Thursday, 25 January 2018

PRESS RELEASE

LJSCF KICKS OFF CANCER EDUCATION FOR ALL IN LAGOS STATE

Lanre – Jacob Savcoma Cancer Foundation has been approved by the Lagos State Primary Healthcare Board to implement community sensitization in all the Local Government Areas of Lagos State.

Lanre – Jacob Savcoma Cancer Foundation is a non – Governmental Organization with a focus on Prevention and early detection of cancer through education of community groups across Nigeria. Its CANCER EDUCATION FOR ALL Project which began in 2016 is designed to be a continuous exercise, for meaningful impact.

Following the approval by the Primary Healthcare Board of Lagos State, about 300 Primary Healthcare Centers and over 2000 communities will benefit from the LJSCF Preventive Cancer care project in the state.

Already, the Cancer Education for All Project has started in Lagos. It is called: Lagos Cancer Project. Its first sensitization program for 2018 was carried out on the 16^th of January, at the Primary Healthcare Center, Akowonjo in Alimosho Local Government. According to the Foundation’s sensitization plan, the program at PHC Akowonjo is one out of the ten cancer education programs scheduled to hold in the first quarter of 2018. Other PHC to benefit from this project in Alimosho Local Government are: PHC Orisunmibare, PHC Abaranje, PHC Ayobo, PHC, Baruwa, PHC Ipaja, PHC Egbe, PHC Aboru, PHC Akinogun, and PHC Bada.

In the second quarter of 2018, LJSCF will move the Lagos Cancer Project to Ikeja and Agege Local Government Areas of the State.

Lanre – Jacob Savcoma Cancer Foundation as a registered non-profit was borne out of the experience of the cancer survivor, Lanre Jacob, who for thirty years suffered Dermato-fibro-sarcoma protuberance (DFSP), a malignant tumor on his head. The cancer which Jacob encountered at the age of ten led to many bouts of dangerous surgeries and it is miracle that a man would survive so many traumas on one head!

Having survived by the grace of God, Lanre Jacob, a Film writer, Playwright and Researcher, decided to go into cancer advocacy, with emphasis on cancer prevention and early detection through sustained cancer education, both in the urban and the rural parts of Nigeria.

At present, there are well over 3 million cases of cancer in Nigeria, with more than 100, 000 cases recorded annually – aside the great number of undiagnosed cancer cases that lead to preventable deaths across the country.

No doubt, project like this requires huge human, capital and material resources to succeed. Lanre - Jacob Savcoma Cancer Foundation is therefore calling for volunteers and on well-meaning Nigerians to partner with her on this life-saving enterprise. The time is here when all hands must be on deck to stem the rising cases of cancer in Nigeria, as prevention and early detection of cancer is much cheaper than going through the usually expensive and traumatic process of cancer treatments. .

Signed

Segun Ibidapo

Publicity Secretary, LJSCF

CANCER EDUCATION FOR ALL

PRESS RELEASE

2, Egunjobi Street, Salami Bus Stop, Shasha, Lagos. Tel: 08130133902.

E mail: lanrejacobsarcomafoundation@gmail.com

Lanre – Jacob Savcoma Cancer Foundation has been approved by the Lagos State Primary Healthcare Board to implement community sensitization in all the Local Government Areas of Lagos State.

In the second quarter of 2018, LJSCF will move the Lagos Cancer Project to Ikeja and Agege Local Government Areas of the State.

Signed

Segun Ibidapo

Publicity Secretary, LJSCF

Friday, 12 January 2018

NCI study identifies essential genes for cancer immunotherapy

National Cancer Institute

A new study identifies genes that are necessary in cancer cells for immunotherapy to work, addressing the problem of why some tumors don’t respond to immunotherapy or respond initially but then stop as tumor cells develop resistance to immunotherapy.

The study, from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), was led by Nicholas Restifo, M.D., a senior investigator with NCI’s Center for Cancer Research, with coauthors from NCI; Georgetown University, Washington D.C.; the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts; New York University, New York City; and the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. It was published online in Nature on August 7, 2017. NCI is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

“There is a great deal of interest in cancer immunotherapy, especially for patients who have metastatic cancer,” said Dr. Restifo. “The response to immunotherapy can be fantastic, but understanding why some patients don’t respond will help us improve treatments for more patients.”

