StemCell Therapy

What happened

Cellect Biotechnology (NASDAQ:APOP), an Israeli-based stem-cell company, today announced the first successful stem cell transplant procedure using its ApoGraft technology in a combined phase 1/2 clinical trial in a blood cancer patient, causing its shares to rise by as much as 115%. The company's stock has since cooled off, but is still up by 80% as of 3:00 p.m. EDT.

Image source: Getty Images.

Even though stem cell transplants can be a curative treatment for many blood disorders and blood-related cancers, they tend to be a treatment of last resort because of their life-threatening side effects, such as graft-versus-host disease (GvHD). So, if Cellect's ApoGraft technology turns out to be a viable workaround, it would be a major advancement in the field, and potentially an extremely lucrative product for the company.

While Cellect's announcement is indeed exciting, its stock still isn't a great long-term bet. Cellect exited 2016 with a paltry $8 million in cash andApoGraft is probably five to six years away from reaching the market. This current trial, after all, is simply a safety and proof-of-concept study that's not designed to provide a basis for a regulatory approval.

In addition, Bellicum Pharmaceuticals'adjunct T-cell therapy BPX-501 could reach the European market as one possible solution to the GvHD problem in blood cancer patients by early 2019, and in the U.S. by perhaps 2020. In other words, Bellicum has a significant head start on Cellect, which may diminish the commercial prospects ofApoGraft moving forward.

George Budwell has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

See original here:
Why Cellect Biotechnology Stock Is Skyrocketing Today - Motley Fool

Buy, Sell or Hold? Analysts Approach: Innoviva (INVA), Puma Biotechnology (PBYI)? The USA Commerce Shares of Puma Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:PBYI) dropped -2.02% to $38.90. During the trading on 03/27/2017, Company's stock ranged from $39.70 to $38.15. The relative strength index or RSI highlights overbought (above 70) and oversold (below 30) ... Watch List: Puma Biotechnology Inc (NASDAQ:PBYI) , Red Rock Resorts, Inc (NASDAQ:RRR)NYSE Journal (press release) all 3 news articles »

See the original post here:
Buy, Sell or Hold? Analysts Approach: Innoviva (INVA), Puma Biotechnology (PBYI)? - The USA Commerce

StockNewsJournal

Why Investors remained confident on Puma Biotechnology, Inc. (PBYI), Tempur Sealy International, Inc. (TPX)? StockNewsJournal Puma Biotechnology, Inc. (PBYI) have shown a high EPS growth of -44.40% in the last 5 years and has earnings decline of -11.30% yoy. Analysts have a mean recommendation of 1.90 on this stock (A rating of less than 2 means buy, hold within the 3 range ... and more »

The rest is here:
Why Investors remained confident on Puma Biotechnology, Inc. (PBYI), Tempur Sealy International, Inc. (TPX)? - StockNewsJournal

Prof. Lucy Ogbadu is the director-general of the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA). In his interview with NKECHI ISAAC, she talks about the current state of agricultural biotechnology development in Nigeria.

How many confined field trials are currently going on in Nigeria?

We have four confined field trials presently going on in Nigeria. They are BT Cowpea in Ahmadu Bello University, Institute of Agricultural Research, Zaria; African Bio-fortified Sorghum going on at the Ahmadu Bello University, Institute of Agricultural Research; BT Cotton equally being handled by IAR, Zaria; Newest Rice being handled by the National Cereals Research Institute, Badeggi.

How are the crops doing, how will you access their performance?

They are doing very well, were impressed with their performance. The BT Cowpea and ABS are ahead of the other two in the sense that they started earlier in 2011 and they have progressed tremendously. They are already into multi-locational trials as well as on-farm trials, especially the BT Cowpea.

When are you looking at harvesting these crops?

We harvest them periodically because there is no staple crop that grows for this length of time from 2011. So, obviously weve been harvesting and collecting the data on them, so it is not the issue of when we harvest because none of them grows more than a period of four to five months. So, weve been harvesting and studying them further.

When are we looking at commercialising these crops, the target was previously 2018 but it has been shifted to 2019. Can the nation make this new timeline?

The BT Cowpea will most likely be the first to go out for commercialisation and it will not go beyond 2019 in the sense that we want to be doubly sure on all were doing with the crop. The scientists are happy with the results they are getting, the farmers working with the scientists are equally happy with the results theyre getting in terms of out-performing the conventional ones theyve been used to. So, hopefully by 2019 latest, it should be out in the market.

Are there any regulatory hurdles that remain before these crops can be successfully commercialised in Nigeria?

Looking from the perspective of the government in terms of policy, there are no hurdles because the establishment of this agency by the government shows the government is in support of biotechnology. Now in terms of regulation all the risk assessment, all stewardship in terms of its performance have all been carried out by our scientists that are handling the crops.

This is about the last stage of what they need to do before it is commercialised in the sense that the seeds need to be multiplied before we can say they are ready for release but of course other regulatory hurdle that may interest you is that of registration of the crop with our varietal release committee, a unit based at Ibadan which will require them to convene a meeting of the varietal release committee to look at all the descriptors that are required to be looked at before they are registered and adjudged ready for release. That is about the only hurdle that is left.

After commercialization, how accessible will this crop be to the local farmers at the grassroots who are supposed to be the main benefactors of this technology?

They wont be different from all other seeds in the sense that once they are considered okay for commercial release then it will be at the national centre for genetic resources and biotechnology in Ibadan and at that stage the only thing that will be left will be for multiplication. You know the PIs will handle the multiplication along with the extension workers after which they will be ready for uptake for farmers that are interested and other interested people.

Seed companies are sceptical about genetically modified seeds, theyre scared that multinational seed companies like Monsanto and the likes will take over their market once GM crops are produced?

The process were currently adopting shows that our scientists and farmers are involved. Now if it gets to the stage of uptake and our indigenous Nigerian seed companies refuse to come forward to take them for multiplication and release them they shouldnt blame other seed companies that come forward to multiply them. In this case our own seed companies will definitely participate in the multiplication and release. I am sure of that. They should be able to come forward and participate because the qualities of the seeds are attractive so they should be able to come forward and take them up.

No foreign seed company will jump over the laid down protocols to come and introduce any foreign seed to Nigeria, it is not possible because the regulatory framework is in place to ensure that does not happen.

Some school of thoughts believe we should channel efforts at reducing food wastage instead of applying biotechnology to boost agriculture and ensure food security. What is your take on this?

Agricultural biotechnology is not limited to GMO alone. In fact the same technology can be applied to crops in order to check the food wastage, prolong the shelf life of agricultural produce, it can be applied to crops to ensure that improved yield of crops. So, there are various ways this technology can be used advantageously on crops. It can also be used to improve the nutritional quality of the crops. So, it is not limited to GM and as a matter of fact GM is only a technique that can give us so many other advantages. This is why we feel the public should trust our scientists enough to leave the matter to them because it is a complex scientific process that people who do not really understand science cant understand. The same technology can be used to improve the shelf life of tomato for instance such that it can stay on the shelf for much longer period without spoiling.

