14th April 2011 Breast Cancer

Healthy breast cells produce the immune protein interleukin-25 which locks onto nearby cells with the receptor for it. This initiates a self-destruct in the cell. Normal cells do not have this receptor but 19% of cancer cells have been found to, including more aggressive ones.

http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2011/04/healthy-breast-cells-police-fo.html

4th April 2011 Viruses to Treat Cancer

It has been found that, in mice, some viruses can be used to cause cancer cells to self-destruct. See
Erv's blog for details.

4th April 2011 The Discovery as Radiation as a Cancer Treatment

Since I read the an article a few days ago on the Radiation Girls, I've been wondering how on earth anyone thought of using radiation to treat cancer.  Well today my luck was in as  Orac mentioned it in his blog.

A young man by the name of Emile Grubbe was so impressed by Roentgen's discovery of x-rays that he began to experiment himself. He began to suffer from radiation dermatitis of his hands and neck.  He linked these lesions to the radiation.  One of his colleagues suggested he try to use them to treat carcinoma, which he did with almost immediate success. In February of 1896, he founded the first radiation therapy facility in Chicago.

30th March 2011 - Radium

Today I finished reading a series of articles on Radium and the Radium Girls.

Radium was hailed as a wonder element, with radium sweets, tonics and so on being produced. It was found within a couple of years of its discovery that it could be used to shrink cancer tumours.  What I'd like to know is how they managed to spot that radiation shrinks tumours, or rather why they would be treating people with it in order to see this.

According to the ACS, the discovery of radiation in 1896 by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen was a huge advancement in cancer therapy. Within months of the discovery, X-rays were being used for diagnosis, and within three years, radiation was used in cancer treatment. According to the ACS, radiation therapy began with radium and low-voltage diagnostic machines. French doctors discovered that daily doses of radiation over several weeks would greatly improve therapy results. In the early 20th century, radium was being used in small tubes for insertion directly into tumors or body cavities containing cancer, which allowed for treatments of inoperable areas, like the cervix and larynx, according to the American Society of Radiation Oncology. [Source: The History of Cancer Therapy]

The Radium Girls were women who worked in a factory painting watch dials with Radium.  They suffered horrible disfigurements and ultimately death from radiation poisoning.  Radium acts like calcium in the body, and is used by the body in place of calcium.  Instead of making bones strong, it shoots them with alpha particles, causing holes so that the bones become brittle and break.

Part 1: The Radium Girls
Part 2: Life in the Undark
Part 3: A Dazzle in the Bones