I was going to write a blog later in my series of blogs on toxins and stress and disease from the studies that I have been reading for the last month. But since a comment was made about stress and whether it has a correlation to disease to the previous blog I wrote on toxins and stress creating disease in our bodies, I will jump ahead and share some research I found on the relation of stress and disease. A relation to stress and disease has been researched by many doctors, psychologists, and medical research facilities and conclusions are that stress does several things to the body causing it to shut down in areas that can effect the body with disease and illness.

Do the common phrases, Tension Headache, Upset Stomach, Shaky Nerves, Tight Chest, ring a bell? Studies showed that work place stress has created an increase in heart disease and high blood pressure as well as making the body more susceptible to flu and viruses. It also has shown that stress can be related to Type 2 Diabetes as well as obesity. "Stress in general can disrupt the body's ability to process glucose, especially in people whose genetics make them vulnerable", said Richard Surwit of the Duke University Medical Center in a research article in the November/December issue of the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will take an additional three months to review Wyeth's kidney cancer drug Torisel -- the first of five new medications the company plans to introduce this year.

The FDA needs more time to investigate data on tumor growth in patients taking Torisel. If all goes well, the drug will be one of only three to effectively hold off incurable kidney cancer. The other two drugs are Pfizer's Sutent and Bayer AG's Nexavar.

Robert Ruffolo, president of Wyeth Research, says he is encouraged by the review process so far. And he is optimistic about launching the product in late 2007.

Studies show Torisel, which will cost patients about $30,000 per year, prolonged survival by 50 percent in those faring poorly with kidney cancer. The sickest kidney-cancer patients were essentially kept alive for 10.9 months, compared with 7.3 months with interferon drugs. Torisel also postponed tumor growth for 5.5 months. This is 77 percent longer than with interferon.

Sutent and Nexavar, both on the market since last year, also slow tumor growth. All three kidney-cancer medicines are of the variety that block the growth of cancer cells -- different from standard chemotherapy which kills tumors and harms nearby tissues too.

Wyeth is relatively new to the oncology market. And soon, the company hopes to launch three more cancer drugs. One, called CMC-544, treats non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Another, SKI-606, is for chronic myelogenous leukemia. And the third, HKI-272, is for breast cancer.

About 51,000 Americans will be diagnosed with kidney cancer this year.

Findings from an international study suggest that women with a waist size of more than 34 inches are more likely to develop cancer of the womb than women who boast slimmer waistlines.

The study, funded in part by the British charity Cancer Research UK, sized up 223,000 women worldwide and determined that women with a waistline less than 31 inches have half the risk of developing womb cancer than their heavier counterparts.

There has been a significant rise in cases of womb cancer in Britain. And the link between the disease and weight gain is most prevalent among postmenopausal women who have never used hormone replacement therapy or the birth control pill.

According to the National Sizing Survey conducted in 2004, the average British woman now has a 34-inch waist. This is more than six inches bigger than the average size of a woman in the 1950s, says Dr. Lesley Walker of Cancer Research UK.

"Women are larger than they were when they existed on a wartime diet and were generally more active and this is having serious consequences," Walker says.

More than 6,000 women in the UK are diagnosed with womb cancer each year. The disease kills about 1,000 annually.

Neuroblastoma is the most common tumor in infants younger than one year of age and a common solid tumor found in children. Neuroblastoma accounts for 7-10 percent of childhood cancers. It is a solid tumor that arises in a part of the nervous system outside of the brain.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital says that Neuroblastoma tumors have been successfully treated in the lab with genetically modified cells that sought out and activated a chemotherapy drug placed directly at the cancer cells.

The chemotherapy drug, called CPT-11, is already used to treat cancers, doctors and scientists already know how the drugs behaves in humans. This should make it easier to translate the lab findings to the clinic. The researchers showed that the modified cells migrated to tumors regardless of how small the tumors were or where they were located in the body.

The homing ability of these cells, called neural stem-progenitor cells (NSPCs), can be used to target solid tumors that have metastasized. The researchers based their new treatment on work previously reported that showed certain NSPCs have a natural tendency to seek out damaged or cancerous areas in the brain.

In a clinical trial conducted at the University of Nottingham, scientists gave a vaccine to 67 colorectal cancer patients before and after surgery to remove the cancerous tumors. The British researchers say they have developed a vaccine that stimulates the immune system to fight colorectal cancer cells.

