If you want to know the truth about cancer, ask Liz O’Riordan

Because she’s seen it from both sides, is why. First she was a doctor, who like, worked in the field? And then because, she got it herself, right? Became a patient, and experienced all the heart stopping, roller coasting, will-I -won’t-I? chain of emotions that all her own patients did. If those aren’t qualifications enough, gentle readers, we don’t know what are. And-she has one other which seals the deal as far as we’re concerned. Read on, and you will learn what that is.

We came across Dr O’Riordan in the course of listening to a series called Marianna in Conspiracyland on BBC Radio 4 [1] Not having an especially large legal department we must be careful what we say. But the programme details the activities of the types of people who disparage reason-based science and evidence-based medicine. And instead offer a dubious range of alternative theories, explanations and prescriptions to people who are scared out of their wits by a cancer diagnosis. In the nicest possible way, the programme tried to explain the consequences of choosing these paths of treatment, And Dr O’Riordan was one of the speakers they called in their support. A little bit like the prosecution in a criminal case calling an expert witness in DNA or drugs, as t’were.

Because since her own diagnosis and treatment, Dr O’Riordan has spent her days ceaselessly writing, speaking, making media appearances, all to one end. Refuting fallacies, identifying illogicalities, reasoning with the unreasonable. In books like The Cancer Roadmap [2] she tries to explain the science behind why cancers develop and grow, what the best treatments are, and why so-called “alternative systems” don’t seem to be up to much. In this undertaking she joins a great tradition of rationalists and sceptics starting with Lucian of Samosata,[3] and stretching all the way through to people like Peter Medawar, Carl Sagan and Dr Ben Goldacre.

But she goes one step further. Because she never condemns or sneers at anyone. Instead she tries to ask why people turn from rational medicine to alternatives and faith. In other words she deploys human qualities of empathy and compassion. And we could all learn from that. For years on this blog we have bemoaned the growth of fake information, conspiracies and general rubbish which grows on the interweb like the digital equivalent of a cancer. Not just in cancer theory; in matters like global warming, politics and economics. Hasn’t done much good. Somehow, the easy, comforting answer outpaces the complicated rational one each time, and by ratios of thousands. We are in danger of becoming the last generation of enlightened, rational thinkers, perhaps for thousands of years. Time to listen to Liz and her methods. Soon.

[1]https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001mssm

[2]https://liz.oriordan.co.uk/author/

[3]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucian

[4]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Goldacre

#cancer #medicine #alternative medicine #rational #empirical #science #health

Could this new mRNA vaccine end cancer?

In the UK alone cancer accounts for 24% of all deaths.[1] Which means you, gentle reader have a close to one in four chance of going that way. You might hope that someone might do something about it. Today we bring you news that somebody has, via the industrious Luke Andrews of the Daily Mail [2] But before then, a tiny apology.

Because in reporting this we have no desire to disparage the heroic efforts of scientists, doctors, fund raisers and honest-to-God patients who have already done so much to ameliorate and already effect cures for this terrible disease. Luke’s story could be a game changer-but only because it comes at the ned of an enormous process of scholarship and research. That said, it is truly exciting. Firstly, because it tries to use the new mRNA vaccines which came of age during the COVID 19 pandemic. Secondl, because it offers a hope, however tentative at this stage, of a universal vaccine. Luke explains matters really well,. with all the links you need to the source journals, so we’ll leave you to him. Upbeat to say the least.

Vaccines are a contentious subject. We have talked about cancer vaccines here before(LSS 24 5 21 et al) and are aware of the mixed reactions we get. We suspect that not all anti-vaxxers are bad people: among them you will will find the stubborn types who refuse to accept any information coming down from above on whatever subject. Grit in the wheels of the machine; but one day you just might need them. But we in what might be called the empirically based community have our uses too.(we invented the computer you’re reading this on) it’s time for a dialogue, instead of hissing and growling at each other like so many cats and dogs. The patients deserve that.