We cannot make any serious progress in agriculture without applying biotechnology; were talking about using agriculture to diversify Nigerias economy, if that is so how else other than mechanisation. In addition to mechanisation you must have quality seeds, deploy technology in order to use agriculture to diversify the economy. It is not with our crude system of agriculture that we can use it to diversify the economy. What this simply means is that were losing a lot if we do not use advanced technology, which is agricultural biotechnology to diversify the economy.

Through advanced agricultural biotechnology we can revolutionise agriculture and ensure food security using agricultural biotechnology. To downplay on it means the nation is losing heavily and invariably unserious about diversifying the economy through agriculture. Theres no other way, it is through agricultural biotechnology that we can inject and revolutionise agriculture to diversify Nigerias economy.

Follow this link:
We Can't Diversify Economy Through Agriculture Without Biotechnology Ogbadu - Leadership Newspapers

BATON ROUGE, La (LOCAL 33) - More than 200 walkers are supporting the Arthritis Foundations mission to cure arthritis and help people with arthritis live a full life by participating in the 2017 Walk to Cure Arthritis on May 20 at 8:00am at Woodlawn High School in Baton Rouge. Walk to Cure Arthritis brings together communities nationwide to fight arthritis the nations leading cause of disability which impacts 1.2 million residents of Louisiana, including 6,000 children.

In Baton Rouge, to help bring this event to its fullest potential, local leaders participating includes:

Arthritis is more than just a few minor aches and pains. Its a debilitating disease that robs people of their dreams, says Dr. Broyles. When you support Walk to Cure Arthritis, you become a Champion of Yes, helping us build a lifetime of better, while accelerating the search for a cure. Whether you are close to the disease or simply looking for an inspiring charity event that truly makes a difference, Walk to Cure Arthritis provides people the opportunity to experience the power of standing together and giving back to the community. Together, Baton Rouge can Walk to Cure Arthritis and help us reach our goal of raising $45,000 to help find a cure for this disease.

In the U.S., more than 50 million adults and 300,000 children live with arthritis. Costing the U.S. economy $156 billion dollars a year, arthritis affects one in five Americans and causes more activity limitation than heart disease, cancer or diabetes.

Nationally sponsored by Amgen, locals can register for the Baton Rouge Walk to Cure Arthritis and learn more about the event by visiting http://www.walktocurearthritis.org/batonrouge or contacting Sara Morthland at 337-540-0615.

Read this article:
Arthritis Foundation's "Walk to Cure Arthritis" slated for May - http://www.brproud.com

Don't let arthritis pain hinder your ability to "walk with ease."

The McMinn County UT Extension will host "Walk With Ease," a structured walking program that teaches participants ways to safely make physical activity a part of their everyday lives, beginning Wednesday, April 5, at the McMinn Senior Activity Center, First Baptist Church of Athens, and the Etowah Area Senior Citizens Center. The program will be held Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, April 5-28, from 10 to 11 a.m. at First Baptist, 1 to 2 p.m. at the Etowah Area Senior Citizens Center, and 3 to 4 p.m. at the McMinn Senior Activity Center.

The course is free.

Created by the Arthritis Foundation, "Walk With Ease" is designed to help people living with arthritis better manage their pain and is also ideal for people without arthritis who want to make walking a daily habit. The program offers support, information, and tools to help participants develop successful exercise routines.

"Research shows that walking is not only good for joints, but also helps improve the health of the heart, lungs, and bones," said Sarah Kite, UT Extension agent and Arthritis Foundation certified instructor. "Walking can also help manage weight which can reduce one's risk for arthritis in the knee, heart disease, and diabetes. If you can be on your feet for 10 minutes without increased pain, you will most likely have success with 'Walk With Ease.'"

The information and strategies taught in the Arthritis Foundation Walk With Ease Program are based on research and tested programs in exercise science, behavior change, and arthritis management. Updated and evaluated by the Thurston Arthritis Research Center and the Institute on Aging of the University of North Carolina, "Walk With Ease" has been shown to increase balance, strength and walking pace, as well as reduce the pain and discomfort of arthritis. The program also helps to build participants' confidence to be physically active and improve overall health.

The Arthritis Foundation Walk With Ease Program is one of several arthritis health education and exercise programs aimed at helping people take greater control of arthritis.

For a listing of programs, contact Kite at 745-2852 or visit utextension.tennessee.edu/mcminn. You can also learn more at the Arthritis Foundation website: http://www.arthritis.org

Attendees of all ages are welcome.

Consult your physician before beginning an exercise program.

To register, visit or contact the location you plan to attend or contact Kite at 745-2852.

UT Extension offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, national origin, age, sex, disability, religion or veteran status.

Go here to read the rest:
Arthritis sufferers can take steps to 'Walk With Ease' - The Daily Post-Athenian

The European Commission approved Pfizers twice-daily, oral Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor Xeljanz (tofacitinib citrate), in combination with methotrexate therapy, for treating moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in adult patients who dont respond well or are intolerant to one or more disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Xeljanz can also be used as monotherapy when methotrexate treatment isnt suitable.

Approval of Xeljanz in Europe is based in data from the global Phase III Oral Rheumatoid Arthritis Trials (ORAL) program. With the approval of tofacitinib, rheumatologists and patients in the EU now have an additional treatment option for the management of rheumatoid arthritis that can be taken with or without methotrexate, said Ronald van Vollenhoven, M.D., Ph.D., professor of rheumatology and director of the Amsterdam Rheumatology and Immunology Center ARC. This is an important advancement for the rheumatology community as up to one-third of people with rheumatoid arthritis may not achieve a response with current treatments and a number of patients may not sustain a response.

Xeljanz has been cleared in more than 45 countries for use as second-line therapy for moderate-to-severe RA, after failure of one or more DMARDs. The latest approval, in China, was announced earlier this month. Xeljanz was first approved in the U.S. in 2012, and in February 2016 FDA cleared a, once-daily, extended-release formulation, Xeljanz XR. Global sales of Xeljanz were $927 million in 2016, up from $523 million in 2015, up 77% on 2015.

Xeljanz is in Phase III development for treating ulcerative colitis and psoriatic arthritis. Positive data from the Phase III OPAL Broaden and Beyond studies evaluating Xeljanz as second-line therapy in adults with psoriatic arthritis were reported in November 2016.

Read this article:
Pfizer's Xeljanz Approved in Europe for Treating Rheumatoid Arthritis - Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News

Scientist Joanna Smeeton explores stem cell-based approaches to studying and eventually treating the common cause of cold aversion, disability and pain.

We only have treatments for the larger joints where you can provide total replacements, but a lot of people with arthritis actually get it in the joints of their hands, said Smeeton, a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Gage Crump and this years Broad Fellow, the third since 2014. Currently, there really isnt that much we can do for the cartilage in these smaller joints, other than treat the symptoms with steroids or painkillers.

