Mudança no estilo de vida

Fonte: aqui.

The five lifestyle changes that can cut colorectal cancer risk by a third:

1. One of the recommendations made by Professor. Donald Maxwell Parkin of Cancer Research UK Centre for Epidemiology, Mathematics, and Statistics, London, is that people’s consumption of red and processed meat should not be more than 80 or 90 grams per day.
2. He also suggests that people consume at least five portions of fruit, vegetables, and fibre every day.
3. The third recommendation is to exercise at least 30 minutes on five or more days per week.
4. The experts also suggest that men should not to consume more than 21 units of alcohol per week, and women should restrict their intake to 15 units.
5. According to them, overweight and obesity should be reduced to rates of 20 years ago.

Family History Can Reduce Risk Of Colon Cancer Death, Recurrence

Fonte: aqui.

According to a new study from the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, family history increases your chance of developing colon cancer, but researchers also found that family history can also decrease your chance of dying from the disease.

“The main finding was that patients who had a family member with colon or rectal cancer had improved outcomes,” said Dr. Chan “Patients with a family history of colon or rectal cancer had an approximately 25 percent decrease in the chances of having a cancer recurrence or death.”

“Beyond rare, well-characterized hereditary colorectal cancer syndromes, our data support the hypothesis that a relatively common though less penetrant genetic predisposition may not only influence colorectal cancer risk but also patient survival. This finding may reflect a distinct underlying molecular and pathogenic mechanism in cancers that develop in the setting of a common (i.e., sporadic) family history,” the researchers write. “Further studies are needed to more fully elucidate potential mechanisms by which a common family history may influence the outcome for patients with colorectal cancer.”

The study appears in the June 4 issue of Journal of American Medical Association.

Avanços na luta contra o cancro

O "monstro" cancerígeno já não tem a dimensão que teve no passado, graças aos avanços do conhecimento e das tecnologias. Contudo, há ainda muito por fazer. Vejamos este trabalho de investigação e os avanços que demonstra:

• Um estudo clínico que está a ser feito em Portugal sobre o cancro do cólon mostra que uma nova combinação da quimioterapia tradicional com a substância activa cetuximab produz resultados positivos em 58 por cento dos doentes.
• A análise envolveu 48 doentes com idades entre os 44 e 75, 66 por cento do sexo masculino, provenientes de 11 centros hospitalares do país que nunca tinham recebido qualquer tratamento, apesar do estado avançado da doença.
• Quarenta e oito doentes com cancro colorectal metastizado submeteram-se, no âmbito deste ensaio, a um tratamento que consiste na quimioterapia tradicional combinada com um novo medicamento, cuja substância activa é o cetuximab, explicou Sérgio Barroso.
• Do total, 58 por cento dos doentes apresentaram, ao fim de cerca de seis meses de tratamento, melhorias no seu estado de saúde, nomeadamente na redução do tamanho ou eliminação das metástases.
• Em duas pessoas verificou-se a remissão total da doença, disse Sérgio Barroso, adiantando que em 29 por cento dos casos a doença estabilizou.

Parabéns ao Dr. Sérgio Barroso e ao Serviço de Oncologia do Hospital de Évora.