Are Tattoo's Becoming A Health Risk?

BY TYLER FARDELL

What was once associated with 'colourful' characters in society, tattoo's have become a part of mainstream culture, largely popularised by professional sports players and celebrities.

 The Hunter like the rest of the country is in the midst of a tattoo craze and more and more people are choosing to decorate their body with ink artwork.

However, health and skin experts are voicing their concerns about the phenomenon, particularly looking at sleeve and large-scale tattoo's.

"Large-scale tattoo's in areas where moles are common makes it harder for dermatologists to identify any signs of skin cancer", Cancer Council NSW Hunter regional manager Shayne Connell said.

Cancer Council's concerns were raised after numerous scenarios of doctors unable to find any signs of skin cancer on a patient, with tattoo's hiding the skin changes.

Mr Connell's views are shared with other health experts who are worried tattoo's could result in more late detections of skin cancer and a grim outcome.

"People should consult their GP before getting an extensive tattoo and those concerned should avoid it altogether", Mr Connell said.

While doctors struggle to find the signs of skin cancer hidden amongst the artwork, a new concern about tattoos is spreading.

A recent study from European scientists found that some toxic chemicals found in tattoo ink can travel inside the body and end up in Lymph nodes, including Chronium and Nickel.

"Although there is no established direct link between tatto ink and certain cancers, the risk of tattoo-induced tumours cannot be totally excluded", Mr Connell said.

It's expected the tattoo craze will only continue to grow unless any hard evidence is found linking the ink with cancers.

Tattoo's have become increasingly popular among sports celebrities.

Miracle cancer drug now available on the PBS for Hunter patients

BY JESSICA ROUSE

It's being labelled as a miracle cancer drug, and now OPDIVO is available on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)  from today for cancer patients in the Hunter and throughout the country.

The drug is based on immuno-oncology medicine which works on the premise the body's most powerful tool for recognising and fighting disease is the immune system.

The Federal Government made the announcement over the weekend which will see the cost of the drug significantly drop and even less again for patients with a concession card.

Both kidney and lung cancer are among the 10 most common cancers in Australia with the incident rates of kidney cancer nearly doubling over the last thirty years. In addition, 75 per cent of kidney patients across Australia are listed as advanced.

The Hunter Medical Research Institute is welcoming the news, and Cancer Researcher Dr Craig Gedye say the medicine has proven to be very successful and the decision to have the expensive drug on the PBS is absolutely brilliant.

Game changer for cancer patients

BY JESSICA ROUSE

A new study at the Calvary Mater Hospital is being described as a game changer for cancer patients.

Prescribing treatment dosage for prostate cancer patients today involves the patient having an MRI scan which is used to define the body's anatomy and targets, then a second scan - a CT scan - is used to work out how much dosage and what kind of treatment plan is necessary for the anatomy and targets found in the initial scan.

The new study is looking at the use of MRI scanning technology alone to find the anatomy and targets and work out dosage and treatment plans.

Leading the study is Professor Peter Greer who believes the benefits will be well worth it because in just using one scan the results are more accurate, and it's also cost effective.

"We're hoping that this will make the treatments slightly a little bit more accurate for the patients and then in the future possibly we can even reduce the side effects of the treatments by giving less dose to the normal tissues because we're able to deliver the treatments a little bit more accurately," said Professor Peter Greer. 

25 prostate cancer patients are currently undergoing the study which is set to wrap up at the end of the year, and researchers are confident the technique could be used for all patients as early as next year.

"We're starting with prostate because we have large numbers of patients who use MRI, but we're also working on developing this technique for other sites such as other pelvic cancers, brain cancer, head and neck cancer as well," said Professor Peter Greer.

Image www.healthdirect.gov.au

Cruisn' for a Cause

BY LAUREN FREEMANTLE and JESSICA ROUSE

Having already raised $26,000 for cancer research at a fun day last year, Raworth resident Linda Bullent is aiming to go even higher with her Cruisn' for a Cause fundraising event in July.

Linda is hoping to raise $30,000 for cancer research and describes the event as an 'amazing race without the race.'

She has been touched by cancer personally suffering from breast cancer herself, but a form which doesn't have a cure.

"If I could raise $30,000 that would make me incredibly happy, it's good to set targets I think. Now I'm not going to get better, that's the sad truth but what the fundraising does is it makes me feel as if I'm trying to help people in the future," said Linda.

Cruisn' for a Cause will be held on 1st July comprising of a scavenger hunt stretching from Maitland to Port Macquarie and it's looking like a fantastic event, with tickets available online at Sticky Tickets.

Linda's aim is to raise $30,000, but really she just want to raise as much money as possible for vital cancer research.

"There's no cure for secondary triple negative breast cancer at the moment so research is absolutely critical, so I asked the Hunter Breast Cancer Foundation that a greater proportion of my fundraising goes to research but it also goes to help support people in the Hunter region, families who are suffering with cancer from somebody in the family and people who've had losses."

World No Tobacco Day

BY JESSICA ROUSE

The Cancer Council are using today's World No Tobacco Day to shed light on the massive influence of socioeconomic factors in the Hunter on the prevalence of smoking.

Around 16 per cent of people in the Hunter smoke and it's been found the incidence of smoking is at its highest in lower socioeconomic areas and trending downward in higher socioeconomic areas.

