Women's Experiences of Sexual Problems After Cervical Cancer Treatment: Lessons From Indonesian Women

Cervical cancer remains the most common cancer among women. It is the second major cause of women’s deaths in Asia as well as in Indonesia. Cervical cancer treatment also raises issues of long-term physical, psychological, sexual, and social adaptation. The purpose of the study was to describe and to interpret the experiences of Indonesian women who have experienced sexual dysfunction after cervical cancer treatment. Thirteen Indonesian women who were participated in this study described their experiences on the first to two years after cervical cancer treatment. Data were collected through in-depth interviews. Four themes were identified (1) physical and psychological sexual complaints after cancer treatment; (2) negative effects of cancer treatment towards intimate relationship with their spouse; (3) efforts to overcome sexual problems; and (4) women’s needs for help to improve their sexual health. These studyfindings offer providing new insights into the experiences of Indonesian women with sexual health problems following cervical cancer treatment. This study can provide nurses and other health care providers with better understanding of the experiences, concern and needs of the cancer survivors

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH RISKS ON HOUSE VALUES IN SOUTHEAST REGION: A COUNTY-LEVEL ANALYSIS

A simultaneous model of house values, cancer mortality and total releases is simultaneously estimated to study effects of environmental health risks. Health risks include county level total releases, number of Superfund sites and cancer mortality in Southeastern U.S. Benefits of superfund cleanup and reduced releases are also estimated.Environmental Economics and Policy,

Friend or foe? The current epidemiologic evidence on selenium and human cancer risk.

Scientific opinion on the relationship between selenium and the risk of cancer has undergone radical change over the years, with selenium first viewed as a possible carcinogen in the 1940s then as a possible cancer preventive agent in the 1960s-2000s. More recently, randomized controlled trials have found no effect on cancer risk but suggest possible low-dose dermatologic and endocrine toxicity, and animal studies indicate both carcinogenic and cancer-preventive effects. A growing body of evidence from human and laboratory studies indicates dramatically different biological effects of the various inorganic and organic chemical forms of selenium, which may explain apparent inconsistencies across studies. These chemical form-specific effects also have important implications for exposure and health risk assessment. Overall, available epidemiologic evidence suggests no cancer preventive effect of increased selenium intake in healthy individuals and possible increased risk of other diseases and disorders

Vitamin D: beyond bone.

In recent years, vitamin D has been received increased attention due to the resurgence of vitamin D deficiency and rickets in developed countries and the identification of extraskeletal effects of vitamin D, suggesting unexpected benefits of vitamin D in health and disease, beyond bone health. The possibility of extraskeletal effects of vitamin D was first noted with the discovery of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) in tissues and cells that are not involved in maintaining mineral homeostasis and bone health, including skin, placenta, pancreas, breast, prostate and colon cancer cells, and activated T cells. However, the biological significance of the expression of the VDR in different tissues is not fully understood, and the role of vitamin D in extraskeletal health has been a matter of debate. This report summarizes recent research on the roles for vitamin D in cancer, immunity and autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular and respiratory health, pregnancy, obesity, erythropoiesis, diabetes, muscle function, and aging

Immune Response Modulation by Tumor-Secreted Glycosphingolipids

Although originally considered merely structural components of cellular membranes, glycosphingolipids (GSL) arenow recognized as having critical effects on cellular physiology, including proliferation, differentiation, viraltransformation and ontogenesis. In addition, a vast majority of human cancers have modified GSL compositioncompared to parental normal cells. These modifications may contribute to both tumor survival and exert strikingeffects on anti-tumor immunity. In this review, we discuss mechanisms of immune modulation by tumor-secreted GSL.Fil: Lardone, Ricardo Dante. John Wayne Cancer Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center. Santa Monica; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Cely, Ingrid. John Wayne Cancer Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center. Santa Monica; Estados UnidosFil: Sieling, Peter A.. John Wayne Cancer Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center. Santa Monica; Estados UnidosFil: Lee, Delphine. John Wayne Cancer Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center. Santa Monica; Estados Unido

Assessing the carcinogenic potential of low-dose exposures to chemical mixtures in the environment: the challenge ahead.

Lifestyle factors are responsible for a considerable portion of cancer incidence worldwide, but credible estimates from the World Health Organization and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) suggest that the fraction of cancers attributable to toxic environmental exposures is between 7% and 19%. To explore the hypothesis that low-dose exposures to mixtures of chemicals in the environment may be combining to contribute to environmental carcinogenesis, we reviewed 11 hallmark phenotypes of cancer, multiple priority target sites for disruption in each area and prototypical chemical disruptors for all targets, this included dose-response characterizations, evidence of low-dose effects and cross-hallmark effects for all targets and chemicals. In total, 85 examples of chemicals were reviewed for actions on key pathways/mechanisms related to carcinogenesis. Only 15% (13/85) were found to have evidence of a dose-response threshold, whereas 59% (50/85) exerted low-dose effects. No dose-response information was found for the remaining 26% (22/85). Our analysis suggests that the cumulative effects of individual (non-carcinogenic) chemicals acting on different pathways, and a variety of related systems, organs, tissues and cells could plausibly conspire to produce carcinogenic synergies. Additional basic research on carcinogenesis and research focused on low-dose effects of chemical mixtures needs to be rigorously pursued before the merits of this hypothesis can be further advanced. However, the structure of the World Health Organization International Programme on Chemical Safety 'Mode of Action' framework should be revisited as it has inherent weaknesses that are not fully aligned with our current understanding of cancer biology

