Focus on Alternative and Complementary TherapiesVolume 10, Issue s1 p. 32-33 CAM use among people undergoing cancer treatment J Yardley, J Yardley School of Nursing & Midwifery, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO 17 1BJ, UKSearch for more papers by this authorJ Corner, J Corner School of Nursing & Midwifery, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO 17 1BJ, UKSearch for more papers by this authorJ Maher, J Maher Lynda Jackson Macmillan Centre, Mount Vernon Hospital, Rickmansworth Road, Northwood, Middlesex HA6 2RN, UKSearch for more papers by this authorG Lewith, G Lewith Complementary Medicine Research Unit, Primary Medical Care, Aldermoor Health Centre, Aldermoor Close, Southampton SO16 5ST, UKSearch for more papers by this authorS Maslin-Prothero, S Maslin-Prothero Keele University School of Nursing & Midwifery, Clinical Education Centre, University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust, City General, Newcastle Road, Stoke on Trent, ST4 6QG, UKSearch for more papers by this authorT Young, T Young Lynda Jackson Macmillan Centre, Mount Vernon Hospital, Rickmansworth Road, Northwood, Middlesex HA6 2RN, UKSearch for more papers by this authorL Roffe, L Roffe School of Nursing & Midwifery, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO 17 1BJ, UKSearch for more papers by this author J Yardley, J Yardley School of Nursing & Midwifery, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO 17 1BJ, UKSearch for more papers by this authorJ Corner, J Corner School of Nursing & Midwifery, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO 17 1BJ, UKSearch for more papers by this authorJ Maher, J Maher Lynda Jackson Macmillan Centre, Mount Vernon Hospital, Rickmansworth Road, Northwood, Middlesex HA6 2RN, UKSearch for more papers by this authorG Lewith, G Lewith Complementary Medicine Research Unit, Primary Medical Care, Aldermoor Health Centre, Aldermoor Close, Southampton SO16 5ST, UKSearch for more papers by this authorS Maslin-Prothero, S Maslin-Prothero Keele University School of Nursing & Midwifery, Clinical Education Centre, University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust, City General, Newcastle Road, Stoke on Trent, ST4 6QG, UKSearch for more papers by this authorT Young, T Young Lynda Jackson Macmillan Centre, Mount Vernon Hospital, Rickmansworth Road, Northwood, Middlesex HA6 2RN, UKSearch for more papers by this authorL Roffe, L Roffe School of Nursing & Midwifery, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO 17 1BJ, UKSearch for more papers by this author First published: 14 June 2010 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2042-7166.2005.tb00498.xRead the full textAbout ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume10, Issues1March 2005Pages 32-33 RelatedInformation

This study aimed to assess the prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use in a representative cancer population prior to and within 6 months of diagnosis. A total of 304 newly diagnosed cancer patients from two UK cancer centres completed a postal survey. Of them, 100 patients (32.9%) used CAM before their cancer diagnosis, 59 of these CAM users continued post diagnosis. Twenty-nine individuals who had not used CAM before began to use it after their cancer diagnosis, creating a total of 88 (28.9%) CAM users in this sample. Reasons for not using CAM included lack of interest, lack of information or endorsement from professionals and satisfaction with conventional care. For those using CAM before diagnosis but not afterwards, the most common reason was a lack of expert guidance on what was safe to use. The use of CAM medicines bought from health food and other retail outlets was high. Complementary and alternative medicine use in cancer patients is common and demonstrates a complex pattern, but CAM use is not significantly greater than in the general population. Some patients purchase CAM medicines without seeking medical advice, thus risking drug interactions. Research to generate information on safety and efficacy of CAM is required.

