The book, IS CANCER IN US, is just published

Thank you for your patience. This book, IS CANCER IN US, is now available. You can purchase it from either amazon.com or shawcreativeinc.com. Of course, please continue to read my blog in the future. Happy Holidays to you.

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

Thank you very much and happy holidays

Since I started this blog in September, there have been >1,200 visits from people all over the world. These countries include United States (854), Israel (84), Taiwan (84), Brazil (52), Philippines (15), Russia (13), Italy (9), Germany (5), United Kingdom (5), Netherlands (5), India (4), Singapore (4), and other countries such as Greece, Luxembourg, Italy, Mexico, Chile, Canada, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Qatar, and Serbia.

It is great to know that so many people are interested in learning more about cancer; I believe that readers can become more knowledgeable and better equipped in our war against cancer. This is very encouraging news and I will continue to put in my efforts to providing more health related information for the good of the society.

My book, Is Cancer in Us, is on schedule to be published before end of the year by Shaw Creative Inc. My daughter, Cindy Y. Shaw, edited the book and completed all preparation work for the publication. Kudos to her. You can also buy the book from amazon.com if you prefer.

As promised, we will be donating $100 the American Cancer Society. For those who are buying the book, you have my deep appreciation. For those who are not able to do so, you are very welcome to continue to visit my blog from time to time and I sincerely hope that you can recommend the blog to your friends and people you love.

Thank you again for visiting my bog and happy holidays.

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

Risk factors of pancreatic cancer

Usually, pancreatic cancer does not show significant symptoms until the disease is in an advanced stage.  The symptoms include abdominal pain and bone pain, jaundice, loss of appetite, weight loss, etc.  This is why pancreatic cancer is dangerous and difficult to treat.

However, I believe there are subtle signs that may indicate early stage of pancreatic cancer.  Symptoms such as chronic subtle lower abdominal pain and lower back pain can be indication that pancreas may have certain tumor on pancreas.  If that is the case, ask your doctor to conduct a thorough examine by CT scan or MRI to be sure.

Risk factors of pancreatic cancer are shown below:

1.      High sugar consumption

As we have mentioned several times in previous sections, high blood levels of sugar are not healthful and related to several diseases including pancreatic cancer.  Not only it’s a good idea to reduce the consumption of sugar, other carbohydrates (rice, bread, etc.), if taken too much, could become risk factors of pancreatic cancer.

2.      Diet with high fat content

Eating too much fatty foods could contribute to metabolic syndrome, such as insulin resistance and abdominal fat; the metabolic syndrome is a risk factor of pancreatic cancer.

3.      Smoking

Smoking is not only a significant risk factor of lung cancer, it is also a risk factor of a few other diseases including pancreatic cancer.

4.      Vitamin D deficiency

People who live in sunny climates (i.e., under more sunlight exposure) tend to have a lower risk of pancreatic cancer, although they tend to have a higher risk of skin cancer.  This is because sunlight helps produce vitamin D in the skin and lack of vitamin D is a risk factor of pancreatic cancer.

The following actions may help reduce the chances of getting pancreatic cancer:

§  Avoid or reduce all the risk factors of pancreatic cancer as much as possible. 

§  Switch to a diet high in vegetables.

§  Maintain sufficient vitamin D by taking the vitamin supplement.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

Risk factors of stomach cancecr

      Based on the statistics from the American Cancer Society, stomach cancer is more common in Japan, China, Southern and Eastern Europe, as well as South and Central America.  This disease is less common in Africa and North America.  People in Japan and China are known to consume pickled vegetables, smoked fish/food, and/or fermented foods, which could be significant risk factors of stomach cancer.  On the other hand, people who consume fresh fruits and vegetables appear to have lower chances of getting stomach cancer.  These dietary habits seem to play an important role in the risk of stomach cancer.

Another factor is Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. Traditionally, H. Pyroli bacteria are linked to ulcers and some types of lymphoma of the stomach. However, it is increasingly clear that infection with H. Pyroli is associated with a higher risk of stomach cancer. [34-36]

For more info about my upcoming book, Is Cancer in Us, please visit my crowdfunding site. You'll have a chance to get the first copy and making contribution to the American Cancer Society simultaneously. Thank you for your support.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

Risk factors of liver cancer

There are a number of risk factors for liver cancer; some of them are listed below.

