MORE RECENT ITEMS

                                                   In much happier times

COVID seems to have crowded out news of other medical matters.  I tell you that because I haven’t been posting OVCA news as frequently lately as before.  What news I do run across usually concerns details of one clinical trial or another, concerns some drug whose name ends in “ab” and whose purpose is to extend life for a few months.  Not your cup of tea, I suspect.  However, you may find something new and/or interesting in this compendium published by Cure Today.  In the meantime, I will keep looking.

https://www.curetoday.com/view/7-ovarian-cancer-news-and-updates-that-patients-may-have-missed-in-2020 

WHEN MITOCHONDRIA GO TO THE DARK SIDE

          LINDA HER BIG BROTHER RICHARD

Maybe I’m just stupid, but I simply don’t understand how this particular natural process can have come about.  In my naïve way I always have thought that biological traits survived and prospered only when they offered some procreative advantage.  The operative word here is “procreative”; only things that procreate are able to pass on favorable modifications; if the modification isn’t useful it gets erased.  Now, individual tumors cannot in any sense be regarded as reproducing; they come into being, perhaps prosper – and kill their host.  No babies, no evolution.

So, then, how did the OVCA tumor develop the ability to manipulate the cell – specifically its mitochondria – to defend itself against a “hostile environment”?  That’s exactly what it does, according to new research at Virginia Tech.  See below:

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-01/f-occ010521.php. 

New avenues of therapy opened up by this research are hinted at, albeit somewhat indistinctly.  Let us hope.

In passing, British tabloids are all agog over the news that NICE (their FDA) has approved niraparib for general maintenance purposes - that is, prolonging the period of wellness between episodes of tumor growth, thereby prolonging life and enhancing its quality.  For once we Yanks are ahead of them; under the trade name Zejula, niraparib has been available here for some time.  See below:

https://ljb-quiltcutie.blogspot.com/2019/11/exciting-adventures-in-parp-inhibition.html  

Apparently the problem has been that niraparib was thought to be effective only against tumors caused by a BRCA mutation.  Thankfully, this  isn’t so.

MORE ON BREASTFEEDING - THE LAST WORD

                  Kristen and Linda prepare to tackle the                                                    canyon

As if it were needed, JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association – the last word in health) has come out with another reason to breastfeed: it helps prevent ovarian cancer,  I have blogged about this previously, I think, but apparently there remained some doubt – which now is officially eliminated.  Even a few months of breastfeeding reduces OVCA risk to a statistically important degree.  As to why….?  Part of the reason lies in the reduction in lifetime ovulation: ovulation involves rapid cell division, which increases the probability of mistakes that could result in cancer.  Also, breastfeeding may trigger long-term modifications of the immune system – although that appears to be less certain.  Also, it was noted that nearly all women in the various statistical experiments were white, leaving unresolved the efficacy of breastfeeding in non-white women.

https://www4.curetoday.com/view/breastfeeding-lowers-the-risk-of-ovarian-cancer 

 

NCI SUMMARIZES THE YEAR

                                Linda and Carolyn, in happier times

NCI has published its list of most viewed stories for 2020.  Some I have blogged about; others I haven’t.  It is worth devoting a few minutes of your COVID-lengthened day to giving it a glance.  There are several very useful explanations of how things work – especially, our old friend CRISPR.  Just go to the NCI web site and poke around.

One thing that struck me during my own “poking around”:  there is a dangerous lack of people trained to properly administer these new therapies.  All the more reason to seek help from the major league institutions: Fred Hutch, Sloan Kettering, Fox Chase, MD Anderson, etc.  And all the more reason for smart and ambitious young people to train for these fields.

 And, of course – geez, these new wrinkles sound incredibly expensive!

 

STILL MORE ON PARPi

         PICKING OUT GOURDS TO DECORATE

We have considered PARP inhibitors (PARPi) several times.  There are three currently approved for treatment of ovarian cancer:  drug names Lynparza, Zejula, Rubraca.  They are not a cure but rather a means to prolong PFS (progression-free survival) without recourse to more chemotherapy, which may seriously impact quality of life.  PARPi works best in cases where the BRCA gene is mutated, but may be of some benefit for other OVCA patients.  This article contains much useful information which, with luck, you will never need.  Read it anyway.

https://www.onclive.com/view/weighing-risks-and-benefits-is-critical-with-second-line-maintenance-parp-inhibition-in-ovarian-cancer

Note that it would be very beneficial to know one’s BRCA status.  Any blanket health care system that we may eventually adopt ought to cover BRCA testing for every female.  Tell your favorite local legislator. 

 

 

PROGRESS THROUGH AI

                     OUR SKINNY PHASE

                                              Cat is Whiskers

The Economist has given us an interesting and useful look at some basic biology that you probably already know.  Here it is.  Read it anyway.

https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/11/30/how-do-proteins-fold 

So, the body makes proteins by first “reading” an appropriate stretch of DNA to create messenger RNA (mRNA).  The mRNA next travels to the nearest available ribosome, where it in turn is “read”, producing a string of amino acids that we call proteins.  As you know, proteins do everything worth doing in the body – and some that are not worth doing; the “spikes” that attach the coronavirus to our cells are proteins.

You probably also are aware that the function of a protein depends on its shape.  What happens is that the chain of amino acids folds itself into a particular shape in response to the electrostatic forces between elements of the chain.  As many proteins are thousands of amino acids in length, heretofore it has been difficult, if not downright impossible, to predict a folded final configuration from an arbitrary string of amino acids.  Now, however, some disgustingly smart people have devised a way to do just that, using artificial intelligence (AI), often called machine learning.  Potentially, this is hot stuff, medicine wise, because it will allow us to craft our own, artificial, proteins to do specific tasks in the body.  Like. Kill cancer cells.  More progress.

CHILL OUT!

                  LINDA AND CURIOUS NEPHEW

Do you have some dormant cancer cells asleep inside you?  You naturally hope not, but I guess you can’t be sure – especially if you are in remission from a past bout with the disease.  Well, your ever-vigilant NIH newly advises you to avoid stress, in order not to awaken the nasty little bastards.   Apparently experiments with mice have shown that stress can activate production of certain hormones which, in turn, cause inflammation that induces dormant cancer cells to leap into action!  (Questions:  How do you insert dormant cancer cells into a mouse?  How can you tell when a mouse is stressed?) But, anyway – chill out!  Sip a little pumpkin liqueur of an evening and read a good book.  That’s part of my plan for longevity – and I’m 87.

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/stress-may-awaken-dormant-cancer-cells