[1]https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/mortality

[2]https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-14919401/immune-hack-vaccine-mrna.html

#mRNA #cancer #vaccine #medicine #health

Cancer testing saves lives-and shows why science works

Today we a re going to talk about cancer. In the UK alone it kills 167 000 people annually, which is about 29% of all recorded deaths . Meanwhile about 3.5 million people are trying to live with it on a daily basis. The statistics for your country will be comparable, gentle reader. Nothing would cheer us more than to report some good news. And today we think we can, courtesy oft the far sighted Professor Peter Sasieni and his team at London’s Queen Mary University via the Mail [1] [2]

Professor Sasieni and his team are not pioneering cures directly. Their skill is devising new ways of testing. To detect the terrible disease early, before it can wreak havoc, and unleash the cures when they have the optimal chances of success. The linked article is a good summary of all the wonderful work they are doing. But we have filleted out this tiny quote which will give you some flavour of what they are achieving

Yearly screening under the fast tumour growth scenario led to a higher number of diagnoses than usual care – 370 more cancer signs were detected per year per 100,000 people screened. There were also 49 per cent fewer late-stage diagnoses and 21 per cent fewer deaths within five years than patients receiving usual care.

If that’s not hope we don’t know what is

But there’s a deeper story here. For us, the best working definition of intelligence is how you respond to reality. You may have a lot of money, talk well, and even have a genius IQ. But if you ignore facts, deny them, or distort them, then you are a fool. There’s no mystery about science. It is simply a way of collecting true facts and organising them according to the rules of logic, which is what Professor Sasieni has done. This works globally for things like changes in the climate. It works locally, for things like diseases in the human body such as a diagnosis of cancer To deny truth once is the start of denying it always. With fatal results.

[1]https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-14694059/blood-tests-detect-earliest-signs-cancer-prevent-advanced-stage.html

[2]https://www.qmul.ac.uk/wiph/people/profiles/peter-sasieni.html

#cancer #testing #screening #health #medicine

If you want to cure cancer, try paying more taxes

Cancer is the great unspoken truth running through our civilisation. Everyone knows someone who has it. Most people know someone who has died of it. The statistics suggest one in two of us will develop it in one form or another. When strangers discover that we run a science blog it isn’t long before cancer cures edge into the conversation. Everyone deep down wonders “will it happen to me?” You do, don’t you?

Which is why it gets a lot of coverage, and fresh discoveries always make the news. Following Ellyn Lapointe for the Mail [1] and the Korean owned Medical Life Sciences News,[2] we showcase the work of the brilliant Professor Kwang-Hyun Cho of the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. Instead of painful drawn-out chemical treatments it looks to cure cancer by manipulating the biochemical mechanisms of the cell. Admirable, and you can read more by following the links. But for us, for today, that is not the point.

Look again. The Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. Turns out it’s state owned. Paid for by taxes, Its at the centre of an ecosystem of research institutes, university departments, private companies and assorted government and non-government organisations whose collective wisdom and output is far more than the sum of its parts. It’s not so much arriving at another cure for cancer that is important for us today. It is because this cure is part of a rolling programme of research and discovery that throws up such discoveries as it goes along. Creating a thriving centre of excellence and high value jobs.

The view taken by most people in the UK is that taxes are evil things. The State is an evil parasite holding back economic growth and thereby progress. But isn’t our story today prime evidence that the opposite is the case?

[1]https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-14369821/breakthrough-switch-reverses-cancer-human-body.html

[2]https://www.news-medical.net/news/20241223/Groundbreaking-technology-converts-cancer-cells-into-normal-cells.aspx?form=MG0AV3
#cancer #medical sciences #economics #research

Can you Catch Cancer from a Cut?

Just because something is rare doesn’t mean that it’s insignificant. At least, not if it comes surrounded by well-attested research from trained professionals. Which is why this intriguing article by Alexa Lardieri of the Mail has really got us thinking.[1]

A man in Germany was operated on for a rare type of tumour. During the process, the poor surgeon cut his hand. It was cleansed and bandaged immediately. Six months later a tumour, which was genetically identical to his patient’s cancer, was found to be growing on the surgeon’s hand. This all happened back in 1996; but the case continues to excite speculation to this day.

Much more can be found in Alexa’s cogent article. Riffing on it, it suggests the following questions

1 How does transmission occur? Is it via nuclear DNA? Is there an epigenetic mechanism? Dare we speculate that a protein might be involved?

2 Alexa reports that the poor surgeon’s immune system may not have been quite as strong as it might have been. So…are we being bombarded with unknown carcinogens all the time, and it’s only our immune systems keeping us safe?

3 What do we mean by “cause” anyway? Does buying cigarettes give you cancer? Or is it smoking them? Or is it something in the smoke, like tar? Or could we even speculate that it is not the tar per se, but the molecular changes it induces in the cells of the victim? Where does cause end, and effect begin?

