Blogging for Blood Cancer Day 4 An apple a day and Stem Cells

What if an apple a day could keep you from getting cancer? Well studies that are currently being explored show it just may. I saw this article on TV the other day and so I knew I had to post it.

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away" Or, what appears to be more accurate: An apple peel a day might help keep cancer at bay, according to a new Cornell study. Cornell researchers have identified a dozen compounds -- triterpenoids -- in apple peel that either inhibit or kill cancer cells in laboratory cultures. Three of the compounds have not previously been described in the literature. "We found that several compounds have potent anti-proliferative activities against human liver, colon and breast cancer cells and may be partially responsible for the anti-cancer activities of whole apples," says Rui Hai Liu, Cornell associate professor of food science. Liu is affiliated with Cornell's Institute of Comparative and Environmental Toxicology and is senior author of the study, which is online and published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. In previous Cornell studies, apples had been found not only to fight cancer cells in the laboratory but also to reduce the number and size of mammary tumors in rats. The Cornell researchers now think that the triterpenoids may be doing much of the anti-cancer work. "Some compounds were more potent and acted differently against the various cancer cell lines, but they all show very potent anti-cancer activities and should be studied further," said Liu. With co-author Xiangjiu He, a Cornell postdoctoral researcher, Liu analyzed the peel from 230 pounds of red delicious apples from the Cornell Orchard and isolated their individual compounds. After identifying the structures of the promising compounds in the peel, the researchers tested the pure compounds against cancer cell growth in the laboratory. In the past, Liu has also identified compounds called phytochemicals -- mainly flavonoids and phenolic acids -- in apples and other foods that appear to be have anti-cancer properties as well, including inhibiting tumor growth in human breast cancer cells. "We believe that a recommendation that consumers to eat five to 12 servings of a wide variety of fruits and vegetables daily is appropriate to reduce the risks of chronic diseases, including cancer, and to meet nutrient requirements for optimum health," said Liu.

A Little about Stem Cells for treating Childhood Cancer

The risk of any child developing leukemia is roughly about only 1 in 2000 with more or less 400 to 450 new cases a year in the United Kingdom only.
Cure rates impending seventy five percents can be achieved with combination chemotherapy, but this figure hide success rates that vary from ten to ninety percent with the different biological subtypes of the malady.
Nowadays, new insights into the underlying molecular biology of leukemia have changed our understanding of the disease. Not only are there a prospect of better treatment and the introduction of the new biologically based therapies, but, as the causes of disease are being unraveled, the possibility of prevention may not just be wishful thinking.
It has been recognized for a very long time that childhood leukemia is not one homogeneous disease. The main morphological division into acute lymphatic leukemia is supplemented by the identification of a range of subsets based on gene expression, antigens that delineate cell type or differentiation status, and chromosomal and molecular abnormalities.
There is now huge confirmation that chromosome trans location is very often the first event in infant twins with acute lymphocyte leukemia, the same breakpoints in the ML gene.
Further evidence that youth leukemia can originate before birth comes from scrutiny of neonatal blood spots or Guthrie cards. PR tests for specific fusion genes, designed for each patient, can detect as few as 1 in 20 leukemic cells in a blood spot. The presence of the same fusion gene sequence in a neonatal blood spot as is in the patient's leukemic cells at diagnosis provides unequivocal evidence that leukemia, has been initiated prenatally, probably by creation of the fusion gene itself.
If this form of leukemia progress is actually correct, it means that for every child with acute lymphocyte leukemia diagnosed, there should be at least twenty healthy children who have a chromosome trans location, a functional leukemia fusion gene, and a covert per-leukemic clone generated in-uteri.
Cord blood bank can help cure this disease thanks to the stem cells in the cord blood. The cord blood is simply the blood that remains in the placenta and umbilical cord after a baby is born and can be used because it is so rich in stem cells.
The stem cells found in cord blood restore the function of the patient's immune and blood producing systems, and is a powerful alternative to using bone marrow.