal cancer has been rising so sharply in younger adults.

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NHS Hospitals Will Test AI Tools To Diagnose And Treat Prostate Cancer 

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A new tool that uses artificial intelligence is being tested in NHS hospitals. The tool is meant to help diagnose men with prostate cancer and guide decisions regarding their specific treatment course. 

Prostate Cancer UK provided £1,900,000 ($2,474,550.50) to the Vanguard Path study which is being led by University of Oxford researchers. The study, according to reports, is expected to last for three years and will test a new AI tool called the ArteraAI Prostate Biopsy Assay. 

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The researchers are planning to take biopsies from over 4,000 men. The tool is meant to analyze digitized biopsy images to format a personalized risk score for each patient to determine if they have a high-risk for prostate cancer. This score will also determine who can benefit from the drug aburaterone. 

The tool has already been utilized in clinical trials, one of which took place in the US that suggests it can also be used for less aggressive forms of prostate cancer to predict which men are most likely to benefit from having hormone therapy and radiotherapy. 

Even further, the tool can likely help identify which patients don’t need immediate treatment and can instead be closely monitored. 

“If and when this gets implemented, you could use one tool irrespective of where you are on the aggressiveness scale, to make a very clinically and life-enhancingly important decision for each of those men,” said director of research at Prostate Cancer UK, Dr. Matthew Hobbs. 

Dr. Hobbs also mentioned that the tool is already being widely used in the US.  

In the new study within NHS hospitals, prostate biopsy samples from men already diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer will be used. These samples also come from men with suitable follow-up data, so researchers can further analyse the success of the tool when applied further to patients in the UK. 

North Bristol NHS trust, Oxford University hospitals NHS foundation trust, and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde will be testing the tool. 

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“Biopsies will be analyzed, the treatment choices will be made, and the man will start treatment. But at the same time, the NHS clinicians will be given a readout from this tool and asked: ‘If you had this, would you have recommended the same treatment or not?’” said Hobbs.

“A good outcome from this is that this tool is implemented in the NHS. However, for that to happen, it has to be shown to be scientifically valid, cost-effective, and make a difference to treatment decisions,” he said. 

Professor Gerhardt Attard, from the University College London who was not part of the trial but involved in the study around abiraterone, said this research is important based on the existent results. 

“When you take that to the real NHS world, there are a number of challenges and differences that would inevitably arise and that’s what this study will address,” he said.

Ashley Dalton, the minister for public health and prevention, said:

“This groundbreaking research could be a huge step forward, demonstrating the power of technology to potentially transform lives and improve cancer outcomes.”

“This is exactly why we’re investing in a digital NHS. By harnessing AI and moving beyond outdated systems, we can transform cancer care – diagnosing earlier, treating more effectively, and improving patient experience.”

Medical Cannabis

Medical Cannabis Shows It Can Not Only Treat Cancer Symptoms, But The Disease Itself 

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In the largest study ever published investigating medical cannabis as a treatment for cancer, researchers found a large amount of scientific support for cannabis’s potential to treat both cancer symptoms and the course of the disease’s progression as well. The study was published this week in Frontiers in Oncology.

“The intention of the analysis was to solidify agreement on cannabis’s potential as a cancer treatment,” said Ryan Castle, research director at the Whole Health Oncology Institute and lead author of the study. 

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“Our goal was to determine the scientific consensus on the topic of medical cannabis, a field that has long been dominated by a war between cherrypicked studies,” Castle said to the Guardian.

The study itself received funding by Cancer Playbook, an organization that works with the Whole House Oncology Institute to collect, analyse, and share data. 

In the past, it’s been difficult for scientists to pursue researching cannabis and how it can help cancer and other diseases since it’s considered a Schedule 1 narcotic, which means its not currently accepted for medical use and has a high potential for abuse, according to the DEA. 

“In order to move beyond bias – conscious or not – it was essential to use a large-scale, radically inclusive methodology based on mathematical reasoning,” Castle said.

“We wanted to analyze not just a handful, but nearly every major medical cannabis study to find the actual points of scientific agreement.”

Castle discussed that his study looked at 10,000 other studies on cannabis and cancer. 

“[It was] 10 times the sample size of the next largest study, which we believe helps make it a more conclusive review of the scientific consensus.”

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Castle and his team utilized artificial intelligence to help researchers see how many studies had positive, neutral, or negative views on cannabis’s ability to treat cancer symptoms and the disease itself. One of the biggest symptoms that cannabis helps with is the lack of appetite cancer patients have from their treatments. 

The study also showed an “overwhelming” support that cannabis can be used as a treatment for inflammation, appetite loss, and nausea associated with cancer. It also showed that cannabis can be used to fight the cancer cells themselves. 

“That’s a shocking degree of consensus in public health research, and certainly more than we were anticipating for a topic as controversial as medical cannabis,” Castle said.

Looking towards the future, Castle is hoping that his analysis of 10,000 studies and the outcomes he’s receiving will encourage the US DEA to complete the process of reclassifying cannabis so it is no longer federally illegal. This way, Castle and researchers like him can do more in depth analysis on how cannabis can be utilized to treat cancer, and even other diseases. 