Up-regulation of human prion protein (PrP) in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is associated with a poor prognosis. However, the underlying molecular mechanism of PrP-mediated tumorigenesis is not completely understood. In this study, we found that PDAC cell lines can be divided into either PrP high expresser or PrP low expresser. In addition to filamin A (FLNA), PrP interacts with Notch1, forming a PrP/FLNA/Notch1 complex. Silencing PrP in high-expresser cells decreases Notch1 expression and Notch1 signaling. These cells exhibited decreased proliferation, xenograft growth, and tumor invasion but show increased tumor apoptosis. These phenotypes were rescued by ectopically expressed and activated Notch1. By contrast, overexpression of PrP in low expressers increases Notch1 expression and signaling, enhances proliferation, and increases tumor invasion and xenograft growth that can be blocked by a Notch inhibitor. Our data further suggest that PrP increases Notch1 stability likely through suppression of Notch proteosome degradation. Additionally, we found that targeting PrP combined with anti-Notch is much more effective than singularly targeted therapy in retarding PDAC growth. Finally, we show that coexpression of PrP and Notch1 confers an even poorer prognosis than PrP expression alone. Taken together, our results have unraveled a novel molecular pathway driven by interactions between PrP and Notch1 in the progression of PDAC, supporting a critical tumor-promoting role of Notch1 in PrP-expressing PDAC tumors.

It has been proposed that part of the anti-aging mechanism of caloric restriction (CR) involves changes in mitochondrial function. To investigate this hypothesis, mitochondria from various tissues of male Brown Norway rats (fully fed and CR) were isolated and respiration rates determined. In mitochondria from liver, heart, brain and kidney, there were no significant effects of CR on state 4 mitochondrial respiration rate. Further experiments using liver mitochondria under a variety of incubation conditions confirmed that CR does not alter mitochondrial respiration rate in this tissue. However, the respiration rate of mitochondria from brown adipose tissue (BAT) of CR animals was approximately three-fold higher compared to mitochondria from fully fed controls. Mitochondrial protein density was significantly higher in liver tissue of CR animals; it was significantly lower in heart and unchanged in BAT. It is concluded that whilst CR results in tissue-specific changes in mitochondrial respiration rate, these effects do not explain the CR-induced changes in free radical production reported previously for these organelles.

Background & Aims: Treatment for gastroesophageal reflux may be ineffective in patients with an eosinophilic infiltration of the esophagus. The aim of this study was to investigate whether unremitting symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux and biopsy abnormalities of the esophagus may be associated with the ingestion of certain foods. Methods: Ten children previously diagnosed with gastroesophageal reflux by standard testing with long-standing symptoms (median, 34.3 months; range, 6-78 months) despite standard antireflux therapies, including Nissen fundoplication in 6 patients, were fed the elemental formulas Neocate or Neocate-1-Plus (Scientific Hospital Supplies Inc., Gaithersburg, MD) for a minimum of 6 weeks. Each child had repeat endoscopy followed by open food challenges. Results: While receiving the formulas, patients had either resolution (n = 8) or improvement (n = 2) of symptoms. On follow-up esophageal biopsy, the maximal intraepithelial eosinophil counts decreased significantly before (median, 41; range, 15-100) to after (median, 0.5; range, 0-22) the formula trial (P = 0.005). Other reactive epithelial changes of the esophageal mucosa also improved significantly. All patients redeveloped their previous symptoms on open food challenges. Conclusions: Chronic gastrointestinal symptoms and histological changes of the esophagus unresponsive to standard treatments for gastroesophageal reflux were improved by the use of elemental formulas. Symptoms recurred when specific dietary proteins were reintroduced during open food challenges. The mechanism of these observations is unknown.

Purpose: A large proportion of the practice of radiotherapy in the management of metastatic adenocarcinoma of the prostate is associated with palliation of pain from osseous metastases and improving quality of life. Radiation therapy is well known to be effective in treating painful sites and may also be effective in reducing the propensity for adjuvantly treated disease to become symptomatic. Strontium-89 is a systemic radionuclide that has clinical efficacy in the palliation of pain from bony metastases.