Yet it is in such cracks in logic that the most fruitful discoveries are to be found. This case, and the questions it raises are one such example. Thanks, Alexa, for bringing it back from 1996. Which was a great year for music too.

[1]https://www.msn.com/en-ae/public-safety-and-emergencies/health-and-safety-alerts/surgeon-catches-cancer-from-patient-in-first-of-its-kind-case/ar-AA1wRLpW?ocid=Bin

cancer #dna #epigenetics #immune system #health #medicine

Ian Sample: Science offers five reasons to be cheerful

Just for kicks, we thought we’d change the slightly pessimistic zeitgeist of this blog, and offer you some stories of real hope. Those-and a little moral homily at the end which we hope will justify these humble inclusions. The stories come, as so often, from Guardian science writer Ian Sample, whose thoughts we often praise here.[1] We hope they might offer a glimpse of what we are about to lose if certain tendencies play out.

Stem Cell transplants could reverse diabetes. All that intricate and detailed work on stem cells may at last be finding a pay-off in the real world, with an almost infinite relief of human suffering. We respect the beliefs of the religious: but would just praying have got us this far?

Cancer vaccines from RNA We have covered this before here. If nothing else, the COVID-19 pandemic witnessed a major leap forward in vaccine technology, especially in mRNA. Where would cancer patients be now if all those anti-vaxxers had their way?

AI detects cancers To bring in another LSS old favourite: AI can now be used to screen and detect cancers more quickly than ever before. When we think of cancer, we think of old acquaintances who used to deny smoking had anything to do with cancer. Does that remind you of climate change deniers?

Occupants of interplanetary Space For lovers of pure science, there can be little more amazing the discoveries offered by the James Webb telescope. Once upon a time, the Inquisition threatened to burn Galileo for looking up at four little satellites around Jupiter. Will someone try the same on this new telescope?

Renewable energy is on the way. Remember all those programmes and articles that tried to suggest that renewables could never, ever replace fossil fuels? But there’s real hope now that renewables will displace fossils by 2030. Both China and India seem poised to lead the way ahead. USA take note.

Yet we promised you a moral on this one, so here it is. All these discoveries, all this science, which Ian has just showed us is dependent on the free and fearless interchange of information. Which in turn depends on open societies and the rule of law. There is strong reason to believe that this era is coming to an end. In some countries, religious obscurantists and zealots are close to extinguishing freedom forever. in others, violent ethno-nationalists have seized power, or are close to doing so. These societies may well offer social stratification and the appearance of security. Yet in all of them. the sole definition of value is “does this bolster the regime?” There can be no truth in science, no beauty in art, no trust in money which does not meet this criterion. Ultimately, such societies stagnate. And then decline. You still have time to change your minds. In some countries, at least.

[1]://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/09/reasons-to-be-hopeful-five-ways-science-is-making-the-world-better?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

#science #learning #objective truth #empiricism #vaccines #rna #astronomy #medicine

Round up: Stem Cells, Venezuela, allergies, goodbye to Old King Coal, and the second-most-famous Austrian of all time

stories that caught our eye

Adios, Venezuela, Stage Left : It has always been a conceit on the Left that somehow, whatever bad things we do, we are still somehow the exclusive guardians of the flame of human progress. Whereas the Right, poor dears, are steeped in superstition and ignorance. But Left-wing Governments, at least extreme ones, can do just as much damage to the scientific culture of their country as any Right-wing theocracy, as this piece form Nature Briefings makes clear

Some researchers in Venezuela fear that science in the country is “going down the drain”. The country’s economy has been in crisis and national science funding is proportionally smaller than in comparable countries, leaving research institutions and universities struggling to stay open. Young scientists have left in droves seeking out high-quality education or stable career prospects. And an ‘anti-NGO’ law now requires non-governmental organizations to share information about their funding with the Venezuelan government. Researchers, who sometimes look to NGOs for support, worry that this gives the government discretion to prosecute anyone whose motives it does not agree with.Nature | 6 min read

Every Breath you take: We hear a lot about microplastics in water and food. Now it seems we are breathing them in from the very air itself. And what’s really scary is that the risks of this are quite, quite uncharted, a bit like tobacco in 1924. Here’s Michael Richardson and Meiru Wang for The Conversation:

https://theconversation.com/breathing-may-introduce-microplastics-to-the-brain-new-study-239347?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20C

Stem Cells give hope for diabetics About twenty or so years ago, we had the privilege of a few words with one of the greatest scientific entrepreneurs of this generation. And he told us that Stem Cells were going to be in the in thing for the future. Proof of this foresight comes in this second piece from Nature Briefings

