Tag Archive for: health related social needs

July 2023 Notable News

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July brings hope to cancer patients with new knowledge, leading to helpful advances in oncology. Financial complications from cancer treatments are found to influence patient mortality. A new drug focusing on interrupting prostate cancer cell metabolism gives another option to prostate cancer patients. A scientific discovery of how bowel cancer evades immune response is helping scientists find a new treatment for the cancer.

Health-Related Social Needs Linked to Higher Risk of Death for Cancer Survivors

A new study by researchers at the American Cancer Society, (ACS) found health related social needs (HRSN) such as food insecurity and financial worry about paying for housing related expenses and other living necessities were associated with higher mortality risk among cancer survivors ages 18 to 64 reports Cancer Health. Cancer patients have large medical bills and often must pay a great deal of the expense out of pocket. There is a higher incidence of food insecurity in younger cancer survivors. One third of cancer survivors worry about how to pay housing and living expenses. The findings from this study suggest that an assessment needs to be done on cancer patients to identify their financial needs to help improve mortality rates. Click here for more information.

New Drug Shows Promise Against Treatment-Resistant Prostate Cancer

For this study, the researchers used a compound called Platin-L to break down a process that malignant prostate cancer cells use to fuel their growth and also to deliver the cisplatin directly into treatment-resistant cancer cells reports UPI News. Research done at the University of Miami tested it on human cancer cells and a mouse model of prostate cancer with promising results. Prostate cancer grows by getting energy from fat. Which is called fatty acid oxidation (FAO). Platin-L targets a protein that is involved in the FAO process. It interferes with cancers energy source to kill the cancer cells. The drug was administered orally inside of a nanoparticle that targets the prostate. Delivering the drug this way limits side effects to other parts of the body. It decreased side effects to the kidneys and liver, as well as lowered the risk for peripheral neuropathy. Click here for more information.

Bowel Cancer Treatment Hope as Scientists Solve Immune System Mystery

Researchers at the University of Glasgow and Cancer Research UK’s Beats Institute have discovered how bowel cancer. Blinds the immune system so it cannot see the cancer and renders it unable to destroy it reports The Independent. In the bell, when cells become cancerous, they no longer produce cells that allow for communicating the need for an immune response. These cells are called Gamma Delta T cells. Cancer cells are then bypassed and proliferate. This new knowledge will allow scientists to make a drug that makes the immune cells in the bowel see the cancer. Bowel cancer begins in the lining of the bowel. Scientists hope to use this information to trick the immune system to attack the cancer cells. Click here for more information.