Category: Uncategorized

A new federal report out yesterday may put some wind in the sails of those who work in the field of cancer prevention.  The July 5 issue of CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report shows that rates of screening for colorectal cancer have been climbing steadily between 2002 and 2010, with a related drop in […]

Smoking remains the largest preventable cause of cancer (see summary of Surgeon General’s Report). While smoking causes cancer at many organ sites, including lung, larynx, oral cavity and pharynx, esophagus, pancreas, bladder and kidney, cervix, stomach, and acute leukemia, the evidence review in 2004 by the Surgeon General indicated that the evidence was suggestive of […]

For the past few years, we’ve partnered with the St. Louis Cardinals to promote cancer prevention at the ballpark and on game-day radio.  As part of this year’s June campaign, we’ll be promoting sun safety and airing some radio PSAs. For those unable to make it to the park or tune in to RedBirds radio, […]

A new report in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that a combination of screening tests for ovarian cancer had no benefit over the usual medical check-ups most women would have received. The large study – part of the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Randomized Controlled Trial – looked […]

CNiC’s Graham Colditz offers some insight in this 8 Ways to Prevent Cancer interview with KSDK TV in St. Louis.  Click to view.

In our new brochure, Cancer Survivors’ 8 Ways to Stay Healthy After Cancer, we really push the importance of exercise as a way to boost mood, improve overall health, and possibly cut the risk of cancer recurrence. Backing up this latter benefit is a new prostate cancer study that found that regular brisk walking could […]

In a predominantly premenopausal population, Eliassen and colleagues evaluated plasma vitamin D levels (25-hydroxyvitamin D) and risk of invasive breast cancer (see article).    During up to 10 years of follow-up after blood samples were collected some 613 cases of breast cancer were confirmed in this cohort. In a detailed analysis that accounted for breast […]

Photo: courtesy practicalowl If you tracked the health news last week, you may be suffering a bit of whiplash from all the double takes of unexpected headlines: “Mammograms plummet among women under 50” (MSNBC); “Study questions value of salt reduction in healthy people” (Boston Globe); and “Heart-healthy omega-3’s not healthy for prostate” (US News and […]

I was on the Preventive Services Task Force website yesterday to read some new screening recommendations, and I came across a couple neat little widgets that personalize the Task Force’s prevention-related guidelines.  One is intended for the public and provides very nice, straightforward recommendations based on a person’s gender and age.  The other is intended for […]

For more details on our editorial this week in JAMA see the story from the Washington University School of Medicine news office.We caution physicians and women to consider the broader body of evidence that even use of estrogen alone increases risk of breast cancer. This has been reiterated in several media stories covering the changing […]

When the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) began in 1993, hormone therapy (HT) was prescribed for a variety of reasons that ranged from the management of menopausal symptoms to the prevention of chronic disease. The WHI was a randomized controlled trail aimed at documenting the risks and benefits of several different approaches to prevention, including estrogen […]

As is clear from a number of our recent posts, there’s some long-brewing controversy in academic and public health circles about the potential benefits and risks of raising the recommended daily amounts of vitamin D.  One main camp believes that there is pretty solid evidence that daily vitamin D intakes of 1000 – 2000 IU […]

With spring in the air and the long sunny days of summer not too far off, the American Academy of Pediatrics has released a new policy statement on the hazards of UV radiation exposure in children and adolescents.  The statement, published in the journal Pediatrics (link), refreshes and reinforces what many of us know – […]

Despite all its good press of late, vitamin D’s health benefits have been challenged recently, most notably in an Institute of Medicine (IOM) report at the tail end of 2010 and in a Perspective piece in the New England Journal of Medicine yesterday (link).  That the two papers have similar conclusions – vitamin D has bone health […]

In a detailed review of evidence from 20 studies one of us, Kathleen Wolin, reports that higher levels of physical activity protect against colon cancer (see study) and now the precursor lesions, colon polyps (see study) . The evidence is consistent across study design, approaches to assessment of physical activity, and the populations studied.  Key […]

The potential for folate to protect against colon cancer remains a question debated in the scientific literature. In part this is fed by short term studies of supplementation and the potential for an adverse effect in this setting where folate may promote the final development of colon cancer. 1 However, across a larger number of […]

