UPFRONT

New therapies for cancers not being researched

The most common—and deadliest—cancers are not being researched by independent scientists, which is blocking the introduction of innovative and non-chemo therapies into mainstream treatment.

Nonprofit research funding is not being allocated to the research of these cancers—and it could be because some consider the cancers “embarrassing” or they have been stigmatized.

Only breast cancer, leukemia, lymphoma and children’s cancers are getting the lion's share of independent funding, say researchers at Northwestern University.

The ‘forgotten’ cancers include colon, endometrial, liver and bile duct, cervical, ovarian, pancreatic and lung cancers, and they lack support because they are embarrassing or have been stigmatized.

“Shame and discomfort with talking about our bowels and ‘private parts’ may be reducing funding for diseases like colon or endometrial cancers,” said Suncel Kamath, one of the researchers.

His team researched 119 major nonprofit organizations that between them made $5.98 billion in contributions to cancer research in 2015 and 2016—but the money wasn’t reaching research for these forgotten cancers, even though they are often the deadliest and most common.

Independent research is vital because it can look at alternative therapies to chemotherapy.

Most medical research is paid for by the drug company whose drug is being tested, and so innovative therapies aren’t being tested for their effectiveness—and without research validation, they aren’t being accepted into mainstream treatment.

J Natl Compr Canc Netw, 2019; 17: 849–54

Music as effective as powerful sedatives before an op

Patients are usually given a sedative such as a benzodiazepine before undergoing a medical procedure—but listening to music could be just as effective.

Music had the same anxiety-reducing effects as standard sedative medication—but the drug can also cause side-effects like breathing problems, hostility and agitation, say researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

The researchers gave 157 patients the choice of having 1 to 2 mg of the sedative midazolam or listening on headphones to a piece of ambient music while having a nerve block injection. The music—“Weightless” by Marconi Union—was specifically composed to reduce stress and anxiety in collaboration with sound therapists.

The researchers evaluated the patients' stress levels before and after the two options and found similar levels of anxiety in both groups.

Music is being offered as a preoperative procedure in the school’s surgical center, often before outpatient surgery, said Veena Graff, one of the researchers.

“Our research shows there are drug-free alternatives to help calm a patient,” she said.

The study was the first to test the effectiveness of music against an intravenous sedative.

Reg Anesth Pain Med, 2019; 44: 796–9

Walnuts can ease the pains of ulcerative colitis

Eating walnuts every day could help protect against ulcerative colitis, a form of inflammatory bowel disease, and even alleviate some of its worst symptoms.

The nut protects the colon during an ulcerative colitis episode and speeds up repair afterward—but you may have to eat up to 25 nuts a day for several weeks before the protective effects start to kick in, say researchers.

A research team from the University of Connecticut tested laboratory mice that had colitis-like symptoms, and those fed the nut for two weeks suffered less damage to the colon. Their colons also healed more quickly.

The researchers aren’t sure why walnuts in particular have a protective effect, but they contain