President's Cancer Panel

Richard Nixon established a cancer panel in 1971 which continues to offer insight and direction into the field of cancer research, prevention and treatment. Just this week the latest report from this panel was released. It is over 200 pages in length and contains a wealth of information, most of which I would LOVE to break down and share with you, however, I would have to take a vacation from my day job to do so.

The report has two distinguished authors, Drs. Lipke and Leffall. Dr. Lipke was a guest on the radio show On Point this past week. I was able to hear that show, which included other expert guests as well. From that show and the actual report I have gleaned a few points that I wanted to share with you.


The report focuses on the need to reconsider and address the environmental carcinogens that contributed to the 1.5 million cases of cancer in the USA last year.


In the study year (2009), over 500,000 persons died from cancer. It is now expected that 41% of people will be diagnosed with a cancer and 21% of the population will die from a cancer. Though environmental toxins have always been part of the picture, it is suggested that the impact is grossly underestimated. Certainly there are more chemicals in our environment and there are more exposures to ones that already existed.

I love that the report takes the cancer risk from radiation exposure seriously and breaks down the amount of radiation by medical device. It includes a chart that identifies the effective dose of radiation in tests and the range of radiation we actually get. Looking at that chart one can see the difference in exposure by exam. There is REAL concern about the exposure to radiation in these tests. There is also significant discussion of exposure to what now amounts to over 80,000 chemicals. We do not know the extent of harm, if any, that each of these chemicals independently or in combination will exact. (only a few hundred of the 80,000 have been thoroughly tested)


There is some debate as to the percent of cancer cause from environmental toxins - the categories including:
water
air
food
pesticides
radiation


The scientists also break down the amount of cancer risk per agent - because so much of the risk - 50% to 60% -is attributed to individual behavior, some experts are wary of drawing attention away from those because the impact is so great. However, Dr. Kripke makes a good point by saying that PEOPLE put chemicals in the environment and PEOPLE can take them out.


Still the breakdown is estimated to be thus:
Tobacco 30+ %
Overweight/Nutrition/Physical Activity 20%
Genetic 1-5% (and that involves many interactions)
Infections 8%
for example, hepitis C can lead to liver cancer, HPV can lead to cervical cancer
Medication
Alcohol
Sun Exposure
(percentages were not offered for all causes)

Environmental causes of cancer are estimated at no less than 6% which would be equal to about 30,000 deaths per year of the over 500,000


(bladder cancer caused by contaminated drinking water is an example of an environmental cancer)


I was also fascinated by a discussion in the report regarding DNA damage and genetics. Some new concepts which I am only beginning to grasp include -


single gene inherited cancer syndrome
endogenous processes that lead to cancer (free radicals and DNA damage)
exogenous factors (from the outside of the body)
genetic component PLUS an environmental exposure = risks for cancer
hormone production and function related to exposures
inflammation
gene suppression and expression
epigenetic changes and epigenetic inheritance
- some exposures can change the messages that cells send and receive which can change the very delicate processes in the body and put a person at risk for a cancer and the increased risk from epigenetics can be passed on to ones children

A caller into the show made a great point. He said that though the risk for cancer from environmental toxins is much lower then it is for tobacco or diet, if a person does not smoke, get sun burned, eat too much or fail to exercise then his individually based risk of cancer from the environment is VERY high compared to his lifestyle risks.

BTW, everyone who is diagnosed with cancer is entered into a cancer control registry and scientists can access this registry (no names included) and assess the findings. Scientists can learn what people with certain cancers have in common and that is how we determine things like - tobacco causes lung cancer!

These links were mentioned in today's blog:
Cancer Panel report
On Point
Cancer Registry