As a spin-off of our recent 7-Minute Abs post, I’ve spent part of the past week working on a journal article about the evidence and rationale behind our 8 Ways to Stay Healthy and Prevent Cancer (8 Ways link).  And one of the things that the process of reviewing the science and writing the paper […]

In this short update we draw attention to the strength of evidence that colon cancer is largely preventable with what we already know. While we have provided more extensive summaries of the overall evidence in the past 1, and have reported in detail on specific lifestyle habits and colon cancer 2,3, our goal here is […]

Attention is drawn to the environmental causes of cancer again this week with a perspective written in the New England Journal of Medicine that calls for expanding the resources of the NIH for investigating environmental causes of cancer.     At a time when budgets are being threatened, and in particular prevention efforts “which have […]

News came out this week that Lance Armstrong will team up with a new partner – the California Cancer Research Act. The Act proposes increasing the state’s tobacco tax by $1 and funneling that money toward cancer research. California is facing a budget crisis and may be cutting huge (billions) sums of money from health […]

It’s no real surprise.  Not only are most of us not getting enough exercise to meet health guidelines, a large chunk of us aren’t getting any physical activity at all.  New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that 25 percent of adults spend none of their free time exercising or […]

This month in the Journal of Clinical Oncology a report from the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer screening trial (PLCO) highlights priorities for cancer prevention 1. In a detailed analysis that addresses the potential for PSA screening to reduce mortality from prostate cancer in this randomized trial, the authors report that more than 9,500 […]

A few weeks back, we took our toddler to see Sesame Street Live – a groan-inducing rite of passage for many parents of toddlers. This year’s subtitle was “Elmo’s Healthy Heroes,” and the show followed Grover in his efforts to locate his “superness,” which he regained through 4 healthy habits: eating right (in this case, […]

Recent articles call for speeding the translation from discovery and documentation of the human genome and application to clinical medicine and public health. In addition in the New England Journal of Medicine, Moses and Martin 1 identify gaps and opportunities for biomedical research. They note the need for greater collaboration and new models of collaboration […]

The CNiC team hasn’t gone on a month long vacation (though that sure sounds nice with the snow we’ve had). We’re just been busy with writing grants and papers and gearing up for some other exciting things around here. We’ll be back with real content shortly, but in the meantime, here are some of what’s […]

From the Washington University RecordBy Beth Miller This fall, Washington University School of Medicine is launching a Master of Population Health Sciences degree. The program, for medical students, resident physicians, clinical fellows and physicians, will provide training in health-sciences research methods and population health, which seeks to improve the health of groups, communities and populations […]

Washington University press releaseBy Gwen Ericson An ambitious new study has added considerable weight to the claim that exercise can lower the risk for colon cancer. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Harvard University combined and analyzed several decades worth of data from past studies on how exercise affects colon […]

Washington University press releaseBy Gwen Ericson Cancer death rates in the United States are highest among African Americans, but a new report shows that in Missouri the disparity in cancer incidence and death between African Americans and whites is declining. As a result, cancer incidence (the rate of newly diagnosed cases) between the races is […]

Washington University press releaseBy Caroline Arbanas Girls and young women who exercise regularly between the ages of 12-35 have a substantially lower risk of breast cancer before menopause compared with less active women, new research shows. In the largest and most detailed analysis to date of the effects of exercise on premenopausal breast cancer, the […]

It may not fall into the “shocking” category, but a new Harvard study by our colleagues at the Nurses’ Health Study has provided further insight into the links between smoking and breast cancer (study).  To date, many studies have had waffling results on the subject.  Some showing smoking raising risk; some showing it not affecting […]

It is a good morning exercise for a research scientist to discard a pet hypothesis every day before breakfast. It keeps him young.-Konrad Lorenz This week’s news brought a story that remind me that sometimes, the best science involves letting go of previously held hypotheses. Access to quality, health food, particularly fruits and vegetables, is […]

Washington University Press ReleaseBy Jim Dryden Consistent exercise is associated with a lower risk of dying from colon cancer, according to a new study led by researchers at the Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. The study is among the first to show that physical activity […]

Colditz is a renowned leader in cancer prevention From the Washington University RecordBy Caroline Arbanas Growing up in Sydney, Australia, Graham Colditz, MD, DrPH, always knew he wanted to be a primary-care physician — just like his father. But when he got to medical school, Colditz was struck by the kinds of patients he saw […]

