Happy Holidays! Blog posting will resume in January 2021

 Dear Grey Horizon readers, 

While 2020 has undoubtedly been a difficult year, we nonetheless would like to wish you a happy and restful holiday season.  Blog posts will resume in January 2021. 

Happy Holidays! Stay safe and well 🎄

How do non-smokers develop lung cancer? Mouth bacteria may play a role

 New research has unveiled a correlation between a specific type of mouth bacteria and the development of lung cancer in those who have never smoked.  While 25% of all lung cancer patients are non-smokers, researchers now believe that exposure to second-hand smoke and family history are not the only risk factors.  Of the 135,000 individuals observed in this study, "having a wider number of different species of bacteria, specifically Bacteroidetes and Spirochaetes, was associated with a lower risk of developing lung cancer, [while] higher volumes of Firmicutes species of bacteria in the mouth was associated with a heightened risk for lung cancer." 

To read more about this study, click here. 

Source mentioned: Hosgood HD, Cai Q, Hua X, Long J, Shi J, Wan Y, Yang Y, Abnet C, Bassig BA, Hu W, Ji BT, Klugman M, Xiang Y, Gao YT, Wong JY, Zheng W, Rothman N, Shu XO, Lan Q. Variation in oral microbiome is associated with future risk of lung cancer among never-smokers. Thorax. 2020 Dec 14:thoraxjnl-2020-215542. doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2020-215542. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33318237.

COVID-19 vaccine and cancer

 A recent news release on the Cancer Research UK blog states that more than 300 potential vaccines have been in development since the COVID-19 outbreak in March.  Many of these vaccines are in the final stages of testing, with Pfizer commencing vaccine rollout across the United Kingdom yesterday (December 8, 2020).  

According to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JVCI), the recommended order of vaccination priority is: 

1. Older adults in a care home and care home workers
2. All those 80 years of age and over and health and social care workers
3. All those 75 years of age and over
4. All those 70 years of age and over and the clinically extremely vulnerable individuals, excluding pregnant women and those under 18 years of age
5. All those 65 years of age and over
6. Adults aged 18 to 65 years in an at-risk group
7. All those aged 60 and over
8. All those 55 and over
9. All those aged 50 and over

To read more about this press release, click here. 

First global estimates of cervical cancer attributable to HIV

 A recently completed study by the World Health Organization (WHO) determined that women with HIV have a considerably higher risk (up to 6 times more likely) of developing vertical cancer.  In fact, nearly "5% of all cervical cancer cases worldwide are attributable to HIV infection."  The WHO study, published as a systematic review and meta-analysis in the November 2016 issue of The Lancet Global Health, determined that 63.8% of women in Southern Africa diagnosed with cervical cancer were living with his, the highest rate of all 4 continents (Africa, Asia,, Europe, and North America) included in the study. 

To read more about this study, click here.