Canadian Cancer Statistics 2019 report now available

The 2019 report on cancer statistics is now available on the Canadian Cancer Society website.  While current estimates suggest that lung, colorectal, breast and prostate cancer will account for half of all cancers diagnosed this year, new figures also indicate that 63% of Canadians diagnosed with cancer will survive for at least 5 years after their diagnosis.  Further, the report shows that over the past 20 years, 5-year survival for blood cancers has increased significantly since the early 1990s.  Of particular note, the survival rate for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and leukemia has gone from 49% to 68%, 27% to 44%, and 43% to 59% respectively. 


To access the complete report, click here.

Altered diet enhances response to cancer treatment in mice

People must eat to survive. And the cells that make up the body eat too. Or more accurately, cells break down and rebuild food into the individual molecules they need to stay alive and grow. This complex network of processes is called cellular metabolism. Cancer cells can alter their metabolism to survive, so targeting cancer cell metabolism has become of great interest to researchers. Questions being asked include: Is it possible to attack a tumor’s nutritional needs as part of cancer treatment? And could this be done by tweaking a cancer patient’s diet?

To read more about this study, click here.

Global analysis finds early onset colorectal cancer now rising in many high-income countries

A new study by the American Cancer Society, found that colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence are increasing exclusively in young adults in nine high-income countries spanning three continents. Appearing in the journal Gut, the stud finds the rising rates are in contrast to stable or declining trends in older adults, suggesting that changes in early-life exposures are increasing CRC risk. In general, CRC incidence is rising in low- and middle-income countries but beginning to stabilize or decline in high-income countries, especially those that have implemented screening. However, studies of cancer registry data indicate that favorable overall trends in the United States and Canada are masking an increase in young-onset CRC.

To read more on the study, click here.

Breast cancer risk in hormone replacement therapy linked to type and length of treatment

A recent study conducted within a cancer epidemiology unit at the University of Oxford suggests a definitive link between hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and an increased risk of breast cancer.  According to professor and study co-author Gillian Reeves, women taking "HRT comprised of daily doses of estrogen and progesterone for five years, there was one additional case of breast cancer for every 50 users compared to those who had never taken it." 


To read more about this study, click here.


Study mentioned: Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer. Type and timing of menopausal hormone therapy and breast cancer risk: individual participant meta-analysis of the worldwide epidemiological evidence. Lancet. 2019 Aug. 29. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(19)31709-X. [Epub ahead of print]