http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/236497.php

"Article Date: 25 Oct 2011

High Fluid Intake Appears To Reduce Bladder Cancer Risk

Drinking plenty of fluids may provide men with some protection against bladder cancer, according to a study presented at the 10th AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, held Oct. 22-25, 2011.

Although the study did not determine why increased fluid intake might be protective, Jiachen Zhou, M.B.B.S., M.P.H., a doctoral candidate in epidemiology at Brown University, hypothesized that the fluids may flush out potential carcinogens before they have the opportunity to cause tissue damage that could lead to bladder cancer..."

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/236640.php

"Article Date: 27 Oct 2011

British Breed Super Brocolli Beneforté

British experts on plant biology, nutrition and health have developed a super brocolli called Beneforté that contains higher levels of glucoraphanin, a natural nutrient that has been linked to lower rates of heart disease and some cancers and also boosts the body's supply of antioxidant enzymes.

The new brocolli is the result of a collaboration between two world-leading UK research centres: the Institute of Food Research (IFR) and the John Innes Centre, both in in Norwich, England. Scientists at the two centres have been working to understand what makes brocolli a super food. Their research is funded by a strategic grant from the government-sponsored Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)..."

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/236704.php

"Article Date: 28 Oct 2011

A new fourth-generation oncolytic virus designed to both kill cancer cells and inhibit blood-vessel growth has shown greater effectiveness than earlier versions when tested in animal models of human brain cancer.

Researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC - James) are developing the oncolytic virus as a treatment for glioblastoma, the most common and deadly form of brain cancer (average survival: 15 months after diagnosis).

The new oncolytic virus, called 34.5ENVE, improved survival of mice with transplanted human glioblastoma tumors by 50 percent in a majority of cases compared with the previous-generation oncolytic virus.

The study was published online in the journal Molecular Therapy.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/236731.php

"Article Date: 28 Oct 2011

Night Shift Working "A Probable Human Carcinogen

In 2007 the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified night work as a "probable human carcinogen," since then researchers have been searching for the biological mechanisms involved. The investigators believe that a prime suspect is the disruption of human circadian rhythms (24 hour 'body clock'). Circadian rhythms occur in hormone levels, hunger, sleep, body temperature as well as in a variety of other physiological aspects of health. The investigation appears in the October issue of Chronobiology International.

Investigators at Yale University and the Danish Cancer Society have revealed epigenetic alterations - biological changes that affect the expression of DNA genes - in two of the most important circadian genes found in body's 24-hour biological timekeeping system, CLOCK and CRY2. They discovered that women in Denmark who work at night have the same changes previously observed in women with breast cancer. Furthermore, hundreds of other genes that are epigeneticaly affected by long-term night work were identified in a larger examination of genetic make-up of the human biology..."

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/236811.php

"Article Date: 31 Oct 2011

Fukushima Radiation Fallout Bigger Than Officially Reported

Two reports released this month, one focusing on the marine, and the other on the atmospheric impact, find that the radiation fallout from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident following the earthquake and tsunami in March is bigger than that reported by the Japanese government and electrical power company. One researcher says in some respects, the disaster is the most significant nuclear event since Chernobyl 25 years ago.
Marine Impact
In an update of research done since their last report in July, France's nuclear monitor, the Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), said on Wednesday that the amount of cesium 137 that leaked into the Pacific from the wrecked power plant was the "greatest single contamination by artifical radionuclides of the sea ever seen".

Their new assessment shows that the amount of cesium 137 that flowed into the Pacific after the disaster was probably nearly 30 times the amount stated by Tokyo Electric Power Company in May, reports Mainichi Japan.

The IRSN estimate that the amount of cesium 137 that flowed into the sea from the power plant between 21 March and mid-July reached 27 peta (10 to the power of 15) becquerels. They also report that 82% of this contamination had reached the sea by 8 April. (1 Becquerel is one radioactive decay per second).

However, in a press summary, they also said that in line with previous assessments, thanks to the siting of the plant, ocean currents have massively diluted levels of the radioactive isotope and moved contaminated waters well out into the Pacific ocean, so that as from Autumn 2011, there will be little if any threat to marine life, except perhaps to near-shore species..."