Among the highlights in the August 1996 Cancer Watch issue are: Helicobacter Pylori and Stomach Cancer, Screening for Helicobacter pylori, Lipids and Cancer, Meta-Analysis In Oncology, News on Prostate Diseases, Our Doctors, Ourselves: A Few Thousand Words of Advice to Patients from a Patient Advocate, A Note from the Editor on The Activist Cancer Patient, Prognostic Marker for Melanoma of the Eye, Technology Update: Three-Dimensional Holographic Microimaging, Technology Update: Three-Dimensional Holographic Microimaging Ovarian and Breast Cancers: Advances in Therapy , Sensitivity of Mammography Among Women Under 50 and Predicting Survival for Gynecologic Tumors.

Helicobacter Pylori and Stomach Cancer

• Halicobacter pylori infection is now thought to be strongly associated with stomach (gastric) and duodenal ulcers and a causative factor for gastric cancer. However, duodenal ulcer is not a risk factor for cancer. By contrast, it seems that duodenal ulcer patients have a lower risk of developing gastric cancer.

Screening for Helicobacter pylori

• Helicobacter pylori-associated stomach cancer may be prevented by screening and treating the infected individual with appropriate antibiotics. This strategy is expected to be cost-effective if the screening is done at the age of 50 for the general population and after age 10 among high-risk groups. A clinical trial is needed to establish the effectiveness of this preventative strategy.

Lipids and Cancer

John A. Kellen, M.D., Ph.D., FRCP (C)

• Among the endless number of factors which influence and contribute to our potential in developing cancer, diet plays a definite role (which is not recognized in full). Lipids are a major component, especially in our “Western” diet and health implications of this are discussed.

Meta-Analysis In Oncology

John A. Kellen, M.D., Ph.D., FRCP (C)

• Meta-analysis, as a source of definitive answers to clinical questions, is glorified by some and profoundly mistrusted by others. The pooling of results from several independent studies, in order to add statistical weight, should save time and money and allow for more meaningful data. This, of course, is tempting and has resulted in a torrent of meta-analyses.

News on Prostate Diseases

Walter Alexander

• Race difference in BPH; Longer half-life for antiandrogen.

Our Doctors, Ourselves: A Few Thousand Words of Advice to Patients From a Patient Advocate

Beverly Zakarian

• The patient-physician relationship is lifelong; only the characters change. Understanding how to speak with and work with our doctors is the first necessary step in empowerment. An empowered patient can better manage the difficulty and uncertainty of cancer treatment because feeling in control is psychologicaly healthier.

A Note from the Editor on The Activist Cancer Patient

• The accompanying article “Our Doctors, Ourselves: A few thousand words of advice to patients from a patient advocate” by Beverly Zakarian is a sample of what is in her book The Activist Cancer Patient just published by John Wiley & Sons. Herself a survivor of ovarian cancer, the deadliest of all gynecologic malignancies, Ms. Zakarian opens her book with a poignant description of her ordeal from the day her cancer was diagnosed and how she empowered herself to fight the disease to win. With intense love for life, she promised herself to convince the doctors to invest themselves in her health, her life. And she did. With relentless drive she fought against bureaucracy to find an experimental drug that, no doubt, saved her life.

Prognostic Marker for Melanoma of the Eye

• Loss of one of the chromosomes from pair 3 is consistently found in patients with metastatic melanoma of the eye and this knowledge can be used as a prognostic factor in identifying this subgroup of patients for closer observation and treatment.

Technology Update: Three-Dimensional Holographic Microimaging

• The technology that produces three-dimensional real life images, holograms, is being increasingly used for nondestructive testing in biomedical research. It allows the investigators to look into the internal organs in humans without resorting to invasive procedures. Further advancement in the technique will allow to look at the finer level of biomolecules, thus helping to diagnose and plan treatment strategy for many diseases including cancer.

Technology Update: Three-Dimensional Holographic Microimaging Ovarian and Breast Cancers: Advances in Therapy

Walter Alexander

• Combinationn therapy for Ovarian Cancer; Docetaxel for Advanced Breast Cancer; Hormone therapy for Breast Cancer

Sensitivity of Mammography Among Women Under 50

• Sensitivity to screening mammography is lower among women of age below 50. This may be, in part, due to the rapid growth of tumors in this group which become clinically apparent between screening when the screening interval is the standard two years. Annual screening for this group, though not recommended at present, may increase sensitivity.

Predicting Survival for Gynecologic Tumors

• Women with gynecologic cancer who need optimal resection of tumors may have cancerous spread in the peritoneal cavity. This spread often indicates unfavorable prognosis no matter what the stage of the disease. In the future oncologists should be able to devise proper treatment strategies for this subgroup of gynecologic cancer patients.

Glossary

• A glossary of unfamiliar words and jargons in Cancer Watch, August 1996.