As part of the quest for new and better treatments, her Broad Fellowship project leverages a key discovery that she and her colleagues recently published in the journal eLife. They found that certain joints in zebrafish jaws and fins have features similar to the type of mammalian joint susceptible to arthritis.

By damaging a ligament that stabilizes the adult zebrafish jaw, she can reliably induce cartilage damage and arthritis. Just as reliably, the zebrafish can repair the damage. Smeeton aims to understand which progenitor cells are regenerating the ligament and cartilage in the zebrafish jaws, and why similar repair fails to occur in humans.

In the future, these findings may help in devising strategies to stimulate analogous progenitor cells in patients joints toward boosting cartilage and ligament regeneration, she said.

Smeeton first decided to become a scientist thanks to a very different anatomical structure: the human kidney. As a high school student in the city of St. Catharines near Niagara Falls in Ontario, she developed a fascination with this complex organ, which is composed of 1 million subunits called nephrons that filter the blood, regulate blood pressure and produce urine.

Whenever I had a science class about kidneys, I thought, Oh, nephrons are so cool! she said.

At McGill University in Montreal, she majored in anatomy and cell biology, and observed kidneys and other organs in human cadavers in the anatomy lab.

Ive always been fascinated by how intricately patterned organs are and how that actually happens during development.

Joanna Smeeton

Ive always been fascinated by how intricately patterned organs are and how that actually happens during development, she said.

For her PhD, she learned more about kidney development in a lab at Torontos Hospital for Sick Children and the University of Toronto.

During her postdoctoral studies, she expanded her focus beyond development and into the realm of regeneration.

Id been hearing talks about zebrafish for years and their amazing ability to regenerate parts of themselves that are injured or removed, she said. So I wanted to learn how to use them. I switched to studying cartilage because joint disease seemed like an area that was understudied in the context of natural regeneration and would be ripe for new treatments.

With these goals in mind, she joined the Crump Lab with a two-year postdoctoral fellowship from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine in 2014. Since then, she has not only discovered that zebrafish can develop arthritis, but also lent her talents as a soprano to the USC University Chorus and, with her husband Jeremy, parented twins: Edie and Isaac. Theirs is a true Trojan family: Jeremy Morris graduated in 2012 with an MFA from the Peter Stark Producing Program at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

The twins have made me even more focused in my lab work, said Smeeton, because I know that any second that Im not home with them, I should be giving my 100 percent and really drilling down on the important questions we want to ask.

As she moves ahead with her research, the Broad Fellowship provides an ideal bridge. Established as part of a $2 million gift from The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, the fellowship is designed to support exceptional senior postdoctoral researchers at the transition point to starting their own stem cell laboratories.

Joanna is a motivated, smart and creative researcher who is destined for success in academic research, said Crump, associate professor of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine. This prestigious fellowship gives her the freedom to pursue her novel joint regeneration project, which provides a fundamentally new type of approach toward finding cell-based cures for arthritis.

More stories about: Research, Stem Cells

Gabriel Linares seeks therapies for patients with Lou Gehrigs disease.

The condition is more widespread in the animal kingdom than scientists suspected, USC study finds.

Lori OBrien will use Broad Center support to find her niche in kidney research and regenerative medicine.

The objective of one current research proposal is to push the frontiers of stem cell and tissue engineering technologies.

More here:
USC scientist fishes for stem cell-based arthritis treatments - USC News

First, lets talk about the individuals Brooks cited. President Obamas approach bears the strong influence of Christian theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, and Brooks knows it. In fact, he wrote two different opinion pieces about the influence of Niebuhr on Obama (here, and here). For what its worth, Douthat wrote one too. On the other people cited, Ive written extensively about the influence of Rev. King on Obama.

More broadly, Obama has repeatedly offered precisely the unifying story Douthat and Brooks assert our country needs, one that includes both the traditional heroes from the older narrative Douthat says appeals to many, as well as figures representing a much broader cast of characters, i.e., those excluded from the older narrative, and who are pretty heroic as well. The 44th president wove all their stories into a single history of a diverse, yet unified people working to realize the ideals laid out at the founding. Obamas story of America is, in fact, just what Brooks called for: a progressively realized grand narrative.

To the chagrin of some, Obamas Americarightly, in my viewrejects both the whitewashed narrative that was predominant in the 1950s and the overwhelmingly negative vision Brooks criticized, one steeped in American tales of genocide, slavery, oppression and segregation. To be sure, no one could be elected president running around talking about America in such a negative. Furthermore, anyone demanding that a progressive candidate must do so in order to earn their vote is only helping elect candidates who espouse the opposite understanding of America. Obamas narrative describes our progress as uneven, yes, but nonetheless moving toward the goal we as a people set for ourselves.

Of dozens of examples in which Obama lays out his conception of American history and national identity, here are a few that span his time on the national stage. From his 2006 book The Audacity of Hope, heres one that offers a unifying narrative paralleling what Brooks says we need:

[The] Constitution...despite being marred by the original sin of slaveryhas at its very core the idea of equal citizenship under the law. . . . Of course racism and nativist sentiments have repeatedly undermined these ideals . . . but in the hands of reformers, from Tubman to Douglass to Chavez to King, these ideals of equality have gradually shaped how we understand ourselves and allowed us to form a multicultural nation the likes of which exists nowhere else on earth.

On the night he won the 2008 Iowa caucuses:

Hope is what led a band of colonists to rise up against an empire. What led the greatest of generations to free a continent and heal a nation. What led young women and young men to sit at lunch counters and brave fire hoses and march through Selma and Montgomery for freedom's cause.

From the first day of his second term:

We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths - that all of us are created equal - is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.

In his eulogy for Reverend Clementa Pinckney, one of the nine African Americans murdered by a white supremacist in a Charleston, South Carolina, church:

Removing the Confederate flag from this states capitol...would be one step in an honest accounting of Americas history; a modest but meaningful balm for so many unhealed wounds. It would be an expression of the amazing changes that have transformed this state and this country for the better, because of the work of so many people of goodwill, people of all races striving to form a more perfect union.

And from his farewell address:

For 240 years, our nations call to citizenship has given work and purpose to each new generation. Its what led patriots to choose republic over tyranny, pioneers to trek west, slaves to brave that makeshift railroad to freedom. Its what pulled immigrants and refugees across oceans and the Rio Grande, pushed women to reach for the ballot, powered workers to organize. Its why GIs gave their lives at Omaha Beach and Iwo Jima; Iraq and Afghanistan and why men and women from Selma to Stonewall were prepared to give theirs as well.

Maybe the blindnessof writers like Douthat and Brooks isnt blindness at all, but instead strategy. Maybe they feel like theyll lose their ability to reach anti-Trump Republicans if they acknowledge that Obama has already done what they are calling for someone to do. Part of me can understand that thinking. But another part of me says that the strategic value of a Republican saying: if its a choice between Trumpism and Obamaism, Ill take Obamaism would be far better. Plus, just tell the damn truth if you know what Obama has been doing.