“We are not arguing that the standards for adopting new cancer treatments should be lower. We are arguing that medical cannabis meets or exceeds those standards, often to a greater extent than current pharmaceutical treatments.”

lab

Scientists Developing Glowing Dye To Identify Cancer Cells In New Study

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In a new study from the University of Oxford and California biotech company ImaginAb Inc, experts have found that fluorescent dye can be used to identify and spotlight cancerous tissues and cells otherwise invisible to the naked eye. This technique could reduce the risk of cancer returning.

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cancer

Cancer Cases Projected To Rise Greatly In The Future 

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According to a new report from the American Cancer Society, cancer cases are expected to rise exponentially in the future. In fact, they’ve estimated that by 2050, the number of people with cancer could rise by 77%.

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Clinical Trial

A Small Cancer Trial Resulted In Remission For Every Patient Involved 

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In a new research trial of 18 rectal cancer patients, every individual involved who took the same drug found themselves in remission for their illness. The cancer vanished in every single patient, meaning the cancer was undetectable by physical exam, endoscopy, MRI scans, and PET scans. 

The research from the trial was recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine from lead author Dr. Luiz A. Diaz Jr. of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The trial was sponsored by drug company GlaxoSmithKline, and Dr. Diaz stated that he knew of no other study where a treatment completely obliterated a cancer in every patient involved. 

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“I believe this is the first time this has happened in the history of cancer.”

Dr. Alan P. Venook, a colorectal cancer specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not involved with the study, said he also thought “this was a first. A complete remission in every single patient is unheard-of,” he said.

The rectal cancer patients involved in the study have all previously experienced invasive and intense treatments for their conditions including chemotherapy, radiation, and life-altering surgery that could result in bowel, urinary, and sexual dysfunction. 

When the patients received the news that they would no longer need treatment for their cancer, as it was no longer existent, Dr. Andrea Cercek, a co-author of the paper, said “there was a lot of happy tears from everyone.”

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Venook added that another major surprise was that none of the patients had any clinically significant complications from the trial drug. On average 20% of patients who take a drug similar to the one used in the trial, dostarlimab, have some sort of adverse reaction. 

In the trial the medication was given every three weeks for six months, each dose cost around $11,000. The drug itself is meant to “unmask” cancer cells, allowing the body’s immune system to easily identify and destroy them. 

“While most adverse reactions are easily managed, as many as 3% to 5% of patients who take checkpoint inhibitors have more severe complications that, in some cases, result in muscle weakness and difficulty swallowing and chewing. The absence of significant side effects, means that either they did not treat enough patients or, somehow, these cancers are just plain different,” Venook said.

Dr. Hanna K. Sanoff of the University of North Carolina’s Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, who was not involved in the study, called it “small but compelling, though, that it is not clear if the patients are cured. Very little is known about the duration of time needed to find out whether a clinical complete response to dostarlimab equates to cure.”

Cancer

Study Reveals Whole-Genome Sequencing Can Improve Childhood Cancer Outcomes 

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According to a pilot study performed by doctors in Cambridge, reading the full genetic code of childhood cancers can help doctors improve an overall diagnosis. The code can also help doctors learn about how tumors grow and how to find the most effective treatment therapies for specific tumors. 

In the study the doctors used whole-genome sequencing on 36 children with cancer. They found that the extra information they were provided changed four of the patients’ diagnoses and revealed new treatment options in seven cases. 

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Seeing the whole-genome sequence of the cancer’s DNA allows doctors to learn even more about the specific cancers that their patients are dealing with. Clinicians in the study were able to refine two of their previous diagnoses, learn more about the course of the disease in eight of the children, and found potential hereditary reasons for tumors in two of the subjects. 

“Our aim was to illustrate what can be achieved with whole-genome sequencing and to try and advertise its utility. Locally in Cambridge it was never really in question that this would add value,” said Dr Patrick Tarpey, lead scientist for solid cancer in the East Genomic Laboratory Hub based at Cambridge University hospitals NHS foundation trust.

The results are projected to be shared at the National Cancer Research Institute festival. NHS England has already discussed their plans of rolling out whole-genome sequencing for childhood cancers with the goal of making sequencing a normal part of treatment. This will allow doctors to continuously track specific aspects of their patients’ cancer to make adjustments in treatment for the best possible outcome. 

The 36 children involved in the study had 23 different tumor types. All participants endured a standard test to identify their cancer, and test their genome sequencing to see whether or not their current treatment was actually improving the condition or not. 

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According to the study, comparing the genetic makeup of a tumor versus healthy tissue within the same individual can help doctors identify the specific mutations that are driving the cancer, and potentially can reveal the tumor’s weakness. The work itself is no easy task, however, as it can take anywhere from two to three months to successfully and accurately interpret the genome sequence. 

Tarpey said “about three-quarters of the gene variants flagged up in the study came from whole-genome analysis rather than the standard cancer tests the children had. There are cases where the diagnosis was completely uncertain and we’ve been able to confirm it, and in doing so identify the mechanisms that impaired the genes.”

Sheona Scales is a pediatric leader at Cancer Research UK, who said that children with cancer often undergo grueling treatments, and even when they’re over the side-effects can last a lifetime, which is why studies like this are so important. 

“It is vital that we find ways to tailor treatments towards the individual and for this, whole-genome sequencing is a game-changer.” 

“Understanding more about the makeup of a child’s cancer can help doctors make the most informed treatment choices for their patients. The hope is that this will lead to better outcomes for children with cancer, not just in terms of survival, but also in the quality of the rest of their lives,” she explained.