A new prostate cancer Deoxy ribonucleic Acid (DNA)/genetic material test identifies the one in 100 men who are six times more at risk of developing the life-threatening disease.
Researchers identified 63 new genetic mutations that are linked to the condition, which they combined with more than 100 DNA variants that were already known to cause the condition, to create the test, which could cost as little as £30.
The findings were published in the journal Nature Genetics.One per cent of men carry many of these risky genetic variations, putting them at a much higher risk of prostate cancer than the average male, a study found today.These DNA mutations tend to occur in cells that regulate communication between the immune system and other parts of the body, which could pave the way for new treatments, according to the researchers.
The scientists, from The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London, are planning to assess whether investigating the DNA of men’s saliva samples, taken in GP practices, could identify at-risk men.Such men are currently identified via a blood test that assesses their prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels, which rise when the cancer occurs. Yet, results can be skewed by vigorous exercise, urine infections and certain medications.
The researchers analysed the genetic codes of nearly 80,000 men with prostate cancer and more than 61,000 without the disease.Results suggest each DNA mutation individually has a small effect on men’s prostate-cancer risk, however, the combined effect could be dramatic.Those at the highest risk are 5.7 times more likely to develop the disease, while people in the top 10 per cent are 2.7 times more at-risk that the average man.
Meanwhile, a 52-year-old mother who took cannabis oil to battle her terminal cancer has been given the all-clear by doctors.According to the report published by DailyMail UK Online, Joy Smith was told she would only have six weeks to live when she was diagnosed with incurable stomach and bowel cancer in August 2016.In a desperate attempt to defy expectations, she began taking a cannabis oil that contained THC, which is illegal in the United Kingdom (UK). She is believed to have bought it online.
And after a rollercoaster two years, she found out on Monday morning that she was cancer-free and would no longer have to have chemotherapy.Ms Smith, from Coventry, said: “I am going to party for the rest of my life. I have got to be the only person in the world who have survive this.“I keep pinching myself to see if this is real. I am being monitored every three months, but other than that I have no more treatment planned.”Ms Smith was told that she would have little longer than a month left to live unless she started chemotherapy to buy her more time.
She started having treatment every two weeks for three days, but had to have the line that delivered her chemotherapy taken out after she developed sepsis.Ms Smith was unaware her friends had been researching an alternative cancer cure online until she was handed a cannabis-based tablet out of the blue. She admitted that she didn’t want to take it at first because she ‘didn’t know what it was’ – but did so anyway in the hope of a cure.
The effects of THC – the compound that causes the ‘high’ – left her feeling ‘drunk’, Ms Smith claimed as she struggled to speak and ‘words just slurred out’.Ms Smith then started researching cannabis oil online and discovered it had worked for other sufferers – even though scientists are dubious.
After taking regular doses of cannabis oil containing THC, which is currently illegal in the UK, her inoperable tumours almost completely disappeared.Ms Smith spoke about her battle against the cancer with the oil in March, when scans showed just a small amount of the disease left in her stomach.She was hopeful then that the cancer would completely disappear with continued cannabis oil use.
And Ms Smith said she hadn’t stopped smiling since her appointment with her consultant on Monday, and said the news has yet to sink in.Ms Smith has received thousands of messages from fellow sufferers desperate to know more about her miracle cure, which has left doctors stunned.Also, a mother-of-two claimed in February that she has cured her aggressive breast cancer by taking one drop of cannabis oil containing THC every day.
Dee Mani, 44, refused chemotherapy when she was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer – deemed the deadliest form – and instead opted to try the oil, which is illegal in the UK.Doctors gave her the all-clear just five months after she opted for the oil.Despite her claims that it has cured her of cancer, there is no proof cannabis, or any of its compounds, can treat cancer in humans as research showing the drug’s anti-tumour effects have been in petri dishes and on mice.
Dr Kat Arney, from Cancer Research UK, said that while study findings have been promising, cancer patients should not get their hopes up.Cannabis oil, which reportedly has no side effects, influences the release and uptake of ‘feel good’ chemicals such as dopamine and serotonin.