Giving Obama credit for putting forth a balanced, inclusive conception of national identity wouldnt mean endorsing the whole of the Democratic policy platform. Even on the national narrative itself, if Douthat and/or Brooks want to say that Obama hasnt been effective enough in selling the vision he (and they) have described, thats a point we can debate as well. But if they honestly believe that he hasnt been putting that vision out there time and again for years, well, then they just havent been listening.

Ian Reifowitz is the author of Obamas America: A Transformative Vision of Our National Identity (Potomac Books).

Go here to see the original:
The blindness of anti-Trump Republicans - Daily Kos

New Delhi, March 26 (PTI): India's government is poised to change its four-decade-old definition of blindness to bring it in line with the World Health Organisation's less stringent criterion and lower the country's blindness stats.

Health officials said the current Indian criterion, which labels a person unable to count fingers from a distance of six metres as blind, results in higher estimates than the WHO stipulation of a distance of three metres.

"With the current definition, we project higher figures of blindness in India in international fora. India gets presented in a poor light compared to other countries," said Promila Gupta, deputy director-general of the National Programme for Control of Blindness, which set the current Indian criterion.

Gupta said the data India currently generates cannot be compared with global estimates as other countries follow the WHO criterion. Uniformity of blindness criteria is a pre-requisite for a reliable estimate of the global burden of blindness, she said.

The proposal to change India's criterion is partly driven by the country's goal of reducing the prevalence of blindness to 0.3 per cent of the population by 2020, in line with the WHO's Vision 2020 goals.

"It will be extremely difficult to achieve the WHO goal using the current (Indian) definition. By adopting the blindness criterion of the WHO, India can achieve the goal," said Praveen Vashist, a senior ophthalmologist at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.

The health ministry plans also to rename the National Programme for Control of Blindness as the National Programme for Control of Visual Impairment and Blindness.

"The idea is to strengthen the programme by focusing not only on blind people but also on those with some (less severe) kind of visual impairment," Gupta said.

Read this article:
Blindness yardstick - Calcutta Telegraph

VIDEOS: OBAMACARE, HEALTHCARE EXCHANGE ISSUESPence: Health Care Setback 'Won't Last Long' | 2:14

A defiant Vice President Mike Pence says President Donald Trump's administration is refusing to accept defeat on health care. (March 25) AP

1 of 21

House Speaker Paul Ryan cancelled the vote on the GOP's health care bill that would've replaced Obamacare, saying he could not get enough votes to support it. USA TODAY

2 of 21

House speaker Paul Ryan explained his decision for cancelling a vote on the GOP bill to replace Obamacare. USA TODAY

3 of 21

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that the changes recently introduced to the GOP's health care bill could add billions of dollars to the bill's cost, without increasing the number of those insured. USA TODAY

4 of 21

President Donald Trump gave a speech at the National Republican Congressional Committee in Washington Tuesday night, telling the crowd the American people gave "clear instructions" by electing Trump to "get to work and to get the job done." (March 21) AP

5 of 21

Republicans released a modified health care bill in an attempt to shore up bipartisan support to replace the Affordable Care Act. USA TODAY

6 of 21

Concerned citizens protest the GOP health care plan. Nikki Boertman/The Commercial Appeal

7 of 21

Republicans are starting the process of replacing the Affordable Care Act but there is some dispute within their own party about how to proceed.

8 of 21

While holding a press conference after touring Fort Campbell, US Congresswomen Marsha Blackburn and Diane Black did not answer questions about new healthcare law. Shelley Mays and Jake Lowary

9 of 21

House Republicans have unveiled their replacement plan for the Affordable Care Act. The plan differs from Obamacare in various ways. Time

10 of 21

A new poll from MTSU shows that, in Tennessee, opinions are often tied to your political affiliation. Adam Tamburin/The Tennessean

11 of 21

Protesters rally outside Senators Bob Corker's and Lamar Alexander's offices in support of the Affordable Care Act. George Walker IV / The Tennessean

12 of 21

When will America get a new healthcare plan? President Donald Trump is now saying it could be a year from now. Aaron Dickens reports. Buzz60

13 of 21

The prospect of repeal has made Obamacare more popular than ever! Rob Smith has all the details. Buzz60

14 of 21

GOP Congress Members recently introduced legislation that would give the authority to states to keep ObamaCare. Jose Sepulveda (@josesspulveda87) has more. Buzz60

15 of 21

Gov. Bill Haslam is calling on Congress to cede more control over health policy and regulation to the states, as the debate over repealing or replacing the Affordable Care Act rages on in Washington. Wochit

16 of 21

Chris Kane had insurance through Community Health Alliance before it went defunct then moved to Blue Cross Blue Shield Tennessee, now will have to go to Humana. He has concerns about finding the right doctors for his family, a wife and infant. Amy Smotherman Burgess / News Sentinel

17 of 21

The health care heavyweight is grappling with hefty losses and ongoing uncertainty on the marketplace. Karen Kraft / The Tennessean

18 of 21

Changes to the Affordable Care Act in Tennessee Kyleah Starling/ The Tennessean

19 of 21

Insurance broker Jonathan Katz of Virginia Medical Plans speaks with USA TODAY healthcare reporter Jayne O'Donnell about some the problems facing those enrolling for Obamacare. USA TODAY

20 of 21

Five states are expected to have just one company selling insurance on the 2017 Obamacare exchanges and consumers in most of the counties in nine other states won't find any competition for their exchange business either. Martin E. Klimek, USA TODAY

21 of 21

Pence: Health Care Setback 'Won't Last Long'

GOP health care vote pulled at last minute

Paul Ryan: 'We came up short' on health care vote

CBO says latest GOP health care bill would cost more

Trump: Health care bill ends Obamacare nightmare

GOP's modified health care plan includes key changes

Memphians say no to Trump Care

The debate begins over Obamacare replacement

Tennessee lawmakers decline to talk about new healthcare law

What to know about the GOP healthcare bill

MTSU poll addresses Obamacare

Obamacare rally in Nashville

Obamacare may not be replaced until next year

Why Obamacare is more popular than ever

Potential GOP ObamaCare replacement wouldn't really 'replace' it

Haslam: States need more control over health care

BCBST departure from 3 metro areas

BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee is leaving the Obamacare marketplace

Obamacare Exchange 'Very Near Collapse'

Obamacare exchanges still troubled by enrollment issues

As insurance companies dwindle, patients left frustrated with lack of choice

Price blindness, or a lack of price transparency, affects healthcare consumers across the U.S. Pricing is so opaque that even many doctors and hospitals cant estimate what a service might cost, leaving patients no options to compare or price-shop.(Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

This month, local price transparency company Healthcare Bluebook launched its price comparison tool for residents of Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky.

