Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Coins for 2018 .

In 2018, the United States Mint will produce and sell commemorative coins in recognition of the fight against breast cancer.

Congress passed bipartisan legislation for the coins, which includes one in pink gold, and President Obama signed it into law on Friday, April 29.

Titled the Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Coin Act, H.R. 2722, the bill authorizes commemoratives in collector qualities of proof and uncirculated and in quantities of up to 50,000 $5 pink gold coins, 400,000 silver dollars and 750,000 clad half-dollars.

Coin designs will be emblematic of the fight against breast cancer, and they will be selected through a public competition process.

Of particular interest to coin collectors and cancer activist groups, the bill includes language for $5 gold coins in "pink gold" with at least a 75% gold composition. That’s a significant change from the specifications of standard U.S. commemorative gold coins, because they are produced in 90% gold and 10% alloy.

18-karat pink gold is most often seen in specialized jewelry. The typical color is the result of a mixture of 75% gold, 20% copper and 5% silver. Different copper levels change color intensities. For example, a stronger red color, or 18K rose gold, is achieved by increasing the copper content to 22.25% and reducing the silver content to 2.75%. Just this month and as shown in the short video below, the Royal Canadian Mint introduced its 2016 $3 Queen Elizabeth Rose silver dollar with rose gold plating.

The RCM also issued Farewell to the Penny Silver Commemorative Coins with pink gold plating in 2012 and 25-cent Breast Cancer circulation coins in 2006 with a pink ribbon treatment.

For the United States Mint, coins in pink gold will mark their first.

As an added attraction, H.R. 2722 states that the 2018 Breast Cancer silver dollars shall "contain not less than 90 percent silver." This language is significant because it gives the U.S. Mint leeway to strike them in higher fineness such as .999 silver. For past commemorative silver dollars, the U.S. Mint was specifically instructed to use an exact mix of 90% silver and 10% copper.
source:http://www.coinnews.net/2016/04/29/breast-cancer-awareness-commemorative-coins-for-2018/

Emraan Hashmi will donate money to cancer patients .

Emraan Hashmi, who recently launched his first book, 'The Kiss of Life - How A Superhero & My Son Defeated Cancer', is on to a noble deed. According to reports in HT, the actor will donate the royalty he receives from the sales of his book for the treatment of cancer patients who cannot afford the treatment. While the chalking out of the plan remains to be done, he has decided of giving the funds to either an NGO or a hospital for cancer patients.

The book, which is semi-autobiographical (co-authored by Bilal Siddiqi), speaks of the hardships he had to face along with his family when his six-year-old son Ayaan was diagnosed with cancer in the year 2014. The book fictionalises the ailment by incorporating Ayaan's favourite superheroes, who help him fight back the disease.
But this is not a first time for Emraan. A few months back, he had taken care of two young cancer patients' treatment.

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Source: http://www.divyabhaskar.co.in/

Bradley Cooper gets emotional about losing his dad to cancer .

The 41-year-old actor, whose father died from cancer in 2011, gave an emotional speech about his loss at a star studded gala celebrating the launch of tech guru Sean Parker’s new cancer research foundation, reported People magazine.

“I just want to tell you about my father Charles J Cooper, he passed away from lung cancer in 2011. I was in a very lucky position because I was able to put everything on hold in all aspects of my life and completely focus on taking care of him,” he said.
The star described the process of treating his father’s cancer as “just simply overwhelming, incredibly stressful, complex and all consuming.”
“I can’t even imagine how much more difficult it is for those patients and the families that are less fortunate than I was that simply can’t afford to pay for both treatment and rent,” he added.
Cooper promised that he and Parker will soon come up with a new initiative to help lessen the burden on both patients and their families so that they can focus on treatment.
The “American Sniper” actor was joined by celebs like John Legend, Orlando Bloom, Katy Perry and Sean Penn for the Parker Foundation’s launch.

source:http://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/hollywood/bradley-cooper-gets-emotional-about-losing-his-dad-to-cancer-2756377/

'Good' gut bacteria can help prevent cancer .

• The mice that received good bacteria lived four times longer and had less DNA damage and inflammation. Also, the mice microbiota produced metabolites that are known to prevent cancer.

Anti-inflammatory properties of gut bacteria can slow or stop the development of some types of cancer, finds a new study conducted on mice.

In mice with more of the beneficial bacteria, the blood cell tumours took significantly longer to form.

The mice that received good bacteria lived four times longer and had less DNA damage and inflammation. Also, the mice microbiota produced metabolites that are known to prevent cancer.

Further, the mice showed increased efficient fat and oxidative metabolism which, the researchers believe, might also lower the risk for cancer.

The study, published online in the journal PLOS ONE, explains how intestinal microbiota might delay the onset of cancer, suggesting that probiotic supplements could help keep cancer from forming.

