Possible Link Between Bacterium and Colon Cancer Discovered

Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute have found strikingly high levels of a bacterium in colorectal cancers, a sign that it might contribute to the disease and potentially be a key to diagnosing, preventing, and treating it.

In a study published online in the journal Genome Research, investigators report the discovery of an abnormally large number of Fusobacterium cells in nine colorectal tumor samples. While the spike does not necessarily mean the bacterium helps cause colorectal cancer, it offers an enticing lead for further research, the study authors say.

The journal is also publishing a paper by researchers from the BC Cancer Agency and Simon Fraser University in Canada that reports similar findings from research conducted independently of the Dana-Farber/Broad Institute collaboration.

A confirmed connection between Fusobacterium and the onset of colorectal cancer would mark the first time any microorganism has been found to play a role in this type of cancer, which is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States.

The American Cancer Society estimates that colon cancer will cause more than 49,000 deaths in the U.S. this year, and more than 141,000 people will be diagnosed with the disease. The discovery was made by sequencing the DNA within nine samples of normal colon tissue and nine of colorectal cancer tissue, and validated by sequencing 95 paired DNA samples from normal colon tissue and colon cancer tissue.

Analysis of the data turned up unusually large amounts of Fusobacterium's signature DNA in the tumor tissue.

"Tumors and their surroundings contain complex mixtures of cancer cells, normal cells, and a variety of microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses," says the study's senior author, Matthew Meyerson, MD, PhD, of Dana-Farber and the Broad Institute.

"Over the past decade, there has been an increasing focus on the relationship between cancer cells and their 'microenvironment,' specifically on the cell- to-cell interactions that may promote cancer formation and growth." While the relationship -- if any -- between colorectal cancer and Fusobacterium is unclear, there are intriguing hints that the bacterium may play a role in the cancer, says Meyerson, who is co-director of the Center for Cancer Genome Discovery at Dana-Farber and a professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School. Previous studies have suggested that Fusobacterium is associated with inflammatory bowel diseases such as ulcerative colitis, which can raise people's risk of developing colon cancer''.

"At this point, we don't know what the connection between Fusobacterium and colon cancer might be," Meyerson observes. "It may be that the bacterium is essential for cancer growth, or that cancer simply provides a hospitable environment for the bacterium.

Further research is needed to see what the link is." Researchers are embarking on comparison studies of Fusobacterium levels in larger numbers of patients with colorectal cancer and in those without the disease.

Also planned are studies to determine whether the bacterium can be used to induce colon cancer in animal models.

The study's lead author is Aleksandar Kostic of the Broad Institute. Co-authors include Dirk Gevers, PhD, Ashlee Earl, PhD, Joonil Jung, PhD, and Bruce Birren, PhD, Broad Institute; Chandra Sekhar Pedamallu, PhD, Fujiko Duke, Akinyemi Ojesina, MD, PhD, and Adam Bass, MD, Dana-Farber and the Broad Institute; Ramesh Shivdasani, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber; Wendy Garrett, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber, Broad Institute, and Harvard School of Public Health; Curtis Huttenhower, PhD, Broad Institute and Harvard School of Public Health; Monia Michaud, MS, Harvard School of Public Health; Josep Tabernero, MD, and Jose Baselga, MD, Vall d'Hebron University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain; Chen Liu, MD, PhD, University of Florida College of Medicine; and Shuji Ogino, MD, PhD, Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber, and Harvard School of Public Health.

The study was supported by grants from the National Human Genome Research Institute, the National Cancer Institute, and the Starr Cancer Consortium.

Source: Science Daily

First Malarial Vaccine Found

An experimental vaccine produced by pharmaceutical giants GlaxoSmithKline has reduced by half the risk of African children getting malaria in a major clinical trial. This makes it likely to become the world’s first major breakthrough against the deadly disease.

The new data, presented yesterday at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Malaria Forum conference in Seattle, United States and published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine, were the first from a final stage Phase III clinical trial conducted at 11 trial sites in seven countries across sub Saharan Africa.

The final-stage trial data released yesterday showed it gave protection against clinical and severe malaria in five- to 17-month-olds in Africa, where the mosquito-borne disease kills hundreds of thousands of children a year. “These data bring us to the cusp of having the world’s first malaria vaccine,” Reuters quoted Andrew Witty, chief executive of the British drug maker that developed the vaccine along with the non-profit PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) as saying.

While hailing an unprecedented achievement, Witty, malaria scientists and global health experts stressed that the vaccine -- known as RTS,S or Mosquirix -- was no quick fix for eradicating malaria.

The new shot is less effective than others against common infections like polio and measles. “We would have wished that we could wipe it out, but I think this is going to contribute to the control of malaria rather than wiping it out,” Tsiri Agbenyega, a principal investigator in the RTS trials in Ghana, told Reuters at a conference in Seattle about the disease.

Malaria is endemic in more than 100 countries worldwide and killed around 781,000 people in 2009, according to the World Health Organisation.

Control measures such as insecticide- treated bednets, indoor spraying and the use of combination anti-malaria drugs have helped cut the numbers of malaria cases and deaths significantly in recent years, but experts say an effective vaccine is vital to complete the fight against the disease.

