cancer screening Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Maintaining Thyroid Health

AHA Publisher — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 08:00:31 +0000

Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey via Newswise – New Brunswick, N.J., January 3, 2022 – The thyroid, a key part of the endocrine system, is a small gland at the base of your neck that produces a hormone that helps control your body’s metabolism. Thyroid disorders can range from a small, harmless goiter (enlarged gland) that needs no treatment, to cancer that may need to be treated with radioactive iodine or surgery. Research shows that thyroid cancer diagnoses have spiked for U.S. women over the last decade. Staying educated about thyroid issues, doctor visits and the right lifestyle can help you maintain your thyroid health. Amanda M. Laird, MD, FACS, chief of endocrine surgery at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and associate professor of surgery at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School; and Toni Beninato, MD, MS, FACS, endocrine surgeon at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and assistant professor of surgery at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, share more information. Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle The thyroid plays a large role in your overall health. While there is no known way to prevent thyroid cancer, some things that may help to maintain thyroid health are the lifestyle choices you make. Consider eating nutritious foods including a variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and whole-grain foods, maintain a healthy weight and strive to be regularly physically active to improve your overall health. Learn to Recognize Signs of Thyroid Cancer The most common symptom of thyroid cancer is a painless lump or swelling that develops in the neck. Other symptoms only tend to occur after the condition has reached an advanced stage, which may include unexplained hoarseness or difficulty swallowing that does not go away. You may also experience a feeling of pressure at the point of the mass. If You Notice Something Abnormal, Talk with a Health Professional The best way to determine if you have a thyroid condition is to consult your physician as soon as possible. If you feel any new lumps, tell your doctor. Masses in the neck should be evaluated first with a physical exam, and then a decision is made to pursue further testing if needed. To evaluate for thyroid masses, an ultrasound is done first. A biopsy may be recommended depending on those results. If you have a family history of thyroid cancer, it is important that you see a health care team that is familiar with the latest advances in genetic counseling and genetic testing for this disease. To read the original article click here.

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Why Are Mammogram Guidelines Conflicting?

AHA Publisher — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 07:00:49 +0000

