Does dietary calcium interact with dietary fiber against colorectal cancer? : a case-control study in Central Europe

BACKGROUND: An unfavorable trend of increasing rates of colorectal cancer has been observed across modern societies. In general, dietary factors are understood to be responsible for up to 70% of the disease’s incidence, though there are still many inconsistencies regarding the impact of specific dietary items. Among the dietary minerals, calcium intake may play a crucial role in the prevention. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of intake of higher levels of dietary calcium on the risk of developing of colorectal cancer, and to evaluate dose dependent effect and to investigate possible effect modification. METHODS: A hospital based case–control study of 1556 patients (703 histologically confirmed colon and rectal incident cases and 853 hospital-based controls) was performed between 2000–2012 in Krakow, Poland. The 148-item semi-quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire to assess dietary habits and level of nutrients intake was used. Data regarding possible covariates was also collected. RESULTS: After adjustment for age, gender, education, consumption of fruits, raw and cooked vegetables, fish, and alcohol, as well as for intake of fiber, vitamin C, dietary iron, lifetime recreational physical activity, BMI, smoking status, and taking mineral supplements, an increase in the consumption of calcium was associated with the decrease of colon cancer risk (OR = 0.93, 95% CI: 0.89-0.98 for every 100 mg Ca/day increase). Subjects consumed >1000 mg/day showed 46% decrease of colon cancer risk (OR = 0.54, 95% CI: 0.35-0.83). The effect of dietary calcium was modified by dietary fiber (p for interaction =0.015). Finally, consistent decrease of colon cancer risk was observed across increasing levels of dietary calcium and fiber intake. These relationships were not proved for rectal cancer. CONCLUSIONS: The study confirmed the effect of high doses of dietary calcium against the risk of colon cancer development. This relationship was observed across different levels of dietary fiber, and the beneficial effect of dietary calcium depended on the level of dietary fiber suggesting modification effect of calcium and fiber. Further efforts are needed to confirm this association, and also across higher levels of dietary fiber intake

Percutaneous Cryoablation of Pulmonary Metastases from Colorectal Cancer

Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of cryoablation for metastatic lung tumors from colorectal cancer. Methods: The procedures were performed on 24 patients (36–82 years of age, with a median age of 62; 17 male patients, 7 female patients) for 55 metastatic tumors in the lung, during 30 sessions. The procedural safety, local progression free interval, and overall survival were assessed by follow-up computed tomographic scanning performed every 3–4 months. Results: The major complications were pneumothorax, 19 sessions (63%), pleural effusion, 21 sessions (70%), transient and self-limiting hemoptysis, 13 sessions (43%) and tract seeding, 1 session (3%). The 1- and 3-year local progression free intervals were 90.8 % and 59%, respectively. The 3-years local progression free intervals of tumors #15 mm in diameter was 79.8 % and that of tumors.15 mm was 28.6 % (p = 0.001; log-rank test). The 1- and 3-year overall survival rates were 91% and 59.6%, respectively. Conclusion: The results indicated that percutaneous cryoablation is a feasible treatment option. The local progression fre

Epithelial Tissues Have Varying Degrees of Susceptibility to KrasG12D-Initiated Tumorigenesis in a Mouse Model

Activating mutations in the Kras gene are commonly found in some but not all epithelial cancers. In order to understand the susceptibility of different epithelial tissues to Kras-induced tumorigenesis, we introduced one of the most common Kras mutations, KrasG12D, broadly in epithelial tissues. We used a mouse model in which the G12D mutation is placed in the endogenous Kras locus controlled by inducible, Cre-mediated recombination in tissues expressing cytokeratin 19 including the oral cavity, GI tract, lungs, and ducts of the liver, kidney, and the pancreas. Introduction of the KrasG12D mutation in adult mouse tissues led to neoplastic changes in some but not all of these tissues. Notably, many hyperplasias, metaplasias and adenomas were observed in the oral cavity, stomach, colon and lungs, suggesting that exposure to products of the outside environment promotes KrasG12D-initiated tumorigenesis. However, environmental exposure did not consistently correlate with tumor formation, such as in the small intestine, suggesting that there are also intrinsic differences in susceptibility to Kras activation. The pancreas developed small numbers of mucinous metaplasias with characteristics of early stage pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasms (PanINs), supporting the hypothesis that pancreatic ducts have the potential to give rise pancreatic cancer

