Wellness Articles

Using gastric cancer biopsies from 77 patients, scientists recently identified a panel of proteins (BRF1, BRCA1/2, and MPO) induced by alcohol consumption that can predict the recurrence of the cancer, the overall survival, and the response to platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy.

The biomarkers discovered in this study can help alcoholic patients with gastric cancers choose the best treatment (surgery versus chemotherapy) for their cancer and understand the detrimental effects of alcohol on their survival.

By using biological samples from humans, the investigators of this study found human-relevant results that can be directly translated to clinical applications.

Zhang Y, Wu H, Yang F, et al. Prognostic value of the expression of DNA repair-related biomarkers mediated by alcohol in gastric cancer patients. Am J Pathol.2018;pii: S0002-9440:30741-1. doi: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2017.10.010.

Using human stem cells from the umbilical cord or bone marrow, scientists have discovered a way to make heart vessel lining cells that are capable of growing in a healthy state, as well as converting to a disease-prone state called the mesenchymal transition.

The new mesenchymal arterial cells derived by this method can serve as a cellular, human-relevant model of many heart conditions, such as heart attacks, high blood pressure, and congenital heart abnormalities. Hence, it can help scientists better understand these disease processes in humans as well as develop new drugs or strategies to treat them.

Prior to this study, scientists have had a very challenging time growing these cells for research and relied on using cadavers or animals to obtain mesenchymal cells to study these human heart pathologies. This breakthrough provides scientists with a reliable source of human cells.

Miller AZ, Satchie A, Tannenbaum AP, Nihal A, Thomson JA, Vereide DT. Expandable arterial endothelial precursors from human CD34 cells differ in their proclivity to undergo an endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Stem Cell Reports. 2018;10:73-86. doi: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2017.12.011.

Inflammatory foods, such as red and processed meats, play a role in colorectal cancer development, according to a study published in JAMA Oncology. Researchers followed 121,050 participants over 26 years and rated their diets for their inflammatory potential.

Pro-inflammatory products included processed meats, red meat, organ meats, and sodas. Men and women who consumed the most of these products were 44 and 22 percent more likely to develop colorectal cancer, respectively, compared with those who consumed the least. These findings highlight the importance of diet in cancer development. The authors suggest clinicians focus on interventions to lower inflammation as a preventive measure for colorectal cancer.

Tabung FK, Liu L, Wang W, et al. Association of dietary inflammatory potential with colorectal cancer risk in men and women. JAMA Oncol. Published online January 18, 2018.

According to the European Journal of Cancer, processed meat consumption increases risk for breast cancer.

Researchers reviewed meat consumption and cancer incidence rates for 262,195 women from the UK Biobank over a 7-year period. Those who consumed the most processed meats per day (an average of 20.2 grams per day or less than half the size of a regular hog dog) increased their risk by 21 percent, compared with those who consumed the least. In this study, processed meat was defined as bacon, ham, sausages, meat pies, kebabs, burgers, and chicken nuggets.

The authors also conducted a meta-analysis of 11 studies and found overall cancer risk and post-menopausal cancer risk increased with processed meat consumption. Possible mechanisms include heme iron, nitrates and nitrites, and heterocyclic amines found in processed meats. This study adds to accumulating evidence on the relationship between processed meats and breast cancer.

Anderson JJ, Darwis NDM, Mackay DF, et al. Red and processed meat consumption and breast cancer: UK Biobank cohort study and meta-analysis. Eur J Cancer. 2017;90:73-82.

World Cancer Research Fund International Continuous Update Project (CUP). The associations between food, nutrition and physical activity and the risk of breast cancer. Syst Lit Rev. 2015. Available at: http://www.wcrf.org/sites/default/files/CUP_breast_cancer_SLR_2015_version5.pdfAccessed January 10, 2018.

By advancing techniques for revealing genetic information in single cells, researchers were able to distinguish > 60,000 cells in the human brain based on their gene expression patterns and categorize them into 35 different cell types.

The technique allows scientists to identify which cells in the brain express disease-associated genetic risk factors, which can provide insights into the cellular processes leading to pathology in the human brain. For example, they found that most of the genes associated with Alzheimer’s disease are expressed by an immune cell type, suggesting that inflammation plays a major role in this disease.

The approach allows human organs and tissues to be studied at the single cell level to provide insights into normal and pathological human functions. As more advanced techniques are developed to study human tissues, it will be easier for scientists to conduct experiments with human samples to produce human-relevant results.

Lake BB, Chen S, Sos BC, et al. Integrative single-cell analysis of transcriptional and epigenetic states in the human adult brain. Nat Biotechnol. Published online December 11, 2017. doi: 10.1038/nbt.4038.

Using a cervical cancer cell line, scientists demonstrated that nutrients from blueberries can boost the cancer-fighting power of radiation treatments from 20 to 70 percent by increasing cancer cell death and inhibiting cancer cell growth. Treatment with the blueberry extract alone also suppressed growth of the cancer cell line slightly better than radiation (25 vs. 20 percent).

This study suggests that eating blueberries may be a strategy for cancer patients to enhance their radiation treatment.

Unlike other scientific studies which test potential treatments on animals, this study identified a food that can potentially serve as medicine by testing its effectiveness in human cells and increasing the relevance of the results for human patients.

Davidson KT, Zhu Z, Bai Q, Xiao H, Wakefield MR, Fang Y. Blueberry as a Potential radiosensitizer for treating cervical cancer. Pathol Oncol Res. Published online September 30, 2017. doi: 10.1007/s12253-017-0319-y

Whole milk consumption increases risk for prostate cancer recurrence in overweight and obese men, according to a study published in The Prostate. Researchers followed 1,334 participants from the Cancer of the Prostate Strategic Urologic Research Endeavor and tracked dairy intake and cancer-related deaths, recurrences, and treatments.

Those who consumed more than 4 servings of whole milk per week increased their risk for recurrence by 73%, compared to those who consumed fewer or no servings of milk. This increased risk rose threefold in men with high BMIs. Potential mechanisms behind the elevated risk include higher intake of IGF-1 and saturated fat and associated inflammation. Insulin resistance and increased inflammation seen in men with high BMIs may also attribute to this risk.

In its 2018 Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes, the American Diabetes Association maintains that a plant-based eating pattern is an effective option for type 2 diabetes management, and encourages clinicians to always include education on lifestyle management.

American Diabetes Association. Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes – 2018. Diabetes Care. 2018;41(Suppl 1):S1-S167.

Researchers recently developed a chemical imaging technique using a microscopic mass detection instrument that allows for human skin sections to be analyzed to detect and map the chemical distribution throughout different layers of the skin.

The method can be applied to measure drug or other chemical penetration through the skin in toxicity studies for cosmetics, environmental exposures, or therapeutic drugs.

The technique provides accurate measures of chemical penetration through human skin that has not previously been possible and will help to understand how allergens like nickel absorb into and react with the skin. Nickel, one of the most common human allergens, cannot be detected as an allergen in the current animal test for this effect: the mouse local lymph node assay.

Malmberg P, Guttenberg T, Ericson MB, Hagvall L. Imaging mass spectrometry for novel insights into contact allergy – a proof-of-concept study on nickel. Contact Dermatitis. Published online November 23, 2017. doi: 10.1111/cod.12911.