Sedentary lifestyle increases the risk of kidney and bladder cancer

A team of researchers at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY, set out to examine the link between a sedentary lifestyle and the risk of developing kidney or bladder cancer.

Researchers analyzed 160 people with renal (kidney) cancer, 208 bladder cancer patients, and 766 healthy
controls. Participants were asked to report on their levels of physical activity - whether they took part in any regular activity or not.

 Those who said that they had never done so were classified as "physically inactive." Researchers used
unconditional multivariable logistic regression methods to calculate the odds of developing renal and bladder cancer.

Inactivity increases kidney and bladder cancer risks by up to 77 percent
Specifically, they found that those who were physically inactive were 77 percent more likely to develop renal cancer and 73 percent more likely to develop cancer of the bladder.

A similar risk was found among people
with obesity and people with a normal body weight. This suggests that sedentary lifestyle is an independent factor that influences bladder and renal cancer risk.

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Breast milk can kill cancer

Breast milk is being used to fight cancer after scientists discovered it contains a substance that kills tumour cells.

Trials in patients with bladder cancer yielded good results and researchers believe the compound breast milk contains – nicknamed Hamlet – will also help tackle bowel cancer and cervical cancer.

Breast milk is better than chemotherapy because it does not destroy healthy cells. Professor Catharine Svanborg, who made the initial discovery, said ‘There’s something magical about Hamlet’s ability to target tumour cells and kill them.’

Human breast milk contained a protein called alpha-lactalbumin, which is transformed into a cancer-fighting agent when in the gut.

Prof Svanborg, an immunologist at Lund University in Sweden, made the chance discovery that the substance kills tumour cells when working on antibiotics.

New breast milk is a very good source of  antimicrobial agents. During one
experiment we needed human cells and bacteria to be present, and we chose human tumour cells for practical reasons.

‘To our amazement, when we added this compound of milk, the tumour cells died. The substance attacks cancer cells  in numerous ways – first evading the cell’s outer defences, then targeting the ‘power station’ mitochondria and the  nucleus.

These actions cut off the cell’s energy source and ‘programme’ it to commit suicide, in a process called apoptosis.
Early trials in patients with bladder cancer show those injected with Hamlet start shedding dead tumour cells in their urine within days.