In providing its full database, Healthcare Bluebook has created an opportunity for Nashville consumers to cure what the company has coined as price blindness, or the inability to evaluate what a medical procedure will cost before receiving it.

With the free tool, consumers in Nashville and the surrounding regions can easily search for common medical procedures and find fair prices as well as rankings of area hospitals and other provider sites to see how they compare on price and quality.

This is the first time any community has been able to access the companys comprehensive database of pricing and provider information, which was previously only available through employers as a workplace benefit.

Price blindness, or a lack of price transparency, affects healthcare consumers across the U.S. Pricing is so opaque that even many doctors and hospitals cant estimate what a service might cost, leaving patients no options to compare or price-shop.

This problem is unique to healthcare can you imagine driving a car off the dealers lot and getting a bill in the mail later? Would you buy a television at Best Buy without a quick Amazon search? Most of us would not, but until recently, there just wasnt a way for consumers to easily compare costs in healthcare.

But Nashville companies like Healthcare Bluebook and MD Save are trying to change that, especially as consumers pick up more of the costs of their care. With higher deductibles and more cost-sharing, patients are starting to ask questions about how much services cost, and if they can be provided at a lower price elsewhere.

Heres an example: How much does a total knee replacement cost in Nashville? According to Healthcare Bluebook, the fair price, or what you might reasonably expect to pay, is $34,357, but costs in the area range more than $20,000 from $22,044 to $54,545.

Because there is so much variation in cost depending on your insurance plan and other individual factors, Healthcare Bluebook doesnt publish the specific cost estimates at each Nashville hospital. But the company does rank the facilities, based on how much more or less than the fair price the service is expected to cost there. This can be very enlightening.

For example, for our knee replacement, only Saint Thomas Midtown is expected to cost at or below the fair price. Not even a mile away, Vanderbilt University is in the red, or expected to have the highest price.

Heres another procedure. How much would you expect a rotator cuff repair surgery to cost? Here, Healthcare Bluebook shows that all the local hospitals Saint Thomas, Vanderbiltand TriStar are the highest-priced sites of care. But outpatient facilities, like Nashville Surgery Center, Baptist Plaza Surgicare, Centennial Surgery Center and St. Thomas SurgiCare are all at or below the fair price of $8,296.

Lets look at one more example, an MRI. Its particularly smart to price shop imaging services, because there can be massive cost variations for something that many regard as being relatively straightforward. As with the shoulder surgery, a chest MRI is far more expensive in the hospital than at an outpatient site. Heritage Medical Associates, Premier Radiologyand the Outpatient Diagnostic Center of Nashville are all expected to be at or below the fair price of $900.

Why are hospitals more expensive than outpatient settings? Generally speaking, its because they have more overhead. Outpatient sites are typically smaller facilities with fewer staff and less expensive equipment. Often, the higher cost of a basic MRI at a hospital is actually subsidizing much more expensive technology.

This is also why some hospitals are more expensive than others. Hospitals with more robust or advanced services, like pediatric cancer treatment or state-of-the-art cardiac care, have more leverage with insurers and can negotiate higher payments for all services.

This leverage is largely driven by the employer-based group insurance market. Because employers want to provide employees with access to cutting-edge treatment, they demand insurers include them in their plan networks. Because providers know the insurers wont exclude them, these hospitals are able to negotiate higher payments.

Eventually, this all trickles down to you via your out-of-pocket costs. Many insurers and employers hope that consumers will soon become more comfortable comparing healthcare costs, and begin choosing less expensive options.

Healthcare Bluebook is a great tool for Nashville consumers to do that. By getting a sense of fair prices, consumers can cut through those complicated negotiations and get to the heart of the matter how much will it cost?

Alex Tolbert is the founder of Bernard Health, a company that provides non-commissioned, expert advice on health, Medicare and COBRA insurance and medical bill consulting. To learn more, visit http://www.bernardhealth.com.

Read or Share this story: http://tnne.ws/2ojDYJ7

Read more:
Can Nashville find cure for price blindness in health care? - The Tennessean

San Diego researchers have reported a medical milestone: Theyve grown a whole meniscus, the slippery crescent of cartilage that cushions the knee joint.

Animal testing will be needed before the replacement meniscus can be used in people, said Darryl DLima, a Scripps Health physician-scientist who led the study.

Clinical trials will show whether the lab-cultivated meniscus can prevent or delay development of arthritis which commonly occurs when people lose their original meniscus and the accompanying pain and limitations in movement.

If such trials are established, signs of potential effectiveness could emerge as soon as two years into the testing, said DLima, who works at Scripps Clinics Shiley Center for Orthopaedic Research and Education. But it may take up to a decade to be sure.

The lab-grown meniscus contains all the major components of the natural one, DLima said. Made by a printer-like device using high-voltage technology borrowed from textile manufacturing, the meniscus has living cartilage cells embedded in fibers of bovine collagen, a structural protein.

The structure is as necessary as the ingredients to keep the shape of the meniscus amid the stresses it encounters in the knee, DLima said. Merely grinding up the components and molding them into the shape of a meniscus would produce something like cake batter, he said.

We call it the micro-architecture, he added. The Holy Grail has been to replicate the micro-architecture at the macroscopic level.

A physician who holds a doctorate in bioengineering from UC San Diego, DLima is skilled at synthesizing engineering and biology. Colleagues have described him as proficient at looking outside of biology for technologies that can be adapted for biomedical purposes.

DLima and fellow researchers have been pursuing their meniscus work for several years, thanks to various grants.

The details of their milestone achievement were presented last week at the Orthopaedic Research Societys annual meeting in San Diego. There, DLima discussed the types of cells needed for regenerative medicine while the meniscus study itself was discussed by colleague Jihye Baek of The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla.

The meniscus has a limited ability to recover from injuries because its poorly supplied with blood vessels. Minor damage can be repaired, but extensive injury will destroy it.

In some cases, a cadaver meniscus is used to replace the destroyed one. But the cadaver tissue must be tested to see if it contains dangerous pathogens, and it must be of the right size and shape for the patient. And cadaver meniscus transplants have a 50 percent failure rate.

DLima and his team said growing a replacement could be a better option. The meniscus could be custom-made and grown under sterile conditions to ensure its disease-free.

Experiments using artificial meniscus replacements are being tested, but those products will degrade over time, DLima said. In my opinion, theyre the strongest the day you put them in, because artificial materials can only get weaker, he said.

The theory is that a living replacement will maintain itself, making it more durable in the long run.

In any testing, an artificial material will actually beat a biological material, DLima said. Theres no way a bone can stand up to a steel beam. But a steel beam will eventually break, whereas your bone is constantly repairing itself. And thats whats happening in the meniscus.

If his teams research succeeds, it would represent a major triumph in the emerging field of bioprinting, in which individual cells are placed into a specific pattern that resembles natural tissue.

