Revision as of 14:44, 3 September 2015

Vitamin C: helpful to treat cancer

From the archives of The Times of India: 2008

Vitamin C might be useful to treat cancer after all, according to a US study in which injections of high doses of it greatly reduced the rate of tumor growth in mice. The idea that vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, could be used to treat cancer was advanced in the 1970s by American scientist Linus Pauling, who awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1954. The notion was controversial and subsequent studies failed to show a benefit. But those studies involved vitamin C given orally. The new study involved injections of vitamin C to enable greater concentrations of it to get into the system. The researchers implanted three types of aggressive cancer cells into laboratory mice — ovarian, pancreatic and glioblastoma brain tumors.

Extent and gender divide: 2012

Cancer strikes more Indian women, but kills more men

Malathy Iyer The Times of India Feb 04 2015 Mumbai

Extent and gender divide: 2012

More Indian women than men are diagnosed with cancer every year. It is reflected in insurance statistics that show more women in our cities claim medical insurance for cancer treatment. Blame it on physiology or the stereotypical image of an Indian woman who chooses to ignore her symptoms for long, but fact is the Big C exhibits a clear gender divide.

But when it comes to cancer-related fatalities, the figures turn upside down: more men die of cancer annually than women.

In all, 5.37 lakh Indian women were diagnosed with cancer in 2012 as against 4.77 lakh men, according to the World Cancer Report. The same year, 3.56 lakh men died of the disease in comparison to 3.26 lakh women.

In the past four years, 62-65%of cancer-related insurance claims were for women while the figure for men was only 35-38%, according to data released by private insurance firm ICICI Lombard. The claims were more for cancers of the cervix and breast, which are, according to the Indian cancer registry, the leading cancer types among women.

The main reasons for the gender divide in cancer are hormones and habits. “Physiologically, women’s cells are exposed to more hormones and more hormonal fluctuations, leading to an increased susceptibility of cell dysplasia (abnormality),” said Dr Boman Dhabar, medical oncologist with Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai Central.

He believes “oppression of Indian women” leads them to neglect their own health. “There are also socio-economic reasons such as lack of hygiene and toilets that lead to an increased incidence of cervical cancer,” said Dr Dhabar.

Dr Surendra Shastri, who heads the preventive oncology department of Tata Memorial Hospital, had another reason. “There is an increase in the incidence of lifestyle-related cancers, for example breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Moreover, better awareness and detection rates have contributed to the increasing numbers of cancer in women in India.” His colleague Dr Rajesh Dikshit, who heads the epidemiology department, pointed out that if incidences of breast and cervical cancers are removed, women have a very low and almost negligible incidence of cancer in comparison to men.

“Claims from men are usually limited to oral cavity and lungs, where the root causes are tobacco and occupational exposure to hazardous material such as asbestos and silica. We find men who suffer from these cancers come from classes that primarily stay away from taking any health insurance,” said Amit Bhandari of ICICI Lombard.

Interestingly, data for 2014 from Metropolis Healthcare, a chain of laboratories, shows how different cancer rates are among men and women (see box). Dr Kirti Chadha from Metropolis India said of the 1,151 samples that tested positive for cancer in Mumbai, 214 were of breast cancer alone. “Breast cancer is the most common or largest cancer in our country.

This is our finding from each of our laboratories across the country,” she added. There is an age difference pattern too in cancer’s gender bias. “If you look at age-wise cancer incidence, the peak period for women is 60 while for men it is 70,”said Dikshit.

A 2006 paper from Duke University in US titled, ‘Difference between male and female cancer incidence rates: How can it be explained?”, said the peak of hormonal imbalance in women is between 45 and 55, when the reproductive system ultimately stops functioning. In males, this peak is shifted to 55 and 65.

"Global Burden of Cancer"-2013

The Times of India May 29 2015

Sushmi Dey

Deaths in India from the disease have gone up by 60%

Cancer is the 2nd biggest killer

Cancer has emerged as the second-leading cause of death globally after cardiovascular diseases.Proportion of deaths due to cancer around the world increased from 12% in 1990 to 15% in 2013 while the number of new cases almost doubled in India during the period. In India, deaths from the disease have increased by 60%, according to the latest report `Global Burden of Cancer-2013', released worldwide.

“Even if we adjust for the rise in population in India over this period, the new cancer cases have increased by 30% per unit population and deaths have risen by 10%,“ says Lalit Dandona, co-author of the study and Professor at the Public Health Foundation of India and Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

In 2013, there were 14.9 million new cancer cases regis tered globally, whereas 8.2 million people died due to the disease. The report is based on a global study of 28 cancer groups in 188 countries by a consortium of international re searchers from University of Washington and Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation.

The report suggests that new cases of virtually all types of cancer are rising in countries globally -regardless of income -but the death rates from cancer are falling in many countries primarily due to prevention and treatment. However, it says there is a threat of increasing incidence in developing countries due to ill-equipped health systems.

While incidence of breast cancer is highest in India as well as globally, most number of cancer deaths in India are caused due to stomach cancer, which is globally the second most common reason for death.

Chemical in toiletry items causing breast cancer

From the archives of “The Times of India”

Found in make-up, toothpastes & also food products

Scientists say they have discovered a chemical, used in daily toiletry products and food products, in tumours of 40 breast cancer patients, but allayed fears by claiming that further probe is needed. A team at the University of Reading claims the chemical compound, called parabens, was spotted in the tissue samples of the 40 women undergoing mastectomies between 2005 and 2008 for first primary breast cancer in the UK. Parabens possess oestrogenic properties. Oestrogen is known to play a central role in the development, growth and progression of breast cancer.

Parabens are found in moisturisers, make-up, shaving foam, tanning lotions and toothpaste, as also used in processed meats such as sausages, pies and pastries along with other savoury snacks. For the study, altogether 160 samples were collected, four from each woman. The scientists found 99% of the tissue samples contained at least one paraben and 60 per cent of the samples had five, the ‘Daily Mail’ reported.

The team found women who didn’t use underarm deodorants still had measurable parabens in their tissue, suggesting they must enter the breast from other sources. Dr Philippa Darbre, who led the team, said: “The fact that parabens were detected in the majority of the breast tissue samples cannot be taken to imply that they actually caused breast cancer in the 40 women studied. However, the fact that parabens were present in so many of the breast tissue samples does justify further investigation.” Added co-author Lester Barr from the University Hospital of South Manchester: “Our study appears to confirm the view that there is no simple cause and effect relationship between parabens in underarm products and breast cancer.” PTI