Michael Greger M.D. FACLM via Nutrition Facts – When women are fully informed about the risks and benefits of mammograms, 70 percent may choose not to get screened. You may be in that 30 percent who opts to get a mammogram and absolutely have the right to decide for yourself. “For nearly a century, public health organizations, professional associations, patient advocacy groups, academics, and clinicians largely viewed cancer screening as a simple, safe way to save lives.” But these days, even though we’re all looking at the same body of evidence, “differing interpretations about evidence on benefits and harms of screening mammography has led to conflicting recommendations…that range from intensive screening starting at age 40 to no screening at all.” Currently, the four main groups in the United States charged with making mammogram recommendations—the American Cancer Society, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network—each set contradictory guidelines. What’s a woman to do? This is the issue I discuss in my video Mammogram Recommendations: Why the Conflicting Guidelines?. Guidelines are based on systematic reviews of the evidence. “In the last 15 years, 50 systematic reviews on the use of routine mammography for breast cancer screening in asymptomatic women have been published but a consistent conclusion has not emerged.” Why? It turns out that the conclusions of systematic reviews may have been influenced by competing conflicts of interests of the authors. “It is only in health care, after all, that the same group that provides a service also tells us how valuable that service is and how much of it we need…We must acknowledge that just as in any other profession or industry, self-interest is unavoidably at work in health care.” Indeed, an analysis of more than a hundred papers concluded: “Scientific articles tend to emphasize the major benefits of mammography screening over its major harms. This imbalance is related to the authors’ affiliation.” It may be no coincidence that all of the expert panels that have come out against routine mammograms excluded radiologists. Perhaps those who depend on mammograms for their paycheck might be more likely to recommend them. One “leading proponent of mammography screening said ‘I earn my living reading mammograms’, and ‘if you don’t have a conflict of interest you probably don’t have the expertise’.” He accused the breast cancer screening panels of injecting their own biases. “In this debate, there are armies of the faithful, and only a disappointing scattering of moderators and peacemakers.” Some have even suggested that “this debate should not be taking place in public…Such paternalism assumes that women cannot decide for themselves whether the available evidence supports or refutes the case for mammography. Discouraging a discussion with women about the evidence for and against mammography is more harmful for women’s health, not less, if doctors truly believe that patients should be active partners in making decisions about their care.” If you read the actual studies, you can determine whether the investigators declare any conflicts of interest, but if you simply hear about the studies second-hand, you may have no idea. Until the developers of screening guidelines “emphasize evidence over commercial or financial interests,” we all have to take personal responsibility to become informed consumers. It would be nice to be able to trust cancer charities, but it is “virtually impossible” for such organizations to remain strictly “evidence-based” when they must rely on donors “for their very existence.” To his credit, the Chief Medical Officer of the American Cancer Society (ACS) “noted that we need to be true to the science”—but he was talking about prostate cancer screening. Although the ACS simply tells women to get mammograms, it lets men decide for themselves. The charity is open about the harms of prostate cancer screening, but “very little transparent ‘educational’ information about the harms of mammography is provided on the American Cancer Society website.” “In the United States…a double standard exists: women are encouraged to participate in screening mammography”—to just do it—“while men are advised to make informed decisions regarding prostate screening, although the fundamental issues to consider are very similar.” The “dissimilarity” in how organizations like the American Cancer Society “view the shared decision making of women contemplating breast cancer screening versus that of men contemplating prostate cancer screening, couldn’t be clearer. Do [they] believe that men can handle uncertainties regarding screening tests for prostate cancer, but that women cannot handle uncertainties, and in fact become confused by them when making decisions about breast cancer screenings?” Men get to “make informed decisions,” but women are merely “summoned.” The bottom line is that there is “more than one right answer” to the question, “Should I be screened for breast cancer?” My goal is to enable you to make the decision that is right for you and your loved ones. One survey found that “if women knew how small the real effectiveness of breast cancer screening in preventing breast cancer deaths is, 70% said they would not submit to it.” But, you may be in that 30 percent—and you have every right to decide for yourself. When it comes to this topic, there’s just so much confusion, combined with the corrupting commercial interests of a billion–dollar industry. As with any important health decision, everyone should be fully informed of the risks and benefits, and make up their own mind about their own bodies. KEY TAKEAWAYS At present, the American Cancer Society, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network have each set contradictory guidelines regarding mammography screening. Conclusions of systematic reviews on the use of routine mammograms for breast cancer screening in asymptomatic women have been inconsistent, and the evidence may be influenced by competing conflicts of interests of the authors. An analysis of more than a hundred papers concluded: “Scientific articles tend to emphasize the major benefits of mammography screening over its major harms. This imbalance is related to the authors’ affiliation.” Cancer charities may also be challenged with remaining strictly “evidence-based” when they rely on donations to exist. A double standard exists in the United States where women are encouraged to get routine mammograms, while men are advised to make informed decisions about prostate screening even though the fundamental issues to consider are quite similar. A survey found that “if women knew how small the real effectiveness of breast cancer screening in preventing breast cancer deaths is, 70% said they would not submit to it.” You may be in that 30 percent who opts to get a mammogram, and you have every right to decide for yourself. To read the original article click here.

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Researchers to Develop New Technology to Detect and Remove Cancer Tumors

