Eight things you should know about cancer

The "guardian of the genome." There is a protein called p53 that while in their "normal" repairs damaged DNA in cells, why is nicknamed the "guardian of the genome" - when mutated leaves operate and allows cancer proliferate uncontrollably. Scientists look for chemical compounds that activate this protein to adequately curb cancer. For example, just check that one of its mechanisms of action is to detect metabolic stress and make aging (senescence) damaged cells to prevent proliferate and form tumors.

Sugar Spanish researchers at the University Rey Juan Carlos have shown excess sugars in the diet increases the activity of a protein called b-catenin, closely related to tumor progression. This explains why the epidemiological data show that the frequency of certain types of cancer can be doubled in populations with high levels of blood sugar, such as obese or diabetic.

Infectious. Infectious agents such as viruses, bacteria and parasites are the cause of two million cases of cancer worldwide, according to an international study published in The Lancet Oncology . Put another way, 16% of cancer cases worldwide in 2008 were due to an infection that could have been prevented or treated. The primary infection-related cancers are associated with the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and papilloma virus, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.

Ten instead of one. thing we now call breast cancer should be considered as ten different diseases , as evidenced by a revolutionary British and Canadian study published by the journal Nature. The new classification, based on the genetic fingerprint of tumors, could improve treatment by allowing tailor drugs to each case, increasing survival rates.

caloric restriction. A steady decline over time in food intake resulting in an increase in the length of telomeres of chromosomes ends in adult mice, which exerts a protective effect on DNA and genetic material. These beneficial effects on youth of chromosomes result in a lower incidence of cancer, among other diseases associated with aging.

Cancer and electricity. Scientists at Tufts University have identified a bioelectrical signal which can identify which cells are at risk of becoming tumors. But not only help predict: bioelectric signals are an important control mechanism to regulate how they grow and multiply cells. So much so that scientists have shown that it may reduce the incidence of cancer cells by manipulating the cell membrane voltage. Or use these signals to damaged organs are repaired.

Fritos. Eating at least once a week chips, breaded chicken or fish and other foods fried in plenty of oil is associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer, as well as predisposing to a more aggressive course of the disease, according to researchers recently demonstrated Research Center Fred Hutchinson Cancer U.S.

Accomplices To invade organs, cancer cells often need accomplices. For example, a team of researchers from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) recently discovered that the ability of colon cancer metastasis to falls in healthy cells surrounding the tumor, called the stroma. In an article disclosed in Cancer Cell, scientists also show that removing the signal of TGF-beta in the stroma may block the induction of metastasis.