Forget Ebola and all the fears that caused. Researchers and now discovering a form on cancer that is believed to be contagious.
Transmissible cancers – cancers which can spread between individuals by the transfer of living cancer cells – are believed to arise extremely rarely in nature.
One of the few known transmissible cancers causes facial tumours in Tasmanian devils, and is threatening this species with extinction.
The discovery by researchers from the University of Tasmania in Australia, and the University of Cambridge in UK, calls into question our current understanding of the processes that drive cancers to become transmissible.
Tasmanian devils are iconic marsupial carnivores that are only found in the wild in Tasmania. The size of a small dog, the animals have a reputation for ferocity as they frequently bite each other during mating and feeding interactions.
In 1996, researchers observed Tasmanian devils in the north-east of the island with tumours affecting the face and mouth; soon it was discovered that these tumours were contagious between devils, spread by biting.
The cancer spreads rapidly throughout the animal’s body and the disease usually causes the death of affected animals within months of the appearance of symptoms.
A Michigan man who robbed a local credit union reportedly did so in a desperate attempt to help pay for his daughter’s chemotherapy, according to authorities, ABC News reports.
Brian Randolph, 23, is accused of entering the Vibe Credit Union in South Lyon earlier this month, and passing a note demanding money. The note said that he had a gun hidden in his clothes, but Randolph reportedly never showed a firearm and, according to the authorities, did not actually have a gun with him.
The young father has been charged with armed robbery. His bond was set at $500,000.
According to ABC News, Randolph’s troubles began when his insurance company reportedly stopped paying for his daughter’s chemotherapy treatment. Brialynn, who is one, has retinoblastoma, a cancer that forms in the eye, and needs treatment, that costs thousands of dollars, every four weeks, the site notes.
Randolph told the authorities that it was a last-ditch attempt to get money for Brialynn’s upcoming session.
“I guess it was desperation. Time was ticking right before her actual appointment came up,” Brialynn’s mother, Asia Dupree told WXYZ-TV. “This was after the insurance was cancelled…[We] kept calling. No answer. Voicemails. No answer. No callbacks.”
The former president made the announcement earlier today that cancer spots have been detected on his brain. Mr. Carter also said that he is “perfectly at ease with whatever comes” and that his situation is “in the hands of God.”
While doctors thought an operation performed earlier this month had removed all the cancer in Carter’s liver, an MRI scan later found four new spots of melanoma on his brain. The cancer, Carter said, “is likely to show up in other places in my body.”
CNN is reporting that Toronto Mayor Rob Ford soon will begin chemotherapy to treat a rare and aggressive cancer, a doctor at Mount Sinai Hospital in the city said Wednesday.
Dr. Zane Cohen said Ford has a malignant liposarcoma, and a second biopsy on his tumor done Monday shows it is aggressive.
“However, we are optimistic about this tumor,” Cohen said.
Ford, who recently announced he will not run for re-election, will start chemotherapy by Friday afternoon.
The cancer has spread from the fatty tissue of Ford’s abdomen to other parts of his body, including his buttocks, Cohen said.
The doctor added that this type of tumor comprises only about 1% of all cancers and has at least 60 different types of cells, making it difficult to treat.
Rob Ford, the infamous mayor of Toronto Canada who was caught on video doing cocaine among other things, is calling it quits after being hospitalized with what is being called an abdominal tumor. The mayor has decided to focus on getting better and recommended that his brother Doug Ford, runs in his place.
“My heart is heavy when I tell you that I’m unable to continue my campaign for re-election as your mayor,” the controversial politician said in a statement Friday. Ford’s term officially ends December 1.
“People know me as a guy who faces things head on and never gives up, and as your mayor I have done just that,” Ford said. “Now I could be facing a battle of my lifetime, and I want the people of Toronto to know that I intend to face this challenge head on, and win.”
Ford asked his brother, Doug Ford, to run for mayor in the October 27 balloting.
“He told me that he needed me to take the torch while he focuses on getting better,” Doug Ford said at a press conference Friday evening outside his mother’s home. “He told me he couldn’t bear the thought of city hall returning to the old days at the expense of the good, honest, everyday people,” he said.
Doug Ford, who has been one of the mayor’s strongest supporters during the controversies that have plagued him, said he is honoring his brother’s request and would have more details next week about his own campaign for mayor.
A 19-year-old Chicago teen may one day hold the key to curing colon cancer.
If his previous successes are any indication, Keven Stonewall is well on his way to becoming the kind of scientist who leaves a lasting impact in the realm of cancer research.
