November

The rate of cancer in the Canadian population is increasing, in part an unintended consequence of medical advances helping people live longer. The Canadian Cancer Society tells us “an estimated 206 200 new cases of cancer and 80 800 deaths from cancer will occur in Canada in 2017,” and that “about one in two Canadians will develop cancer in their lifetime and one in four will die of the disease.” However, while more people are getting cancer, more are surviving it as well.

UBC researchers have discovered how cancer cells become invisible to the body’s immune system, a crucial step that allows tumors to metastasize and spread. As cancer cells evolve over time they may lose the ability to create a protein known as interleukein-33 (IL-33). When IL-33 disappears in the tumor, the body’s immune system has no way of recognizing the cancer cells and they can begin to metastasize.

Researchers found that the loss of IL-33 occurs in epithelial carcinomas, including prostate, kidney, breast, lung, uterine, cervical, pancreatic, skin, and many others.

Despite a decline in smoking rates, an epidemic of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is expected over the next 2 decades, according to a new study from the University of British Columbia.