Companies such as San Diegos Organovo have tapped such technology to produce liver and other kinds of tissue for research. The liver tissue can be treated with various experimental drugs to see whether theyre likely to cause liver toxicity in patients. Organovo is also developing bioprinted tissue for future therapeutic uses.

The meniscus is hard to replicate, with cartilage cells woven in with collagen fibers at a microscopic level. This means both elements must be supplied the cartilage cells alone wont suffice. And arraying the cells and fibers in the proper pattern requires great precision.

DLimas team accomplished that feat by borrowing technology used to make textiles and air filters for vehicles. One, called electrospinning, uses high voltages to array fibers into precise positions. Another, known as electrospraying, deposits the cells inside the woven fibers as they are being spun into position.

The electrospinning process required 20,000 volts, but the cells survived because the current is low. Static electricity produce by shuffling across a carpet in cold, dry weather provides a familiar example of this effect the shock can be strongly felt because of the high voltage, but is harmless because of the low current.

The process is not quite the same as traditional bioprinting, DLima said, but the concept is similar.

The new study was funded by Donald & Darlene Shiley and the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine. Scripps Health initiated the study, provided most of the staffing and collaborated with The Scripps Research Institute.

bradley.fikes@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1020

View original post here:
Lab-grown meniscus could one day prevent arthritis in knees - The San Diego Union-Tribune

New tool for prognosis, choice of therapy for rheumatoid arthritis Science Daily In rheumatoid arthritis, antibodies are formed that affect the inflammation in the joints. In an article published in the journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, researchers at Uppsala University show that antibodies against the cartilage protein ...

More here:
New tool for prognosis, choice of therapy for rheumatoid arthritis - Science Daily

Stem cell therapy can restore sufficient erectile function to allow previously impotent men to have spontaneous intercourse, show results of an early clinical trial.

"What we have done establishes that this technique can lead to men recovering a spontaneous erection -- in other words, without the use of other medicines, injections, or implants," said lead researcher Martha Haahr from Odense University Hospital in Denmark.

Results presented at the European Association of Urology conference in London showed that eight out of 21 participants in the study successfully regained sexual function.

"We are now beginning a larger Phase-2 trial to better evaluate its effectiveness and confirm its safety," Haahr said.

In recent years several groups have worked to develop stem cell therapy as a cure for erectile dysfunction, but until now the improvements have not been sufficient to allow affected men to achieve full sexual intercourse.

Erectile dysfunction to some degree affects nearly half of men between the ages of 40 and 70.

There are several possible causes, including surgery (for example, prostate surgery), high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and psychological problems.

Current remedies -- which include medications such as PDE5 inhibitors (such as Viagra and Cialis), injections, or penile implants -- have some disadvantages, so scientists have been searching to find a way which restores natural sexual function.

The present work focuses on patients with physical damage, caused by surgery (radical prostatectomy) for prostate cancer.

The research group, from Odense in Denmark, used stem cells taken from abdominal fat cells via liposuction (under a general anaesthetic).

None of the 21 men reported significant side effects over the trial period, or in the following year, according to the study.

After isolating the stem cells, they were injected into the corpus cavernosum area of the penis. The patients were able to be discharged the same day.

Within six months of the treatment, eight of the 21 patients reported that they had recovered sufficient erectile function to achieve penetrative sexual activity.

This improvement has been maintained for a year, indicating that this treatment may confer long-term benefits.

"We are the first to use a man's own fat stem cells as a treatment for erectile dysfunction in a clinical trial. The technique has been trialed in animal work, but this is the first time stem cell therapy has allowed patients to recover sufficient erectile function to enable intercourse," Haahr said.

The rest is here:
Stem Cell Therapy Restores Sexual Function In Impotent Men - News18

Livingston County News | Got a Minute?: What is your diabetes risk The Livingston County News The theme is Take it, the ADA diabetes or pre-diabetes risk test; Share it, share this test with those you care about; and Learn it, find out if you are at risk for ... and more »

View post:
Livingston County News | Got a Minute?: What is your diabetes risk - The Livingston County News

Julio Munoz, M.D., FACP 1:04 a.m. MT March 25, 2017

Julio Munoz MD(Photo: Courtesy Photo)

Diabetes affects nearly 30 million people in the United States a stunning 10 percent of the overall population. And recent research reveals that diabetes is now the third leading cause of death, not the seventh, as was previously thought. Perhaps the most concerning statistic is that one in four persons living with diabetes is unaware that they have the disease.

The American Diabetes Association sponsors Diabetes Alert Day to serve as an annual wake-up call. The organization wants to remind Americans about the seriousness and prevalence of diabetes, particularly when the disease is left un-diagnosed or untreated. This year, Diabetes Alert Day is Tuesday, March 28.

The incidence of type 2 diabetes in this country has tripled in the last twenty years. The adoption of sugary diets and sedentary lifestyles has caused the disease to reach epidemic proportions. On the positive side, this condition doesnt have to be a death sentence. Its almost always avoidable, and even reversible, with serious lifestyle changes.

Researchers estimate that, if current trends continue, one in three Americans will have diabetes by the year 2050. Left untreated, diabetes can lead to kidney failure, limb amputations, blindness, and even death. Early diagnosis and treatment is critical to preventing irreversible damage to your health and longevity, so awareness and access to care are the key areas of focus.

Here are the top five ways to keep blood sugar at healthy levels, and to keep type 2 diabetes from impacting you and your loved ones:

If you have a family history of diabetes, you are at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes yourself. Also, the condition is more common in African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Asians and Pacific Islanders. Above-average body weight increases diabetes risk for people of all backgrounds.

Only your doctor can tell for sure if you are diabetic or pre-diabetic. As part of your annual health physical, be sure to talk to your doctor about the results of your fasting blood sugar and A1C tests. If your numbers are heading in the wrong direction, you can act quickly to get back on the right track.

If you need assistance in diagnosing or managing your metabolic health, or you just need to be connected with a primary care physician, contact Pecos Valley Internal Medicine at 575-234-9692 or visit http://www.PecosValleyDocs.com.

I would also like to take this opportunity to invite the public to a free Diabetes seminar on Thursday, March 30, at 3p.m. at Carlsbad Medical Center in the private dining room. The seminar will be presented by Susan Dade, RD, LD, CDE and Danielle Weathers, RD, LD, and will include information on healthy diets and eating habits for those living with Diabetes. For more information on the seminar, please call 575-628-5069.

Dr. Julio Munoz is a board certified internal medicine physician with over 30 years of experience.He received his medical degree from Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and completed his residency at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center in Bronx, NY. In addition to being certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, Dr. Munoz is also a Fellow of the American College of Physicians (FACP). He is a member of the medical staff at Carlsbad Medical Center.

Read or Share this story: http://c-cargus.co/2n1sZmE

See the article here:
The dangers of diabetes - Carlsbad Current-Argus

Earlier this week I was told I was diabetic. When sharing it with people, some felt maybe this was not the type of news the founder of Less Cancer should broadcast.