AHA Publisher — Wed, 09 Jun 2021 07:00:21 +0000

University of Warwick via News-Medical – New technology that will marry probes that can detect cancer tumors through the skin with high-precision robotic surgery is to be developed for use in hospital settings for the first time in a project led by the University of Warwick. The Terabotics project will use probes that use terahertz radiation, or T-rays, to scan for tumors under the skin while medical-grade surgical robots will be adapted to use these scans to guide them in removing tumors in skin and colorectal cancer patients more precisely. If successful, the researchers hope it could lead to real-time diagnosis for cancer patients, shorter waiting periods for cancer surgery, and more comprehensive removal of tumors with reduced need for follow-up surgery. The project, which has received funding of £8 million from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation, is a collaboration between the University of Warwick, University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire, University of Leeds and the University of Exeter. The five-year project starting in September 2021 aims to eventually trial the technology with patients attending cancer services at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Terabotics will use research from the University of Warwick into terahertz (THz) radiation, or T-rays, which sit in-between infrared and WiFi on the electromagnetic spectrum. Previous work from the University of Warwick’s Department of Physics has shown that these can be used to detect very subtle changes in the outermost layers of skin, and the technique has already been demonstrated on healthy volunteers. This will be the first time that it will be studied in patients within an active cancer process. As well as assessing how effective T-ray technology is in diagnosing cancers compared to standard care, the project aims to incorporate the technology into surgical robots to guide them more accurately when detecting tumors during colonoscopy and removing them during surgery. “What we will be testing is our hypothesis that we are able to detect a buried or hidden tumor. We think our terahertz probe will be able to detect those through looking at the transient response of the skin.” Emma Pickwell-MacPherson, Professor and Principal Investigator, Department of Physics, University of Warwick “Somebody might already be diagnosed with cancer but the actual extent of that cancer may not be known. For example, in skin cancer patients, the THz probe will image the visible tumor and the surrounding area to better determine the extent of the tumor that is beneath the surface. This will enable the whole tumor to be removed in one go, rather than incrementally. In turn, this enables better planning for reconstruction and speeds up the procedure.” Initially, the researchers will focus on adapting the T-ray probes to work with the surgical robots, miniaturisation of the technology and refining the design to provide more diagnostic parameters. Later stages of the project will involve trialling the technology with patients with a known or suspected cancer. Those attending cancer services at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire will be offered the opportunity to participate alongside their routine care. Colorectal cancer patients will be seen at the University of Leeds, where an endoscopic probe is being developed specifically to examine the colon. Just like our skin, the colon is an epithelial lining and could potentially be scanned by T-rays in the same way. At present, diagnosis of skin cancer relies upon a visual inspection by a clinician and a biopsy. There are over 150,000 new cases of skin cancer in the UK each year (1) and two to three million globally (2), numbers which are set to rise due to increased life expectancy. 1 in 15 UK males and 1 in 18 UK females will be diagnosed with bowel cancer in their lifetime and it is the second most common cause of cancer death in the UK. (2) Professor Joseph Hardwicke, Medical Lead for the project at University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire, said: “This technique is a way to examine the skin at a deeper and more technical level than what we are able to at the moment. The main hope, especially for skin cancer, is to determine the extent of the spread locally and also to potentially diagnose these cancers without the need for a biopsy in future. “This is a whole new area of diagnostics, like how MRI in the 1980s revolutionised medical imaging. I think this is a chance for terahertz combined with robotics to give us that greater accuracy. Even though we are still building evidence, there seems to be a lot of pieces of the jigsaw that make logical sense.” Professor Pickwell-MacPherson adds: “If we can give a quantitative answer using our technology that would be great, and ultimately that will speed up the throughput of patients. That in turn will reduce waiting times and costs, it will mean that the surgical procedures can be better planned and done more efficiently, the number of follow-up procedures can be reduced, then that has implications financially to the NHS. “This area is up and coming and terahertz robotics is becoming a hot topic. It has long been suggested that THz technology could be used for cancer detection and this project will push the technology forward to make it a reality. We hope that by demonstrating its application to skin and colon cancers we will open up the door to applying the technology to benefit other cancers too and transform cancer treatment protocols.” Professor Pietro Valdastri of the University of Leeds said: “Robotics is increasingly used in the operating theatre as it brings superior accuracy and unload some of the burden of the procedure from the surgeon. At Leeds, we are developing the next generation of surgical robots to detect colorectal cancer earlier and remove it more effectively. Adding THz perception capabilities to our robots is a new exciting avenue of research that has the potential to improve cancer patient quality of life in the next 5 to 10 years.” The project is among 20 innovative projects announced to revolutionise healthcare, improve treatments for millions of people with a wide range of conditions and save the NHS money. The projects are supported by £30.8 million of funding by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). Four projects were co-funded by UKRI’s Medical Research Council (MRC). EPSRC Executive Chair Professor Dame Lynn Gladden said: “Technologies and approaches pioneered by UK researchers have the potential to revolutionise treatment for a wide range of conditions, from bowel cancer to diabetes. “The projects announced today exemplify this potential and may play a key role in improving the lives of millions of people.” To read the original article click here.

