The Hutch Suggests Change in Common Marrow-Donation Procedure
The Seattle Times reports that SCCA’s executive director, Dr. Fred Appelbaum, is now recommending that the most common method of extracting cells from unrelated donors for patients needing a bone marrow transplant should change. Dr. Appelbaum’s recommendation comes in light of new research that was published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine that shows that adult stem cells harvested from bone marrow rather than blood of unrelated donors are best for reducing post-transplant complications, namely graft-vs-host disease. Read more.
Blood Test May Help Define Breast Cancer Risk in Older Women
Health Day reports that researchers are one step closer to developing a blood test that shows a woman’s risk for breast cancer. The study showed that women with high “sex” hormone levels had a greater chance of developing breast cancer as compared to women with lower hormone levels. SCCA’s Dr. Julie Gralow, however, advises caution about interpreting the results of this study. Read more.
Multivitamin Use Linked to Lowered Cancer Risk… Sort Of
This week it was widely reported that taking a daily vitamin can reduce the risk of cancer. The study, sponsored by the NIH and BASF, followed 15,000 male doctors over 10 years and found that those who had taken a daily multivitamin had 8% fewer cancers than those who did not. Despite the study’s statistical significance not everyone seemed convinced. “Not particularly impactful” and “no clear evidence for either benefits or harmful effects” were among the reactions of doctors and researchers not connected to the study who were interviewed by Forbes. The New York Times reportage was just as muted, including a doctor who had participated in the study who said that he “might” consider a multivitamin regime.
Still, the study is getting lots of press, which points to one clear winner–Pfizer–who supplied the vitamins for the study and who will no doubt see a spike in sales of its Centrum Silver.
Pink Gloves Dancing
We’re over halfway through breast cancer awareness month and if you’ve got nothing else to do this weekend you could wander over to pinkglovedance.com and watch some 15 hours of video submitted by over 260 hospitals and vote for your favorite. Or you could just spend 4 minutes to watch SCCA’s submission and give us your thumbs ups! Have a great weekend.