Vaccine trials are not new in the search for effective cancer treatments but many times they are given as a last resort and are not effective. The vaccine is named 105AD7. The antibody in the vaccine was cloned from a patient who survived seven years despite liver metastasis from colorectal cancer. Lindy Durrant, study senior author and professor of cancer immunotherapy said "This is very unusual, as most patients die within a year of getting liver metastasis. I thought if this antibody had helped this patient, if we could clone it, it might help others".

The researchers reported in the current issue of Clinical Cancer Research that the vaccine helped stimulate immune cell production in up to seventy percent of the patients studied.

Lindy Durrant also states that "This is the first vaccine shown to stimulate TNF-alfpha -- an immune system protein that is very effective at killing cancer cells"

Photographer Paula Lerner was diagnosed with breast cancer just after beginning work on Why We Walk: The Inspirational Journey Toward a Cure for Breast Cancer -- a book that captures through photographs the momentum of millions who year after year crowd America's streets and walk to conquer this disease.

A peek into this book is offered in the form of an online slide show, hosted by the Washington Post. Set to inspiring music and lyrics and lasting just three minutes and 59 seconds, this media presentation tells a story about a disease that strikes every three minutes and kills every 14 minutes.

Gripping photographs and sobering facts dominate this powerful piece. There are shots of women in pink wigs and pink tutus, children hosing off physically and emotionally drained walkers, women holding up photographs of lost loved ones -- one with a printed message that reads, Mom, we would walk forever to bring you back. May 14, 2004. There are smiles and cheers and tears. Every image packs an emotional punch.

The facts that appear throughout the slide show really stand out. They spell out in black and white some of the most important facts about breast cancer. And here they are -- all seven of them.

• 40,970 women and 460 men will die from breast cancer annually.

• Breast cancer is the most common cancer in African American women but ranks second to lung cancer in cause of cancer deaths.

• People over the age of 50 account for 77 percent of breast cancer cases.

• Breast cancer is most commonly diagnosed among Hispanic women and is the leading cause of cancer death among this group.

• Being overweight is linked to a higher risk of breast cancer, especially after menopause.

• Risk is increased by onset of menstruation before age 12, menopause after 50, first child after 30, or no children.

• Family history of breast cancer increases risk, especially if close relatives are diagnosed before the age of 50. A first-degree relative -- mother, sister, daughter -- with breast cancer approximately doubles the risk of breast cancer.

Malignant glioma is the most common primary brain tumor. The outlook for patients with malignant glioma is poor. Median survival for patients with grade III glioma is three to five years and less than one year for the most aggressive form of malignant glioma called glioblastoma multiforme.

The virus or reovirus that the researchers are focusing on is a common virus in humans that inhabits the lungs and intestines. The researchers added that this virus is something that most humans have been exposed to by adulthood but demonstrates no illness or negative effects on us.

When the virus is exposed to the malignant glioma cells it appears to infect and kill the tumor cells. Dr. James M. Markert, M.D., professor and director of the division of neurosurgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and lead investigator of the trial explains "Healthy, non-cancerous cells in our bodies have the ability to prevent the reovirus from replicating, so that even if we are infected with the virus we do not usually exhibit significant symptoms but brain tumor cells do not have that protection, due to a mutation in their DNA. The reovirus replicates, destroying the tumor cell, and the replicated virus goes in search of new tumor cells to infect". So not only will the main tumor be destroyed but the virus could potentially be effective against glioma cells that have begun to spread away from the primary tumor to other parts of the brain.

The phase one clinical trial will enroll fifteen patients that have recurrent malignant glioma. The patients will have a brain surgery procedure that infuses the reovirus through two catheters that are placed on the tumor mass.

The main purpose of this study is to determine whether the virus is safe to administer to humans. It has shown in previous studies to be well tolerated and not have any negative side effects. This research sounds very exciting to me since this disease is very hard to treat. I know too well, as my uncle was diagnosed with a brain tumor and died just over a year from diagnoses before he turned forty. This was in 1987. The prognosis since that time really hasn't changed for malignant glioma. I hope this is something that can give the patients diagnosed much more hope of a longer survival.

Isothiocyanates, chemical compounds found in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts and watercress are able to kill cancer cells that have become resistant to chemotherapy drugs, according to the Free Radical Research Group research team from Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Otago.