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Toilet Sensor Set to Transform Colorectal Cancer Screening

AHA Publisher — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 08:00:49 +0000

Abigail Klein Leichman via Israel21c – Colorectal cancer grows slowly and can be cured when detected early. Yet nearly 700,000 people die of the disease every year worldwide, mainly because it’s just so very unpleasant to provide a stool sample and undergo a screening colonoscopy. Now there’s an early screening device coming to the market that doesn’t require you to do anything but sit on the toilet. The OutSense IoT (Internet of Things) sensor clips onto the toilet and operates automatically, non-invasively, discreetly and without active user intervention. Using multispectral optical sensors, an illumination module and an autonomous controller with a Wi-Fi receiver, it scans solid waste for even tiny traces of blood — a possible sign of disease that can be missed by the lab-based fecal immunological test (FIT). The sensor “knows” who is sitting on the toilet based on the closest smartphone, as well as other ways to identify the user that the company cannot disclose at the moment. Real-time analysis is conducted in the cloud using OutSense’s proprietary computer vision algorithms and AI. Notification of any abnormal results is sent immediately to the smartphone of the user or caregiver — no need to take a sample to the lab or wait for results. “Our technology allows users and patients to have their excretions scanned automatically and immediately receive actionable insights based on the underlying chemical and physical composition,” says Yfat Scialom, CEO of OutSense. “The solution provides new ways for early detection of potential severe gut problems, such as colorectal cancer, and for improving health and quality of care.” Detects Dehydration and UTIs OutSense’s proprietary technology doesn’t only screen for colorectal cancer. The technology also can detect dehydration, urinary tract infections, constipation, and diarrhea –all major causes of deterioration and hospitalization of the elderly. A pilot is planned in Japan for detection of dehydration and urinary tract infections in the elderly, in cooperation with a multibillion-dollar Japanese corporation that specializes in remote elderly care technologies. “Besides the medical impact, this solution also gives people new ways to improve their wellness, improve compliance to medications, and monitor diets and personal nutritional needs,” says Ishay Attar, founder of OutSense. Clinical Trials Ahead of FDA Application Founded in 2016 by Attar, an Israeli biomedical engineer and serial medtech entrepreneur, OutSense started at the Incentive Incubatorowned and operated by Peregrine Ventures in partnership with the Israel Innovation Authority. Initial preclinical and clinical studies facilitated by a $2.5 million seed investment proved OutSense 90% accurate in detecting traces of blood in stool. In November, the startup raised an additional $2.2 million in a Series A round from Peregrine Ventures to complete development and testing. OutSense is completing its final design and expanding trials in Israel and abroad with an eye toward initiating the approval process with the US Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory bodies next year. “OutSense is looking for additional strategic partners and is planning another fundraising round next year that will enable the company to begin marketing efforts,” says Scialom. She tells ISRAEL21c that users will pay “a relatively low one-time hardware fee plus subscription fees. The logic behind the subscription fee is that the entire analysis is done in a lab on the cloud. The data that is collected in the cloud will enable us to give personalized feedback.” The clip-on works on batteries, but in the future could be integrated into the seat or bowl at the manufacturing stage. Waste Database OutSense also aims to create what it says would be the world’s first and largest database of human waste. “This is especially crucial in colorectal cancer and other conditions which often go undiagnosed,” notes Scialom, who came aboard in February from patient-monitoring company EarlySense. Eventually the technology could be used to detect the onset of an epidemic like Covid-19 as well as for personalized care, biofeedback, fine-tuning of drug dosage and even for personalized nutrition for weight control. The OutSense team includes such experts as CSO Tali Treibitz, head of the Marine Imaging Lab at the University of Haifa; and CTO Yaara Kaap Barnea, who has a PhD in biology and specializes in biometric monitoring. OutSense was accepted as an Intel Ingenuity Partner Program, received a Horizon 2020 grant and won second place in the 2018 China Heyuan International Mobile Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. The startup also got first prize from the California Israel Chamber of Commerce in 2017. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Israel21c click here.

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