A woman with type 1 diabetes started producing her own insulin less than three months after a transplant of reprogrammed stem cells. This case represents the first successful treatment for the disease using stem cells from the recipient’s own body, which could avoid the need for immunosuppressants. She was injected with the equivalent of 1.5 million stem-cell-derived islets in June 2023. While promising, the woman’s cells must continue to produce insulin for up to five years before considering her ‘cured’, cautions endocrinologist Jay Skyler.Nature | 6 min read
Reference: Cell paper

Allergies Rising? One of the few good things about the Covid-19 pandemic was the rise to prominence of Professor Devi Sridhar, that most clear-sighted of thinkers. So when she says: “allergies are really on the rise, this is not just a sampling error”, we sit up and take notice. So should you, via her article for The Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/30/food-allergies-children-england

Goodbye Coal and steel No one gloats at the loss of great workplaces and the terrible social changes their workers must now endure. And no one more than us, blissed-out children of the Enlightenment/Industrial Revolution can deny that coal and steel were really big steps forward in their day. But their comes a time both for individuals and societies when they really must move on, because it’s the future where reality lies. So Britain closes its last coal power station and blast furnaces. It is a brave step, and one day it will pay off.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgn4gg5y2yo

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8vdq6y56v0o

Mozart Rise and Fall of a genius few years ago we saw a rather nifty series called Rise of the Nazis. It was one of those drama documentaries where they mix a narrator over pictures of actors depicting real people, including such luminaries as Heinrich Himmler, Herman Goering and a certain Mr A. Hitler. It looks like the producers must have sat down and asked themselves; “Who’s the next most famous Austrian everyone’s heard of we can do?” No it wasn’t Arnold Schwarzenegger: instead they came up with this excellent series on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. We have always put him right up there in the top five or so musicians of All Time. So we loved it, and hope you will too Here’s a link which we hope works to the BBC i Player. Hasta la vista, baby!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m0021zdr/mozart-rise-of-a-genius#:~:text=Mozart:%20Rise%20of%20a%20Genius.%20Child%20prodigy,%20flawed

#allergies #microplastics #mozart #president maduro #venezuela #climate change #fossil fuels #stem cells #diabetes #medicine #health

Pancreatic Cancer-the brave ladies who offered hope

Escaping the concrete canyons of Croydon recently, we took a short break in the Sussex town of Worthing. (Which has been compared to Nice in Provence ; but only by people who have never been to Nice). While strolling along the Promenade at Worthing, we ran into a group, mainly comprising ladies, who were dressed in a variety of outre costume, including those of Pink Panthers and Star Wars Galactic Warriors. It turned out to be one of those happy occasions when we learned, not something new, but when something which we were dimly aware of was moved sharply up our agenda . For they were campaigning to gather money for the rising disease of Pancreatic Cancer. [1] And this is what we learned (overseas readers- we bet the UK is pretty representative of your jurisdiction too)

The pancreas is a vital organ, standing at the crossroads of both your digestive and endocrine system. So getting cancer in it is a pretty bad state of affairs. There are several types of this cancer. But last year, overall, saw 10 500 new cases in the UK. Actually, its among the 10 most common forms of cancer in these islands. The risk factors? You guessed it. Being overweight., smoking and diabetes are among the highest. All the features of a civilisation focussed too much on quick-fix marketing, and not enough on quality of life. If you want to drill down, here’s another link from the Charity Pancreatic Cancer UK. [2]

So these ladies, and the charity which they represent means that, even if your family is struck with this terrible affliction, you will not be alone. And, as we parted from the ladies, we closed on a moment of hope. For Pancreatic Cancer UK works closely with the other cancer charities in this country. And we agreed how useful it was to set up laboratories with ethe money raised. Who knows what other discoveries could be made with all those scientists and all that kit? Apparently these ladies intend to run the whole of the seafront down there, and back again. Good luck to them, we say. And thanks.

[1]https://www.pancreaticcancer.org.uk/information/just-diagnosed-with-pancreatic-cancer/what-is-pancreatic-cancer/

[2]https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0424/0949/2641/files/221123PC01_PCUK_What_is_Pancreatic_Cancer_Factsheet_Updates_Web.pdf?v=1670945787

#pancreatic cancer #cancer #research #health #medicine #charity

Energy and Cancer: Three stories that give us hope in dark times

“The sleep of reason brings forth monsters” Goya’s famous painting never seemed so relevant as it does today, as humans divide themselves into mutually hating tribes in Europe, the Middle East and even the USA. “he that is quick to Anger exalteth folly” [1]. We here take the opposite view, Real progress is only achieved by slow, careful thought. And as evidence of that, we’d like to cite three examples, small in their own way of what can be done to fix real problems. When we pause to actually think, that is.