Basically, isothiocyanates drive cancer cells, and the protein Bcl-2 that seems to aid cancer cells in surviving, to apoptosis or in more descriptive terms -- a self-destructing suicide. The researchers are hoping this discovery might lead to the development of cancer-fighting drugs derived from isothiocyanates.

In the meantime, as they work on better cancer-fighting drugs based on beneficial chemical compounds found in foods, it won't hurt us to eat more veggies. Okay, except for the current recall of E. coli contaminated spinach. Right now, don't eat your spinach.

While the study suggests that not all cruciferous vegetable are equal in the ability to kill cancer cells, and specifically refers only to broccoli, Brussels sprouts and watercress -- other cruciferous vegetables include arugula, cauliflower, cabbage, Bok Choy, rutabaga, Chinese cabbage, Daikon, radishes, turnips, kohlrabi, kale, and turnip, mustard and collard greens.

Kids can be so positive and encouraging, even in the face of sickness. Now today my kids have just a simple sickness -- nothing life-threatening -- that I'm sure will pass in a day or so. They are throwing up every content of their little tummies -- even sips of water -- and they are pale and lethargic and run-down. But still, they have hope for a brighter tomorrow. This morning, five-year-old Joey said to me while resting in my bed and just after he threw up , "this is just the good getting rid of the bad." He went on to explain how the good in our bodies knows when to push the bad out. And this is what is happening to him today, he said. He is throwing up the bad so the good can take over. Simple. Easy. Makes sense.

I never saw my own sickness like this. Instead of visualizing chemotherapy as a good agent that kills bad cells, I was repulsed by the horrific liquids that poisoned my body. I knew of people who were able to turn chemotherapy into a Pac-Man game -- with Pac Man chomping away at the cancer cells and leaving nothing but healthy cells to thrive. And I knew people who were relieved to feel sick because it meant the chemotherapy was working. I never saw it like this -- although I do know that chemotherapy may have saved me from a life with cancer. I was discouraged by chemotherapy. I had a negative attitude about it, and I had to really gear up for all of my infusions. I still -- more than one year later -- cannot eat anything I ate on my chemo days. The mere thought of these foods makes me feel ill.

A pediatrician friend of mine told me that kids with cancer tend to be positive. There are a few old souls, she said, but for the most part, they continue to tackle life with spirit and adventure and simplicity. Like my boys today who are peacefully napping at the moment so everything good in their bodies can come back with a vengeance.

ABC News aired a health news story to discuss the Lance Armstrong Effect, named after the seven-time Tour de France champion who survived testicular cancer even after it had spread to his lungs and brain -- why so many testicular cancer patients survive cancer -- and how it might be heat that is killing testicular cancer cells.

Johns Hopkins University researchers hypothesis it might be simply a matter of heat. Testicles are naturally a few degrees cooler than the rest of the body, and when the temperature of testicles are raised to normal body temperature, testicular cancer cells appear to be destroyed.

Because Armstrong's testicular cancer had spread beyond his testicles, researchers began to consider that heat might have played a role. The focus on Armstrong led to the term the Lance Armstrong Effect when referring to cancer cells destroyed by heat. In all fairness, the oncologists point out, this could have been named after any testicular cancer survivor.

"We've known for a long time that heating cancer cells kills them," said Dr. Donald L. Trump, an oncologist and senior vice president of clinical research at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y. Hypothermia treatment has been used in kidney and liver cancer cases.

In the interview, Dr. Trump explained that a needle is inserted into the tumor and the temperature raised up to 120 degrees. For whole body hypothermia treatment, the temperature can only safely be raised to 102 to 106 degrees. To watch the news video and learn more about the Lance Armstrong Effect and the applications of heat in killing cancer cells, go here.

Vitamin E succinate, classified as an antioxidant, is currently sold as a nutritional supplement. Knowing that vitamin E succinate -- or alpha tocopheryl succinate -- had some antioxidant ability to kill cancer cells, researchers decided to study how it worked in order to find a way to enhance the antioxidant compound into a more powerful and potent cancer chemopreventive agent. Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers were successful in discovering how the derivative of vitamin E functions that might lead to the development of an enhanced version to fight cancer. However, according to researchers, the power of vitamin E succinate to send cancer cells into a suicidal death, does not come from the antioxidant abilities of the derivative. The antitumor ability of the derivative is a separate function. Because of this, researchers state they believe their findings could lead to a potent chemopreventive agent that has both strong anticancer and antioxidant properties.

