Kidney transplants can save lives. They can also increase the risk of developing a variety of cancers, according to Australian researchers who report a risk 300 percent higher than in the general population.

Most cancers developed in kidney transplant patients have a known or suspected viral origin, suggesting the weakened immune systems in these patients limit protection against cancer.

"The immunosuppressive drugs transplant patients take lower their ability to fight off infections that can trigger malignancy", the lead researcher said. "We believe the increased incidence of infection leads to the infection that results in cancer." She also notes there is probably an even greater risk of cancer among heart and lung transplant patients because these patients receive more powerful immunosuppressive drugs.

Researchers gathered their findings by comparing the incidence of cancer in 29,000 patients with end-stage kidney disease who received kidney transplants. Data was collected beginning five years prior to transplantation, during dialysis, and after transplantation. Researchers then consulted an Australian registry to identify cancers occurring between the years of 1982-2003. They compared the statistics with the number of cancers seen among transplant patients.

These cancers included melanoma, Kaposi's sarcoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, leukemia and cancers of the lip, tongue, mouth, salivary gland, esophagus, stomach, colon, anus, liver, gallbladder, lung, connective and other soft tissue, vulva, cervix, penis, eye and thyroid. There was also an increase in nasal cavity and vaginal cancers.

This study has important implications for future immosuppression. Patients should give considerable thought to quality-of-life transplants -- such as face transplants and hand transplants -- and should carefully weigh the risks of weakened immunity. On a brighter note, this study might help prompt research on medication that can selectively target the part of the body responsible for rejecting a transplant. Because right now, medications affect the entire immune system -- and this is what makes patients more prone to developing cancer.

Colchicine, an anti-inflammatory drug prescribed for gout, appears to prevent some cases of liver cancer for patients with hepatitis virus-related liver cirrhosis, according to Instituto Nacional de Cancerologia researchers in Tlalpan, Mexico.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risks are higher for those who suffer from viral hepatitis. The study was a small one, involving 186 patients with hepatitis virus-related liver cirrhosis. 116 patients received colchicine. Of those, nine percent developed HCC. In the second group, 70 patients were not treated with the drug, and 29 percent developed HCC. Researchers explained that colchicine has the ability to block cancer cell proliferation.

The results of the study are published in the October 15th issue of Cancer.

Medline Plus offers this information about colchicine. Colchicine is used to prevent or treat attacks of gout. Colchicine prevents or relieves gout attacks by reducing inflammation, however, it is not an ordinary pain reliever and will not relieve most kinds of pain. Wikipedia describes colchicine as a highly poisonous alkaloid, originally extracted from plants known as Meadow saffron.

Drinking eight ounces of mandarin orange juice a day might have the ability to decrease the risk of developing liver cancer, according to researchers in Japan.

Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine researchers conducted a small one-year study involving participants with chronic viral hepatitis and found that none of those who drank mandarin orange juice developed liver cancer. In the group that did not drink mandarin orange juice, a small number of participants did go on to develop liver cancer. In the same study, researchers indicated that drinking mandarin orange juice might also have a positive health protective effect for atherosclerosis and insulin resistance.

Interestingly, Japanese researchers followed this inquiry after noticing that residents of a Japanese town noted for its high consumption of mandarin oranges suffered lower rates of liver disease, atherosclerosis and diabetes.

These findings, along with several others showing the health benefits of functional foods, will be presented during a four-day conference Functional Foods and Health, at the 232nd national meeting of the American Chemical Society.

Screening for cancer involves examination for early stages in the development of the disease even though there are no apparent symptoms. This holds true for oral and mouth cancers where your dentist or oral hygienist can detect changes in the tissues of the mouth when they are pre-cancerous or very small tumors. The screening procedure is quick and painless, cost effective, and can be performed by a dentist, dental hygienist, or doctor. If abnormalities are found, a referral to an oral surgeon is usually recommended.

What causes oral cancer is not known. There are certain risk factors that have been associated with oral cancer. Older black men who use tobacco are at highest risk of developing oral cancer. African Americans are at greater risk of developing oral cancer and dying from it. Men are twice as likely to develop the disease as women. It's more likely to occur in people over 40, although it has been found increasingly in younger people because of viral exposure and chewing tobacco use. Nearly 75 percent of people who develop oral cancer use tobacco -- they either smoke or use what has been incorrectly promoted as a safer form of tobacco -- chewing tobacco. Add heavy alcohol consumption, and risk is 15 times greater than that of the general populations. Exposure to the two strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV) -- #16 and #18 -- has been associated with increased risk.