Alcohol: Alcohol abuse is one of the few causes of cirrhosis (liver fibrosis) and cirrhosis may increase the risk of liver cancer, also referred to as hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatitis: In the U.S., infection of hepatitis C is the major risk factor of liver cancer.  Hepatitis B infection is also a significant risk factor.  People with both viruses have an increased risk of developing cirrhosis; people with cirrhosis tend to have a higher risk of liver cancer.  For heavy drinker, the risk of liver cancer is even higher.

Type 2 diabetes: People with type 2 diabetes tend to be obese and might cause some liver problems.  Added with other risk factors, they may have a higher risk of liver cancer.


© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

Risk factors of skin cancer

One of the important risk factors of skin cancer is too much exposure to sunshine.  Supposedly, it’s the ultraviolet (UV) component in sunshine that damages DNA, thus increasing the chances of genetic mutation and getting skin cancer.  Therefore, reducing the exposure to sunshine is important in order to reduce the chances of getting skin cancer.

There are indeed some other specific risk factors that are associated with genetic nature, which are out of our control.  Examples of these risk factors include family history of skin cancer, lighter skin color, and large number of moles.  However, avoiding too much sunshine can still be useful in reducing the impact of these factors.

Please visit my crowdfunding site for info about the upcoming book to be published in December 2015.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

Risk factors of breast cancer (2)

(Risk factors of breast cancer, part 2)

Breast feeding: An interesting finding about breast cancer is that some studies suggest that continued breast feeding may slightly lower the risk of breast cancer.  The longer women breast feed, the more they are protected against breast cancer. However, it is not very clear whether this is related to hormones or menstrual cycles.

Drinking alcohol: Based on a number of scientific reports, there is an association between alcohol drinking and some types of cancer.  Studies have indicated that the amount of alcohol taken is related to the risk factor of getting cancer, including breast cancer.  For women who drink 3 drinks daily, there is a 1.5 times risk as compared to those who don’t drink alcohol at all.

Body weight and Physical Activities:  Body weight and physical activities might be related to the risk factor of breast cancer.  Some reports indicate that being overweight after menopause may increase breast cancer risk; on the other hand, proper physical activities (exercise) may reduce the risk.  It has been reported that physical exercise can reduce risk of breast cancer.  Studies suggested that women with 1-3 hours of exercise per week could reduce the risk of breast cancer by 30%, and those with >4 hours of exercise per week could reduce the risk by >50%.

There is only one month left for you to buy the book and simultaneously contribute to the American Cancer Society at http://igg.me/at/whataboutcancer/x/10534737. 

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

Risk factors of breast cancer (1)

Several risk factors of breast cancer are briefly described below.

Gender: Being a woman provides a higher risk of getting breast cancer as opposed to being a man. Unfortunately, this is something that we can’t control.

Age: An older person has a higher risk of getting breast cancer as compared to a younger person.

Genetic risk factors: The most common hereditary breast cancer is from inherited mutation of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.  If someone has inherited mutated BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, there is a higher risk of developing breast cancer.  This is because, in normal cells, BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes help regulate DNA repair proteins, cell cycle, and apoptosis to keep the cells from becoming cancerous.


Birth control and hormone: It has been reported that women who use birth control drugs (oral contraceptives) have a slightly higher risk of getting breast cancer.  For example, some studies have been conducted on an injectable form of progesterone, Depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA; Depo-Provera®); DMPA is given once every 3 months as a birth control.  The results showed that women currently using DMPA may have an increase in risk of breast cancer.  However, if the drug was used more than 5 years ago, the risk doesn’t seem to be increased.  Some studies indicate that both estrogen therapy (ET) and estrogen progestin therapy (EPT) are linked to a higher risk of breast cancer.  The longer ET or EPT is used, the higher the risk.


(to be continued)

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

Risk factors of colon cancer

Many studies indicate that high-fat and low-fiber diet is a risk factor of colon cancer.  Logically, low-fat and high-fiber diet should help reduce the chances of getting colon cancer.  In my opinion, fibers from foods could provide the following benefits:

1. Dietary fibers help form bulky stools which can help remove unhealthful materials.
2. Dietary fibers can work like micro-brushes and help clean colon surface microscopically.
3. Dietary fibers can also help discourage the growth of harmful bacteria.

For many years, it has been proposed that high-fiber diet could help prevent colon cancer.  Indeed, plenty of studies have indicated that this is the case; in cultures where people eat more high-fiber foods, colon cancer rates are much lower.

The other important factor is fatty food.  There are complicated theories and studies to support that high fatty foods increase the risk of getting colon cancer.  Here, let’s use a common sense to think about fatty food and colon. Fatty food is slippery, which makes it harder to clean the colon as compared to food with high fiber content.