The trial is still going on, but researchers who analysed data from the first 6,000 children found that after 12 months of follow-up, three doses of RTS, S reduced the risk of children experiencing clinical malaria and severe malaria by 56 percent and 47 percent respectively. “We are very happy with the results. We have never been closer to having a successful malaria vaccine,” said Christian Loucq, director of PATH MVI, who was at the Seattle conference.

Loucq added that widespread use of insecticide-treated bednets in the trial -- by 75 percent of people taking part -- showed that RTS,S can provide significant protection on top of other existing malaria control methods. Results in babies aged six to 12 weeks are expected in a year’s time and, if all goes well, GSK believes the vaccine could reach the market in 2015.

Getting it to the African infants that need it will take a concerted effort from international funders, such as the Gates Foundation that helped pay for the research. Health experts say it must be cheap enough to be cost-effective. Witty declined to say if a course of three shots would cost under $10 but told reporters RTS,S would be priced as low as possible.

The company has previously said it will charge only the cost of manufacture plus a 5 percent mark-up, which will be reinvested into tropical disease research. “We are not going to make any money from this project,” Witty said.

Malaria is caused by a parasite carried in the saliva of mosquitoes. The RTS,S vaccine is designed to kick in when the parasite enters the human bloodstream after a mosquito bite. By stimulating an immune response, it can prevent the parasite from maturing and multiplying in the liver.

Muhammad Lawali Mada

Who is Muhammad Lawali Mada?



Muhammad Lawali Mada was born in Mada town of Gusau Local Government Area in Zamfara State, Nigeria. He was born in the year 1952 in February 25th.


Education

Muhammad Lawali Mada attended his Primary School at Mada (Mada I Model Primary School), in the year 1964, where he obtained his Primary Certificate.

He further went to Government Secondary School Birnin Kebbi in the year 1971, where he obtained his Senior Secondary School Certificate.

He also obtained a Higher Certificate in Co-operative Studies in Kaduna Polytechnic, Nigeria, in the year 1977.

In the year 1983, Muhammad Lawali Mada got admitted into Hays State University, Hays Kansas, USA, where he studied B.Sc. agric Bussiness.

He obtained his Masters Degree in Science of Administration at Central Michigan University, Washington DC, USA, in the year 1984.

From 1984 to 1992, he attended Numerous Management Workshops in and outside Nigeria.


Experiences

Muhammad Lawali Mada supervised formed and re-organised co-operative tobacco growers farm products, credit, marketing, thrift, loans and consumer co-operatives, in the Ministry of Commerce Industry and Co-operative, Sokoto State, from 1972 to 1973.

He was a Manager, procurement, distribution and marketing at Sokoto State Co-operatives, Ministry of Commerce Industry and Co-operative, from 1976 to 1980.

In 1984 to 1986, he served as General Manager in Sokoto State Co-oprative Consumer's Association Limited.

Muhammad Lawali Mada was a distribution Manager at National Fertilizer Company of Nigeria (NAFCON), Onne, PortHarcourt, Nigeria, from 1988 to 1992.


He is currently the Executive Chairman of Gusau Local Government in Zamfara State, voted under the flag of All Nigeria People Party (ANPP) in June 2012. His first tenure is expected to end in 2014

Benefits of Green Tea (Shayi Na Gaske) To the Body

Elderly adults who regularly drink green tea may stay more agile and independent than their peers over time, according to a Japanese study that covered thousands of people.

Green tea contains antioxidant chemicals that may help ward off the cell damage that can lead to disease. Researchers have been studying green tea's effect on everything from cholesterol to the risk of certain cancers, with mixed results so far.

For the new study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers decided to examine the question of whether green tea drinkers have a lower risk of frailty and disability as they grow older.

Yasutake Tomata of the Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine and his colleagues followed nearly 14,000 adults aged 65 or older for three years. They found those who drank the most green tea were the least likely to develope "functional disability," or problems with daily activities or basic needs, such as dressing or bathing.

Specifically, almost 13 percent of adults who drank less than a cup of green tea per day became functionally disabled, compared with just over 7 percent of people who drank at least five cups a day.

"Green tea consumption is significantly associated with a lower risk of incident functional disability, even after adjustment for possible confounding factors," Tomata and his colleagues wrote.

The study did not prove that green tea alone kept people spry as they grew older. Green-tea lovers generally had healthier diets, including more fish, vegetables and fruit, as well as more education, lower smoking rates, fewer heart attacks and strokes, and greater mental sharpness. They also tended to be more socially active and have more friends and family to rely on.

But even with those factors accounted for, green tea itself was tied to a lower disability risk, the researchers said.

People who drank at least five cups a day were one-third less likely to develop disabilities than those who had less than a cup per day. Those people who averaged three or four cups a day had a 25 percent lower risk.

Although it's not clear how green tea might offer a buffer against disability, Tomata's team did note that one recent study found green tea extracts seem to boost leg muscle strength in older women.

While green tea and its extracts are considered safe in small amounts, they do contain caffeine and small amounts of vitamin K, which means it could interfere with drugs that prevent blood clotting.