The Ontario Government has decided to replace about 25 percent of mammography machine in use because of new information that reveals that they are less sensitive than newer technology in detecting breast cancer.
Joinnig us today is Dr, David Jacobs, Chair of the Diagnostic Imaging Sectionof the Ontario Medical Association.
The Ontario Government's decides to replace old mammography tech but not the most ancient machines in use Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadMadely Health Headlines Commentary for September 2, 2010
Mouse studies indicate that diabetes medication may aid in the treatment of certain cancers Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadSource:
Madely Health Headlines Commentary for November 18, 2009
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Watchful waiting for prostate cancer is safe
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It seems as a society we are sleepwalking towards a myriad of preventable diseases. I say this because after reading another of Dr. Richard Béliveau’s masterful books on how our lifestyle, eating habits, and food choices are intricately linked with our physical, emotional and spiritual health, the evidence is compelling. In his new book, Eating [...]
Original broadcast date: September 27, 2009 The advent of the PAP test in the 1960’s, a screening test to detect abnormal cells of the cervix that might lead to cancerous change, has had a tremendous positive impact on women’s health. There are various recommendations on when to start screening, how often to screen and what [...]
Original broadcast date: July 19, 2009 The understanding of a disease process or pathophysiology is crucial to the development of innovative ways to find effective therapies to treat it. On Sunday House Call we have been following various avenues in cancer research that continue to reveal insights into the protein chemistry, genetics and immune response [...]
Original broadcast date: July 19, 2009 In a recent issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Drs. Tito Fojo of the National Cancer Institute’s medical oncology division and Christine Grady of the NIH’s bioethics department recommended that studies of cancer drugs that provide two months or less of extended survival should be undertaken [...]
Original broadcast date: June 28, 2009 What do cancer cells need to survive? We know that gene mutations contribute to the development of cancer and research continues to identify the aberrant genetic sequences as cataloged in the Cancer Genome Atlas. However, are mutations and the proteins that they code for the principle components that ensure [...]
Original broadcast date: May 31, 2009 How well can cancer specialists, oncologists, assess how well a particular treatment is destroying a tumour? It is true that there are methods to make this determination but it could take weeks of observation before knowing whether the tumour has shrunk. Is it possible to develop a means of [...]
Original broadcast date: May 31, 2009 How well can cancer specialists, oncologists, assess how well a particular treatment is destroying a tumour? It is true that there are methods to make this determination but it could take weeks of observation before knowing whether the tumour has shrunk. Is it possible to develop a means of [...]
Original broadcast date: February 15, 2009
What is the state of cancer care in Canada? What are we doing right and what needs more attention? The Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada (CACC) released its annual Report Card on Cancer in Canada on Feb 10, 2009. It is authored by oncologists and cancer patients across the country and highlights inadequacies, ills and disconnects within the system, and offers recommendations for improvements.
Original broadcast date: January 11, 2009 As with many disease processes, catching it in its early stages, treating it or instituting preventive measures usually results in better clinical outcomes. This especially holds true for colorectal cancer. A new surgical procedure offered at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami-Dade County offers patients an incisionless option [...]
Despite exposure to many cancer-causing agents or carcinogens in our environment, the human body has a way to repair damaged DNA that can prevent the development of tumours. A new study published November 11, 2008 in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS), scientists have identified a [...]
We had read and heard of how through epidemiological studies how food can either promote or prevent the risk of developing the onset of certain cancers. A study published in a recent issue of the British Journal of Cancer looked at a mechanism that could explain this phenomenon that involves a person’s epigenetic code as [...]
Physicians use various imaging technologies to screen, diagnose and follow cancerous tumours. The information they provide will show the gross location and extent of the tumour. However, cancer surgeons today operate “blind” with no clear way of determining in real-time whether they have removed all of the diseased tissue, which is the key to successful [...]
Research into breast cancer treatments continues apace and a new study to be presented at the end of May at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago introduces us to a new treatment that blocks signals within the cancer cell that cause it to grow and spread. Dr. Kathy Pritchard, Senior scientist [...]
Original broadcast date: March 30, 2008 The PAP test has been in existence for over 60 years. It is a screening test for cervical cancer and has the potential to detect precancerous changes, as well as to detect early stage disease and decrease cancer mortality. Although this test is credited with reducing cancer mortality, researchers [...]
Original broadcast date: March 23, 2008 A comprehensive, clinical nomogram tool, the Sunnybrook Prostate Cancer Risk Calculator – the first to use all known risk factors for prostate cancer – is available online to help men determine individual prostate cancer risk in consultation with their primary care physician. A nomogram is a statistical model to [...]