In summary, current understanding is that eating more high-fiber and low-fat foods is one good way to lower the chances of getting colon cancer.

Please visit my crowdfunding site for info about the upcoming book (Is Cancer in Us?) to be published in December 2015

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

Risk factors of lung cancer

Smoking is known to be a significant risk factor of lung cancer, which is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the world.  In the United State, non-small cell lung cancer represents 85% of all lung cancer cases.

Lung cancer was known as an occupational hazard of asbestos workers many years ago; that’s why asbestos has been banned for many years although they could exist in some very old buildings.  Also, it was reported that smoking and asbestos together can synergistically increase the risk of lung cancer.

In addition, exposure of several chemicals has been reported to be linked to lung cancer in the United States. These chemicals include chromium, formaldehyde, and nickel.


© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

Strategies to deal with cancer

Generally speaking, there are three main strategies to deal with cancer: prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment.  Prevention (including diet, exercise, and other health related activities) is very important and must be done regularly for the long run.  Unfortunately, most people are not doing enough in cancer prevention.  As to diagnosis, if cancer screening is performed frequently, potential cancer, if detected early, can be satisfactorily treated or even cured.  For cancer treatment, it can be divided into two sub-strategies: remove/kill cancer cells or guide/change cancer cells back into stem cells or normal cells.  In the later sections, we will talk in more detail about cancer treatment.

If you like this blog, you may like my book, Is Cancer in Us, even more. Please visit my crowdfunding site at http://igg.me/at/whataboutcancer/x/10534737 to find out more.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

What is cancer? (3)

Let’s use an analogy of a human community to describe cancer.  Imagine a healthy human body as a normal and safe town; people in the town (normal cells) work according to the laws so that the town is peaceful and calm.  Over a period of time, some gangsters have developed in this quiet society; they do not perform normal functions in the society.  Instead, they take easy money (nutrients) from ordinary people (normal tissues) and cause a lot of damages to the town (human body).  Once the gangsters grow out of control, they can take over the town and the town may be destroyed eventually.  Cancer cells are just like the gangsters in the body; they consume the basic energy unit (e.g., sugar) and grow uncontrollably, but they don’t conduct useful biological functions.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

What is cancer? (2)

It is important to know that not all tumors are cancerous.  Benign tumors do not grow uncontrollably, do not invade neighbouring tissues, and do not spread throughout the body.  In theory, just like normal cells, benign tumor could become cancer.  Benign tumor is like a group of unproductive people that grow in an abnormal fashion and look bad.  However, they do not harm other ordinary people.  Therefore benign tumor does not harm normal tissue unless it is further mutated and transformed to become cancerous (i.e., malignant tumor).

A schematic representation of the relationship among normal cells, benign tumor, and cancer cells will be shown in my book, Is Cancer in Us, to be published in December, 2015. Please visit http://igg.me/at/whataboutcancer/x for additional info. Thanks.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

What's coming up

Thank you for reading my posts. My blog started on 9/2/15 and it has been viewed for > 1,000 times (as of 11/12/15) by people everywhere including U.S., Israel, Taiwan, Canada, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Singapore, Luxembourg, China, Germany, France, Italy, Hong Kong, India, Poland, Philippines, Albania, Spain, Brazil, Greece, and Guatemala. I am grateful for your visit and please let people know about this one-stop information site for Cancer 101.

As part of our endeavor in the war against cancer, I am going to publish my book (Is Cancer in Us) in December, 2015 through a crowdfunding at indiegogo.com starting in October. It is very much appreciated if you could visit this crowdfunding site and support the publication of this book. Your support will help more people learn about cancer. In addition, I will donate 20% of the money raised to the American Cancer Society and everyone of you will be a proud partner in this endeavor. Furthermore, if we are lucky enough to raise over $5,000, any penny we collect over $5,000 will be donated to the American Cancer Society and everyone participated in this project will be very very proud.

I understand that not everyone will be able to provide the financial support for this project. If this is the case, you can still contribute by spreading the news to help make this project a success. Please let your friends and acquaintances know about this project and you can still be a proud supporter of this campaign.

Thank you very much for your attention.