Cancer screening among migrants in an Australian cohort; cross-sectional analyses from the 45 and Up Study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Limited evidence suggests that people from non-English speaking backgrounds in Australia have lower than average rates of participation in cancer screening programs. The objective of this study was to examine the distribution of bowel, breast and prostate cancer test use by place of birth and years since migration in a large population-based cohort study in Australia.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In 2006, screening status, country of birth and other demographic and health related factors were ascertained by self-completed questionnaire among 31,401 (16,126 women and 15,275 men) participants aged 50 or over from the 45 and Up Study in New South Wales.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>35% of women and 39% of men reported having a bowel cancer test and 57% of men reported having a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test, in the previous 5 years. 72% of women reported having screening mammography in the previous 2 years. Compared to Australian-born women, women from East Asia, Southeast Asia, Continental Western Europe, and North Africa/Middle East had significantly lower rates of bowel testing, with odds ratios (OR; 95%CI) ranging from 0.5 (0.4–0.7) to 0.7 (0.6–0.9); migrants from East Asia (0.5, 0.3–0.7) and North Africa/Middle East (0.5, 0.3–0.9) had significantly lower rates of mammography. Compared to Australian-born men, bowel cancer testing was significantly lower among men from all regions of Asia (OR, 95%CI ranging from 0.4, 0.3–0.6 to 0.6, 0.5–0.9) and Continental Europe (OR, 95%CI ranging from 0.4, 0.3–0.7 to 0.7, 0.6–0.9). Only men from East Asia had significantly lower PSA testing rates than Australian-born men (0.4, 0.3–0.6). As the number of years lived in Australia increased, cancer test use among migrants approached Australian-born rates.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Certain migrant groups within the population may require targeted intervention to improve their uptake of cancer screening, particularly screening for bowel cancer.</p

L-arginine Supplementation Improves Responses to Injury and Inflammation in Dextran Sulfate Sodium Colitis

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), consisting of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (UC), results in substantial morbidity and is difficult to treat. New strategies for adjunct therapies are needed. One candidate is the semi-essential amino acid, L-arginine (L-Arg), a complementary medicine purported to be an enhancer of immunity and vitality in the lay media. Using dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) as a murine colonic injury and repair model with similarities to human UC, we assessed the effect of L-Arg, as DSS induced increases in colonic expression of the y+ cationic amino acid transporter 2 (CAT2) and L-Arg uptake. L-Arg supplementation improved the clinical parameters of survival, body weight loss, and colon weight, and reduced colonic permeability and the number of myeloperoxidase-positive neutrophils in DSS colitis. Luminex-based multi-analyte profiling demonstrated that there was a marked reduction in proinflammatory cytokine and chemokine expression with L-Arg treatment. Genomic analysis by microarray demonstrated that DSS-treated mice supplemented with L-Arg clustered more closely with mice not exposed to DSS than to those receiving DSS alone, and revealed that multiple genes that were upregulated or downregulated with DSS alone exhibited normalization of expression with L-Arg supplementation. Additionally, L-Arg treatment of mice with DSS colitis resulted in increased ex vivo migration of colonic epithelial cells, suggestive of increased capacity for wound repair. Because CAT2 induction was sustained during L-Arg treatment and inducible nitric oxide (NO) synthase (iNOS) requires uptake of L-Arg for generation of NO, we tested the effect of L-Arg in iNOS−/− mice and found that its benefits in DSS colitis were eliminated. These preclinical studies indicate that L-Arg supplementation could be a potential therapy for IBD, and that one mechanism of action may be functional enhancement of iNOS activity

Future global warming from atmospheric trace gases

Human activity this century has increased the concentrations of atmospheric trace gases, which in turn has elevated global surface temperatures by blocking the escape of thermal infrared radiation. Natural climate variations are masking this temperature increase, but further additions of trace gases during the next 65 years could double or even quadruple the present effects, causing the global average temperature to rise by at least 1 °C and possibly by more than 5 °C. If the rise continues into the twenty-second century, the global average temperature may reach higher values than have occurred in the past 10 million years. © 1986 Nature Publishing Group