In his senior year of high school, this young man from the city’s South Side was already working on a potential colon cancer vaccine at a Rush University lab, DNAInfo reports.
“My friends, family members have died from cancer,” Stonewall said in a VNM video. “A lot of people are impacted by cancer. So I felt it was my role to step up and do something about it.”
At first, his friends mocked his dedication to science. When they were out on vacation, he was holed up in his lab.
“I was one of the few kids who were engaged,” Stonewall said. “At first they were making fun of me, like ‘Come on man, why you want to be in the lab all day?’”
But after realizing that his lab time was producing real results, his buddies turned around. In fact, they confessed they were inspired by him.
“Now a lot of my friends are that much more motivated to do better,” Stonewall said. “I can make a difference in someone’s life without even knowing it.”
A 19-year-old Chicago teen may one day hold the key to curing colon cancer.
If his previous successes are any indication, Keven Stonewall is well on his way to becoming the kind of scientist who leaves a lasting impact in the realm of cancer research.
In his senior year of high school, this young man from the city’s South Side was already working on a potential colon cancer vaccine at a Rush University lab, DNAInfo reports.
“My friends, family members have died from cancer,” Stonewall said in a VNM video. “A lot of people are impacted by cancer. So I felt it was my role to step up and do something about it.”
At first, his friends mocked his dedication to science. When they were out on vacation, he was holed up in his lab.
“I was one of the few kids who were engaged,” Stonewall said. “At first they were making fun of me, like ‘Come on man, why you want to be in the lab all day?’”
For his experiment, Stonewall injected a special high concentration of cancer-treating drug mitoxantrone into younger and older mice. He then injected the mice with aggressive colon cancer cells. After three days, Stonewall noticed that his experimental vaccine was 100% effective on young mice — their tumors were gone and they showed immunity to colon cancer. But the older mice were still afflicted by the cancer cells.
His lab director at Rush University, Carl Ruby, said that Stonewall’s experiment helped scientists realize that they needed a special vaccine for older subjects.
Tony Gwynn passed away today at the age of 54, thus ending a battle with cancer dating back to 2010.
Gwynn was very private about his medical struggles but he had attributed them to years of chewing tobacco use.
Gwynn was a player of legendary proportion. A 15 time all-star, 5 time gold glove winner, 7 time silver slugger and an insane 8 time NL batting champ. Tony played the game like few could.
He was also an amazing ambassador to the game and his work off the field truly showed what a great person he was. Tony received the Roberto Clemente Award in 1999 for best exemplifying the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual’s contribution to his team.
Gwynn’s number 19 was retired with the padres and in 2007 he was elected the National Baseball Hall of Fame on his very first ballot with a whopping 97.6 percent of the vote.
If you haven’t already figured it our from his music, Drake has a really big heart and we’re super happy to see him share it in this way.
Last night, 15-year-old Kennedy Brown got the surprise of her life when Drizzy showed up on her doorstep unexpectedly. According to ABC News, Kennedy, who’s currently in hospice, was diagnosed with brain cancer two years ago, but this weekend she made a special trip back to her high school, Carnegie Vanguard in Houston,TX, where her classmates threw her a surprise prom, crowned her prom queen, and even gave her an honorary diploma in a private graduation ceremony. Part of the goal of the events was to grant Kennedy’s wish of getting a special message or visit from her favorite rapper, which is why classmate Payton Campbell gave out these instructions:
“We would ask all of your viewers to #DrakeForKen so we can get him to come see her or send something for her because that would mean the world to her.”
Thankfully, Drake saw the social media campaign and paid Kennedy a personal visit yesterday that you can tell was likely the highlight of both of their lives. Posting photos on his Instagram page, Drake captioned the pic below with “She asked to touch the brows #accessgranted”
Clinical trials show high levels of the mineral Selenium can raise chances of developing high-grade cancer by 91%
Men have been warned not to take a pair of popular vitamin and mineral supplements after research showed they can dramatically increase the risk of life-threatening prostate cancer.
Overdosing on the mineral selenium by taking supplements raised the chances of developing high-grade cancer by 91%, scientists found.
Vitamin E pills also boosted the risk of aggressive cancer, more than doubling it for men lacking selenium.
The researchers believe selenium can turn toxic when present in the body at excessively high levels.
At the same time, the mineral appeared to protect against the harmful effects of too much vitamin E.
The US study was a follow-up of Select, the selenium and vitamin E cancer prevention trial, which originally recruited more than 35,000 men to see if the supplements could help prevent prostate cancer.
