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Scientists have discovered "genetic brakes" that could slow or even stop diseases like cancer and multiple sclerosis in their tracks.

Growth of the cells that causes such conditions was previously thought to be controlled by a distinct group of "master" genes.

But the study by the University of Edinburgh has shown hundreds of these genes exist and interact with each other in a network, which researchers believe could lead to cures for many diseases.

Lead researcher Professor David Hume, of the university’s Roslin Institute, said: "This study has effectively shown us where the brakes are which could slow down or stop diseases like cancer and multiple sclerosis."

The research means that scientists can now pinpoint weak spots in the immune system, leading to the development of targeted therapies to stop the growth of tumours.

More than a quarter of a million people are diagnosed with cancer every year in the UK and it is estimated that one in three people will get some form of cancer in their lifetime, according to Cancer Research UK.

Certain homeopathic remedies may ease the side-effects of cancer therapy, without interfering with the treatments, a new study reports.

A review of eight clinical trials showed that while homeopathic remedies did not enhance cancer treatment, certain preparations did seem to alleviate some effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

One study found that a marigold extract, topical calendula, may help relieve skin inflammation caused by breast cancer radiotherapy.

Another suggested a mouthwash made from plant and mineral extracts can help ease mouth inflammation associated with chemotherapy.

However, researchers from the Cochrane Collaboration said there were currently too few studies to make any recommendations to cancer patients.

The use of homeopathy for cancer patients has proved controversial in the past, as some remedies have been found to be no more effective than placebos.

Adverse side-effects during cancer therapy are often caused by damage to normal healthy cells and they can vary depending on what treatment is being used.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with cancer.

A novel drug being tested in the US could bring hope to men diagnosed with the most aggressive form of prostate cancer.

The compound successfully shrank human prostate tumours in mice that were untreatable with current drugs, and showed some signs of arresting tumour growth in men with similar drug-resistant tumours.

Scientists found that the experimental drug caused the level of a prostate cancer marker to fall by at least 50 per cent in 13 of 30 patients with advanced disease that had resisted other treatments.

It is hoped that in future the compound, which tackles prostate cancer in a different way to other drugs, could offer new hope to patients.

Dr Philip Kantoff, from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, told ScienceNOW daily news: "It’s possibly a new and better way of treating prostate cancer."

This development could be important for people wishing to obtain prostate cancer/” target=”_self”>cancer life insurance.

Prostate cancer rates have tripled over the last 30 years in the UK, but this thought to be largely due to better detection methods.



The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with cancer.

A new drug that may prolong the life of women suffering from ovarian cancer could be available in five years, according to British scientists.

Eight out of 18 women who were given the experimental drug found their tumours shrank or stabilised, meaning they could live longer than doctors originally predicted.

This response rate is unusually high, as typically fewer than 20 per cent of patients respond to experimental cancer drugs.

Chief trial investigator Iain McNeish, a professor of gynaecological oncology at Barts, told the Guardian: "The hope with this group of patients was to slow down the progress of their ovarian cancer, improve the quality of their life and possibly make them live longer."

He added that if the drug becomes a treatment, it could lead to a whole new way of treating ovarian cancer.

The drug, codename CNTO328, was tested in a clinical trial at the Centre for Experimental Cancer Medicine, part of Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Currently there is no proven screening tool for ovarian cancer, which is the biggest gynaecological killer of women in the UK.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with cancer.

Broccoli sprouts could reduce the risk of developing stomach cancer by suppressing a common bacterial infection, a new study suggests.

Three-day-old sprouts were found to suppress Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) infections, one of the most common infections in the world and a known cause of stomach cancers.

Sulforaphane, a chemical found in broccoli, has been known to have a cancer protective effect for almost 20 years, but this is the first time the vegetable has been shown to have an effect on the cancer-causing bacteria in humans.

Jed Fahey, a researcher at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said: "This study supports the emerging evidence that broccoli sprouts may be able to prevent cancer in humans, not just in lab animals."

A reduction in H pylori is expected to lead to a reduction in stomach cancer cases and could be important for people seeking cancer/” target=”_self”>cancer life insurance.

Stomach cancer affects about 8,200 people in the UK every year and is almost twice as common among men than women.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with cancer.

Surgeons have completed the UK’s first operation to replace an old prosthetic heart valve.

Experts at King’s College Hospital have become the first to swap a worn out replacement heart valve with a new one via keyhole surgery.

This means that patients deemed too ill to undergo open heart surgery could still be able to have their old valves replaced and may save thousands of lives a year.

