Dec 12, 2005

Cancer Is Caused By Infections?

Common infections that affect mothers and babies may trigger certain types of childhood cancers, as per some researchers. These researchers found that leukemia and brain tumors, which are leading cancers in children, occurred in clusters which suggests that outbreaks of infections are a contributing cause of the disease.

Dr Richard McNally and his colleagues from University of Newcastle upon Tyne in northern England have found that place of birth was associated with risk of developing these cancers suggesting that an infection in the mother while she is carrying her baby, or in a child's early years, could be a trigger factor for the cancer.

Researcher had no idea which infection may be triggering the development of cancer, but told that it could be a minor common illness like a cold, mild flu or a respiratory infection.

These findings are reported the in the European Journal of Cancer, which says that these findings could improve understanding about how cancer develops and may lead to better prevention and treatment.

Although cancer in children is rare, rates of the disease in youngsters in Europe have increased over the past three decades. Survival rates however have improved. Five-year survival rates are about 75 percent in Western Europe and 63 percent in Eastern Europe.

Leukemia is the most common childhood cancer, accounting for nearly one-third of all cases. Most of the rise has been in children aged 1 to 4.

The researchers believe an infection in the womb or early in life could lead to cancer in young people who already carry mutant cells that would make them more vulnerable to the disease.

Janet      

Do You Read All Of Our Cancer Blogs?

Do you read all of the blogs published by medicineworld.org? Many of our bloggers are busy keeping you updated on the various health related topics. We publish the following blogs at this time.

Cancer blog: I manage the cancer blog with lots of help and support form other bloggers. Through this cancer blog my friends and I try to bring stories of hope for patients with cancer. The cancer blog often republishes important blog posts from other cancer related blogs at Medicineworld.org. If you are searching for a blog that covers wide variety of cancer topics, this may be the one for you.

Breast cancer blog: Breast cancer blog is run by Emily and other bloggers and they bring you the latest stories, news and events that are related to breast cancer. Increasing awareness about breast cancer among women and in the general population is the main goal of this breast cancer blog.

Lung cancer blog: Lung cancer blog is managed by Scott with the help of other bloggers. Through this blog Scott and his friends constantly remind the readers about the dangers of smoking. It's a never-ending struggle against this miserable disease with which a social stigma of smoking is associated.

Colon cancer blog: Colon cancer blog is run by Sue and other bloggers. Sue brings a personal touch to the colon cancer blog since her mother died of colon cancer few years ago. She writes about stories, research news and advances in treatment related to colon cancer.

Prostate cancer blog: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among American men. American Cancer Society estimates that over 230,000 new cases of prostate cancer occur in the United state every year. This important blog about prostate cancer is run by Mark and other bloggers. This blog brings news, stories, and other personal observations related to prostate cancer.

Medicineworld.org publishes a diabetes watch blog and this blog is run by JoAnn other bloggers. This diabetes watch blog brings you the latest in the field of diabetes. This includes personal stories, advances in diagnosis and treatment, and other observations about diabetes. Improving awareness about diabetes is an important mission of this group.

Janet      

Cancer
Cancer is a very common disease, approximately one out of every two American men and one out of every three American women will have some type of cancer at some point during the course of their life. Cancer is more common in the elderly and 77 percent of cancers occur in people above age 55 or older. Cancer is also common in children. Cancer incidence is said to have two peaks once during early childhood and then during late years in life. No age period is completely exempted from development of cancers. Some cancers occur predominantly in the elderly, other types occur in children, Cancer occurs in all ethnic races, however the cancer rates and rates of specific cancer types may vary from group to group. Late stages of cancer may be incurable in most cases, but with the advancement of medicine, more and more cancers are becoming curable.