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

Pathogens, hand-washing, and diseases

The word “pathogen” is usually used to describe an infectious microorganism that causes disease in its host, which can be an animal or a plant.  In our daily lives, we may be contacting certain potential pathogens from time to time.  Sometimes, we may be unintentionally touching our eyes, nose, or food; thus, certain bacteria or viruses could get into our bodies.  Therefore, it is a good idea to wash our hands as needed to reduce the chances of getting diseases from our hands.

Why do we need to use soap or alcohol to wash our hands?  There are two important reasons: (1) soap or alcohol can help dissolve and get rid of the unwanted substances, especially those that are not water-soluble, and (2) soap or alcohol can help disrupt/break down the cell wall/membrane to destroy the bacteria/viruses.  Therefore, hand-washing is an economical and efficient way to help prevent a lot of diseases, including cancer.  

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

Carcinogens: Pathogens

In general, pathogens are used to describe any agents that cause diseases including bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites.  A few cancers are caused by bacterial or viral infections and several examples are shown below.

It is known that gastrointestinal (GI) cancer can be induced by bacteria, viruses, or parasites.  For example, Helicobacter Pylori (H. Pylori) is a Gram-negative, microaerophilic bacterium found in the stomach.  It can activate many oncogenic pathways, particularly those in gastric and colorectal cancers.  Epstein-Barr virus may cause lymphomas and mononucleosis; hepatitis B and C viruses can cause liver cancer; papillomaviruses can cause cervical cancer and anal cancer; Fusobacterium may promote the growth of colorectal tumor.  In my upcoming book, Is Cancer in Us, more examples will be described.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

Carcinogens: Radiation

Technically speaking, radiation is the emission and/or transmission of energy; it includes electromagnetic radiation (radio waves, microwaves, infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet light, X-rays, and g rays) and particle radiation (α, β, and neutron radiation).

Radiation comes from many different sources.  In our everyday lives, sunshine probably provides the most radiation to us.  Although appropriate exposure to the sunshine provides a lot of beneficial effects, too much exposure of sunshine could increase the risk of cancer.  For example, on a high mountain or in a flight, one could be subject to more UV light; overexposure to UV light could increase the risk of skin cancer.

Another source of radiation is radon, which is a colorless and odorless radioactive gas emitted from radioactive materials in soil and underground water.  It is somewhat surprising that radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S.

Other type of radiation exposure, including x-ray medical examination and radiotherapy, might also increase the risk of cancer.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015 

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

Carcinogens: Chemicals

Theoretically, any chemical is potentially harmful and maybe carcinogenic if the concentration is high enough and the exposure is long enough.  Therefore, it is a good idea to avoid unnecessary chemicals if all possible.  However, some chemicals do have higher tendencies to intervene DNA replication or cell metabolism; these are generally referred to as carcinogenic chemicals.  Specific examples of chemical carcinogens (some are from natural source) include asbestos, arsenic, dioxins, benzene, tobacco, formaldehyde, ethylene oxide, etc.

In general, most people don’t often get in touch with these specific substances unless they work in chemical or related industry.  However, we are often under the exposure of certain chemicals and may not realize it.  For example, we need to go to the gas stations on a regular basis and it has been reported that long-term exposure of gasoline vapor increased the risk of lung, nasal, or kidney cancer; the risk of cancer was related to the chemicals in the gasoline vapor including benzene.  The good news is that most people are not under the long-term exposure of gasoline vapor; nevertheless, I do think it is a good idea not to stand right next to the nozzle to inhale the gas vapor when you pump your gas.

Let’s look at one specific example of carcinogenic chemicals, dioxins.  Dioxins are a group of chemically-related compounds found throughout the world in the environment; they may accumulate in the fatty tissue of animals.  Most of human exposure is through food, mainly meat, dairy products, fish, and shellfish.  Dioxins are highly toxic and may cause reproductive and developmental problems, damage the immune system, interfere with hormones, and also cause cancer.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

How Does a Person Get Cancer?

Certain cancers are due to inherited genetic reasons, but most cancers are due to environmental factors and personal activities.  Indeed, a very small percentage of people may inherit certain genes that have higher tendencies to result in certain cancers.  Unfortunately, no one can choose his/her parents.  For these cancers, specific surgeries or therapies may be applied to the patients.  Furthermore, individualized medicine based on genetic characteristics is being developed and is gradually becoming a reality.

On the other hand, vast majority of people don’t have the inherited problematic genes; thus it is great news for most people.  However, just like nothing is guaranteed in real life, there is no guarantee that nothing will go wrong on life cycles of cells.  Let me elaborate a little more as follows.

