 |
|
Teens overlooked in cancer research
January 05, 2007McMaster University pediatric cancer specialist Dr. Ronald Barr says the teen gap in cancer care has been overlooked for far too long.
Statistics show that gains in survival rates for teenagers and young adults (age 15-29) with cancer are dismal when compared to those for youngsters and older adults with the disease.
"While there have been improvements in survival in children and older adults in recent decades there has been no such improvement in this age group in the past 25 years or so," said Barr, a professor of pediatrics of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University and chief of hematology-oncology at McMaster Children's Hospital.
Barr, who is involved in local, national and international efforts to reverse this trend, is available for interviews to discuss this issue.
Barr is one of the editors of the recently released and first definitive document on the incidence, survival and mortality of 15-29 year-olds. Funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the United States, this monograph was a co-operative venture between the Children's Oncology Group (all 17 pediatric oncology centers in Canada and more than 200 American institutions) and the SEER (Survival Epidemiology and End Results) program.
Barr is a member of the NCI and Lance Armstrong Foundation's new Progress Review Group whose sole purpose is identifying and prioritizing the scientific, medical and psychosocial barriers facing adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients. They plan to develop strategies to better the odds for this age group.
"The Lance Armstrong Foundation is very keen to advocate for young people with cancer and educate them in high schools, colleges and work places to the fact cancer can afflict people in their age group-and that when they get a lump they shouldn't say 'it's just a lump' but that it might be a form of cancer," Barr said.
Barr co-chairs the Working Group on AYA within the International Society for Pediatric Oncology which will soon publish proceedings from its first workshop on AYA adolescent and young adults with cancer. He is also one of the authors and editors of an upcoming book on this issue.
He said there are a variety of reasons why the outlook is so poor for this particular age group. Chief among them is the fact so few are participating in clinical trials-organized studies which test the value of various treatments, such as drugs or surgery in human beings. This lack of involvement correlates directly with their poor survival rates, he said.
Young people's feelings of invincibility, coupled with a lack of awareness about their cancer risk, are other factors. And often family physicians aren't suspicious enough of teenagers' symptoms, interpreting a lump in the neck as an infection or leg pain as an athletic injury or growing pains, which delays an accurate diagnosis.
Even more confusing, Barr said, is the fact that the types of cancer within the 15-29 age group occur at different frequencies across this age range, the most common types in teenagers being different from the most common types in young adults.
McMaster University
Barr, who is involved in local, national and international efforts to reverse this trend, is available for interviews to discuss this issue.
Barr is one of the editors of the recently released and first definitive document on the incidence, survival and mortality of 15-29 year-olds. Funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the United States, this monograph was a co-operative venture between the Children's Oncology Group (all 17 pediatric oncology centers in Canada and more than 200 American institutions) and the SEER (Survival Epidemiology and End Results) program.
Barr is a member of the NCI and Lance Armstrong Foundation's new Progress Review Group whose sole purpose is identifying and prioritizing the scientific, medical and psychosocial barriers facing adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients. They plan to develop strategies to better the odds for this age group.
"The Lance Armstrong Foundation is very keen to advocate for young people with cancer and educate them in high schools, colleges and work places to the fact cancer can afflict people in their age group-and that when they get a lump they shouldn't say 'it's just a lump' but that it might be a form of cancer," Barr said.
Barr co-chairs the Working Group on AYA within the International Society for Pediatric Oncology which will soon publish proceedings from its first workshop on AYA adolescent and young adults with cancer. He is also one of the authors and editors of an upcoming book on this issue.
He said there are a variety of reasons why the outlook is so poor for this particular age group. Chief among them is the fact so few are participating in clinical trials-organized studies which test the value of various treatments, such as drugs or surgery in human beings. This lack of involvement correlates directly with their poor survival rates, he said.
Young people's feelings of invincibility, coupled with a lack of awareness about their cancer risk, are other factors. And often family physicians aren't suspicious enough of teenagers' symptoms, interpreting a lump in the neck as an infection or leg pain as an athletic injury or growing pains, which delays an accurate diagnosis.
Even more confusing, Barr said, is the fact that the types of cancer within the 15-29 age group occur at different frequencies across this age range, the most common types in teenagers being different from the most common types in young adults.
McMaster University
Cancer Research Current Events and Cancer Research News RSSSurvival of head and neck cancer patients is greatly affected by coexisting ailments
Current estimates for head and neck cancer survival are largely inaccurate because they widely disregard many of the most common diseases such patients have in addition to their primary cancer, says Jay Piccirillo, M.D., a head and neck specialist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the Siteman Cancer Center and Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
Home-based diet and exercise intervention improves elderly cancer survivors' physical function
A home-based program to improve exercise and diet led to significant, clinically meaningful improvement in body weight and physical function among older long-term cancer survivors in preliminary findings from the RENEW (Reach-out to ENhancE Wellness) trial.
National call for cancer clinical trial system to be more responsive to community needs
Addressing the nation's continuing poor performance in cancer clinical trial participation, particularly among racial and ethnic minorities and low income groups, will require meaningful public involvement in the design and implementation of clinical trials, according to a landmark report released today.
Engineered killer T cell recognizes HIV-1's lethal molecular disguises
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and colleagues in the United Kingdom have engineered T cells able to recognize HIV-1 strains that have evaded the immune system.
