Can working night shifts put you at greater risk of cancer?

The United States Nurses' Health Study recently revealed results of a study indicating that extensive rotating night shift work over 15 years leads to a greater risk of developing haematopoietic cancer. Haematopoietic cancers, (the 2 most common types are leukaemia and lymphoma) account for 10% of all new cancer diagnoses.  While this study admits that several occupational, environmental, lifestyle, and physiological factors can lead to a higher risk of a cancer diagnosis, "it is speculated that night shift work may suppress melatonin, which regulates the sleep-wake cycle and is a powerful antioxidant."

To read more about this study, click here.  

Immune checkpoint inhibitors associated with lower risk of developing severe adverse events vs. chemotherapy

A recently published meta-analysis in Annals of Oncology reports on 22 clinical trials conducted on 12,727 patients with advanced solid tumours.  Findings from the joint Canada-U.S. study indicated that patients "treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors were less likely to develop severe adverse events than those receiving chemotherapy.  16.5% of patients developed an adverse event when treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors, compared to 41.1% treated with chemotherapy.  Other adverse events, including fatigue, diarrhea, and acute kidney injury were more prevalent following chemotherapy treatment, while colitis, pneumonitis, and hypothyroidism occurred more frequently after treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors.

To read more about this study, click here.

Study source: Magee DE, Hird AE, Klaassen Z, et al. Adverse event profile for immunotherapy agents compared with chemotherapy in solid organ tumors: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials. Annals of Oncology; Published online 6 January 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annonc.2019.10.008 

Artificial Intelligence speeds brain tumour diagnosis

A recent National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded clinical trial of patients requiring brain surgery indicates how artificial intelligence (AI) is able to provide "neurosurgeons with valuable real-time information about what type of brain tumour is present, while the patient is still on the operating table."  In the joint study by researchers from NYU Langone Health and University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, the benefits of AI and a technique known as Stimulated Raman History (SRH) can provide real-time data and predictions related to a patient's brain tumour diagnosis.  AI overall performance in this study was 95% accurate (compared to 94% accuracy for conventional pathology).

To read more about this study, click here.

Source mentioned: Hollon TC, Pandian B, Adapa AR, Urias E, Save AV, Khalsa SS, et al. Near real-time intraoperative brain tumor diagnosis using stimulated Raman histology and deep neural networks. Nat Med. 2020 Jan 6. doi: 10.1038/s41591-019-0715-p [Epub ahead of print]

Recommended physical activity levels linked to lower risk of seven cancers

A recent joint study conducted by investigators at the National Cancer Institute, American Cancer Society, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health indicates that adherence of leisure-time physical activity is linked to lower risk of developing 7 cancers.  Lower risk levels for the 7 identified cancers include: colon cancer in men (8%-14%), female breast cancer (6%-10%), endometrial cancer (10%-18%), kidney cancer (11%-17%), myeloma (14%-19%), liver cancer (18%-27%), and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (11%-18%).

To read more about this study, click here.

Source mentioned: Matthews CE, Moore SC, Arem H, Cook MB, Trabert B, Hakansson N., et al. Amount and intensity of leisure-time physical activity and lower cancer risk. J Clin Oncol. 2019 Dec 26: JCO1902407 [Epub ahead of print]

AI detects breast cancer as accurately as expert radiologists, study finds

Researchers in the United States and Britain recently reported that Google DeepMind, an artificial intelligence (AI) system, "proved as good as expert radiologists at detecting which women had breast cancer based on screening mammograms and showed promise at reducing errors."  According to the American Cancer Society, radiologists miss about 20% of breast cancers in mammograms; Google Deep Mind can reduce false positive results by 5.7%.

To read more about this study, click here.

Study mentioned: McKinney SM, Sieniek M, Godble V, Godwin J, Antropova H, Back T, et al. International evaluation of an AI system for breast cancer screening.  Nature, 2020 Jan; 577 (7788): 89-94.