Sandy Hutchens Cancer Prevention

Sandy Hutchens likes coffee as much as the next guy. But he was surprised to find out that it may prevent cancer.

Harvard researchers are finding an intriguing link between coffee and the prevention of an aggressive type of prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer kills 27,000 men annually. So this research comparing the history of thousands and thousands of men raises the possibility of a simple and effective prevention in this deadly disease.

The researchers discovered that men who drank six or more cups of coffee a day had a 60 percent lower risk developing the advanced form of the disease when compared to men who drank no coffee at all.

Even men who drank just one to three cups are showed a lower risk, about 20 percent, of developing the aggressive cancer.

Prostate cancer specialist Dr. Ihor Sawczuk, of Hackensack University Medical Center, says the researchers were not exactly sure what it is about the coffee that might affect the cancers. But he says it’s too early to recommend boosting coffee drinking to men, although one cup of coffee might be helpful.

“I think those that don’t drink coffee should consider perhaps a cup a day may help build up their immune system,” he said. “I think what we need to remember is there may be more to this story.”

And finding out more details will be the next job for researchers. Because one study is not enough for scientists, the findings will need to be confirmed.

But if coffee helps prevention, it’s a bonus for those who already drink it and a simple benefit for those who don’t.

Prostate cancer survivor Richard Williamson has made some already-proven lifestyle changes for his recovery. He’s lost 25 pounds, walks two miles daily and, because he doesn’t eat enough fruits and vegetables, now frequents a health food store near his home to get his vegetables in a drink he likes.

“I do my walk and then I stop there,” he said. “I do that three or four times a week.”

Other proven prevention habits include:

“Decrease the total amount of fat, taking good fat, for example, the omega-3,” Dr. Sawczuk said. “Tomatoes have lycopene, especially the skin of tomatoes. These are good substancse to ingest. Soy products, apples, perhaps even a glass of red wine.”

And now, maybe a cup of coffee or two. One way coffee might be working is that it’s known to help the body use insulin. And high insulin has already been proven to increase risk of prostate cancer.

Sandy Hutchens, Nov. 25, Toronto – Haydain Neale frontman for the group Juno Award-winning group Jacksoul was called as an “joyful presence” and an “amazing individual”. Astonished friends learned about his death from cancer on Monday. Neale died Sunday at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto at 39 years old, after a seven-month struggle with lung cancer, the family said in a press release Monday.

Neale had also been recuperating from injuries sustained after being hit by an automobile while driving his Vespa scooter in Toronto on Aug. 3, 2007.

His friends and musicians were totally shocked by the news, particularly since many of them thought that he was finished with the worst part of his illness and was in a recovery phase.

“That guy just exuded what it is to be a really cool, down to earth, just amazing individual,” Toronto hip-hop MC Kardinal Offishall told CP backstage at the SOCAN awards on Monday. “Wow. Canada really lost something special.”

Family members and some of his friends were at his side as he died.

“Through all these challenges, Haydain’s sense of humour and love of music were ever-present,” his wife Michaela said.

He consistently brightened the room with his singing and his dazzling smile. His playful presence and rich voice will be missed by us all. Jacksoul was to release “SOULmate,” on Dec. 1 with 10 new tracks.

The first single, “Lonesome Highway,” was co-produced and co-written by Neale, and touches on his recovery, supported by his wife, daughter Yasmin and numerous others. Former Treble Charger frontman Greg Nori considered Neale a close friend since the two men worked side by side in studio space at the Sony offices.

“This guy was an extremely, extremely generous person,” Nori said backstage at the SOCAN event. “(He) was always 120 per cent to me, as an individual, he really was. I always had a really great friendship with him and we had a great respect for each other.

“I never saw the guy get mad. He only had positive energy about him. That’s my recollection of him. Never, ever did I see any kind of jealousy out of him, or negativity.”

Kardinal Offishall, likewise, said Neale was a special human being.

“People who never had the chance to meet him were able to see that not just through his music, but just in how he carried himself, just the type of dude that he was,” said the rapper, who says he had checked in on Neale’s status by sending a text message to a mutual friend just days before his death.

Jacksoul’s previous hits include “Can’t Stop” and “Still Believe in Love.” Neale was known for his soulful, elastic croon, for a voice that was faithfully smooth but organic and expressive.

“Hopefully his music will live on,” said Hedley guitarist Dave Rosin. That’s all any artist can hope. … It’s a sad thing.”

Nori, meanwhile, praised Neale’s integrity, versatility and commitment to his artistic ideals.

“I think he was always tackling something that wasn’t the flavour of the moment,” Nori said. “I think it was always a struggle to him because it wasn’t flavour of the moment, and it didn’t sell as much.

“He always had the ability to go do that if he wanted to, but he stuck to his guns and stayed with what he knew was in his heart, and I commend him for that.”

An interment with a private family gathering will take place later this week.

Sandy Hutchens loves a fresh brewed cup of green tea.

Although scientists are reluctant to endorse green tea as a cancer prevention method, evidence continues to grow regarding the chemically complex drink’s potential benefits – including results of a new randomized, controlled trial by researchers at University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, which suggest it had some inhibiting effect in patients with a pre-malignant condition known as oral leukoplakia.

As reported in a report published online Nov 5 by Cancer Prevention Research(1), a team headed by Vassiliki Papadimitrakopoulo, MD, professor of medicine in M.D. Anderson’s Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, tested green tea extract taken orally for three months by 41 patients diagnosed with oral leukoplakia and therefore at high risk of developing oral cancer.

The patients were divided into cohorts taking either placebo or one of three different doses of green tea extract 500 mg/m2, 750 mg/m2 or 1,000 mg/m2 [mg/m2 refers to milligrams per meter squared of body mass – calculated by a formula using height and weight to reflect a person’s relative size].

The researchers assessed clinical response in oral pre-malignant lesions and found:

• 58.8% of patients at the highest doses displayed clinical response,

• Compared with 18.2% among those taking placebo.

They also observed:

• A trend toward improved histology [cell & tissue integrity],

• And a trend towards improvement in a handful of biomarkers that may be important in predicting cancer development.

Patients were followed for 27.5 months and at the end of the study period, 15 developed oral cancer.

• Although there was no difference in oral cancer development overall between those who took green tea and those who did not,

• Patients who presented with mild to moderate dysplasia [abnormal cell growth] had a longer time to develop oral cancer if they took green tea extract.

Although encouraged by the results, Dr. Papadimitrakopoulo cautioned against any recommendations that green tea could definitely prevent cancer.

“This is a phase II study with a very limited number of patients who took what would be the equivalent of drinking eight to 10 cups of green tea every single day,” she said. “We cannot with certainty claim prevention benefits from a trial this size.”

Dong Shin, MD, (professor of hematology and medical oncology at Emory School of Medicine, and a Cancer Prevention Research editorial board member) agreed, but said this trial is certainly a step in the right direction. “A clinical trial with a natural compound is no easy task, and these researchers have accomplished that,” Dr. Shin stated in a companion article commenting on the trial(2). “The lack of toxicity is also important because often when you give supplements at higher doses than what would occur naturally, you induce nausea and vomiting. That did not happen in this trial.”

Neither researcher had a reason why patients concerned about cancer should not drink green tea, but they cautioned against relying on the beverage to definitively reduce their risk of cancer.

“The goal of this kind of research is to determine whether or not these supplements have long-term prevention effects,” said Dr. Papadimitrakopoulou. “More research – including studies in which individuals at high risk are exposed to these supplements for longer time period – is still needed to answer that sort of question.”