Patients need a simple check-list to allow them to pick out a potential melanoma from among their other pigmented lesions. In an attempt to construct one, we have determined a layman's view of the incidence of the more obvious clinical features found in melanomas, non-melanoma skin cancer and benign lesions by asking 1395 consecutive patients attending our Pigmented Lesion Clinic to complete a questiormaire. Each patient stated if the lesion that had prompted the referral from their general practitioner was the largest on their body or if it had recently grown, changed colour, itched, hurt, scabbed or bled. In addition, they graded their current level of anxiety on a scale from o to 4 and recorded whether or not they thought the lesion was a skin cancer. The data were collected in the year following the 1987 public education campaign about melanomas. In the patients' opinion, none of the above features were more common in the 43 histologically proven melanomas than in either the 48 non-melanoma skin cancers or 1304 benign lesions. Of the 43 patients with melanoma, six thought that their lesion had none of the above features, 19 recorded one feature, 10 recorded two features, seven recorded three features and one recorded six features. There was a significant association between both the patients' level of anxiety and their belief that they had a skin cancer and the number of features they recorded. The results suggest that these clinical features cannot be used by the layman to differentiate between melanomas and benign pigmented lesions. If they had been relied upon, some melanomas would have been ignored. More research is needed to determine if other features might be more discriminatory or if better public education is needed to help patients detect the diagnostic signs used by trained observers.

LH-RH and three particular ("super") analogues were evaluated for agonistic (ovulation-induction and short-term uterotrophic properties) and postcoital contraceptive activity in rodents. Additionally, LH-RH and/or a representative analogue (D-Ala6-des Gly10-Pro9-LH-RH ethylamide) were tested for postcoital contraceptive/vaginal smear/return to fertility effects, precoital contraceptive activity, and effects on puberty in the immature female. All compounds induced ovulation and uterotrophic effects and terminated pregnancy when administered either pre- or post-implantation. LH-RH and the representative analogue, while terminating pregnancy postcoitally, produced an associated break in the characteristic leucocytic vaginal smear of pregnancy to one of cornification by day 12; at this time mating and insemination were reestablished and all rats carried to normal term. Precoitally, LH-RH administered to nembutalized (but not to unblocked) rats produced a 50% reduction in the pregnancy rate and a 38% decrease in the number of viable pups delivered. In immature rats, the representative analogue delayed puberty (i.e. vaginal canalization) and retarded the growth of the ovaries, uteri, and anterior pituitary gland. The collective data strongly support the concept that LH-RH and agonistic derivatives, in spite of their putative pro-fertility classification, are characteristically antifertility by nature. Since the latter effect appears to be the paradoxically dominant one, it is suggested that LH-RH agonism is synonymous with contraception. Furthermore, such peptides may represent a new potential approach to fertility control.

An analogue of synthetic hypothalamic LRH, D-[ALA]6-DES-[GLY]10-PRO9-ethylamide-LRH (Wy-18,481) was evaluated for agonistic (in vivo LH-releasing and ovulation-inducing), post-coital contraceptive and reproductive target organ effects. Both LRH and the analogue terminated pregnancy; there appeared to be a direct relationship between agonistic and post-coital contraceptive potency and activity. The analogue proved to be a potent agonist and both a pre-and post-implantational post-coital anti-fertility agent. In contrast to LRH, the congener did not produce a uterotrophic effect in the hypophysectomized rat. The data suggest that agonist analogue(s) of LRH can terminate pregnancy via hyperstimulation of the pituitary-ovarian-reproductive complex and the use of members of this neurohormonal class as potential clinical pro-fertility agents should be weighted with caution.

[D-Phe2]-[D-Ala6]-LRH (Analog I) significantly inhibited ovulation when injected on the previous proestrus, diestrus, metestrus or estrus, respectively, in intact 4-day cycling rats. Proestrous but not Diestrous II injection of Analog I in rats with 5-day cycles inhibited ovulation. [D-Phe2]-[2-Me-Ala6]-LRH (Analog II) at a comparable dose significantly inhibited ovulation only when administered on proestrus in 4-day cyclic rats. The proestrus serum LH surge was significantly reduced in rats receiving Analog I on proestrus, diestrus or metestrus.