Cancer immunotherapy relies on T cells, a type of cell in the immune system, to destroy tumors. Dr. Restifo and his colleagues have previously shown that the infusion of large numbers of T cells can trigger complete regression of cancer in patients. They and others have also shown that T cells can directly recognize and kill tumor cells.

However, some tumor cells are resistant to the destruction unleashed by T cells. To investigate the basis for this resistance, the researchers sought to identify the genes in cancer cells that are necessary for them to be killed by T cells.

Working with a melanoma tumor cell line, the researchers used a gene editing technology called CRISPR that “knocks out,” or stops the expression, of individual genes in cancer cells. By knocking out every known protein-encoding gene in the human genome and then testing the ability of the gene-modified melanoma cells to respond to T cells, they found more than 100 genes that may play a role in facilitating tumor destruction by T cells.

Once the team identified these “candidate” genes, they sought additional evidence that these genes play a role in susceptibility to T cell-mediated killing. To this end, they examined data on “cytolytic activity,” or a genetic profile that shows cancer cells are responding to T cells, in more than 11,000 patient tumors from The Cancer Genome Atlas, a collaboration between NCI and the National Human Genome Research Institute, also part of NIH. They found that a number of the genes identified in the CRISPR screen as being necessary for tumor cells to respond to T cells were indeed associated with tumor cytolytic activity in patient samples.

One such gene is called APLNR. The product of this gene is a protein called the apelin receptor. Although it had been suspected to contribute to the development of some cancers, this was the first indication of a role in the response to T cells. Further investigation of tumors from patients resistant to immunotherapies showed that the apelin receptor protein was nonfunctional in some of them, indicating that the loss of this protein may limit the response to immunotherapy treatment.

Shashank Patel, Ph.D., the first author of the study, said the results show that “many more genes than we originally expected play a vital role in dictating the success of cancer immunotherapies.”

The researchers wrote that this gene list could serve as a blueprint to study the emergence of tumor resistance to T cell-based cancer therapies. Dr. Restifo noted that if this set of genes is validated in clinical trials, then this data could eventually lead to more effective treatments for patients.

“If we can truly understand mechanisms of resistance to immunotherapy, we might be able to develop new therapeutics,” he said. “In fact, in the future, this knowledge could speed the development of a new category of drugs that can circumvent these escape mechanisms of tumor cells and help patients experience complete responses.”

About the National Cancer Institute (NCI): NCI leads the National Cancer Program and NIH’s efforts to dramatically reduce the prevalence of cancer and improve the lives of cancer patients and their families, through research into prevention and cancer biology, the development of new interventions, and the training and mentoring of new researchers. For more information about cancer, please visit the NCI website at cancer.gov or call NCI’s Contact Center (formerly known as the Cancer Information Service) at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237).

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit nih.gov.

Sunday, 19 November 2017

Lanre Jacob Sarcoma Foundation: HOW GENETIC TESTING CAN PREVENT INHERITED CANCERS

Lanre Jacob Sarcoma Foundation: HOW GENETIC TESTING CAN PREVENT INHERITED CANCERS: HOW GENETIC TESTING CAN PREVENT INHERITED CANCERS SUCH AS BREAST,OVARIAN, COLORECTAL AND PROSTATE CANCERS. Genetic testing also ...

HOW GENETIC TESTING CAN PREVENT INHERITED CANCERS

HOW GENETIC TESTING CAN PREVENT INHERITED CANCERS SUCH AS BREAST,OVARIAN, COLORECTAL AND PROSTATE CANCERS.

By Maryam Ajikobi

Genetic testing also known as DNA testing allows the determination of blood lines and the genetic diagnosis of vulnerabilities to inherited diseases.

