On the pulse

Cancerkin’s news…

Still time to bid in our luxury villa auction...

There are just a few days left to bid in our eBay auction for a fabulous week long holiday in a Portuguese villa! The use of the villa has been generously donated by one of our supporters and all proceeds from the auction will go to 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. If you have not yet booked your family summer holiday, this is a perfect opportunity to secure a stay in a fabulous location and to support Cancerkin at the same time. If you are not bidding yourself, please help us spread the word and tell everyone you know about the auction!

Bids will be taken until 8pm on Sunday 22nd May 2011. Click here to find out more and to place your bid. Good luck!

...and still time to register for the Hyde Park Walk!

We are still taking entries for the Hyde Park Walk on Sunday 19th June. If you have not yet registered for the walk, there is still plenty of time to do so – we will be taking entries right up to the day. To download an entry form, please visit our website

This week’s fundraising tip for our wonderful walkers is to encourage others to join the walk too! Collecting sponsorship and walking as a group is fantastic fun and can make fundraising much easier. We already have quite a few teams signed up so see if you can get your friends, family and colleagues involved too.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at anytime on l.smith@cancerkin.org.uk.

In the News.....

Yoga can help women with breast cancer…

Cancerkin has been offering yoga classes to its patients for many years and it is one of our most popular activities. We have even started up a new class in Kundalini Yoga, a different variety of the practice. For those interested in the potential impact of yoga, fascinating new research published this week by the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre in the US has shown that women with breast cancer who are undergoing radiotherapy can benefit from regular yoga sessions. Results indicate that while patients doing only simple stretching exercises experience improved fatigue, those who take part in yoga classes involving yogic breathing, postures, meditation and relaxation techniques experience improved physical functioning, better general health and lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

For the study, 163 women with breast cancer at stages 0 to 3 and of an average age of 52 were randomly placed into three groups: group one participated in sessions of yoga; group two undertook simple stretches; group three were given no instruction in yoga or stretching. Groups one and two participated in 3 one hour sessions of yoga or stretching throughout the six weeks of their radiotherapy. At the beginning and end of treatment, and one, three and six months after treatment, saliva samples and electrocardiogram tests were taken from all participants.

The study found that after completing their treatment, both the yoga and stretching groups reported reduced fatigue. However, women in the yoga group reported the greatest benefits to physical functioning and general health at their one, three and six month post treatments checks. This group was also most likely to perceive positive life changes from their cancer experience. Most interestingly, this group reported the steepest decline in cortisol levels across the day, suggesting that yoga helps to regulate the stress hormone. This is of particular significance as higher levels of the hormone have been linked with worse outcomes in breast cancer.

Lorenzo Cohen, Ph.D., professor and director of the Integrative Medicine Programme at MD Anderson said of the study: “the combination of mind and body practices that are part of yoga clearly have tremendous potential to help patients manage the psychosocial and physical distress associated with treatment and life after cancer, beyond the benefits of simple stretching. The transition from active therapy back to everyday life can be very stressful as patients no longer receive the same level of medical care and attention. Teaching patients a mind-body technique like yoga as a coping skill can make the transition less difficult.”

To read the MD Anderson Cancer Centre press release in full, please click here.. Please note that Cancerkin’s yoga classes take place every week at 1pm on Wednesday and 2.45pm on Friday.

Can coffee really help prevent breast cancer?

Results from a new study into the relationship between coffee consumption and breast cancer, published last week in BioMed Centrals online Breast Cancer Research journal, suggest that the beverage can help protect against the risk of developing the disease. The Karolinska Institute in Sweden examined the coffee drinking habits of just under 6,000 women and results suggest that more that five cups a day can cut a woman’s risk of breast cancer. However, cancer experts say this is not proof enough and that the findings need confirmation.

The ‘case-control’ study compared results acquired from 2,800 women with breast cancer, the ‘case’ group, with those taken from 3,100 who did not, the ‘control’ group. They were asked to remember their coffee drinking habits and lifestyle factors in the past. In comparing the groups, researchers found that those who drank 5 cups of coffee a day were 20 percent less likely to have the disease than those who did not. When focussing on a specific type of breast cancer, ER-negative breast cancer, the team found that those drinking their five a day of coffee were 57 percent less likely to have breast cancer than those who did not.

Experts have been quick to point out that the study’s results are not conclusive. As Cancer Research UK’s science blog highlights, this kind of study can be flawed. When asked about their habits from years ago, people may remember incorrectly. Important factors such as age, alcohol consumption and exercise for example must also be taken consideration and may explain difference in risk between those who drank coffee and those who did not.

The blog also stresses that in a different case-control study conducted in Germany and examining 3464 women with breast cancer and 6657 without, no significant correlation was found between coffee and breast cancer, suggesting the Swedish study’s results were ‘a fluke’. Past research into the drink has also produced varying results, with one study suggesting women with the most caffeine in their diets actually have an increased risk of breast cancer.

Yinka Ebo of Cancer Research UK said: "This study does not provide firm evidence that drinking lots of coffee can help reduce the risk of breast cancer as it relied on people with cancer remembering how much coffee they drank years ago. Previous research on coffee consumption and breast cancer risk has produced mixed results, and the authors of this new study acknowledge that further work will be needed to confirm the findings."

To read a BBC news report on the subject, please click here.. To read CRUK’s science blog in full, click here.

Laura Smith

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