In everyone’s lifetime, differentiated normal cells and stem cells in the body have to go through many cell cycles for cell growth and replication.  During the processes, there are many factors that can affect the microenvironment surrounding the cells, thus, the health of the cells.  If a person maintains a healthy microenvironment for the cells, it is very likely that the cells will grow and replicate in a normal manner and the chances for them to become cancerous are low.  However, if the cells are subject to an environment producing significant/sustained stress (chemicals, pH, temperature, etc.), there will be a higher probability for something to go wrong in the cell cycles, which may result in some cells to become abnormal or even cancerous.

Any substances that cause the stress and result in higher cancer risks are generally referred to as carcinogens.  Carcinogens can damage/modify certain genes and/or disrupt cellular metabolic/replication process and significantly increase the risk of cancer.  Because high-energy radiation could also cause cancer, it could be categorized as a carcinogen.

If someone is exposed to carcinogens frequently, there is a higher chance for the person to get cancer. On the other hand, if one can avoid carcinogens as much as possible, one can greatly reduce the risk of getting cancer.

In addition to carcinogens, there are a number of risk factors of cancer; many of them are controllable.  If one can pay attention to these factors, once can greatly reduce the chance of getting cancer.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015 

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

Chemoprotective and Chemosensitizing Agents

Chemoprotective agents

Chemoprotective agents are also referred to as chemoprotetors.  These are agents that protect normal cells by reducing the injuries induced by anticancer drugs.  The most prescribed broad spectrum chemoprotective drug is amifostine (trade name, Ethyol®).  There are also other chemoprotective agents that are useful for more specific symptoms.  Examples include Romiplostim (AMG 531) and Eltrombopag.

Our research team has been involved in the research of chemoprotection and we have published a number of scientific papers.  Remember the radioprotective agent, UTL-5g?  UTL-5g is both radioprotective and chemoprotective in our animal studies.  In our mouse studies, cisplatin (a famous anticancer drug) induced several significant side effects, including injuries in liver, kidney, and blood forming cells (such as platelets and white blood cells).  Blood levels of liver enzymes (AST and ALT), BUN, and creatinine were also elevated by cisplatin; platelet count was significantly elevated.  All these indicate that liver, kidney, and blood-forming cells were damages by cisplatin.  However, when the animals were pretreated with UTL-5g before cisplatin was injected, AST and ALT levels were lowered indicating the protection of liver; BUN and creatinine levels were lowered indicating the protection of kidney.  UTL-5g also lowered the elevated platelet count indicating the protecting of platelet producing mechanism.

Chemosensitizing agents

Chemosensitizing agents are also referred to as chemosensitizers.  These are agents that make tumor more sensitive to anticancer drugs.  If cancer cells become more sensitive to anticancer drug, maybe lower doses can be used to achieve the same treatment effect while reducing the side effects.  In our research, we have shown that UTL-5g and its analogs (UTLOH-4a, -4b, and -4c) increase the in vitro potency of cisplatin against human colon cancer cells, HCT-15.  In addition, UTL-5g and UTLOH-4a enhanced the survival of colony forming unit for both granulocyte and macrophage (CFU-GM) in cultures containing cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin respectively, indicating that both UTL-5g and UTLOH-4a could protect CFU-GM against cisplatin induced cytotoxicity (in press).  

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015 


Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

Why should anyone read my blog about cancer?

There are several reasons you should give it a try to read my blog about cancer:

• The purpose of my blog is to provide some useful information related to cancer to laymen, not just technical people.
• In addition to using traditional viewpoints to look at cancer, I also use a few analogies to explain some aspects of cancer.
• I’ll post only several paragraphs every time so that it is not a burden for you to read my blog.
• In addition to the important study results from other researchers, some of the study results from my research team will also be summarized.
• All the posts are extracted from my manuscript which will be published as a book by the end of 2015.  If you like my blog, you’ll like my book, which will be a more complete information package to have.
• Last but not least, I am not writing just for the sake of writing.  I am highly motivated.  Why? I lost my father, mother, mother-in-law, a college roommate, and several friends to cancer; thus, I hate to see anyone affected by cancer.

In summary, I think you'd agree that we are all in a war against cancer and knowledge is an important weapon in this war.  If you think my blog at WhatAboutCancer.com is useful, please forward it to your friends who might be interested. Thank you for your positive action in our fight against cancer.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

Radiotherapy Technology

In terms of the technology in radiotherapy, there have been a lot of improvements made in recent years to increase the radiation dose to the tumor tissue while decreasing the damage to the surrounding normal tissue(s).  A representative example of these newer technologies is called stereotactic radiotherapy.  Stereotactic radiotherapy utilizes a sophisticated mathematical coordinating system to precisely locate the tumor to direct and deliver multiple fractions of higher dose radiation from different angles to destroy tumor cells.  Stereotactic radiotherapy is now being used to treat many different types of solid tumors.

