Nuclear Oncology

Archive for December, 2011

A study by the National Cancer Institute of Great Britain physical activity reduces the risk of uterine cancer by 20% to 40% compared with sedentary women.

“We already knew that maintaining a healthy body weight is an important means of reducing the risk of uterine cancer, but our study showed that physical activity has a protective effect in itself,” said Steven Moore, author of the study.

The experts, who analyzed 14 previous studies, argue that the excess fat tends to lead to increased hormone levels, in turn, can increase the risk of cancer.

Researchers are not sure how much physical activity is required to reduce that risk. However, one study found that over 20% of cervical cancers could be prevented if women had exercised vigorously for 20 minutes at least five times a week.

After a study, a group of researchers from the Institute of Pharmacological Research Mario Negri, Milan, found that people who ate a diet with a high glycemic index were more likely to develop pancreatic cancer than participants with a low glycemic index.

The study authors found an association between pancreatic cancer and high consumption of sugar, candy, honey and jam, while a high intake of fruit was associated with a lower risk of developing the disease.

About 32 thousand people are diagnosed with this disease in the United States, and over 60 000 in Europe each year. Although it depends on the extent of tumor at diagnosis, the prognosis is generally very poor because few patients survive more than five years after diagnosis and complete remission is considerably rare.