"Ultimately, doctors might be able to reduce a person's risk for cancer by analysing the levels and types of intestinal bacteria in the body and then prescribing probiotics to replace or bolster the amount of bacteria with anti-inflammatory properties," said Robert Schiestl, professor at the University of California.

Researchers analysed a bacterium called Lactobacillus johnsonii 456 -- the most abundant of the beneficial bacteria.

The study lends credence to the notion that manipulating microbial composition could be used as an effective strategy to prevent or alleviate cancer susceptibility.

"In the future, it is our hope that the use of probiotics-containing (supplements) would be a potential chemopreventive for normal humans, while the same type of microbiota would decrease tumour incidence in cancer susceptible populations," the researchers suggested.

source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health-news/Good-gut-bacteria-can-help-prevent-cancer/articleshow/51826330.cms

Tech billionaire Sean Parker announces $250 million in cancer immunotherapy funding .

Facebook co-founder Sean Parker is donating $250 million to cancer immunotherapy research at several hospitals. Dr. Jedd Wolchok, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and patient Mary Elizabeth Williams explain the importance of this research .

Cancer immunotherapy will get a hefty dose of its own moonshot Wednesday when a tech billionaire announces he's giving $250 million to six cancer centers nationwide, including Manhattan's Memorial Sloan Kettering and Stanford.

Sean Parker, founder of the music file-sharing service Napster and the founding president of Facebook, says he is putting his money behind cancer immune therapy because it is at a turning point and would benefit from research that is done without regard for the costs.

Immunotherapy, which enhances the body's immune system to kill cancer cells, is best known these days because former president Jimmy Carter was on an immune-based drug treatment when he announced in December that there is no detectable cancer in his body.

Marriage boosts survival chances of cancer patients, say scientists

University of San Diego study adds to weight of research suggesting having a partner significantly improves outcomes for sufferers.

Being married boosts the survival chances of cancer patients, according to new research that analysed data from nearly 800,000 people. While the research backs up a number of studies that have previously highlighted the trend, the new study goes further, exploring the strength of the effect in patients of different race and ethnicity. The results reveal that the benefits of marriage appear to be greatest for non-Hispanic white men. 

“We speculate that it has to do more with issues related to social support than economics,” said the lead author, Professor Maria Elena Martinez of the University of California, San Diego.

Writing in the journal Cancer, the authors report that they used figures from the California Cancer Registry to study data from 393,470 men and 389,697 women who had been diagnosed between 2000 and 2009 with one of 10 types of cancer that most commonly cause death in each sex across populations of different race and ethnicity. The researchers followed up on the patients until the end of 2012.

When adjusted for factors including insurance status and neighbourhood socioeconomic status, the results showed that, while marriage benefited both men and women, the size of the effect varied between the sexes and with race and ethnicity. The greatest effect was found for white patients who were not of Hispanic descent: bachelors had a 24% higher risk of dying than married men, while for women mortality was 17% higher for singletons.

With the number of unmarried adults on the rise, Martinez believes researchers now need to probe why marriage is beneficial – whether it is down to spouses taking patients to appointments, offering support for depression, reminding them to take their medication, or other effects. “We don’t have a handle [on] what it is in regard to social support that we need to go after to equalise everything, “ she said.

The study revealed another trend. For unmarried patients that identified as Asian Pacific Islanders (API) – a group that includes those of Japanese, Chinese and Indian descent – those born in the US had a worse chance of survival compared with married patients than those born elsewhere. The trend was also observed for women of Hispanic descent. Unmarried API men born in the US had a 21% higher risk of dying than those who were married, while for unmarried API men born outside the US, mortality was 9% higher than those who had wed. The authors believe the trend could be down to the immersion of patients in US culture. “It is plausible that social support outside marriage diminishes as individuals acculturate to the United States,” they write.

Martinez believes the study highlights the need for unmarried cancer patients to seek support from family and friends. Clinicians and healthcare providers, she added, should also take note. “We really want to highlight the awareness factor here that unmarried people perhaps could be considered a high-risk, vulnerable population,” said Martinez, who added that clinicians and healthcare providers should make efforts to ask questions of unmarried patients about their social support and consider referring them to support services.

But others believe further analysis is needed. As Dr Bernard Rachet from the the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine points out, the study covers a period before the Affordable Care Act, known as “ObamaCare”, was introduced. What’s more, the research did not take into account whether patients married or divorced after their diagnosis, whether they were in relationships that did not involve marriage, or whether they had other diseases besides cancer. 

Commenting on the research, Dr Alan Worsley, senior information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: “While it’s unclear why married people in the study seemed to have better outcomes, it may in part be because partners can help to prompt their loved ones to go to the doctor early. So it’s important that single people make sure they go to the doctor soon if they develop a symptom they are concerned about.