To prevent or treat some hereditary cancers, taking a patient’s full family health history is critical. When there is a strong history of breast, ovarian, pancreatic, colon or prostate cancer in a family, other members are predisposed, and it will be important to have a genetic testing done to know if a person has inherited the gene that causes the inherited cancer. For instance, mutations in the BRCA genes are well-known genetic variants that can predispose a person to cancers that include breast, ovarian and prostate.

When physicians and genetic counselors have genetic and family information, they can guide patients on more precise prevention recommendations and treatment decisions. Genetic factors and family history can help inform when a man should be screened for prostate cancer, or when a biopsy to check for prostate cancer is a good idea. It can guide decisions on when a woman should start her mammogram screening and whether additional screening with an MRI is warranted. When cancer is detected, testing of the cancer’s genetic make-up can help doctors determine whether immediate treatment is necessary and the types of interventions that are likely to be most effective.

RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH INHERITED CANCERS. Your risk of having prostate cancer is doubled if your father or brother had prostate cancer. Your risk also depends on the age at which your relative was diagnosed. Men whose families carry the gene changes that cause breast cancer, BRCA1 or BRCA2, are thought to be at increased risk for prostate cancer.

Your risk of having ovarian cancer is doubled if your first-degree relatives (mother, daughter, sister), especially if two or more have had the disease. A family history of breast or colon cancer also is associated with an increased risk of developing ovarian cancer. Women who have had breast or colon cancer may be at greater risk.

If you’ve had breast cancer in one breast, you have an increased risk of developing cancer in the other breast. If your mother, sister or daughter was diagnosed with breast cancer, particularly at a young age, your risk of breast cancer is increased. Still, most of, many of people diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history of the disease. Certain gene mutations that increase the risk of breast cancer can be passed from parents to children. The most common gene mutations are referred to as BRCA1 and BRCA2. These genes can greatly increase your risk of breast cancer and other cancers, but they don’t make cancer inevitable.

HOW TO PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING
Get a genetic testing done today, visit http://humgene.com/services/genetic-testing/.You can discuss with a genetic counsellor if you are not sure of what to do (send your enquiry to info@humgene.com).

OTHER BENEFITS OF GENETIC TESTING
Genetic testing helps to identify people who are more prone to develop a medical condition that may be preventable. For example, asymptomatic people with the BRCA gene mutation (Harmful mutations in these genes may produce a hereditary breast-ovarian cancer syndrome in affected persons) may opt to remove their breasts and ovaries as a prophylactic measure (preventive or protective measure).

Similarly, individuals with a family history of familial adenomatous polyposis (an inherited disorder characterized by cancer of the large intestine (colon) and rectum) have been saved by colonoscopy (a procedure in which a trained specialist uses a long, flexible, narrow tube with a light and tiny camera on one end, called a colonoscope, passed through the anus to look inside your rectum and colon) and removal of growths in the colon or by colostomy (a surgical procedure to remove all or part of the colon). A smoker, with a cardiac family history, is cautioned well in advance to modify his lifestyle.

Maryam Ajikobi, A Sr. wrote this article for Lanre-Jacob Savcoma Cancer Foundation on request. She is a Human Geneticist and Counselor, trained in McGill University, Canada. She is currently a PhD Candidate Public Health and Epidemiology. She is passionate on how to prevent Genetic Disorder and diseased, especially inherited cancers such as breast, ovarian, prostate and colorectal cancers. She is the CEO of HumGene Limited, the first Genetic testing company in Nigeria.

Website: www.humgene.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/humgenelimited/
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References

Brown, J., Jhingran, A., Deavers, M., et al. Stromal tumors of the ovary. Raghavan, E., Brecher, M. L., Johnson, D. H., et al. (Eds.). (2006). Textbook of Uncommon Cancer. (3rd Edition). Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons. 41: pp. 455-466
Matei, D. E., Schilder, J. M., & Michael, H. Germ cell tumors of the ovary. Raghavan, E., Brecher, M. L., Johnson, D. H., et al. (Eds.). (2006). Textbook of Uncommon Cancer. (3rd Edition). Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons. 42: pp. 467-476.
“SEER Stat Fact Sheets: Breast Cancer”. NCI. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
“Prostate Cancer”. National Cancer Institute. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
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