I am sure that it is exactly the kind of thing to share. Since founding the organization in 2004, I have always been open about some of the lifestyle challenges and risks I have engaged in; from being a chain smoker as a child to having a diet so poor that as a college student at 661/2 and 168 lbs, I was diagnosed with malnutrition.

Since that time I have been far from saved. I did quit smoking twenty-one years ago when my son was born, as he had a respiratory issue that would have prevented me from ever holding him. Fortunately, the doctor that was treating him at the time used his agency to say that I would have to leave my clothes outdoors and take a shower before picking him up. With the help of the patch, I quit right away.

Pancreatic cancer and diabetes have been linked in patients who have had diabetes for less than five years, yet it is unclear if diabetes contributed to the cancer or if the pre-cancerous cells caused the diabetes. Also, research suggests that new-onset diabetes in people over 50 may be an early symptom of pancreatic cancer. (Pancan.org) My sister died of pancreatic cancer at a young age.

Type 2 diabetes has a stronger link to family history and lineage than type 1, although it too depends on environmental factors. If there is a family history of type 2 diabetes, it may be difficult to figure out whether it is due to lifestyle factors or genetic susceptibility. I only know of a few family members with type 2 diabetes, and they were all at an enviably healthy weight.(Diabetes.org)

However, for over twenty years I have been vigilant about eating and serving certified organic foods to my family. For me, sugar is the head-spinning devil. And no matter how healthily I eat around it, its just too tough to burn off a slice of cake. I walk at least a few times a week, and I have started running on the treadmill with a trainer when I am back home in Virginia.

When I heard the news of my diagnosis, I felt ashamed as to how I could not know better. Certainly, I had been warned. I was most angry with myself because, with my very non-profit salary, I understood that I would never really be able to afford the meds for a diabetic. My doctor has given me three months to turn things around.

However there is something even more insidious, and that is isolation.

In my work, without intention or awareness, I seem to have systematically built a wall around myself to the outside world and my own personal needs.

I am immensely grateful for the handful of amazing friends and my immediate family, with whom I am in touch daily. But something strange began happening as I heard from more and more people that I did not know and started connecting with on social media, and then through blogs. In the course of the day, I often speak to more strangers than people I know. I am on the road so much that I often eat alone and have little social contact.

After the United States Congressional Caucus and the Cancer Prevention Workshop this past February, on the only free day I had I met with a few of the cyclists for the bike ride to raise money for Less Cancer. The day of my birthday in Detroitmy big nightwas spent on my laptop, in my hotel. I took a moment to check Facebook and email only to notice an embarrassing amount of birthday wishesbetween social media and email it was well into the hundreds.

As I drove out of town the next day, hurrying to my next stop, I could not help but think how strange it felt to look at all these communications from so many people I did not know-despite being very appreciated. I meet kind and wonderful people each day and I am one of those people that love others more than myself.

As more people get to know me and the work of Less Cancer, I receive accolades but not always from people I know. I feel a need to protect myself by establishing boundaries, thus creating even greater distance between me and the world.

Somehow the more I connect and work with the masses my wall, unseen by the outside seemingly inches higher, insidiously moving further away from filling my metaphoric bucket or addressing some very basic needs.

With a focus outwards on the rest of the world, I move further and further away from my needs.

In trying to understand my diabetes diagnosis, I find myself asking what isolation means to human healthworking alone, traveling alone, and frequently not having any connections beyond people who want to talk to me about my work.

In a report by Soledad OBrien, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said the greatest public health crisis (according to the surgeon general) isnt cancer or heart disease. Its isolationisolation and the affects of being socially disconnected.

I may never know if my diagnosis is hereditary or lifestyle, stress or isolation. You can count on me turning my sights inward as a matter of health. Watching diet and exercise, connecting with friends and asking for help with the work for Less Cancer.

I will be exploring more about isolation as it impacts human health, including diabetes. Diabetes can, in fact, be a cancer risk. Now more than ever, we need to get a handle on these preventable diseases, and it needs to start with me.

Is this my legacy to my children? Is this what I leave thema future knowing that the idea of Less Cancer will be a missed opportunity to turn the steadily increasing incidences of cancer around. A future with a cancer economy?

I am not giving up-if you want to help, please help the work of Less Cancer not because of me but rather because we are doing life-saving work that is making change.

First published in Thrive Global

Go here to read the rest:
Is Diabetes the Disease or the Symptom - Huffington Post

wbur In this 2016 photo, a Chinese doctor Peng Limei looks at a CT scan of a lung cancer patient. (Andy Wong/AP)

This story is part of our "This Moment In Cancer" series. Sign up here to get series updates in your inbox.

A dear friend died of lung cancer this week.

She didnt smoke and she had no other risk factors. A retired nurse and avid cook, she ate an exemplary diet, maintained a lithe figure, and got an impressive amount of exercise climbing mountains and clearing trails.

Her death has left her many friends wondering why her? Her example undercuts the notion that any of us can ultimately do much to avoid an ugly death from cancer.

Dr. Bert Vogelstein of Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions says my late friend exemplifies the 50 percent or so of cancers he calls unpreventable.

"People want a reason why these cancers happen," Vogelstein says. "Well, heres the reason: Cells make mistakes. Thats just bad luck."

Those mistakes are like typos in a giant manuscript. Each time a cell divides, it mis-copies several molecules in the long chain of DNA that makes up our genes. Most of the time these biochemical mistakes are harmless. But sometimes they occur in genes that keep cancer in check. Once some of these mutations accumulate, the cell breaks free of normal constraints on its growth --that is, it becomes malignant.

"People want a reason why these cancers happen. Well, heres the reason: Cells make mistakes. Thats just bad luck."

Two-thirds of the mutations that give rise to cancer are these random copying errors, according to Vogelstein, biostatistician Cristian Tomasetti and their colleagues at Johns Hopkins University. Another 29 percent of cancer-causing DNA damage, they say, comes from environmental and behavioral factors such as cigarette smoking and obesity. The remaining 5percent are hereditary defects.

Vogelstein is a leading light in cancer research. He pioneered the concept that there are genes that suppress cancer and identified mutations in those genes that underlie many cancers.

The Hopkins researchers have been saying for two years that most cancer-causing mutations are these inescapable random errors at the heart of our most fundamental cellular workings. But their 2015 paper was heavily criticized, partly because it considered only U.S. cancer cases --other nations may have different or more environmental triggers. Also, the earlier report left out breast and prostate cancers, two of the most common types, so critics said it wasnt valid to generalize the findings to all cancers.

Their new paper, just published in Science, includes breast and prostate cancer in the 17 cancer types they analyzed. And it incorporates evidence on cancer incidence from 69 countries that account for two-thirds of the worlds population.

"This is the very first time that someone has ever looked at the proportion of mutations within each cancer type and assigned them to these three factors," Tomasetti said during a press briefing, referring to environment, heredity and random copying errors. "I consider this a completely new result compared to our previous one and a really fundamental one."