The effect of Rehabilitation program in quality of life of breast cancer patients

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers with high mortality and incidence. The number of cancer survivors in England is estimated nearly 2 million people, which experience some symptoms for more than 10 years after treatment.Since breast cancer and its treatment cause biological, physical, psychological and social problems, so rehabilitation programs for these patients is needed. Objective: The study of effect of Rehabilitation program in quality of life of breast cancer patients Methods: This study is a comprehensive review with the extensive search in the database «science direct, PubMed, Scopus, Google scholar» with use of keywords «breast cancer, rehabilitation program, physical and mental health, Life satisfaction». Results: Women breast cancer patients must cope with the physical and emotional complication of life threatening disease. Physical and psychological side effects exist for several years after treatment, and potentially reduce the quality of life of survivors. Therefore, most women after treatment for cancer need to have rehabilitation programs. Several studies have examined the effect of rehabilitation programs. In a study, a 3-week rehabilitation program had beneficial effects on physical and psychological health of women with breast cancer. Psycho-Socio-Biological model’s Engel showed beneficial effects of multidimensional rehabilitation programs on psychological tension, physical complication, physical capacity and quality of life of cancer patients. Conclusion: According to the increasing survival of breast cancer and mental and physical complications of the disease and its treatment, rehabilitation programs is needed to improve quality of life for these patients

A cohort study of the recovery of health and wellbeing following colorectal cancer (CREW study): protocol paper

Background: the number of people surviving colorectal cancer has doubled in recent years. While much of the literature suggests that most people return to near pre-diagnosis status following surgery for colorectal cancer, this literature has largely focused on physical side effects. Longitudinal studies in colorectal cancer have either been small scale or taken a narrow focus on recovery after surgery. There is a need for a comprehensive, long-term study exploring all aspects of health and wellbeing in colorectal cancer patients. The aim of this study is to establish the natural history of health and wellbeing in people who have been treated for colorectal cancer. People have different dispositions, supports and resources, likely resulting in individual differences in restoration of health and wellbeing. The protocol described in this paper is of a study which will identify who is most at risk of problems, assess how quickly people return to a state of subjective health and wellbeing, and will measure factors which influence the course of recovery. Methods: this is a prospective, longitudinal cohort study following 1000 people with colorectal cancer over a period of two years, recruiting from 30 NHS cancer treatment centres across the UK. Questionnaires will be administered prior to surgery, and 3, 9, 15 and 24 months after surgery, with the potential to return to this cohort to explore on-going issues related to recovery after cancer. Discussion: outcomes will help inform health care providers about what helps or hinders rapid and effective recovery from cancer, and identify areas for intervention development to aid this process. Once established the cohort can be followed up for longer periods and be approached to participate in related projects as appropriate and subject to funding<br/

The two-stage clonal expansion model in occupational cancer epidemiology: Results from three cohort studies

Copyright © 2010 by the BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. All rights reserved.Objectives: The objective of this work was to apply the two-stage clonal expansion model, with the intention to expand the literature on epidemiological applications of the model and demonstrate the feasibility of incorporating biologically based modelling methods into the widely used retrospective cohort study. Methods: The authors fitted the two-stage clonal expansion model model to three occupational cohort studies: (1) a cohort of textile workers exposed to asbestos and followed for lung cancer mortality; (2) a cohort of diatomaceous earth workers exposed to silica and also followed for lung cancer mortality; and (3) a cohort of automotive manufacturing workers exposed to straight metalworking fluid (MWF) and followed for larynx cancer incidence. The model allowed the authors to estimate exposure effects in three stages: cancer initiation (early effects), promotion or malignant transformation (late effects). Results: In the first cohort, the authors found strong evidence for an early effect of asbestos on lung cancer risk. Findings from analyses of the second cohort suggested early and less evidently late effects of silica on lung cancer risk. In the MWF (third) cohort, there was only weak evidence of straight MWF exposure effects on both early and late stages. The authors also observed a late birth cohort effect on larynx cancer risk. Conclusions: The findings for asbestos and silica were essentially confirmatory, supporting evidence for their early effects on lung cancer from a large body of literature. The effect of straight MWF on larynx cancer was less clear.This work was supported by a grant from the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,R01-OH03575, and a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/ Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine number TS 0699