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Biological Markers Identified That May Indicate Poor Breast Cancer Prognosis
A team of researchers has found an association between breast cancer survival and two proteins that, when present in the blood in high levels, are indicators of inflammation. Using data from the Health, Eating, Activity and Lifestyle (HEAL) study sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, the researchers found that breast cancer patients with elevated levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum amyloid A (SAA) were approximately two to three times more likely to die sooner or have their cancer return than those patients who had lower levels of these proteins, regardless of the patient"s age, tumor stage, race, body mass index, or history of previous cardiovascular issues. The results of this study were published online, May 26, 2009, in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
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UNAIDS Director Calls For G8 To Come Through On HIV/AIDS Funding Pledges
Michel Sidibe, the executive director of UNAIDS, voiced concerns that wealthy nations who previously pledged to help Africa stop the spread of HIV/AIDS during the G8 summit four years ago, might instead use funds to bolster their own ailing economies, Reuters reports. "Before this financial crisis, the world came together and this solidarity helped put more than 3.5 million people on treatment," Sidibe told reporters during the African Union summit in Sirte, Libya. "I am very concerned because ... the leaders of this world have the political obligation, or responsibility to really fix the market but they have also the moral obligation to not abandon those ... people on treatment and not to break the hope of the 14 million (AIDS) orphans," he said.
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NHS Produces Fairer Primary Healthcare System, Study Finds, UK
England"s ethnic minorities are just as likely to access GP services as their white counterparts and have similarly positive clinical outcomes, a study published this month has found.
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Skin Lesion Leads To More Cancer Types Than Once Believed

Actinic keratoses are sun-damaged rough patches or lesions on the skin - often pink and scaly - that doctors have long believed can turn into a form of skin cancer known as squamous cell carcinoma. Now researchers at Brown University, the Veterans Administration Medical Centers in Providence and Oklahoma City, and others have determined that actinic keratoses appear responsible for a larger spectrum of skin cancers than previously thought. Their research is highlighted in the current edition of Cancer. "We found some interesting things," said Dr. Martin Weinstock, the paper"s lead author. Weinstock, chief of dermatology at the VA Medical Center in Providence, is professor of dermatology and community health at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development funded the study. Vincent Criscione, a fourth-year Alpert Medical School student, served as the paper"s first author. Beyond Brown and the VA, researchers from Rhode Island Hospital and Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit also contributed. To conduct the study, Weinstock and the other researchers looked at 169 patients from the VA Medical Center in Oklahoma City who had a high risk for skin cancers. They, in turn, were among 1,131 patients from multiple cites who took part in a chemotherapy prevention trial conducted previously. Most had at least one actinic keratosis on their body. Combined, they had about 7,784 of the lesions on their faces and ears. There were up to six years of follow-up to quantify the risk of progression of actinic keratoses to cancer. Among the findings: Two-thirds of the patients who had developed squamous-cell carcinomas, a form of treatable skin cancer, could trace their cancer to actinic keratoses. One-third of patients who ended up with basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer in the United States, could trace their cancers to actinic keratoses. Scientists had previously been able to connect squamous-cell carcinomas to the lesions, but not basal cell. They also found that the actinic keratoses come and go, becoming invisible and resurfacing over time. That was a challenge for doctors because the lesions often were not visible during follow-up. Thus, the research reinforces the need for skin cancer prevention. Scientists estimate that 40 million people in the United States alone have some form of actinic keratoses, and preventative removal of the lesions costs more than $1 billion annually, Weinstock said. Before this study, Weinstock said, scientists could rely on one other body of research conducted 20 years ago that found less than 1 in 1,000 instances of actinic keratoses annually turned into squamous cell carcinoma, even though actinic keratoses are commonly removed as a preventative treatment for skin cancer. Research is underway, Weinstock said, to determine if one of the treatments for actinic keratoses will be effective in preventing skin cancers. Mark Hollmer Brown University


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