Seeing the cancer One of the most tragic moments in life is to here a cancer patient tell you “it’s come back” after an operation. This is not to blame the surgeons; it’s just that up to now they haven’t always been able to see all the cells. Now, according to Colin Fernandez of the Mail, a new technique will light up the tumorous cells, making them much easier to spot and excise altogether. By the way, some of this work was funded by Cancer Research UK,[2] a marvellous organisation whom we have often covered in these pages.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-13511467/dye-prostate-cancer-tumours-glow-surgeons.html

Spotting the Cancer We have often hymned the praises of AI as well. Particularly in medical and biological research. One of its principal advantages is that it can carry out the routine stuff much faster than we can, without tiring. Kate Pickles of the Mail covers how it’s being applied to look at cancer scans to rapidly improve diagnostics. In the long term we could see AI applied to any number of laboratory techniques from Forensic science to Ecology, opening the way to boundless new knowledge and techniques

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-13518481/AI-better-doctors-spotting-prostate-cancer.html

Concrete Batteries? After they lost the battle on the reality of global warming, Big Oil and its lackeys have waxed lyrical on how difficult the transition to clean energy might be. “yes you can make clean energy, but how are you going to store it?” they would sneer. Well, lots of ways, it has turned out. But one we never dreamed of was the very concrete that makes up our roads, bridges and homes themselves. Unbelievable as it may seem researchers at MIT are looking at new types of concrete which will store and release energy exactly as we need it. What price oil and gas now? This excellent piece is from Victor Tangerman of the Byte:

_{Thanks to P Seymour}

https://futurism.com/the-byte/new-concrete-stores-electricity-homes-batteries

Tiny examples, perhaps. But the mark the dividing line between the Thoughtful and the Emotional. We’ll go with the former.

[1] Proverbs 14 29

[2]https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/get-involved/donate?gclid=69712e6308111b89fbbd480a7616017d&gclsrc=3p.ds&msclkid=69712e6308111b89fbbd4

#cancer #health #medicine #AI #global warming #climate change #renewables #concrete

What if you could detect cancer before it was cancer?

If you want to cure a cancer, identify it as soon as possible. That’s long been a truism among medical experts. But what if your techniques were so advanced that you could identify the precursor steps to cancers before they had even started to initiate a tumour in someone’s body? According to an article by Anna Bawden and Nicola Davis of the Guardian, the first steps to do just that are now feasible, as two studies suggest.

Instead of simply rehashing their excellent prose[1] upon which we urge you to click, we’ll provide a brief summary, and raise some interesting and rather hopeful observations. The first looked at 44000 samples from the UK Biobank. 618 proteins were identified, which could then be linked to 19 different types of cancer. In a different take on the same trope, a second study using a whopping 300 000 samples came up with 40 different proteins linked to 9 different types of cancer. We dare not comment, but dare to observe:

1 It’s amazing the amount of new discoveries you can make just by crunching data. As AI comes into its own, it should be able to handle bigger and bigger numbers. Think of alpha-fold, if you don’t believe us-and that quite old hat by now!

2 Talking of hats, let’s all take ours off to Cancer Research UK, whose steady, patient work down the decades has not only provided a congenial ecosystem for researchers, but also a steady stream of reliable income for the planners and the finance people. Come on, hands in pockets, please! [2]

3 We were impressed that the results were already identifying different types and subtypes of cancers. It suggests a subtlety of technique which has probably only just got going.

and, finally:

4 The bigger the database, the better. Without belittling today’s researchers and journalists, these are still relatively small numbers. Imagine an AI supercomputer tirelessly combing the biological samples of every human on the planet. And maybe their pets. Would might it not find.

Oaks and acorns times, gentle readers. Keep donating.

[1]https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/may/15/proteins-blood-cancer-warning-seven-years-study

[2]https://donate.cancerresearchuk.org/donate?gclid=cf2827b39f4311a97ff841f589e5c887&gclsrc=3p.ds&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=IMP%20%

#database #cancer #medicine #AI #protein #gene #prediction