Latest news with #NationalCancerCenter
NHK
15-07-2025
- Health
- NHK
Researchers find gut bacteria that makes anticancer drugs work better in mice
A group of researchers in Japan says an experiment using mice has confirmed that a certain strain of gut bacteria improves the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy. Immunity-boosting cancer drugs are said to be sufficiently effective in less than half the subjects. The patients' gut microbiome had been pointed out as a possible factor, but the mechanism remained unclear. Researchers from the National Cancer Center Japan and others published their findings in the science journal Nature. The researchers studied stool samples from 50 cancer patients who had undergone immunotherapy. They found that patients who responded well to the therapy had a higher ratio of a strain of bacteria named YB328. The researchers transplanted the strain into one group of mice with cancer that had been cleared of gut flora. In another group of mice, they administered a different microbe from patients unresponsive to immunotherapy. They say that when both groups were injected with anticancer drugs, mice given the YB328 saw their tumors grow smaller. The research team says another experiment showed that the bacterial strain activates immune cells. The National Cancer Center Research Institute's Nishikawa Hiroyoshi said YB328 could enhance the efficacy of immunity-boosting drugs in patients who had not benefited from the therapy. He said he hopes to continue the studies to develop new medication.
03-07-2025
- Health
50 Pct Cancer Patients Discuss Last Days with Doctors
News from Japan Society Jul 3, 2025 10:30 (JST) Tokyo, July 2 (Jiji Press)--About half of people who died of cancer in Japan in 2021 are seen to have consulted with doctors about where they wanted to spend the end of their lives, the National Cancer Center said in a report released Thursday. About 60 pct of cancer patients were able to spend their last days at places where they wished to be, the report showed. Both figures increased from the previous survey conducted in 2017-2018. Active conversations between patients and doctors may have been partially due to restrictions on visits implemented by hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic, the cancer center said. The survey was conducted with 27,000 bereaved families of patients who died of cancer or heart disease in 2021. Valid responses came from 10,900 people. Patient age at the time of death averaged 87.5. The survey asked about the quality of life in the month before death. The cancer center analyzed the results by cause of death. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
Japan Times
03-07-2025
- Health
- Japan Times
About half of people who died from cancer discussed last days with doctors
About half of people who died of cancer in Japan in 2021 are seen to have consulted with doctors about where they wanted to spend the end of their lives, the National Cancer Center said in a report released Thursday. About 60% of cancer patients were able to spend their last days at places where they wished to be, the report showed. Both figures increased from the previous survey conducted in 2017 to 2018. Active conversations between patients and doctors may have been partially due to restrictions on visits implemented by hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic, the cancer center said.
05-06-2025
- Health
ESPN anchor Jay Harris announces prostate cancer diagnosis
ESPN "SportsCenter" anchor Jay Harris is battling prostate cancer, he announced Thursday on " Good Morning America." "My doctor is quite optimistic," Harris said of his prognosis. "Per my last scan, nothing has spread, so once we take out the prostate, hopefully that will be it. That's the goal." Harris said he plans to undergo surgery on June 10, and then will take time off from "SportsCenter" to recover. "[I] will be away from 'SportsCenter' for about a month to recover and then I'm coming back better than ever," said Harris, who joined ESPN in 2003. Harris said he has received an outpouring support from his ESPN colleagues, as well as his family and friends, many of whom have shared with Harris a personal connection to prostate cancer. In Harris's own family, he said his dad battled prostate cancer, as well as other relatives. "We all need to talk about these things because we all have them in our families," Harris said of his diagnosis. "By not talking about them, we just, really, I hate to be morbid, but we sentence ourselves to death by not talking." Prostate cancer is the most common cancer and the second-leading cause of cancer death among men in the U.S., according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health's National Cancer Center. The five-year relative survival rate from prostate cancer, meaning the percentage of people alive five years after diagnosis, is roughly 98%, the NIH says. Prostate cancer in general usually grows very slowly. While finding and treating it before symptoms occur may not improve men's health or help them live longer it is generally a more treatable type of cancer, even when it has spread. Prostate cancer can be screened for with a blood test called Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA). The goal of screening is to catch cancer before symptoms present and can be done during medical check-ups. After a high PSA is detected, a doctor may call for a biopsy. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), which helps establish standards for screening tests, says the decision to screen people aged 55-69 for prostate cancer should be a choice between the individual and their healthcare provider.
