Oct 3, 2008

Cancer Research Blog Carnival #14

Posted in Science at 1:00 pm by David Bradley

I don’t know anyone who hasn’t got a cancer story to tell, whether it is personal experience, a relative or friend, or association with their patients or through their research.

Cancer has always been with us, but contrary to the popular image propagated by the mainstream media it is not a simple, nor single disease. In this month’s cancer research blog carnival hosted on the Sciencebase Science Blog, I present a few selected posts from fellow bloggers discussing various aspects of cancer research. Thanks to everyone who submitted a cancer research post.

First up is PalMD on the Denialism blog who explains that cancer is the second leading cause of death, in the US at least, and confirms the ubiquity of the disease as 4% of the population is directly affected (think six degrees of separation type networks to see how almost all of us can have a cancer story to tell). The post provides answers to some of the LAQs (least asked questions) and FAQs (frequently asked questions about cancer. A post from Stephan Grindley augments the cancer 101 with a straightforward commentary on breast cancer prevention and detection.

According to Charles Daney on Science & Reason, recent studies are making it increasingly apparent that cancer is really many different diseases and he explains how this means a new approach to understanding cancer at the molecular level.

More particularly covering cancer research, GrrlScientist offers an interesting take on the genetics of colour and cancer in Behold The Pale Horse and BayBlab discusses a recent publication in the journal Science on the subject of trans splicing and chromosomal translocations as well as the connection between chilis and cancer – preventative or protagonist?

HighlightHealth, meanwhile, discusses the implications of a large-scale, multi-dimensional analysis of the genomic characteristics of glioblastoma, the most common primary brain tumour in adults. On Hematopoiesis, we learn how travelling normal and malignant cells decide where to stay and on get linked up to five great talks from the experts.

Cancer vaccines are big news and none more so than the vaccine being offered to young girls to protect them from cervical cancer caused by HPV. Health blogger Grace Filby has posted on why this vaccination campaign is not a good idea given the lack of safety data currently available.

Orna Ross tells us about the good things she has gained from having cancer/ and points out that fighting cancer as if it were a battle is not the only approach to tackling the disease. Actorlicious meanwhile provides a star-studded perspective and how the famous and infamous are standing up to cancer.

A post from the University of Oxford science blog on exploiting the Achilles’ heel of cancer, describes how a new approach will lead to treatments with none of the common side effects of cancer therapy. And, Sally Church on the Pharma Strategy blog asks will Abiraterone impact survival in advanced prostate cancer?, the most common carcinoma in men. She also provides a fascinating insight into treating triple negative breast cancer.

Science Metropolis discusses how public health expert Dave Ozonoff hopes to use mathematics and chaos theory to explain paradoxical cancer frequencies, such as those seen in Cape Cod, where rates are 25% higher than the state average in Massachusetts.

Finally, one from the recent Sciencebase archives entitled (hopefully quite controversially) alcohol causes cancer.

Visit the Cancer Carnival site to read past carnivals, to get information on scheduled posts and to find out how to host your own cancer research blog carnival.