Key to Cancer Spread Discovered

Cancer in one part of the body is horrible enough. But one of the disease's most terrifying characteristics is its ability to spread to other parts of the body, making it difficult or impossible to treat effectively. But now, doctors believe they have discovered the gene responsible for this sinister trick. This could lead to treatments far more effective in prolonging and savings lives of cancer victims.

The process called epithelial-mesenchymal transdifferientiation (EMT) has been known to play a role in releasing cells (epithelial cells) on the surface of the solid tumor and transforming them into transient mesenchymal cell: cells with the ability to start to grow a new tumor.
This is often the fatal process in breast, ovarian, pancreatic and colon-rectal cancers..."This is the major piece in cancer research that has been missing," Jin said.

This is one of those once-in-a-lifetime discoveries that could transform treatments and save lives.

Senator Kennedy has brain cancer

It is being reported today that Senator Ted Kennedy has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, after collapsing the other day with a seizure.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080520/ap_on_go_co/kennedy

Mod-bloggers who know me in real life may be aware that my father died of the same kind of malady. While the exact kind of cancer that the Senator is suffering from has not yet been determined, it is the same general classification. The good news for the Senator from our experience is that my father lived a long time after his first diagnosis - he was first diagnosed when I was in 4th grade and lived to see me enter college. The bad news is that it did eventually take his life - when I was a sophomore in college.

My prayers are with Senator Kennedy and his family today.

Senator Kennedy Has a Brain Tumor

The doctors for Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy have announced that he has a malignant brain tumor and they believe this is why he had a seizure last week. Our father had a brain tumor and lived another 10 years after his first surgery, so Senator Kennedy may yet live quite a bit longer depending on the type and aggressiveness of his type of tumor. Even those of us on the political Right wish him many more happy years on this earth.

Non-Embryonic Stem Cells Fix Flaws From Breast Cancer

I found this story to be really exciting. Japanese doctors have started testing using a woman's fat to pull out stem cells to repair damage caused by breast cancer. After 8 months, there was an 80% patient satisfaction rate. All of this done without needing one aborted baby!

Using Virii to Kill Cancer

There's an interesting article about studies that are attempting to use modified cold, smallpox, or herpes virii to kill cancer cells. The one attempts to use a 1-2 punch to knock out the cancer. First, the modified virus kills most of the cancer cells. After that, the immune system is boosted to mop up the rest. Interesting idea, though it sounds like one of those "crazy enough it might work" ideas. Then again inoculations are based off of weakened virii, so maybe it's not so crazy.

RFID Implants Cause Cancer?

Okay, this may be another sign of my RFID paranoia, but this article claims that new studies show implanted RFID microchips can cause cancer in a statistically significant portion of the animal population on which they were tried.

As the AP will report, a series of research articles spanning more than a decade found that mice and rats injected with glass-encapsulated RFID transponders developed malignant, fast-growing, lethal cancers in up to 1% to 10% of cases. The tumors originated in the tissue surrounding the microchips and often grew to completely surround the devices, the researchers said.

So, maybe it is time to slow down the RFID train a bit, even if you are not a religious nut like me who fears the Mark of the Beast?