According to scientists, broccoli contains a chemical called sulphoraphane, which activates cancer-fighting enzymes inside cells.  Researchers say the richest source of sulphoraphane is contained in sprouts.

In a demonstration of the plant’s anti-cancer properties, investigators smeared broccoli sprout extract on the skin of six volunteers for three days, and then exposed them to high doses of ultraviolet radiation, which is the leading cause of skin cancer.

They found there was an average 37 percent less redness and sunburn in the patches covered by broccoli extract.  Redness and sunburn are an indication of skin damage that could lead to cancer.

The results of the study are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Paul Talalay is a Johns Hopkins University molecular pharmacologist and the author of the study.  Talalay says sunscreen conferred no protection against the UV rays, but he says that does not mean people should stop using it.

“We want to avoid under all circumstances people doing weird things like making broccoli sprout soup and applying to their skin and thinking that they will be protected against the sun,” he said.  “They will have not have any protection whatsoever, because it’s a totally different mechanism and one cannot possibly substitute for the other.”

Applied as a thick cream, sunscreen protects the skin by deflecting the sun’s harmful rays.  But it must be constantly reapplied to remain effective.

In contrast, Talalay says, a compound made of broccoli sprouts works by penetrating skin cells and stimulating their natural cancer-fighting mechanism.

Observers call the research promising, but say more studies are needed because the results varied considerably among participants, ranging from a low of eight percent to a high of 78 percent protection against sunburn.  Talalay disagrees.

“Everybody knows you go to the beach and you get fried and I go to the beach and nothing happens to me,” he added.  “And we are in the same place.  So, the same experiment if done in a large number of individuals would be much more complex.  But I believe that the evidence certainly from animal studies is that we would get absolutely the same result.”

Talalay believes if it works in the skin, a sulphoraphane extract from broccoli sprouts is very likely to act as a hedge against cancer in other organs.

Meanwhile, researchers say there are a number of challenges in making a sun cream from broccoli sprouts, not the least of which is figuring out how to get rid of the green tint.

The American Cancer Society said it was looking for half a million volunteers willing to let researchers watch them for the next 20 years to see if they get cancer.

The aim is to match similar big studies in Europe and Asia that are looking on a large scale for the environmental and lifestyle factors that cause cancer, the second-leading cause of death in the United States after heart disease.

“This type of study involves hundreds of thousands of people, with diverse backgrounds, followed for many years, with collection of biological specimens and assessments of dietary, lifestyle and environmental exposures,” Eugenia Calle, managing director of analytic epidemiology at the American Cancer Society, said in a statement.

“It also requires active follow-up to discover if and when study participants develop cancer.”

The group will recruit men and women between the ages of 30 and 65 who have never been diagnosed with cancer. They will give blood to be tested and answer questionnaires at various times over the next 20 years.

Similar big studies have confirmed the link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer, shown that obesity increases the risk of several cancers, and linked aspirin use to a lower death rate from colon cancer.

They have also found evidence that defied conventional wisdom, such as the Women’s Health Initiative study that found hormone replacement therapy actually raises the risk of breast cancer, stroke and heart attack.

The U.S. government’s Institute of Medicine reported that asbestos, which is accepted as a cause of a number of respiratory ailments including lung cancer, may also be a source for laryngeal cancer. The larynx produces the sound of your voice. Each year in the United States, more than 10,000 people learn they have larynx cancer. Men are four times more likely than women to get cancer of the larynx. Occupational related issues are certainly a factor with mechanics, construction, and other jobs that handle asbestos.

A series of studies have found that certain cancers of the throat and lungs are similar, so the U.S. Senate asked the institute to investigate a potential link between asbestos and other upper-body cancers. Asbestos is also linked to mesothelioma which is a rare cancer that attacks the lining of the chest.

Smokers and smokers that drink alcohol are even more at risk to develop cancer of the larynx. Symptoms of larynx cancer are hoarseness or other voice changes,lump in the neck, a sore throat or feeling that something is stuck in your throat, a cough that does not go away, breathing problems, bad breath, earaches, and weight loss.

