A new study has been published showing that just half an hour’s moderate exercise every day could lessen the risk of a person being affected by breast and bowel cancer.

The World Cancer Research Fund says that there is growing evidence that people who try and keep fit are at a lower risk of developing cancer as they get older. The fund argues that as many as 4,600 cases of bowel cancer and 5,500 of breast cancer could be avoided if people were to take a little exercise.

Now the fund has organised Walking Together, a campaign which aims to get the public taking regular exercise with family and friends.

Dr Rachel Thompson, Deputy Head of Science at the fund said: “There is now very strong evidence that being physically active is important for cancer prevention. Even relatively modest increases in activity levels could prevent thousands of cancer cases in the UK every year.”

http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/196589/Just-a-little-exercise-stops-10-000-cancer-cases-a-year

Scientists in the United States are giving hope to skin cancer sufferers with news of a drug that may extend their life.

Trials at the Massachusetts General Hospital showed that the tumours of 80% of patients with malignant melanoma were reduced in size and in some cases disappeared altogether. The drug is aimed at patients with a specific mutation in the BRAF gene; the researchers say that in many cases the cancer will return but that the trials suggest that using the drug may allow the patient extra time to be with their loved ones.

Keith Flaherty, one of the scientists at Massachusetts, said: “Metastic melanoma has a devastating prognosis and is one of the top causes of cancer death in young patients. Until now, available therapies were few and unreliable.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/25/skin-cancer-drug-trials-patients

Scientists are claiming a breakthrough in the possible treatment of testicular cancer after studying development of the cells which can cause the disease.

The new study, published in the Human Reproduction journal, examined how human testes developed in baby boys before they were born and uses human tissue grafted into mice to study the development of the cells. Scientists already knew that testicular cancer developed from the abnormal development of germ cells in foetuses but until now didn’t know how or why this happened. The new study should allow experts to determine what factors interfere with normal germ cell development and allow the cancer to develop.

Professor Richard Sharpe from Edinburgh, who is supervising the study, said that there was now overwhelming evidence that growth and development in the womb played a vital role in determining the likelihood of disease in later life.

Though still relatively rare testicular germ cell cancer is the most common form of cancer in men aged 15 to 44.

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/Scientists-hail-testicular-cancer-breakthrough.6454287.jp

The views of a leading scientist are that stem cell ‘pharmacies’ could be commonplace on the UK’s high streets in about 20 years.

Professor David Warburton, a leading authority on stem cells and regenerative medicine, who is based in Los Angeles, told a special conference in the UK that he expected the next two decades to bring personalised treatment for damaged body parts and organs and that stem cells banks will eventually be as widespread as regular chemists are today.

Stem cells are able to be grown in laboratories and used to make replacement tissue while those taken from early stage embryos are able to become virtually any kind of tissue in the human body. Professor Warburton has led research into the use of stem cells extracted from the amniotic fluid that surrounds a baby in the womb. His laboratory is looking into possibly using stem cells to reconstruct lungs and is hoping eventually to include experimental stem cell treatments for blood diseases and spinal cord injuries.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1293990/Stem-cell-pharmacies-High-Street-just-20-years.html