Sometimes, a very specific form of stereotactic radiotherapy used for solid tumors is referred to as radiosurgery or stereotactic surgery.  It is called radiosurgery because it utilizes high dose radiation (such as x-ray or g-ray) to precisely focus on the specific area and functions almost like a surgery.  The accuracy can be within several millimeters.  When the total radiation dose is divided into several smaller doses, it is called fractionated stereotactic radiosurgery.

Further improvement on radiosurgery is to combine daily CT scan, (X-ray Computed Tomography) with the stereotactic radiotherapy to make it an image-guided radiation therapy that delivers radiation to the tumor side-by-slide, often referred to as TomoTherapy.  TomoTherapy has been used in many solid tumors including prostate cancer, lung cancer, as well as head and neck cancer.

In recent years, stereotactic radiotherapy is being combined with real-time CT scan (instead of daily CT).  This makes the radiosurgery even more precise and produces much better outcome than previous radiotherapy equipment.

Fractionated stereotactic surgery utilizes high dose radiation (x-ray or -ray) to precisely focus on the specific area in the body to destroy tumor tissues, very similar to surgery.  In this treatment, the dose and the treatment area have to be precisely coordinated to ensure that normal tissues in the proximity suffer the least damage by the high dose radiation; the total dose of radiation is divided into several doses and delivered in several days.  A typical radiosurgery takes 4-5 fractions of radiation, once every other day, and the total treatment period is about 8 to 10 days.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015 

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

Three types of agents used in conjunction with radiotherapy

Radiosensitizers

Radiosensitizers are agents that make cancer cells more sensitive to radiation, thus, more susceptible to be killed by radiation therapy.  There are a number of potential radiosensitizing agents under investigation including mibefradil dihydrochloride (calcium channel blocker), heat-shock protein 90, histone deacetylase, camptothecin analogs, etc.

Radioprotectors

As discussed before, radiation not only damages DNA in cancer cells, it could also injure normal cells, especially the fast-growing cells (e.g., bone marrow cells, hair follicles, and intestinal cells).  Radioprotectors are agents that protect normal cells from the radiation injury, and they are given either before or during the radiotherapy.  We have conducted research work in this field for a few years and have published a number of scientific papers in this filed [30, 31].  Briefly, we have identified three new compounds as potential radioprotective/chemoprotective agents, UTL-5b, -5d, and -5g.  Among them, UTL-5g showed the most promising protective effects in several animal studies.  In our studies, we have shown that UTL-5g reduced the acute liver toxicity induced by radiation; we also showed that UTL-5g reduced some acute injuries in lung.  UTL-5g also reduced the damages on hair follicles, thus delayed the hair discoloration induced by radiation.

Radiomitigators

Radiomitigators are agents given hours or even days after radiation exposure to reduce the radiation damage and/or speed up the recovery of damaged cells, tissues, or organs.   They are more useful in national defense and less so in radiotherapy because patients to be treated by radiotherapy can always be pretreated by radioprotectors.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

Radiotherapy

Radiotherapy is sometimes called radiation therapy.  It is a method of treating cancer patients by using radiation.  Radiation consists of subatomic particles or electromagnetic waves that are energetic enough to knock off electrons from atoms or molecules to ionize them.  Examples of the subatomic particles include alpha particles, beta particles, electrons, protons, and neutrons.  Examples of electromagnetic waves include x-ray, gamma ray, and ultraviolet (UV).

Using the high energy beam, radiation therapy works mainly by ionizing the atoms in the DNA chain and prevent tumor cells from growing/replicating.  Most of the therapeutic effect is resulted from free radicals produced by radiation.  As most people know, chemotherapy could cause damages in normal tissues; the same thing will happen when a patient is treated by radiotherapy.  Fortunately, the good news is that there are significant improvements in today’s radiotherapy and the side effects are much fewer/lower.

Radiotherapy is used to treat almost every type of solid tumor, including cancer of the breast, brain, lung, liver, cervix, pancreas, prostate, skin, stomach, and uterus.  Radiotherapy has been used for curative or adjuvant cancer treatment for many years.  Adjuvant therapy means auxiliary/additional treatment for cancer; it is usually given after surgery or in conjunction with chemotherapy.