Washington University Press ReleaseBy Lee Phillion In a scientific study of secondhand smoke exposure in St. Louis bars and restaurants, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis found that ventilation systems and “voluntary” smoke-free policies do not protect employees and customers from exposure to nicotine in the air. Exposure to secondhand smoke is an established […]

A new report released by Statistics Canada yesterday shows that the level of physical activity in the Canadian population is far lower than previously estimated (see report).   While Canada has used self-report to monitor the level of activity in the adult population and seen high levels of reported physical activity – in the new […]

There is an impressive density of research on the role of diet in cancer prevention, leading to numerous reports, such as that from the American Cancer Society or the World Cancer Research Fund, but only relatively recently has the research community turned to study the role of lifestyle, including diet, in cancer survivors.  Despite this, […]

More data have come to light reinforcing messages we have summarized in previous posts on lifestyle changes for cancer survivors. Following more than 4,400 women with breast cancer and assessing dietary intake after diagnosis, Beasley and colleagues report that higher saturated and trans fat intake are both associated with higher total morality 1. 135 women […]

Several new studies published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology provide strong evidence for poor outcomes among women with breast cancer who are obese. In the largest study to date, Ewertz and colleagues followed 18,967 women who were treated for early stage breast cancer between 1977 and 2006. Evaluating recurrence and mortality, the investigators observed […]

Full disclosure: I haven’t read “The 4-Hour Workweek” or “The 4-Hour Body.” I tend to hear about the latest “best selling” health book and let it zip in one ear and out the other. My take on making healthy choices is that they take a little time (though not a lot as Mark Bittman admirabily […]

If you needed another reason to lace up your sneakers and keep your New Years’ resolution to be active, this week offered 2: 1) Our team published, in collaboration with colleagues at the American Cancer Society, research on the role of physical activity in colon cancer and colon cancer mortality. There is a strong and […]

We’re not big gamers here at CNiC, but there was a fascinating episode of WNCY’s radio program On the Media last week devoted solely to the topic, which had some very interesting, if also unsettling, things to say about the ways gaming culture may eventually impact the real-life choices we all make. In one segment […]

We’ve dedicated a number of posts over the past year on the policy and health pitfalls of indoor tanning – from the potential benefits of the “tanning tax” (post) to surprisingly high rates of tanning by some youth (post).  Now comes a fascinating, if not perfectly surprising, little analysis on the influence parents can have […]

The documented benefits of aspirin go back, literally, thousands of year.  As early as the fifth century B.C., Hippocrates noted that a bitter willow bark extract – which contained chemicals very similar to today’s aspirin – was effective at relieving pain.  Since then, aspirin has become the most commonly used medicine in the world, and […]

A new report out this week highlights the value of personalized risk information, like that provided by Your Disease Risk, to the health decision making process. As we have noted before, colon cancer screening has a clear mortality benefit. In the new study, Tom Sequist and colleagues randomized half of the patients who were overdue […]

For a long time, breast cancer survivors were told by physicians and others on the cancer care team to avoid overuse of their arms after breast cancer surgery. Told to avoid lifting items over 5 pounds (or sometimes as little as 2 pounds), women were functionally limited from activities of daily living – no lifting […]

In our previous posts we have written about the role of postmenopausal hormones as a cause of breast cancer, the value of weight loss and increasing physical activity for prevention and improved quality of life. Here we list 8 major opportunities to reduce the chances of developing breast cancer. When in life they apply can […]

In our previous posts we have written about the role of postmenopausal hormones as a cause of breast cancer, the value of weight loss and increasing physical activity for prevention and improved quality of life. Here we list 8 major opportunities to reduce the chances of developing breast cancer. When in life they apply can […]

Dissemination and implementation of research findings into practice is necessary to achieve a return on investment in our research enterprise and to apply research findings to improve outcomes in the broader community. In a thoughtful review of the application of discovery to prevention of cancer, Bowen and colleagues note, “Our previous 30 years have taught […]

In what in many ways is a definitive study on the topic, a very large analysis of 1.46 million adults further confirms that overweight and obesity significantly increase the risk of mortality (study). The analysis by Berrington de Gonzalez and colleagues, which appears in the New England Journal of Medicine today, pooled together data from […]

The new report released today by the Institute of Medicine on recommended vitamin D intake is a bit like getting that shirt you wanted for your birthday, but it turned out to be the wrong color and the wrong size (report).  It’s sort of what you wanted but not really.   While the new report […]