“Doctors and nurses caring for single people with cancer should also take extra care in asking about their support networks and suggesting other avenues of support, like local groups. If anyone is unsure what to do, they can also ring Cancer Research UK’s nurses to talk things through on freephone 0808 800 4040.”

source:www.theguardian.com

'Mr Nice' Howard Marks Dies Of Cancer Aged 70

Tributes have been paid to Howard Marks, the former drugs smuggler known as Mr Nice, who is said to have died aged 70.

The Guardian reported that the writer died at his home near Bridgend in South Wales.

Marks announced he had inoperable bowel cancer last year.

Friend and former colleague at Loaded magazine James Brown told The Guardian that Marks was a "true modern-day folk hero", who had done "so many funny, shocking, illegal things".

He said: "He stood for everything we loved. Mr Nice was a thrilling book. Howard is a bloody great example to us all."

Marks had a monthly column at Loaded for five years and released his autobiography, Mr Nice, which detailed his many years smuggling cannabis, in 1996.

After years living under as many 43 aliases, he was eventually caught by the American Drug Enforcement Agency in 1988.

He was sentenced to 25 years at one of America's toughest prisons - Terre Haute, Indiana - and was released on parole in 1995 after serving seven years.

After his release from prison he became a prominent campaigner for the legalisation of cannabis and toured a comedy show.

He stood for parliament in four separate constituencies in the 1997 general election on the single issue of the legalisation of cannabis, catalysing the formation of the Legalise Cannabis Alliance.

In an interview with The Observer in January 2015, Marks said he had come to terms with his illness.

He said: "It's impossible to regret any part of my life when I feel happy and I am happy now, so I don't have any regrets and have not had any for a very long time.

"Smuggling cannabis was a wonderful way of living - perpetual culture shock, absurd amounts of money, and the comforting knowledge of getting so many people stoned."

Charlatans singer Tim Burgess tweeted: "A sad day. Howard Marks has died. What a story, what a life. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night x x"

Daisy Lewellyn: Bravo star dies of rare cancer aged 36.

Daisy Lewellyn, the stylist, former editor and Bravo star, has died from a rare form of cancer aged 36.

The reality TV star was diagnosed with stage three cancer in 2014

Born in California, Lewellyn first appeared in Bravo’s New York-based reality TV, Blood, Sweat and Tears in 2014. She was a former editor at Essence magazine. 

Lewellyn was diagnosed with stage-three bile duct cancer, a rare cancer affecting the liver, aged 34 and underwent a course of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. 

Arvind Kejriwal launches Emraan Hashmi's book on son's battle with cancer.

The book, which Emraan has co-written with author Bilal Siddiqi, tells about his struggle with his six-year-old son Ayaan's cancer treatment. The book has been published by Penguin Books India in three languages."I want to congratulate Emraan and Bilal for writing this book. More than that I want to congratulate Emraan over the battle that he fought with his son. I haven't read the book, but from what all I have heard, I would like to say that Emraan's son is a bigger superstar than his father," Kejriwal said at the launch. 

"This book is about hope. When a cancer patient loses hope, his/her body starts to give up. All cancer patients should read this book. Not only them, even we should read it to defeat all the struggles that we go through in our day-to-day routine."As a chief minister, I feel Emraan had the money to take his child to Canada for treatment. But there are a lot of people in India who don't have money for treatment. In that case, the government needs to help them financially. I wish Ayaan was here as I really want to meet him, he added. 

Born in February 2010, Ayaan, who is Emraan and wife Parveen Shahani's first child, was diagnosed with first stage cancer at the age of four in early 2014.About his struggle with Ayaan's cancer, Emraan said: "It all started before 2013 when I was at the top of the game and had a lot of success in the film industry. On January 13 that year, me, my wife Parveen and Ayaan were having lunch at a restaurant and that's when we noticed peculiar symptoms in my son.

"My wife took him to the washroom and he passed blood in his urine. We as parents freaked out and took him to the nearest hospital. We couldn't see him go through physical trauma as parents."After certain tests, Emraan found out that there was a "tumour growing on top of his (Ayaan's) left kidney".Emraan said that though he was doing everything for Ayaan financially, his chemotherapy treatment created a kind of fear in him. 

"As parents, we fought really hard for several months. Every time there was this fear that when chemotherapy is being given, everything is fine, but what will happen when it stops. I wanted to be sure that he'll be fine after that."Emraan said he was now happy that two years after Ayaan was diagnosed with cancer, he was now cancer free.

Bilal Siddiqi, who was present at the launch, thanked Emraan for letting him tell about his personal life to the public."I want to thank Emraan sir for giving me this opportunity to write this story. I met him slightly over a year ago when Hussain Zaidi took me to his house. It took us around three and half to four months to do it," he said. 

source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/