Ovarian cancer: simple blood test?

            BUFFALO , NY - With surgery and chemotherapy gains, ovarian cancer stays the most lethal form of gynecologic cancer and fourth top killer among U.S. women: 16,210 lives in 2005. Survival rates have remained stubbornly low because symptoms are often vague and mimic other woes. There’s no cost-effective, reliable test to diagnose this “silent killer” early, when it’s most curable. Three of every four women have advanced ovarian cancer when they’re diagnosed; only 25% survive for five years. The one in four diagnosed with early disease has a five-year survival rate past 90%. Innovative research at Roswell Park Cancer Institute and the University at Buffalo has produced compelling evidence a simple blood test for early ovarian cancer screening might be developed sooner rather than later. Scientists at these institutions have used sophisticated computer modeling programs to interpret data from nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analyses of blood samples and produce cellular profiles that show the identities, structures, and size of metabolites. This approach has identified biomarkers in blood samples that can leave a “biomolecular signature” that shows women with early ovarian cancer from healthy women. Scientists believe these biomarkers could be developed into a screening test for ovarian cancer. First, scientists will use the method to hone in on specific metabolite responsible for differences in healthy women and cancer patients, and make early diagnosis possible. Scientists believe this will not only benefit thousands of women each year, but also have practical implications in other types of cancer.

            NASHVILLE , TN - Keeping the lights on 24/7 in neonatal intensive care units may interrupt development of premature babies’ biological clocks. That suggestion is in a study in the journal Pediatric Research. The study, headed by Douglas McMahon, biological sciences professor at Vanderbilt University and an investigator at Vanderbilt’s John F. Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development, says exposing baby mice to constant light keeps the master biological clock in their brains from developing properly and can have a lasting effect on their behavior. “We are interested in the effects of light on biological clocks because they regulate our physiology extensively, and have an important effect on mood,” McMahon said. “This study suggests cycling the lights in NICUs may be better than constant lighting for premature babies’ from the perspective of developing their internal clocks.” Every year, about 14 million low-weight babies are born worldwide and exposed to artificial lighting in hospitals. “Today, we realize lighting is very important in nursing facilities, but our understanding of light’s effects on patients and staff is rudimentary,” said William F. Walsh, chief of nurseries at Vanderbilt’s Monroe Carrel Jr. Children’s Hospital. “We need to know more. That is why studies like this are very important.” Although older units still use round-the-clock lighting, modern NICUs, like that at Vanderbilt, alter lighting in a day/night cycle and keep levels as low as possible, Walsh said. Covers are kept over the isolets that hold the babies in an effort to duplicate the dark conditions of the womb.

            HOUSTON , TX - Reuters Health reported people who come own with Lou Gehrig disease seem to have slower progression and to live long. Still, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS , is always fatal. Baylor University scientxists, writing in the Archives of Neurology, haven’t found any specific factor to account for the improvements in recent years. Dr. Adam Czaplinski and colleagues analyzed survival time and progression in two groups: 647 patients diagnosed with ALS 1984-1999 and 394 patients diagnosed 1999-2004. The average survival after symptom onset was 3.22 years for patients in the first group versus 4.32 years for the more recent group. Time to "a clinically evident change in a patient's clinical status and ability to perform activities of daily living" was 10 months in the current era versus nine months in tholse treated in earlier years. Scientists observe the improvement in outcome couldn’t be attributed to any particular ALS -specific treatment, but say they can’t rule out an effect of concurrent illnesses, "which could have influenced medical treatment and survival." They conclude there are other possible interpretations of the findings, including the possibility there has been "a fundamental change in the natural history of the disease."

            ATLANTA - Patients with heart failure whose care was led by nurse managers could perform daily activities better and had fewer hospitalizations than patients who managed their own care, found a study funded by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. It was in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Heart failure occurs when the heart becomes too weak to deliver oxygen-rich blood throughout the body adequately. It can cause fluid buildup in the lungs and other body tissues. Scientists led by Dr. Jane Sisk, of Mount Sinai School of Medicine and now at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, enrolled 406 heart failure patients, about 50% who were African American and 33% who were Hispanic, from ambulatory practices affiliated with Harlem , NY hospitals. The patients were assigned randomly to a nurse-management group or a usual care group. By nine months, nurse-managed patients had only slight limitations in physical functions, while self-managed patients had marked limitations. This persisted through the 12-month intervention span. The nurse-managed patients had fewer hospitalizations at 12 months.

            BOSTON - HealthDay News noted the side effects and added costs of chemotherapy for breast cancer patients are probably higher than thought. A study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found adverse events and related costs may be underestimated when chemotherapy moves from clinical trial to total population. "When we looked at side effects commonly [tied to] chemotherapy, we found women experienced more hospitalizations or emergency room visits for these side effects than previous clinical trials would have estimated," said study author Dr. Michael Hassett, a clinical instructor at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Breast cancer is the usual reason U.S. women get chemotherapy, notes the study. Hospitalizations due to chemotherapy side effects are thought to be rare, but this study notes only one study measured chemotherapy side effects in the general population. "We wanted to understand how frequently these side effects occur, because what happens in the community may be different from what we observe in clinical trials," said Dr. Hassett. He and colleagues got data from 12,239 women diagnosed recently with breast cancer. All were under 63, and 4,075 women got chemotherapy. Scientists checked hospitalizations and E.R. visits in the year after initial diagnosis for women who got chemotherapy and those who didn’t. Women on chemotherapy were much more likely to visit the E.R. or be hospitalized for any cause than women who didn't have chemotherapy - 61%,versus 42%. Fever and infection were the most common causes women were hospitalized or visited the E.R.