Their argument relies on a mathematical model that estimates the number of stem cells in each tissue type (the cells that must replicate to renew the tissue) and the number of times these cells divide over a lifetime. The rate of random mutations is fairly constant in different organs, they say, but different tissues turn over at different rates.

For instance, cells that make up the lining of the large intestine renew themselves every four days. That gives them more opportunity to accumulate mutations in the genes that drive cancer than cells in, say, the bone or brain. So it makes sense that colorectal cancer is the fourth most common major cancer, after lung, breast and prostate cancers.

What it doesn't mean

The finding that two-thirds of cancer-causing mutations are due to random mistakes does not mean that two-thirds of all cancers are due to bad luck. Thats because many cancers arise from a mix of factors.

Since it takes several mutational hits to kick-start a cancer, one or more of these might arise from internal random copying errors while others might come from external environmental sources, such as tobacco smoke. An individual born with a mutation that predisposes her to cancer might not get the disease unless or until random mutations in cancer-driving genes accumulate.

Breast cancer is an example of mixed causes. Most of the underlying mutations are due to random mutations, Vogelstein says. Some are due to an environmental factor such as obesity, age of first menstruation or whether a woman breast-fed. And about 10 percent stem from a strong hereditary predisposition, such as a BRCA gene.

Vogelstein says my late friend appears to represent a "pure" case of random bad luck, since smoking and behavioral risk factors were apparently not in play and lung cancer is not known to have a significant hereditary component.

The Hopkins teams findings, they say, are consistent with prior estimates that about 40 percent of all cancers are preventable, 5to 10 percent are due to inherited cancer genes, and around half are not preventable --since theres no way to avoid random DNA copying errors.

But what about environment?

But the work has been controversial up to now, and may remain contentious. It disturbs those who believe that changes in environment and behavior deserve top priority in the war against cancer.

Concluding that bad luck is the major cause of cancer would be misleading and may detract from efforts to identify the causes of the disease and effectively prevent it, Dr. Christopher Wild, director of the World Health Organizations International Agency for Cancer Research, complained after the first Vogelstein-Tomasetti paper came out.

Anne McTiernan of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle remains unconvinced. "They say randomness is a major cause of cancer, and they said it last time," she told The Washington Post. "But the data doesnt convince me."

One group from Stony Brook University in New York did an analysis of the 2015 paper and concluded that extrinsic factors, such as environmental toxins, account for 70 to 90 percent of cancers while intrinsic ones the random copying errors when cells divide are to blame for only 10 to 30 percent.

The leader of the Stony Brook team says hes not convinced by the new report.

Vogelstein is philosophical about his critics. Its never easy to overturn dogma, he said in an interview. Like every new concept or idea that goes dramatically against the current paradigm, it will take awhile. It will take other people doing measurements we havent performed yet or even thought of. And hopefully people will accept it.

Less self-blame?

The implications for the way we think about cancer, and the strategies to fight it, are profound.

Most immediately, it might lessen the self-blame many cancer victims and their families feel --the sense theres something they did, or didnt do, that led to their diagnosis.

We hope this research offers comfort to the literally millions of patients who have developed cancer but who have led near-perfect lifestyles --who havent smoked, who have avoided the sun without sunscreen, who eat perfectly healthy diets, who exercise regularly, whove done everything that we know can be done to prevent cancer but they still get it, Vogelstein says.

Self-blame is particularly poignant for parents of children who get cancer. The Hopkins group believes that childhood cancers are entirely due to random mutations --except for the small percentage related to inherited gene defects.

When such parents read online that cancer is caused by environment or heredity, they often conclude theyre somehow to blame. "That causes a tremendous amount of guilt," says Vogelstein, a practicing pediatrician in his early career.

But the larger implication concerns the best strategy for fighting cancer.

Not preventing but nipping in the bud

Its not that classic prevention efforts, especially smoking cessation and healthier diets, dont deserve our continuing attention. But if around half of all cancers are due to random mutations --the price of biological mechanisms necessary for life --then theres no way to prevent those. That means we need to rely on early detection and treatment to maximize cures and minimize deaths.

We believe the first step in developing these strategies is simply recognizing these enemies exist, there are a lot of them, and theyre already here, inside us, Vogelstein says.

Right now, he says, funding for early detection and treatment is minuscule compared to that devoted to curing advanced, late-stage cancers.

One of the hottest areas of cancer research focuses on spotting the earliest signs of cancer, using such things as liquid biopsies to screen bodily fluids for evidence of cancer-causing mutations or telltale proteins produced by errant genes.

Vogelstein is prominent in this effort and has a personal stake such research. Hes the co-founder of two companies, PapGene and Personal Genome Diagnostics, that are trying to develop such high-tech diagnostics.

But early detection and treatment of cancer is fraught with pitfalls, as controversies over the risk-benefit ratio of mammography to detect early breast cancer and PSA testing for prostate cancer amply show. In large part thats because such tests often find cancers that dont need to be treated --that is, theyd never cause trouble if they werent treated. Doctors call this over-diagnosis.

There is certainly a problem with potential over-diagnosis, Vogelstein acknowledges. But that doesnt mean we should abandon the effort, especially now that were cognizant that many cancers arent preventable.

If Vogelstein and Tomasetti are right, they say, theres really no choice but to focus much more effort on nipping cancers in the bud. That's a long-term project.

Right now, for instance, many cancers are out of the gate and down the road before they're discovered. My friend's lung cancer, like so many with this fearful diagnosis, was too far advanced by the time it was found to even be slowed down by the most aggressive treatment.

So after living the healthiest life you can imagine, she spent her last days coping valiantly with the debilitating effects of the best cancer therapy her doctors could offer. It wasn't enough.

Richard Knox Senior Correspondent, CommonHealth Richard Knox is a senior correspondent for WBUR's CommonHealth.

More

Excerpt from:
A Friend Dies As Scientists Ponder: Just How Preventable Are Most Cancers? - WBUR

Metabolism and epigenetics play role in cancer development Science Daily For the cells this means either unlimited growth, cancer, or death. Researchers ... Although cancer and stem cells can be challenged by chemical inhibition, mechanistic details of how chromatin and metabolites interact are yet to be defined. With both ... and more »

Read the original post:
Metabolism and epigenetics play role in cancer development - Science Daily

Science Daily

Peptide targeting senescent cells restores stamina, fur, and kidney function in old mice Science Daily "Only in senescent cells does this peptide cause cell death," says senior author Peter de Keizer, a researcher of aging at Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands. "We treated mice for over 10 months, giving them infusions of the peptide ... Anti-aging peptide recovers fur growth, kidney health in miceMedical News Today Aging signs reversed in mice by killing senescent cellsThe San Diego Union-Tribune all 108 news articles »

Read more:
Peptide targeting senescent cells restores stamina, fur, and kidney function in old mice - Science Daily