To make it more efficient and with fewer/lower side effects, there are three types of agents can be used in conjunction with radiotherapy: radiosensitizers, radioprotectors, and radiomitigators.  We will talk about these agents shortly.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

Surgery

For most solid tumors, surgery is usually the first choice of treatment.  If a tumor is small and localized, it can be completely removed.  However, if the tumor is already in late stage and cancer cells have already spread to different organ(s), surgery could become difficult, if not impossible.  In this case, combination therapy may become necessary in order to make the treatment successful.  Many times, both chemotherapy and radiotherapy are used in conjunction.


In terms of the surgery technology, robotic surgery is becoming popular nowadays.  It is one of the most important advancements in cancer treatment.  Robotic surgery is much better than traditional surgery in that complication rates are lower, recovery time can be shortened, and scarring can be reduced.  Robotic surgery has been used in a number of cancer cases including prostate cancer, lung cancer, gastrointestinal cancer, bladder cancer, etc.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

Chemotherapy

Because all drugs are essentially chemical materials, use of any drug as a cancer therapy is called chemotherapy.  Most cancer drugs tend to attack fast growing cells, which is one important characteristic of cancer cells.  However, some of the normal cells also have similar fast growing characteristic, including hair follicles, cells in the gastrointestinal tract, and skin, thus they have a high tendency to be attacked by cancer drugs.  This is the main reason why cancer patients often experience hair loss, diarrhea, and rashes during or after chemotherapy.

Generally speaking, chemotherapy drugs may be broadly divided into two basic categories based on their functions:

1. To inhibit or hamper DNA replication or RNA synthesis, thus, cell replication is inhibited or hampered.  
2. To affect cancer cell activities/behaviors and eventually result in cell death.  

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015 

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

How Do Normal Cells Become Cancer Cells?

Although it is a complex question to answer, scientists have identified a number of major factors that could contribute to the occurrence of cancer. Roughly 5 to 10 percent of cancers are hereditary. In other words, some people are born with certain genes having high tendency to cause cancer; it’s almost like that they are carrying a ticking bomb inherited from the parents. The rest, over 90%, are due to other controllable reasons, including tobacco, infections, radiation, chemicals, and extreme conditions that may cause mutation or damage of certain genes; if the gene mutation or damage is significant, the cells may have a better chance to become cancerous at some point in time. Therefore, avoiding these negative factors should greatly reduce the risk factors. This is why I believe it is highly possible to greatly reduce the chance of getting cancer for anyone.

Let’s think about how normal cells grow in layman’s terms. If normal cells are provided with sufficient and suitable nutrients and placed under appropriate environment, the cells should grow, function, divide, multiply, and die in a normal fashion designed by nature. However, if the growing condition of the cells is not “normal” so that certain genes in the cells are damaged/mutated and if the damage/mutation resulted in uncontrolled cell replication, normal cells could become cancer cells.
© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015 

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.  

Standard Cancer Treatments

Generally, the standard cancer treatments involve one or more of the following methods: surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Usually, surgery is the first choice if it’s a solid tumor and cancer cells have not spread to other locations. After the tumor is removed by surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy are usually employed as additional or adjuvant therapies to clean up any potential trace. If it’s not a solid tumor or tumor spread makes it difficult to remove, surgery becomes impractical. In this case, chemotherapy and radiation are used individually or in combination. However, due to the complexity of cancer, in real life, these three methods are often used simultaneously or in tandem in order to achieve the best results possible.

Although the present treatment methods work for cancer, these methods can also cause damages to patients’ normal tissues; they all cause significant side effects. Therefore, any improvement that reduces the side effects while maintaining the efficacy is welcome by clinicians and patients. Improvements in chemotherapy include the use of chemo/radio sensitizers and chemo/radioprotective drugs as adjuvant therapies. In terms of radiotherapy, there have also been tremendous improvements in the technical aspects in recent years.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015 

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.  

Is Cancer in Us?

Although it looks like a simple question, it is actually a complicated question to answer. The short answer could be NO but it could also be YES. In most cases, cancer is transformed from normal cells, thus it is not really wrong to say cancer is in us. On the other hand, for anyone who never has cancer, it is not wrong to say that cancer is not in the body.