Olaf Wendler, the surgeon who carried out the operation, said: "The fact that the minimally invasive technique developed at King’s has now been used successfully to replace a prosthetic heart valve is a major achievement, and could help to prolong and improve the lives of many patients in the UK."

Around 6,000 patients have aortic valve replacements in the UK each year, which last about ten years before they begin to fail.

Because patients undergoing repeat operations are more likely to suffer from complications, they are rarely put forward to have prosthetic valves replaced.

The new keyhole surgery is less invasive and could mean that more frail and elderly patients are able to have replacements.

Valve replacement may be performed when the aortic valve, which lets blood from the left side of the heart into the main artery supplying the body, becomes damaged or diseased.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with heart conditions.

A new test for cervical cancer halved deaths from the disease in women in India, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The test detects human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus that causes cervical cancer, and was found to be more effective at preventing death than the traditional Pap smear used to screen for the disease in the UK.

"This study clearly shows that HPV screening is more sensitive to picking up precancerous lesions than the other tests," said co-author Dr Rengaswamy Sankaranarayanan, a radiation oncologist at the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France.

He added that nearly all the women who tested negative for HPV infection at the outset were cancer free by the end of the study.

Women should visit the doctor for tests every three to five years for a smear test to detect pre-cancerous changes to the cells in the cervix, whereas the HPV test requires fewer visits.

These results strengthen the case for changing the cervical cancer screening process, particularly in developing countries where multiple doctor visits are too expensive for many women.

In autumn 2008, a programme was launched to vaccinate all UK schoolgirls against HPV to protect against cervical cancer in later life.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with cancer.

A laser microscope that could speed up skin cancer diagnosis and reduce the need for biopsies may soon become reality.

The hand-held microscope could help doctors decide if a biopsy is absolutely necessary, cutting down on the number carried out and streamlining the diagnostic process.

Chris Arrasmith, a researcher working on the development of the microscope at Montana State University, said: "Any combination of tools we can provide to enable early detection of any kind of disease is a good thing."

Diagnosis of skin cancer currently requires confirmation with a potentially painful biopsy, where doctors remove a sample of the suspected area of skin for analysis.

Unlike regular microscopes, the proposed device uses lasers to look at the cellular structure of a patient’s skin, allowing doctors to look for tell-tale chemical signs of cancer.

Approximately 1,500 people die each year in England and Wales from malignant melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with cancer.

A single pill that contains five drugs could protect against heart attacks and stroke, a study suggests.

It is thought the polypill could reduce heart disease by 62 per cent and stroke by 48 per cent, according to the study published in the Lancet this week.

The pill tested is called Polycap and contains a cocktail of a statin, aspirin and three blood pressure drugs usually prescribed individually to people with, or at risk of, heart disease.

Principal investigator Dr Salim Yusuf, from McMaster University in Ontario, said: "The thought that people might be able to take a single pill to reduce multiple cardiovascular risk factors has generated a lot of excitement; it would certainly revolutionise heart disease prevention as we know it."

A previous study suggested that if everyone over the age of 55 and everyone with cardiovascular disease took such a pill, it would reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease by over 80 per cent, and largely prevent heart attacks and stroke.

However, opposition to a ‘one-pill-fits-all’ strategy has come from critics, who disagree with the idea of taking drugs to prevent heart conditions over maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

One in three adults in the UK has high blood pressure, according to the charity Blood Pressure UK, which is a major risk factor for heart attack and stroke.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with cancer.

Soybeans may help prevent Alzheimer’s by stopping the formation of clumps of abnormal proteins involved in the disease, a study has suggested.

A research team in Taiwan has announced that an enzyme called nattokinase, found in natto, a fermented food made from boiled soybeans, is able to dissolve amyloid fibrils.

Natto has been eaten by people in Asia for more than 1,000 years.

The team said: "Since natto has been ingested by humans for a long time, it would be worthwhile to carry out an epidemiological study on the rate of occurrence of various amyloid-related diseases in a population regularly consuming natto."

The enzyme nattokinase has already been shown to protect against heart attacks, as it has similar effects to clot-busting drugs.

Another study released this week suggested that people with a faulty gene whose parents have dementia or Alzheimer’s disease are more likely to have memory problems.

The research, from the Framingham Heart Study, found that those carrying the ApoE e4 gene who also had parents suffering from Alzheimer’s or dementia scored significantly worse on verbal and visual memory tests than those whose parents were not affected.