Cancer Doesn’t Care it’s Christmas https://tinyurl.com/y6vjvkgt            Data from YouGov a UK government website show that at Christmas this year, 24% of the population will be directly affected by cancer; either themselves or someone in their family will be coping with active cancer and it’s treatment.          The COVID-19 pandemic has added to the normal difficulties with 40% having experienced delays in treatment or diagnosis.  It is important to remember the special needs for cancer patients at this time.          An English charity has produced a series of videos seeking to raise awareness and increase donations. One of these features Alexandria Mitchell an ovarian cancer survivor. She talks about Christmas, what it means to her and how we could all make Christmas better for women facing the disease and the side effects of ...

CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing using targeted lipid nanoparticles for cancer therapy https://tinyurl.com/y9z5gbq3            One of the more hopeful prospects for cure of ovarian cancer is the relatively new technique of “Gene Shears”. First described in 2017 this employs a natural body defense against infection and tumour called CRISPR editing. CRISPR is an abbreviation of “clusters of regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats”.          The CRISPR location on chromosomal DNA of cancer cells is vulnerable to attack by a protein enzyme, in this case Cas9. After the attack or gene shear the cell is damaged and cell death occurs. A problem with this is the delivery of the enzyme to the right target.          This report shows treatment with gene shears for two tumours in mice; brain and ovarian tumours. Both respond to the enzyme, which was delivere...

Pre- and Post-Diagnosis Diet Quality and Ovarian Cancer Survival   https://tinyurl.com/y5mrnmto            A popular misconception is that diet manipulation can improve outcomes for patients with cancer. Advocates for diet change have profited from this unproven speculation, with best-selling books and multi-media presentations.          This prospective study from Brisbane, Australia, looked at dietary habits for ovarian cancer patients before and following diagnosis with a record of survival. 650 completed surveys were obtained at the time of diagnosis, and a further 503 twelve month’s later.          Results showed no survival advantage for those patients who had a good diet quality prior to diagnosis or for those women who changed their diet in response to the onset of ovarian cancer

Cancer incidence and mortality rates in multiple sclerosis: A matched cohort study https://tinyurl.com/y63oh8uw            Previous reviews of patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) showed an increased risk of breast and colon cancer. One of the recently developed drugs used in the treatment of MS, (Ocrevus) has been shown in clinical trials to increase the risk of breast cancer.          This large population based survey compares cancer risks in a group of 54,000 MS patients with a control group of 264,000 people without MS. Retrospective search of the Canadian cancer registry shows no increased risk for breast or colon cancer.          Risk of bladder and ovarian cancer is increased for MS patients. Possible reasons for this are the nature of the disease, with altered immune state and effects of treatment. Bladder cancer may be related to in-dwell...

Adapting and avoiding coping strategies for women with ovarian cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic https://tinyurl.com/yy95gmu5            The impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on the physical and psychological well being of women with ovarian cancer has been dramatic. This study looks at coping strategies these women have used during this difficult time          An online survey of 600 women with ovarian cancer during March and April of 2020 produced 400 responses with relevant information. Active cancer treatment was ongoing for 40% of the respondents, who had a median age of 58.          Two different coping strategies were noted: adaptive, with acceptance, or dysfunctional, with self-harm. From the survey it seemed that 64% of the women used adaptive strategies such as spirituality, hobbies or exercise.           ...

Psychosexual morbidity in women with ovarian cancer https://tinyurl.com/y3rge7z3          Thanks to improved treatment, women with ovarian cancer are living longer. There is an increasing attention to the quality of life rather than a fixation on survival.          One of the priorities for women, usually not fully appreciated by medical attendants, is the pleasure of intimate sexual activity. There has been a dearth of information about what women experience after ovarian cancer treatment and a failure to appreciate the inevitable changes that occur.          This paper from the UK is revelatory; the study is a retrospective analysis of all available literature. The findings are that up to 65% of women before surgery were sexually active. After surgery 75% reported adverse effect, the reasons were both physical and psychological with  pain and...

Ovarian cancer risk after salpingectomy for ectopic pregnancy or hydrosalpinx: results of the OCASE nationwide population-based database study https://tinyurl.com/yywquctm            Most epithelial ovarian cancer (the commonest and most lethal) starts in the fallopian tube and spreads to the ovary. For those women with a pre-disposition to develop ovarian cancer, due to inherited genetic mutation, risk reduction surgery is being recommended with removal of the fallopian tubes (salpingectomy).          There is another large group of women who have had at least one tube removed; these are women who developed an ectopic pregnancy and who had surgical therapy. It would seem likely that these women should have a subsequent decreased ovarian cancer risk.          This retrospective study using the Dutch pathology dataset looked at more than 21,000 women...