Paris, France | AFP | Alcohol damages the DNA of stem cells responsible for producing new blood, according to a mouse study which may explain the link between drinking and cancer, scientists said on Wednesday. Health watchdogs have long warned that alcohol consumption contributes to seven types of cancer …
Read More »The growing burden of cancer in Uganda
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) impose a heavy burden on the Ugandan population specifically the rise in the number of new Cancer cases. Cancer is one of the most common NCDs in Uganda caused by different risk factors. Annually, over 5,000 cases are registered at the …
Read More »Diabetes, obesity behind 800,000 cancers worldwide: study
Paris, France | AFP | Nearly six percent of new cancers diagnosed worldwide in 2012 — some 800,000 cases — were caused by diabetes and excess weight, according to a study published Tuesday. Among the 12 types of cancer examined, the percentage of cases chalked up to these factors was …
Read More »CANCER: Radiotherapy services to resume next month
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) has announced that the recently purchased €320,000 radiotherapy machine is fully installed and services are set to resume next month. “The radiotherapy machine has been fully installed and awaiting certification. We must comply with the international standards of treatment of …
Read More »How pharmaceuticals offer cheaper cancer drugs
But is there a catch? Kampala, Uganda | FLAVIA NASSAKA | Tackling cancer requires high investment in training and infrastructure says Meg O’Brien, the Managing Director Global Cancer Treatment at the American Cancer Society. She told The Independent on Oct.25 that her organisation has brokered a deal with two pharmaceutical companies …
Read More »Smoking changes lung cells, primes them to develop cancer
Washington, United States | AFP | Chronic exposure to cigarette smoke can change lung cells over time, making them more vulnerable to disease and priming them to develop cancer, US researchers said Monday. The report in the journal Cancer Cell is based on lab experiments on lung cells that were …
Read More »Good and bad news on aspirin and colon cancer: study
Paris, France | AFP | Daily aspirin use — known to reduce the risk of colon cancer — could also make the disease harder to treat if it does occur, researchers reported Wednesday. The new findings based on mathematical modelling, If confirmed statistically and in the lab, would mean that …
Read More »The art of cancer
Adventurous `Staying Alive’ exhibit documents the Uganda Cancer Institute Kampala, Uganda | DOMINIC MUWANGUZI | The story of cancer in Uganda is a touching one. With minimal resources and infrastructure to combat the disease coupled with the swelling numbers of patients admitted to the Uganda Cancer Institute Mulago every day, …
Read More »US approves first gene therapy for cancer
Miami, United States | AFP | The United States approved the first gene therapy against cancer on Wednesday — a treatment that uses a patient’s own immune cells to fight leukemia — opening a new era in the fight against one of the world’s top killers. The treatment is made …
Read More »PROF OLWENY: More to celebrate than mourn at Uganda Cancer Institute
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Professor Charles Olweny, the pioneer Ugandan director of the Uganda Cancer Institute in the 70s, has said health workers at the Mulago centre deserve more credit than they are getting. He was speaking at the official launch of a new book titled “Staying …
Read More »