Major women's health study supports hormone replacement therapy in early menopause
Hormone replacement therapy can safely ease middle-aged women's symptoms during early menopause, data from a major women's health study show.
12 hours ago
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Hormone replacement therapy can safely ease middle-aged women's symptoms during early menopause, data from a major women's health study show.
12 hours ago
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31
For most smokers, quitting on the first attempt is likely to be unsuccessful, but a new study from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found patients were more likely to quit if their cessation regimen was altered ...
May 2, 2024
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Tumor cells are "cunning," according to Peter Yingxiao Wang. They have a nefarious way of evading the human immune responses that fight back against these cancerous invaders. Tumor cells express programmed death-ligand 1 ...
May 2, 2024
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Researchers from the Brigham and colleagues report on the long-term follow-up of the largest study of women's health in the U.S., shedding light on the role of menopausal hormone therapy, calcium and vitamin D supplementation, ...
May 1, 2024
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The disruption to the supply of a prescription medicine that helps people stop smoking may have led to thousands fewer people quitting each year in England, which will lead to avoidable deaths in future, suggests a new study ...
Apr 30, 2024
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In a development in cancer research, scientists are exploring new therapeutic strategies that move beyond traditional cytotoxic treatments, which have historically targeted uncontrolled cell proliferation.
Apr 30, 2024
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CAR T cell therapy has proven effective in treating various hematological cancers. However, not all patients respond equally well to treatment. In a clinical study, researchers from the University of Leipzig Medical Center ...
Apr 26, 2024
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"Childhood" and "dementia" are two words we wish we didn't have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 Australian children and young people live with currently untreatable childhood dementia.
Apr 26, 2024
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Breast cancer is the second-most common cancer diagnosis for U.S. women, and the second-leading cause of female cancer deaths. In recent years, breast cancer treatments have improved significantly, thanks to targeted gene ...
Apr 24, 2024
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A new paper describes the role of two RNA-binding proteins in the development of sarcoma and carcinoma cancers, highlighting the important and emerging role of RNA-binding proteins in cancer research and offering a new avenue ...
Apr 24, 2024
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Cancer (medical term: malignant neoplasm) is a class of diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled growth (division beyond the normal limits), invasion (intrusion on and destruction of adjacent tissues), and sometimes metastasis (spread to other locations in the body via lymph or blood). These three malignant properties of cancers differentiate them from benign tumors, which are self-limited, and do not invade or metastasize. Most cancers form a tumor but some, like leukemia, do not. The branch of medicine concerned with the study, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer is oncology.
Cancer may affect people at all ages, even fetuses, but the risk for most varieties increases with age. Cancer causes about 13% of all human deaths. According to the American Cancer Society, 7.6 million people died from cancer in the world during 2007. Cancers can affect all animals.
Nearly all cancers are caused by abnormalities in the genetic material of the transformed cells. These abnormalities may be due to the effects of carcinogens, such as tobacco smoke, radiation, chemicals, or infectious agents. Other cancer-promoting genetic abnormalities may be randomly acquired through errors in DNA replication, or are inherited, and thus present in all cells from birth. The heritability of cancers are usually affected by complex interactions between carcinogens and the host's genome. New aspects of the genetics of cancer pathogenesis, such as DNA methylation, and microRNAs are increasingly recognized as important.
Genetic abnormalities found in cancer typically affect two general classes of genes. Cancer-promoting oncogenes are typically activated in cancer cells, giving those cells new properties, such as hyperactive growth and division, protection against programmed cell death, loss of respect for normal tissue boundaries, and the ability to become established in diverse tissue environments. Tumor suppressor genes are then inactivated in cancer cells, resulting in the loss of normal functions in those cells, such as accurate DNA replication, control over the cell cycle, orientation and adhesion within tissues, and interaction with protective cells of the immune system.
Diagnosis usually requires the histologic examination of a tissue biopsy specimen by a pathologist, although the initial indication of malignancy can be symptoms or radiographic imaging abnormalities. Most cancers can be treated and some cured, depending on the specific type, location, and stage. Once diagnosed, cancer is usually treated with a combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. As research develops, treatments are becoming more specific for different varieties of cancer. There has been significant progress in the development of targeted therapy drugs that act specifically on detectable molecular abnormalities in certain tumors, and which minimize damage to normal cells. The prognosis of cancer patients is most influenced by the type of cancer, as well as the stage, or extent of the disease. In addition, histologic grading and the presence of specific molecular markers can also be useful in establishing prognosis, as well as in determining individual treatments.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA