Foods Toxins That Can Cause Cervical, Liver Cancer

Mexican scientists identified and quantified the amount of aflatoxins (carcinogenic) in food such as corn tortilla, rice, chili pepper, processed sauces, chicken breast and eggs, and revealed its relationship with cervical and liver cancer in humans.The research won the National Award in Food Science and Technology in the Science Professional in Foods category organized jointly by National Council of Science and Technology and the Mexican Coca-Cola Industry.

It explains that both types of cancer can be originated by the ingestion of food contaminated with aflatoxins produced by the fungi Aspergilus flavus and A. parasiticus. This is the first time both conditions are related with the presence of aflatoxins that is the most frequent carcinogenic many people eat daily.

The researchers analyzed 800 kilos of tortilla in Mexico City, ten different kinds of chili pepper, rice and corn among others. They also studied how much of this substance stays in animal tissues after ingesting this kind of food, and found that aflatoxins are present in chicken breast, gizzard, liver and eggs -white and yolk.
The researchers explained that such molecule was recovered from tissue samples of liver and cervical cancer in humans, therefore aflatoxins are a very important factor in triggering this diseases.

This research is the first in the world to report that cervical cancer can also be caused by ingesting aflatoxin contaminated food. This carcinogenic has also been detected as a trigger of colorectal, pancreatic, breast and lung cancer. The specialist clarified that Human Papillomavirus is more carcinogenic and prone to trigger cervical cancer than aflatoxins.

The toxins -the researcher said- are in the water, soil and airborne, the fungi that produce them are an olive green mold that can be found in refrigerators, besides they are very resistant to high temperatures.

Every day, each person consumes traces of millionths or milligrams of aflatoxin that accumulate over the years in DNA, decreased resistance in people and generate disease.

To avoid these substances, the researcher suggests properly storing food, which would control the production of the toxin. Also, vary the foods one ingests and preferably consume wheat tortilla and fish, as well as antioxidants.

Cancer especially liver cancer is one of the biggest killer of Hispanic Texans

More Hispanic Texans die from cancer than any other cause, according to a new report by a Texas research group. The report documents cancer as the leading cause of death among Hispanic Texans under the age of 76. Only three percent of Hispanic Texans are older than 75.

Texas’s Hispanic population has more than doubled since 1990. Texans of Hispanic ethnicity now comprise 38 percent of the state’s population. The findings are published in a September 2013 special issue of the Texas Public Health Journal.

Based on data from the Texas Cancer Registry, Medicare claims records and state vital statistics, researchers compared rates and trends for cancer in Hispanics to those for non-Hispanic whites in Texas. Key findings include:

• Hispanic Texans are less likely to be screened for breast or colon cancer.
• Hispanics have lower rates of new cancer diagnoses for breast, colon and lung cancer.
• Of the cancers diagnosed in Hispanics, fewer were in the earliest, most treatable stages – those typically detected through screening. Breast cancer at the most advanced stage was diagnosed at a 12 percent higher rate.
• Cancers more common among Hispanics were stomach and liver cancer in men and stomach, liver and cervical cancer in women. Such cancers can arise from untreated infections.
• Overall mortality from all cancer was lower among Hispanics with the exception of stomach and liver cancer.
• Survival after a diagnosis of cancer is superior for Hispanics compared to non-Hispanic whites. 

These findings were based on 10 years of data about the diagnoses of new cancer cases and 21 years of data about cancer deaths. It was also found that foreign-born Hispanics had lower mortality rates than those born in the United States, according to analyses of regional differences within the state.

New approaches for Liver Cancer Treatment provides renewed hope

In Taiwan, recently clinical experts outlined promising new approaches to treating liver cancer using radiosurgery with advanced imaging and motion management technology. Presentations on non-invasive radiosurgical approaches to treating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were made by leading clinicians last week at a medical meeting organised in Taipei.

HCC, the most common type of liver cancer, is globally the third leading cause of cancer mortality after lung and stomach cancer, and a significant problem in Taiwan, mainland China, and other parts of Asia. Most patients with HCC are not eligible for surgery or liver transplant and currently there is not much done with radiotherapy for the liver cancer patients as there is a lack of ability to focus the dose on the tumor and minimize exposure of the rest of the liver. That will potentially change with advanced approaches like stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR).

Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) is a type of radiosurgery that involves the careful use of modern technologies for 3-D image guidance, motion management, and beam shaping. SABR can be customized for for each patient according to a model that has been developed based on treatment data from over large number of HCC cases. This model helps determine the optimal radiation dose to use given the volume of liver to be treated. High doses can be given safely if enough normal liver can be spared.