No one can guarantee that he or she will never get cancer, but there is a lot we can do to significantly reduce the chances of getting cancer. One fundamental principle is “Do not abuse your body.” Because your body is built according to nature’s rules, it should be used and maintained in the manner it is supposed to. Every part of your body exists for a reason and there are rules set up by nature for us to follow so that every part works properly. In my opinion, if nature’s rules for a human body are not followed, there is a higher chance for a person to get cancer. Therefore, there are some things one can do to reduce the chance of getting cancer. I will blog more about this in the near future.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015 

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.

My Background in Cancer Research

Before we go further, I think it is a good idea to let you know a little bit about me. Otherwise, some people might question my credential. A brief description about my background is shown below FYI:

I received my B.S. degree from National Tsing Hua University in Chemistry/Biochemistry in 1972 and my Ph.D. degree from the University of Kansas in 1985. I then did my postdoc research work at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Subsequently, I worked at several small and large pharmaceutical companies including Ciba-Geigy (now Novartis). In 1997, I started my own company, Unitech Pharmaceuticals, focusing on the discovery of anticancer drugs. Since 2008, I joined 21st Century Therapeutics and is now president of the company. I have been active in the research of cancer and immune-medicated diseases for thirty years. My accomplishments can be reflected partially by my awards of over $3 million in research grants and contracts from National Institutes of Health, mostly from National Cancer Institute. In addition to my scientific publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals, I received 18 patents in the fields of cancer and immune-mediated diseases.

If you think my blog may be worthy of reading, please check my blog from time to time and I sincerely hope you can become more knowledgeable about cancer and reduce the the chance of getting cancer.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.  

5 Characteristics of Cancer Cells

Most cancer cells are transformed from normal cells; their characteristics are very different from those of normal cells. Let’s briefly describe these characteristics of cancer cells as follows:

1. Cancer cells grow, divide, and die very differently from normal cells
Unlike normal cells, which grow, function, divide, and die according to nature’s rules, cancer cells are rebellion as opposed to normal cells. Under normal biological environment, normal cells grow in accord, but cancer cells grow faster and they can grow without a complete spectrum of nutrients. Secondly, normal cells can only divide for a limit number of times, but cancer cells have the ability to divide indefinitely. Thirdly, normal cells will age and die according to nature’s design when the time is up (apoptosis), but cancer cells don’t die by natural cause.

2. Cancer cells can create a phenomenon, angiogenesis Angiogenesis is the formation and development of new blood vessels by cancer cells for themselves. It begins when a tumor is growing faster than it can suck up the nutrients from its immediate surroundings. In order to satisfy the ever increasing appetite to continue its growth, cancer cells produce and send out special signals to form new blood vessels nearby in order to obtain the required nutrients for continued fast growth.

 
3. Cancer cells metastasize
After a tumor opens up the new channels (new blood vessels) for more nutrients, the tumor can also uses the new channels to transport cancer cells to other parts of the body and grow there. Cancer cells can also transfer to other location by lymphatic system. This process of cancer cell relocation is called metastasis.

 
4. Cancer cells have different physical properties as compared to normal cells
In general, cancer cells grow and divide without a complete set of signals as required by normal cell growth. In addition, there are several differences in their physical properties. For example, cancer cells have lower adhesion of cell to cell and cell to extra cellular matrix. This makes it easier for cancer cells to grow even when they are surrounded by other cells. In addition, this characteristic makes it easier for cancer cells to move around as compared to normal cells; this is part of the reason cancer cells can move to other tissues or organs. Another difference is that cancer cells secret specific enzymes that allow them to invade neighbouring tissues and migrate.

5. Cancer cells do not have a good cell-to-cell communication
Last but not least is the cell-to-cell intercommunication. Cell-to-cell communication is very important for normal cells to maintain the integrity, proper function, and coordination of different activities. In addition, intercellular communication can amplify and/or propagate signals. In short, normal cells communicate well with one another to coordinate and maintain normal activities. However, many cancer cells do not communicate like normal cells do.



© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months. 

What is Cancer? (1)

Cancer is a broad group of various diseases in that some normal cells are mutated so that they do not undergo normal programmed cell death (apoptosis) and, instead, grow/divide uncontrollably.  If cancer cells grow in a solid tissue, these cancer cells together are broadly referred to as a tumor.  Non-solid tumors include leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma.

Currently, there are over 200 known cancers that afflict humans; all of which involve uncontrolled cell growth.  Cancer cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body.  Cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the body through the lymphatic system or bloodstream and becomes metastatic, which means cancer cells have spread to another non-adjacent organ or tissue.  

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015 

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.