A Cap that Stops Hair Loss During Chemotherapy

Wigs and scarfs could become relics of a bygone era of breast cancer treatment. In what promises to be a major breakthrough for cancer patients, trials at teaching hospitals in the U.S. are currently underway of two versions of a cap that cools the scalp, shielding hair follicles from damaging effects of chemotherapy. Breast cancer websites and chat rooms are abuzz with stories of women who have completed chemotherapy treatments with their hair intact as a result of using cold caps. Several women with success stories were featured on Good Morning America this week in the following segment.

The caps must be worn during chemo treatments and for up to an hour afterwards. The two types in wide circulation are the Penquin Cold Cap and the Dignicap. The former, made in New Zealand, uses ice to cool the cap, which requires a facility with a special freezer and has to be changed every 30 minutes. The Dignicap, made in Sweden, uses a cooling gel that is constantly resupplied by a machine hooked up to the cap. In theory, freezing the follicles reduces blood flow to the scalp and thus reduces the amount of chemotherapy available for uptake into cells. Less absorption of chemotherapy into the cells surrounding the hair follicles protects them from damage.The Dignicap cold cap from Sweden.

So far, most of the evidence to support the use of cold caps is anecdotal (meaning scattered reports of success with no double-blind, placebo controlled studies are published showing efficacy.) But women who have used the cold caps with success are understandably vocal and passionate about getting the word out. According to GMA, the following medical centers have tests underway (several using freezers donated by The Rapunzel Project founded by two breast cancer survivors.)

•  Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Mich. 
• Minnesota Oncology, Minneapolis office 
• Minnesota Oncology, St. Paul office 
• University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, San Francisco
• New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical College, New York 
• Fairview Southdale Oncology Center, Edina, Minn. (coming soon) 
• Washington Oncology Hematology Center, Washington (coming soon) 

Dr. Merrell's Take: Early reports seem very promising for improving quality of life for women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer (or anyone receiving chemo for cancers below the head.) Since the devices work primarily by reducing the blood flow that carries chemo to the scalp it is important to check with your oncologist that your cancer is not a type that can spread to the scalp (prostate cancer is one.) Also, it's important to first rule out using it with brain cancer or for a cancer that could have spread to the brain, as we do not yet know what effects the caps might have beyond the scalp on chemotherapy targeted to the head and brain. 

Clues to New Antibiotic in Roach Brains

Cockroach brains may lead to a cure.You probably won't want to switch jobs with these guys: Researchers at the University of Nottingham, UK, ground up bits of cockroach brains and body parts of locusts, put the bug mash in a petri dish full of drug-resistant bacteria and went home for the night (surely they washed up first!). When they came back to work in the morning, the bug brains and body parts had killed nearly all of the bacteria, including harmful E.coli (the type that causes meningitis) and MRSA, the methicillin-resistant staph bacterium. Now the intrepid researchers have set to work trying to identify the powerful anti-bacterial agents. So far nine molecules appear to be responsible for the antimicrobial activity in locust tissue. They are still trying to work out details of the roach brains. Better them than us!

Read about the study in Science News.

Inflammatory Bowel Syndrome: Antibiotics May Cause Permanent Changes in Gut Health

A new study from researchers at Stanford University detected permanent changes in gut flora (bacteria that help the gut digest food) after two courses of the antibiotic commonly known as Cipro (ciprofloxacin.) Each person in the study had a unique set of gut flora, the composition of which fluctuated around an equilibrium that was disrupted by each course of Cipro. For some in the study, the flora was permanently altered (one person completely lost a common genus of bacteria), potentially increasing the risk of developing an Inflammatory Bowel disease such as Crohns or Colitis. "Each round of antibiotics is a roll of the dice that could lead to lasting changes in a persons' gut microbes," one of the study's lead authors told New Scientist.

Dr. Merrell's Take: The decision to take antibiotics is always a trade-off between risk and benefit. This reminds us they should not be taken without serious cause. This research also points to the potential benefit of probiotic supplements (which replace good gut bacteria) when taking antibiotics.

New Evidence Linking Obesity to A Cold Virus

Could a sneeze carry a virus that makes you fat?In a development stranger than science fiction, researchers have found children exposed to adenovirus-36--one of many viruses that causes the common cold--were more likely to be obese than children who had no evidence of infection, according to a study published in the journal Pediatrics. In the research, carried out at the University of California, San Deigo and Rady Children's Hopsital-San Diego, obese children were more likely to have antibodes to the virus than normal weight children (22% of obese children had the antibodes compared with 7% of normal weight kids.) In addition, obese kids with evidence of previous adenovirus-36 infections were about 35 pounds heavier on average than obese children who hadn't caught the virus.

This new work bolsters evidence from previous studies in both animals and people showing that adenovirus-36 is associated with obesity. Chickens, mice, rats and monkeys infected with the virus all get fat even though the animals don't eat more or exercise less than they did before they were infected. The virus, one of 55 different typs of adenoviruses, was first isolated in the late 1970s, when obesity rates began to climb. About 30% of obese adults carry antibodies against adenovirus-36, while about 10% of normal-weight people do.

"You can't catch obesity from a fat person," endocrinologist Richard Atkinson told The New Scientist. "It's the skinny person with a cold you have to watch out for."

Cancer: Mayo Clinic Docs Successfully Destroy Tumors With Laser

Physicians at Mayo Clinic's Florida campus are among the first in the nation to use a technique known as MRI-guided laser ablation to heat up and destroy kidney and liver tumors. So far, five patients have been successfully treated — meaning no visible tumors remained after the procedure.

They join their colleagues at Mayo Clinic's site in Rochester, Minn., who were the first to use laser ablation on patients with recurrent prostate tumors.

 Although the treatment techniques are in the development stage, the physicians say the treatment is potentially beneficial against most tumors in the body — either primary or metastatic — as long as there are only a few in an organ and they are each less than 5 centimeters in size (about 2 inches in diameter). Patients also cannot have a pacemaker or certain metallic implants, since the procedure is done inside an MRI machine.

Read the full story from the Mayo Clinic.