Bladder cancer is diagnosed in 55,000 – 60,000 individuals annually in the United States. Patients whose cancer has spread to deeper tissues in the bladder and/or nearby lymph nodes may be treated with a radical cystectomy, the surgical removal of the bladder and nearby lymph nodes.

This approach may be able to cure the patient, however recurrences do occur. Researchers want to find out which patients may be more susceptible to a recurrence so that they can either monitor them more closely or treat them more aggressively to reduce the risk of recurrence.

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Following on the news of the drop in cancer deaths for the second consecutive year, the American Cancer Society is launching the Great American Health Challenge to educate and motivate Americans to take action to reduce their cancer risk. Many Americans are concerned about potentially developing cancer, but in fact, at least 50 percent of cancer deaths could be prevented through healthy lifestyle factors, including not smoking or using other tobacco products, maintaining a healthy body weight, getting sufficient physical activity, eating a healthy diet, limiting consumption of alcohol, and getting cancer screening tests. Research indicates that cutting cancer death rates by 50 percent nationally would save about 280,000 lives every year in the United States.

“A recent American Cancer Society survey found that 59 percent of adult Americans(i) are concerned personally about getting cancer,” said Richard C. Wender, MD, president, American Cancer Society Board of Directors. “We’re launching the Great American Health Challenge to provide tools and support to make it easier for people to take steps that could reduce their cancer risk.”

Scientists have found that consumption of spicy food daily can effectively help us fight cancer. Tumors can be killed by Capsaicin, the chemical that is responsible for the spicy and hot sensation.

They also feel that Capsaicin may provide the answer to future cancer drugs. The University of Nottingham scientists claim that this chemical targets the cancer cells directly. They also say that the medicines that are used in the treatment of psoriasis and muscle strains can be effectively used in the treatment of serious ailments.

Dr Timothy Bates who led this study attributes the spicy food eating habits of Mexicans and Indians to the lower incidences of cancers in these countries on a comparative note with their western counterparts.

Vanilloids is the family of compounds that Capsaicin belongs to, has the power of attacking the mitochondria without causing any damage to the surrounding cells.

According to Bates, laboratory trials of capsaicin yielded a very promising result on human lung cancer cell and pancreatic cancer cells.

Touch imprint cytology (TIC) lymph node assessment during breast cancer surgery could prove to have advantages over the current standard lymph node assessment. TIC can be important to the breast cancer patient because usually the results from the lymph node dissection can take up to a week. It causes a lot of anxiety and stress waiting to find out if the breast cancer has metastasized to the lymph nodes. TIC would provide immediate results during the sentinel node extraction.

An economic assessment that was published in the November 15, 2006 issue of Cancer says TIC is less costly than standard lymph node assessment. They studied the cost effectiveness of the two techniques and found that especially in larger tumors TIC is more effective.

For the fourth straight year, Minnesota tops the state health rankings, according to the annual United Health Foundation report, which also shows Americans are 0.3 percent healthier in 2006 than they were in 2005.

The United Health Foundation survey has been around for 17 years and for 11 of these years, Minnesota has been at the top of the healthy list.

Rankings are based on factors such as access to health care, incidence of preventable disease, smoking rates, child poverty rates, and motor vehicle deaths. Minnesota boasts a low rate of uninsured (8.4 percent), a low rate of child poverty (10 percent), and a low infant mortality rate (5.1 deaths per 1,000 live births).

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Allen Carr, who was considered as world’s best anti-smoking guru died of lung cancer yesterday. He was 72.

Carr helped convince millions of people to give up smoking. He claimed to have helped 10 million people to give up smoking, including leading figures such as the Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson, the actor Sir Anthony Hopkins and the footballer Gianluca Vialli.

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Till few years back, Heart disease was the leading cause of death in the state of Hawaii. Now it comes a close second to life threatening Cancer. Cancer is the top killer of Hawaii residents, according to the state Department of Health.

Cancer and heart disease together killed half of the 8,988 residents who died last year in Hawaii. While heart disease took the lives of 1,258 males and 996 females, cancer claimed 1,177 males and 959 females. Cancer is the leading killer of Hawaii residents ages 45 to 84. Out of all types of cancers, Lung cancer is by far the most lethal form of cancer in Hawaii.