It's no secret smoking can lead to potentially deadly cancers with 80 per cent of lung cancer cases directly related to smoking, but Regional Manager of the Cancer Council Shayne Connell says the socioeconomic factors are becoming just as much of an influence.

"If you look at different socioeconomic groups those rates vary dramatically - so from a higher socioeconomic area, smoking rates are as low as 4 to 5 per cent and in some other groups like unemployed, people suffering a mental illness, those rates can be upwards of 40 and 50 per cent."

Possible reasons for such a big divide are thought to include that those living in the higher socioeconomic areas may be more responsive to public health campaigns and more likely to use effective resources for quitting smoking and have a better environment in which to be encouraged to quit.

These initiatives don't always appear have the same effect on those in lower socioeconomic areas.

The latest research released by the Cancer Council show results collected over a long period of time between 1985 and 2009 giving a significant snapshot of the frequency of cancer and who is most at risk.

"We looked at lung cancer incidences in women and what we found is that it was fairly steady and there's always a 20 or 30 year lag obviously between generational smoking and lung cancer but from about 1995 onwards there's fairly big disparity between people in a higher socioeconomic groups who had lower cancer rates than those in lower socioeconomic areas," said Shayne Connell.

"With today being World No Tobacco Day, we're really highlighting this again and looking to different research to highlight some of the differences in how lung cancers affect the community."

Australia's BIGGEST Morning Tea

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Not that you ever need an excuse to enjoy a lovely cup of tea and a slice of spongecake, but today is the best excuse - Australia's Biggest Morning Tea raising vital funds for the Cancer Council.

Today thousands of people from across the Hunter hosted morning teas to raise money for cancer research and support programs throughout the region.

Now in its 24th year, Australia's Biggest Morning Tea is the Cancer Council's leading fundraising event and is the most successful of its kind in Australia. Throughout NSW, the organisation hopes to recruit 11, 100 morning tea hosts, including 1,100 in the Hunter alone, and raise nearly $5 million.

"It's one of the largest fundraisers for us at the Cancer Council in the Hunter and it's probably one of the easiest because people can get together, have a bit of cake and a tea or coffee and put a couple of dollars in the jar because very dollar raised goes to support people with cancer," said Hunter Manager Shayne Connell.

Cancer figures throughout Australia are staggering, one Australian is diagnosed with cancer approximately every five minutes - the length of an average tea break.

Before the age of 85, 1 in 2 Australians will be diagnosed with cancer and it's estimated that over 130,000 people will be diagnosed this year, an unbelievable 350 people per day.

Shayne Connell says all of the money is injected into cancer support services and research to help bring these numbers down.

"Things like transport to treatment here locally, financial assistance for patients, patient and carer accommodation as well as of course a whole range of research, 127 researchers, every dollar counts. Cancer Council is of course not government funded we are a completely independent charity so we completely rely on fundraisers like today."

Cancer Study Hits a Nerve

BY RACHEL STORER

Professor Hubert Hondersmarck and his team have made incredible discoveries in the field of cancer. 

A team led by University of Newcastle Biochemistry Professor, Hubert Hondermarck has found links between tissue regeneration, nerve growth and tumour development.

The study confirms which was once thought impossible - the nervous system is strongly involved in the onset and spread of cancer.

"What was shown in our lab and simultaneously in other labs is that the nerves are necessary to cancer," said Professor Hondermarck.

"Cancer growth did not occur if the tumour was denervated and does not metastasize," he said.

The phenomenon has been demonstrated by several teams around the world including Professor Hondermarck's in prostate, gastric, breast and pancreatic tumours.

This new research could be the future of the fight against cancer and Professor Hondermarck believes they can start to block the invasion of nerves in cancer to prevent growth.

"Now the challenge for the coming years is to translate into clinical practice and see if it works," he said.

One aspect that Professor Hondermarck found particularly interesting from the study was that the role of nerves in cancer progression is very similar to what is observed during regeneration.

"As we know, humans have very little regeneration capacity. If you take a salamander for instance, and they lose a limb or tail it regrows.

"In cancer, if there are no nerves, there is no regeneration in the tumour. We found that there are links between cancer and its ability to regenerate," he said.

This research has opened the door to potential development in diagnostic and prognostic tools for cancer.

New brain cancer fellowship for Hunter- based doctor

BY LAUREN FREEMANTLE

Nationally renowned radiation oncologist Dr Mike Fay has been named the inaugural recipient of a three- year fellowship funded by the Mark Hughes Foundation.

The fellowship will allow researchers from the Hunter Medical Research Institute, spearheaded by Dr Fay, to use imaging technology in order to determine reasons why some brain tumour treatments fail.

In addition to this, Dr Fay is hoping to develop scanning markers and targeted therapies for cancer cells that resist current treatments.

Dr Fay believes a fellowship program, where doctors concentrate solely on research rather than seeing patients, will allow advances to be made. "We've been hamstrung previously as most of us [the research team] work in the public health sector and there's just not enough time for research. This fellowship will free people up to do that."

It is understood that the Mark Hughes Foundation accepted many applications for the funding before deciding on Dr Fay.

"I've been involved with the Mark Hughes Foundation for a while," Dr Fay explains, "They're an amazing organisation and it's wonderful that this is happening in brain tumours, which have been a bit of a forgotten area."

Dr Fay and his team are currently carrying out their research at Newcastle's Calvary-Mater Hospital in collaboration with associates in Brisbane.

Image sources: HMRI and Mark Hughes Foundation websites