In an earlier post, we shared research findings regarding the amazing ability of ginger to kill ovarian cancer cells. Researchers also stated that ginger induced cell death at a similar or better rate than the platinum based chemotherapy drugs typically used to treat ovarian cancer. Powdered ginger in capsule form was used for the research. More tests need to be conducted, but in the meantime, I thought I would share a ginger tea recipe we drink at home.

You can buy ginger in prepackaged tea bags or you can make your own tea. It is easy. Steep 1/2 teaspoon of fresh peeled and grated ginger root in a cup of very hot water for five to ten minutes. To that, you may want to add freshly squeezed lemon juice and honey. Ginger is known for providing many benefits, including relief from nausea, motion sickness, dizziness, chronic pain, the pain of muscle aches, and rheumatoid arthritis. Ginger tea can alleviate cold symptoms and allergies. In our home, when one of us is suffering from a cold or allergies, we add peeled and minced garlic to steep with the grated ginger. Garlic is also known as a cancer prevention food. Our sister blog, Slashfood, has additional information on ginger as a spice.

Ginger has been prized for its medicinal properties in traditional health practices for centuries. New interest in the health benefits of ginger has led The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and the National Institutes of Health to fund an investigative study into the possibility that ginger has the extraordinary potential to treat ovarian cancer. University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers have discovered that ginger causes ovarian cancer cells to die by several processes. The first is apoptosis, a cellular pathway cancer cells follow leading to a cancer cell suicide. The second process of cancer cell death is autophagy, a result of cancer cells digesting or attacking themselves.

This is an important discovery for ovarian cancer patients because ovarian cancer cells tend to develop a resistance to chemotherapy, leaving few additional options for treatment of recurrent ovarian cancer.

As Dr. J. Rebecca Liu, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the U-M Medical School and a member of the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center explains, “Most ovarian cancer patients develop recurrent disease that eventually becomes resistant to standard chemotherapy – which is associated with resistance to apoptosis. If ginger can cause autophagic cell death in addition to apoptosis, it may circumvent resistance to conventional chemotherapy.”

In addition, researchers have stated that ginger induced cell death at a similar or better rate than the platinum-based chemotherapy drugs typically used to treat ovarian cancer. Ginger will still have to go through more studies beyond the laboratory setting to confirm the initial findings, but if ginger holds up in the power it has to kill ovarian cancer cells, treatment with ginger would simply involve taking capsules of powdered ginger. How cool is that!

If you are a cancer patient in Israel, your doctor is telling you to drink fresh lemon grass tea on the days that you go in for radiation or chemotherapy treatments. Ben Gurion University of the Negev researchers made a discovery last year that the lemon aroma in herbs like lemon grass kills cancer cells in vitro, while leaving healthy cells unharmed. In a fascinating article published in the Health section of Israel21c, it states that the study found the citral in lemon grass causes cancer cells to commit suicide in a process called apoptosis, a mechanism called programmed cell death. A drink with as little as one gram of lemon grass contains enough citral to signal the cancer cells to commit suicide.

Lemon grass is a perennial, aromatic tall grass with a light lemon scent used for culinary and medicinal purposes. For centuries, herbalists have used the herb as an effective digestive tonic and nervous system relaxant. Lemon grass oil is used to help clear blemishes and maintain balanced skin tone. Lemon grass is also used as an insect and mosquito repellent. Now, according to Israeli scientists, they can add cancer prevention to the list of attributes associated with lemon grass.

In 2001, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Debbie Reeve, a FDNY paramedic, spent several months at Ground Zero working in the morgue. Two years later, she developed breathing problems. The next year, Reeve was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a rare form of lung cancer. Mesothelioma is a malignant lung cancer linked to asbestos exposure. Reeve was exposed to asbestos particles in the air caused by the collapsing twin towers. According to her physician and her family, her work at Ground Zero is the direct link to the cancer that has taken her life. She died Wednesday, leaving behind her husband, David Reeve, 45, a FDNY paramedic, and two children, a daughter Elizabeth, who is ten years old, and a son Mark, who is only six years old. Her family said she suffered greatly leading up to her death, as the cancer consumed her body.

The Daily News has already reported that 23 Ground Zero workers have died from the toxic mix of chemicals present at Ground Zero. The heartbreak of the day that changed this nation forever, continues.