Researchers stopped the trial three years early in 2008 after there were hints that instead of protecting men, vitamin E was putting them at greater risk, while selenium showed no benefit.
A subsequent comparison of 1,739 participants diagnosed with prostate cancer and 3,117 matched cancer-free individuals highlighted the supplement hazards.
Study leader Dr Alan Kristal, from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre in Seattle, said: “These supplements are popular – especially vitamin E – although so far no large, well-designed and well-conducted study has shown any benefits for preventing major chronic disease.
A 15-year-old Indiana girl whose brave struggle with cancer who inspired thousands, including stars like CeeLo Green and Tom Cruise, has died.
The purple Sarah Strong campaign began when Sarah Crane of Michiana was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer in July, one of the youngest people ever to be diagnosed with such an advanced form of the disease.
Over the last five months she endured multiple surgeries and two intensive rounds of chemotherapy but the cancer did not respond to treatment.
Sarah Crane’s grace and courage in the face of such an ordeal inspired her whole community, who turned out en masse in purple ‘Sarah Strong’ t-shirts to raise money for the Crane family in fun runs, parades, cookouts and car washes.
The teenager’s death has triggered an outpouring of grief from people around the country who were touched by Sarah Crane’s story.
‘No matter what, I’m still going to wear my shirt for Sarah,’ 13-year-old Nick Matthews told WNDU today.
Sarah was a sophomore at Elkhart Memorial High School when she became one of the youngest people ever to be diagnosed with such an advanced form of colon cancer.
A 28-year-old Canadian television producer lost her battle with cancer this week. But her fight isn’t over yet.
Houda Rafle was starting legal procedures against a Trillium Health radiologist whom she claimed misread a CT scan that showed the early stages of her cancer. But as the case was progressing, her health deteriorated.
She died on Wednesday, but her lawyer and her family plan to continue with the lawsuit.
“Houda’s fight is never [going to] end. Our entire family is [going to] keep it alive with every fiber of our being,” sister Deeqa Rafle told CBC.
Rafle initially checked in at Trillium on March 5, complaining of shortness of breath, nausea and vomiting. Hospital staff took a CT scan of her heart.The radiologist who read it, Dr. Ivo Slezic, has been working at Trillium hospitals for 33 years. But somehow, he missed a 1.6 cm mass.
Rafle was discharged, but she she still felt symptoms of fatigue.
Meanwhile, Trillium hospital implemented a new radiology quality assurance program. The radiology chief found some problems with Slezic’s work. The doctor’s privileges were restricted in April. The hospital started studying the CT scans and mammograms of the 3,500 patients that Slezic saw between April 2012 and March 2013.
In July, unable to cope with her mysterious symptoms, Rafle decided to visit a walk-in clinic for a chest x-ray. When that came back with some abnormalities, Rafle had it sent to a family doctor and eventually to a cardiologist at Trillium.
It wasn’t until August that a Trillium cardiologist called Rafle on the phone and asked her to get to an emergency room as soon as possible.
A new CT scan revealed that the mass had grown to 2.5 cm. Rafle was then diagnosed with stage IV angiosarcoma. The cancer spread to her lungs and to her brain.
“I was very upset and disappointed because the radiologist had missed that and that was (five) months of my life when I could have done something about the cancer. But I wasn’t notified until it spread, and now it is stage four,” Houda told The Star in September.
On Nov. 12, she filed a claim in court alleging that the hospital was negligent in not informing her that Slezic’s privileges had been restricted in April. The suit also claims that Slezic shouldn’t have been allowed to practice medicine because his abilities were impaired by fatigue, medical conditions or other factors.”
As it turns out, Slezic was going through some trials of his own. The doctor had just come back to work after going through chemotherapy for his own cancer.
The hospital has suspended Slezic. He has agreed to stop practicing while health officials investigate the incident.
Before she died, Rafle prepared a press release with her lawyer.
“There are no words to describe the horrible impact the events giving rise to this action have had on my life and the lives of my family,” she wrote in a statement released to the Toronto Star. “But I am not doing this because I am angry or because I want to lay blame. The truth is I am concerned for many others whose lives can be destroyed if nothing changes.”
“I am really praying that I was the only patient that was misdiagnosed,” Rafle said in a video before her death.
Rafle was surrounded by her six brothers and sisters when she drew her last breath on Wednesday.
“It’s absolutely unfair . . . misdiagnosis, 28, healthy before that, my role model, my best friend my big sister. It’s a lot,” Deeqa said.
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