Transforming India’s approach to cancer care
In India, a country with a vast population and a diverse socio-economic fabric, healthcare remains fraught with challenges including disparities in access. These socio-economic disparities are deep, and
Cancer
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Education and screening can prevent over 30pc cancer deaths - Health Minister
More than 30 per cent of cancer deaths can be prevented through effective education and screening saving thousands of lives a year in countries like Sri Lanka, Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said. He was speaking at a conference for professionals on caner treatment at the Centre for Cancer Research in Lyon, France yesterday.
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Huge gap in world cancer survival
Cancer survival rate varies widely between countries, according to a worldwide study of the cancers of the breast (women), colon, rectum and prostate. The five-year survival rate for prostate cancer is the highest in the United States as compared to any of the 31 countries studied as part of the study published in Lancet Oncology. However, in the US, cancer survival in black men and women is systematically and substantially lower than in white men and women.
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Toxins that can harm humans discovered in bird feed
Scientists at the University of Agriculture in Faisalabad have identified a bacterium in birds that pose serious health risks to humans. The threat was revealed by Dr Zahid Hussain, who completed his Ph.D. in the department of Veterinary Pathology under the supervision of Dr Zargham Khan.
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Rice: more silica in soil reduces arsenic uptake
R. PRASAD Two proteins in rice are responsible for transporting arsenite from soil Carcinogen: Arsenic present in the groundwater and in paddy fields irrigated by the groundwater causes skin cancer. Scientists in Japan have cracked the reason why rice is particularly efficient in assimilating arsenic from paddy soils. The findings reported in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal have particular relevance to West Bengal and Bangladesh where arsenic poisoning is seen.
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ICC comes forward to assist Sri Lanka in cancer treatment
The International Centre for Cancer (ICC) in Leon France has come forward to assist cancer treatment in Sri Lanka as the incidence of the dreaded disease is on the rise in the country, a spokesman for the Healthcare and Nutrition Ministry said yesterday. "Cancer has increased to epidemic proportions in Sri Lanka with about 3000 patients seeking treatment at the Maharagama National Cancer Institute daily,' he said.
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Cosmetic concern
Nanotechnology can be risky, but no one is regulating its use Thanks to nanotechnology, that allows grinding particles to atomic levels, you now have face creams that spread so smoothly on your skin that only a transparent sheen is visible, no layers. While that seamless make-up is desirable, cosmetics using such finely ground particles, called nanoparticles, might not be as harmless as they
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Arsenic and paddy rice: A neglected cancer risk?
Rice is the staff of life for 3 billion people, predominantly in Asia. But does the food that sustains half of humanity also increase the risk of cancer for some? That question arises from three sets of findings-including data now in press-that report elevated arsenic levels in rice and products such as rice bran and rice crackers.
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Stop tobacco centre
Deepsikha Cancer Care Foundation, an NGO working exclusively for cancer patients, has taken the initiative to make the common masses aware about the abuse of tobacco and its harmful effects. With this aim in view, it has opened its first branch of stop tobacco centre in the Deomornoi community health centre recently. The centre aims to provide information, awareness and support to people willing to quit tobacco.
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Blood cells that help wounds heal also spread cancers
Chicago: Normal cells in the blood that play a role in healing wounds may also be creating the right conditions for cancer cells to spread, US researchers said. They said fibrocytes, blood cells derived from bone marrow, could explain how healthy cells become habitats for cancer.
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Smokeless tobacco ups oral cancer risk by 80%
Chewing tobacco and snuff are less dangerous than cigarettes but the smokeless products still raise the risk of oral cancer by 80%, the World Health Organisation's cancer agency said. The review of 11 studies worldwide showed people who chewed tobacco and used snuff also had a 60% higher risk of oesophagus and pancreatic cancer. The researchers who published their findings in Lancet Oncology, found frequency of use varies greatly both across and within countries, depending on sex, age, ethnic origin and economic background, and were highest in the US, Sweden and India.