On the pulse


Cancerkin’s News Update…

Portugal Villa up for auction on eBay

One of our generous supporters has once again donated the use of her Portugal holiday villa, to be auctioned off in aid of Cancerkin. Located near Porto in the North of Portugal, the stunning villa sleeps up to 10 and has its own swimming pool, outdoor seating and dining area and lots of outdoor space.

A week’s stay in the villa will be auctioned off on eBay. The auction will be open for bids from Thursday 12th May 2011 at 8pm and will run for 10 days until Sunday 22nd May 2011 at 8pm. This is a fantastic opportunity to support Cancerkin whilst securing a fabulous treat for your family or a group of friends. Please help us spread the word and tell everyone you know about the auction!

Click here for more details and pictures.


Hyde Park Walk 2011

Entries for Cancerkin’s annual sponsored Hyde Park Walk on Sunday 19th June 2011 are coming in thick and fast! If you have not yet registered, there is still plenty of time to do so – we will be taking entries right up to the day of the walk. If you would like to request an entry form, please contact call Laura on 0207 830 2323, or download a form from our website.


Good luck Joy!

Joy Okoye will be running the Neolithic Marathon this Sunday 1st May 2011 to raise funds for Cancerkin and three other charities. We wish her the best of luck for the day!


Therapies update

This week we say goodbye to reflexologist Jenni Stone. We thank her for all her hard work over the years and wish her the best for the future!

Please note that Art Therapy, Kundalini Yoga, Nia Technique, Tai Chi, Pilates and Yoga classes will all restart next week from Tuesday 2nd May, following a break over the April holiday period.



In the news…


New research into body’s defence against cancer

Cancer Research UK’s science blog this week discussed the ways in which the body defends itself against the development of cancer. A fascinating new piece of research into these processes, reported in Science Journal Medicine, has discovered a way in which cells protect themselves that could potentially offer opportunities for the development of new methods of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.

As explained in the blog, there are a number of processes that allow the body to locate and destroy cancerous cells. We generate tumour-prone cells everyday and in order to prevent these from developing into cancer, injured cells produce ‘tumour suppressor’ proteins which kill or stop the division of such cells. In addition to this, they are targeted by white blood cells produced by the immune system.

A team of US researchers, led by Professors Mina Bissell and Wen-Hwa Lee, have now identified a protein also produced by the immune system that kills breast cancer cells whilst leaving healthy cells unharmed. Whilst examining the relationship between breast cancer cells and their healthy counterparts, they found that the protein interleukin-25 (IL-25) exclusively killed cancerous cells but had no effect on healthy ones. Further investigation revealed that cancer cells often have a protein known as IL-25 Receptor (IL-25R) on their surface, which causes the cell to die when it comes into contact with IL-25. Healthy cells do not produce IL-25R so are protected from this process.

Researchers believe that cancer cells produce IL-25R during the development of breast cancer as a means of distinguishing themselves. IL-25 is then produced by healthy cells to keep the cancerous cells in check. Although much more research needs to be done into the process, scientists think it could provide the basis for diagnostic tests and treatments for breast cancer in the future which target IL-25R. As the blog points out, similar studies into the protein HER2/neu led to the development of the now widely used breast cancer drug Herceptin.

To read the blog in full, please click here.


Laura Smith

28th April 2011