Washington University scientists first to sequence genome of cancer patient
For the first time, scientists have decoded the complete DNA of a cancer patient and traced her disease - acute myelogenous leukemia - to its genetic roots.
Gene variations alter risk of esophageal cancer
Variations in a common gene pathway may affect esophageal cancer risk, a dangerous and rapidly increasing type of cancer, according to research by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
Minority patients discouraged from cancer screening by negative messages
New behavioral science research published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, found that constantly emphasizing the negative consequences of a lack of cancer screening among minorities can actually make them less likely to go for screening.
Migraines associated with lower risk of breast cancer
Women who suffer from migraines may take at least some comfort in a recent, first-of-its-kind study that suggests a history of such headaches is associated with a significantly lower risk of breast cancer.
Genetic predictors of esophageal cancer identified
Researchers have identified 11 genotypes that may increase esophageal cancer risk, according to research published in the November issue of Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Sibling study could lead to better treatments for inherited form of colon cancer
Researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) believe they may be one step closer to understanding how certain forms of colon cancer develop.
More Cancer Research Current Events and Cancer Research News Articles
 | Breast Cancer Research Protocols (Methods in Molecular Medicine) A collection of both well-established and cutting-edge methods for investigating breast cancer biology not only in the laboratory, but also in clinical settings. These readily reproducible techniques solve a variety of problems, ranging from how to collect, store, and prepare human breast tumor samples for analysis, to analyzing cells in vivo and in vitro. Additional chapters address the... |
 | Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective. by World Cancer Research Fund / American Institute for Cancer Research The Second Expert Report, Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective offers the most up-to-date recommendations for individuals and populations. They are based on the conclusions of an expert panel that certain foods, drinks and lifestyle choices protect against or lead to the development of one or more types of cancer. Additionally, the report explains... |
 | Methods in Mammary Gland Biology and Breast Cancer Research This book is a bench manual that provides in one volume all the important and unique technologies necessary to studies of mammary gland biology and breast cancer. The chapters are written by experts in each area with an emphasis on nitty-gritty details that are key points for the successful use of a method. Sections include in vivo model systems, special techniques for in vivo studies, in... |
| Statistical Methods in Cancer Research: Volume III: The Design and Analysis of Long-Term Animal Experiments (I a R C Scientific Publication) by J. J. Gart, D. Krewski, P. N. Lee, R. E. Tarone, J. Wahrendorf This volume addresses an area of cancer research that is of great importance in the understanding of carcinogenic risk factors: the development of measures to standardize methods for long-term tests based on a thorough treatment of the statistical issues that are involved. This area of research is particularly important due to the biological limitations of short-term assays and the... | |
 | High-Dimensional Data Analysis in Cancer Research (Applied Bioinformatics and Biostatistics in Cancer Research) Multivariate analysis is a mainstay of statistical tools in the analysis of biomedical data. It concerns with associating data matrices of n rows by p columns, with rows representing samples (or patients) and columns attributes of samples, to some response variables, e.g., patients outcome. Classically, the sample size n is much larger than p, the number of variables. The properties of... |
 | Eat To Beat Cancer: A Research Scientist Explains How You and Your Family Can Avoid Up to 90% of All Cancers by J. Robert Hatherill If changing what you eat could keep you from getting cancer, wouldn't you do it?Dr. Hatherill's Super Eight Food Groups are the foundation of a strategy that will help you create a cancer-busting regimen for yourself and your family. In this courageous book, Hatherill takes on the pharmaceutical and food industries to disclose dangers inherent in common foods like dairy and meat products, as well... |
 | Statistical Methods in Cancer Research: Volume II: The Design and Analysis of Cohort Studies (Iarc Scientific Publication, No 82) by N. E. Breslow, N. E. Day Together with Volume I, this work provides a comprehensive account of the major types of studies in cancer epidemiology. Its scope ranges from an account of elementary and descriptive cohort analyses to the fitting of regression models for incidence rates with general risk functions. Particular attention is given to the use of a case-control approach embedded in a cohort study. As in the first... |
 | Group Therapy for Cancer Patients: A Research-based Handbook of Psychosocial Care by David Spiegel, Catherine Classen This extraordinary resource celebrates and expands on Dr. David Spiegel’s discovery that a shared intimacy with mortality creates very different concerns in the patient from those that apply in conventional settings. Spiegel and Classen introduce mental health professionals to the awareness as well as the tools they will need to facilitate groups coping with existential crises. The result is a... |
 | Stopping Cancer Before It Starts: The American Institute for Cancer Research's Program for Cancer Prevention by American Institute for Cancer Research Research shows an undeniable link between diet and cancer. In fact, 60 to 70 percent of cancers can be prevented by making the right choices about food, exercise, and tobacco use. Stopping Cancer Before It Starts tells you how to make simple changes in your everyday life that can radically reduce the risk of cancer.PART I: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CANCER* Separates popular myths from facts and... |
 | Essentials of Thyroid Cancer Management (Cancer Treatment and Research) This volume outlines patient care from diagnosis through various treatments for thyroid cancer patients. It serves as a state-of-the-art reference for clinicians providing comprehensive information on the scope of this disease, including surgery, nuclear medicine treatments, recurrence and metastases. Reference information is included for both physicians and thyroid cancer... |
| © 2008 BrightSurf.com |