Health’s Blog

youth waiting around the corner, but a study of unusually old mice suggests a natural anticancer protein might also put the brakes on aging.

The protein, called p53, along with one of its cellular regulators, called Arf, may boost the body’s antioxidant activity to keep cells younger longer, according to research in the July 19 issue of Nature.

In the study, a team of cancer investigators closely examined cells from mice genetically engineered to produce extra amounts of p53 and/or Arf.

“When we examined markers of aging in these mice, we observed that their aging is slower,” said senior researcher Manuel Serrano of the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre in Madrid. This extended lifespan wasn’t just due to p53’s well-known anti-cancer activity, he said, since aging was slowed even when the researchers took cancer suppression into account.

Cancer researchers are certainly no strangers to the p53 protein, which is produced naturally by the body.

“P53 is the undisputed ’star’ in cancer research — scientists know more about p53 than about any other gene or protein,” Serrano said. That’s because the protein helps target and eliminate what he called “unhappy” cells — cells with broken DNA, or cells poorly supplied in oxygen — that have a higher risk of becoming malignant.

“P53 kills the unhappy cells by activating another complex cascade of events (only partly understood) that includes self-digestive proteins that basically destroy the cell,” Serrano explained.

P53 is helped in this task by the regulatory chemical Arf, which lets p53 know that a particular cell is in trouble and marked for elimination.

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The benefits of experimental cancer drugs could be inflated when clinical trials are halted early, a study in the latest issue of the Annals of Oncology suggests.Monitoring boards can halt clinical trials if a medicine appears to have a serious safety baggage, if it shows no benefit or if it appears to show so much benefit that it would be unethical to withhold the treatment from the study participants who aren’t currently getting it. So halting a trial early for benefit should be good for patients. But there are drawbacks.

The latest analysis “suggests a commercial component in stopping trials prematurely. In fact, this strategy could guarantee quicker access to the market for companies,” Giovanni Apolone, a study author from the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Milan, told the Guardian newspaper.

Looking at published reports of cancer trials in three top journals, Apolone and colleagues found that 25 cancer trials were stopped early for benefit between 1997 and 2007. In more than three-quarters of cases, the data were used within three years to apply for approval of the drug by the FDA or the European Medicines Agency.

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The companies exposed to the hazardous effects of Asbestos continued to expose their workers to the deadly element. No protection from the Asbestos dust and no information on its health hazards were provided to the Asbestos workers. Many died. The result observed was ugly, and it was therefore an essential need to bring justice by law to those who suffered ailments from Asbestos in the environment.

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Peritoneal Mesothelioma Litigation is the legal process wherein the victim of this dreadful disease seeks compensation for the physical and emotional damages it causes. Peritoneal mesothelioma is the cancer of the lining of the organs that develops as a result of toxic levels of exposure to asbestos in the air. The average survival time is one year, but if caught early, there is a one in two chance of surviving two years and a one in five chance of surviving five years. Peritoneal mesothelioma litigation allows a victim of this dreadful disease to seek compensation from their employer (if they were exposed to asbestos on the job) or from the manufacturer of asbestos-containing products. Through peritoneal mesothelioma litigation, a peritoneal mesothelioma victim may be able to recover damages associated with medical expenses, loss of income, and pain and suffering.

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Awareness of the harmful effects of asbestos has increased greatly since the 1970s. The large majority of people with malignant mesothelioma have a history of exposure to asbestos. Much of this exposure occurred after it was known that asbestos is linked to potentially debilitating diseases such as asbestosis. Diseases caused by asbestos exposure are preventable by removing asbestos exposure. The fact that workers in several industries were knowingly exposed to this dangerous substance has formed the basis of a great deal of litigation to seek compensation for victims of asbestos exposure in the United States. An Internet search can provide a long list of lawyers who are involved in asbestos-related litigation.

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 Laura Russell

Mesothelioma is the growth of malignant cells in mesothelium, the thin membrane covering the body’s internal organs. This mesothelium lining covers the pleural, peritoneal and pericardial cavities. Pleura is a membrane covering the lungs and it is the most common location where mesothelioma cancer occurs also known as pleural mesothelioma. Peritoneum, the protective covering that lines the abdominal cavity may also develop malignant tumors and cause peritoneal mesothelioma.