Researchers at the University of Bristol presented a study this week at the NCRI Cancer Conference in Glasgow which details the importance of sleep health and the circadian rhythm. The researchers analyzed their data via Mendelian randomization, which “uses genetic variants associated with possible risk factors, such as sleep characteristics, to investigate whether they are involved in causing diseases such as breast cancer.” Continue reading
Category Archives: In the News
When Cancer Immunologists Become Artists
What happens when you ask cancer immunologists to draw their work? Neil Canavan found out when he asked nearly 50 scientists to do just that. Many of these drawings—some rough diagrams, some comic book-ready—are featured in a recent article from STAT. They include one by 2018 Nobel Prize winner—and former MSK researcher—Dr. James Allison, and another by MSK’s Dr. Michel Sadelain. More drawings can be found in Mr. Canavan’s recent book, A Cure Within: Scientists Unleashing the Immune System to Kill Cancer, which can be checked out from the MSK Library.
Today’s Science Sparks on the Library display screen.
Images are engaging ways to describe scientific concepts. Every weekday, the Library features an image from an MSK-authored publication on its homepage, an initiative we call Today’s Science Sparks (click here for the archive). These images are also displayed on the screen by the Library’s information desk. Next time you are in the Library, check out the screen—your graphic could be on it!
New Study Links Air Pollution and Mouth Cancer
Air pollution has previously been linked with several types of cancer, including breast, liver, and lung cancer. But what about mouth cancer? A new study by researchers in Taiwan mined national cancer, health, insurance, and air quality databases to find out if air pollutants might have a role in the development of mouth cancer.
In 2012-13, the researchers checked the health records of 482,659 men aged 40 and older who had attended preventive health services, and had provided information on smoking/betel quid chewing. Diagnoses of mouth cancer were then linked to local area readings for air pollutants taken in 2009. Smoking and frequent betel quid chewing were significantly associated with heightened risk of a diagnosis. After taking account of potentially influential factors like smoking, increased levels of PM2.5 (fine particulate matter) were associated with an increased risk of mouth cancer.
The study however, is not without limitations. For one, it is does not consider the men’s previous exposure to air pollution over their lifetime – which may have been higher or lower than their recent exposure. In a October 9th, 2018 article published in The Guardian, Dr. Frank Kelly, Professor of Environmental Health at King’s College London, notes that next a beneficial step would be to conduct similar research in different countries to better account for varying levels of tobacco consumption.
Study Reference
Yu-Hua Chu, Syuan-Wei Kao, Disline Manli Tantoh, Pei-Chieh Ko, Shou-Jen Lan, Yung-Po Liaw. Association between fine particulate matter and oral cancer among Taiwanese men. Journal of Investigative Medicine, 2018; jim-2016-000263 DOI: 10.1136/jim-2016-000263