Original broadcast date: March 9, 2008 Ovarian Cancer is one of the most lethal cancers afflicting about 2300 Canadian women a year. A major contributing factor to its poor prognosis is that there is no effective means to screen for the disease. In January 2008, researchers from the University of Guelph reported that they have [...]
Original broadcast date: February 17, 2008 What is the state of cancer care in Canada? Does it depend upon where you live? Are certain populations more or less likely to survive a diagnosis of cancer? The 2007 Report Card on Cancer in Canada by the Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada (CACC) was released on February [...]
As cancer research continues apace, there is a growing understanding of the genetic abnormalities that are intimately involved in the pathophysiology of the disease process. Understanding the mechanism of the disease allows clinical research to develop targeted treatments to better control or eradicate the tumours. A new diagnostic test created at the University of Alberta [...]
Food science is a major topic for discussion on Sunday House Call. To me, there was one seminal interview that beautifully encapsulated the exciting science and discovery of the biochemistry of foods and the role they play in fighting cancer.
The interview in June 2006 featured Dr. Richard Beliveau, author of Foods That Fight Cancer: Preventing Cancer through Diet. To date, 200,000 copies of the book have sold in Canada, an incredible number given that 5,000 is considered a best-seller.
As we discussed in our last interview of June 25, 2006, phytochemicals in the foods we eat can play a significant role in cancer prevention and overall health; literally a non-toxic version of chemotherapy. Our current Western diets seem to have weakened our body’s ability to fend off certain types of cancer among other diseases. In short, our society’s food choices have become divorced from reality and from our biology and physiology.
It seems the next logical step was to expand on the science and, at the same time, produce a book on how to incorporate these foods into our diet. With that in mind sprung his next book, Cooking with Foods that Fight Cancer.
An important factor that helps oncologists and surgeons decide whether aggressive chemotherapy and or surgery will be effective in treating cancerous tumours is a system of tumour classification. A recent overhaul to this system has opened new opportunities for thousands of patients with lung cancer previously classified as inoperable or beyond treatment. Dr. Peter Goldstraw, [...]
A study presented in early March at the Society of Interventional Radiology meeting held in Seattle asked a straight-forward question: For small tumours of the kidney detected at an early stage, what method works just as well or better at eliminating them? What patient would be best suited for such a procedure. Dr. J. Louis [...]
The relief of suffering is one of the central goals in all of health care, but very little research has examined how common suffering is and what it actually means to patients. Now, a new study of patients receiving palliative care for cancer has revealed that suffering may be far less common than traditionally assumed. [...]
There are few alternatives to effectively treat liver cancer. It is the fifth most common cancer in the world and the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally. Researchers have been looking for a means to slow the progression of the disease and extend survival times. In an international clinical study presented in early June [...]
Sunday House Call has focused on the promising research and a greater understanding on the effects of Vitamin D. We have had principle investigators discuss its effects on reducing the rate of falls in the elderly, reducing the risk of colon and breast cancer recurrence, reduction of stress fractures in young women and its effects [...]
Cancer treatment success depends on early diagnosis. Lung cancer, unfortunately for many, is discovered too late. Various imaging technologies have been used to try to detect early lung cancer with some success and new detection methods are under development. In a recent study, US scientists have developed a genetic test, the results of which are [...]
A great deal of research connects nutrition with cancer risk. Overweight people are at higher risk of developing post-menopausal breast cancer, endometrial cancer, colon cancer, kidney cancer and a certain type of esophageal cancer. Now preliminary findings from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggest that eating less protein may help [...]
What is the state of cancer care in Canada? What are we doing right and what needs more attention? This week, The Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada (CACC) released its annual Report Card on Cancer in Canada 2007. Authored by oncologists and cancer patients across the country, highlights inadequacies, ills and disconnects within the system, [...]
McMaster University pediatric cancer specialist Dr. Ronald Barr says the teen gap in cancer care has been overlooked for far too long. Statistics show that gains in survival rates for teenagers and young adults (age 15 – 29) with cancer are dismal when compared to those for youngsters and older adults with the disease. Barr [...]
More men are asking for PSA screening as a means of detecting prostate cancer. What are the prostate cancer screening guidelines? Is there a point in a man’s life when screening should stop and where the detection of prostate cancer does not benefit the patient? A study published in the Nov. 15 issue of the [...]
Up to now lung cancer screening has not been effective. Repeated studies have shown that annual chest X-rays were not sensitive enough to pick up early-stage ling cancer. A study published in the October 26, 2006 edition of the NEJM reported that lung cancer can be detected at its very earliest stage in 85 percent [...]
There are many claims being made about the positive health benefits of vitamins, minerals and other supplements. However, current research is showing that less publicly-recognized phytochemnicals in the foods we eat can play a significant role in cancer prevention and overall health; literally a non-toxic version of chemotherapy. Our current Western diets seem to have [...]
