Medical News

Usually I post one article at a time, but there is so much recently that I have to use this format to spare me some time...

Primary liver cancers 'soaring' (For Full Article, click HERE)

Cases of primary liver cancer, an often preventable disease, have trebled in the last 30 years, figures suggest. While it is not uncommon for cancer to spread to the liver, Cancer Research UK statistics show incidents where it starts in the organ have risen sharply. Cases of cancer overall have increased over recent decades as people live longer and detection methods improve. But experts say hepatitis C infections, as well as alcohol and obesity, have helped fuel the spike in liver cases.

'Magnetic' stem cells for hearts (For the full article, click HERE)

Heart attacks and other vascular injuries could eventually be treated using regular injections of magnetised stem cells, experts say. In animal trials, the cutting-edge treatment delivered the healing cells to the precise site of damage where their help was needed. Although human tests are needed, a similar magnetic approach has been used to guide cancer therapies. The expert US journal Cardiovascular Interventions reports the findings.

Child leukaemia 'genes' revealed (For the full article, click HERE)

The three variants each raise the risk by between 30% and 60%, said the Institute of Cancer Research team. But they stressed that other things, such as childhood infections, may also play a role. Leukaemia Research said the clues offered by the research, in the journal Nature Genetics, may improve care. Leukaemia is the most common childhood cancer, with approximately 500 new cases each year in the UK, and Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) accounts for roughly 85% of these. Scientists believe that there is likely to be no single reason why a child develops the disease, but a combination of factors, perhaps including an inherited genetic ingredient in some cases.