Been reading about a new class of cancer chemotherapy drug, called the epothilones, which seem to offer the promise of greater efficacy, with perhaps a special relevance for blood group A cancer patients. The epothilones are much like the taxol class of chemotherapy drugs in that they inhibit mitotic spindle degradation in the malignant cell (mitotic spindles are the delicate network of tubes that act as a scaffold for the migration of the split chromosomes as the become two new ‘daughter cells.' In essence, promoting tubulin polymerziation prevents the mitotic spindle from being broken down by stabilizing the microtubule bundles, so the cell cannot replicate.

Taxol class chemotherapy drugs represent one of the most effective classes of anticancer therapeutics; however many human cancers either do not respond or become resistant to taxol-based therapy. Since 1995 Epothilone B, a new drug class sharing the same mechanism as taxol, has been in development. But, unlike taxol type drugs, epothilones have cytotoxic activity on cells overexpressing P-glycoprotein. P glycoprotein is rewsponsible in part, for drug resistance associated with many anti-cancer treatments.

This may be important for type A individuals, who appear to have increased level of p-glycoprotein in their malignancies, which may explain why in my clinical observances, they tend to be under-represented in the long term survivor groups. A drug that does not appear to be inhibited by p-glycoprotein may be just what the patient ordered.

In contrast to taxol class drugs, epothilones demonstrate a 2.5-fold greater potency than taxol, cause virtually complete cell-cycle arrest and are active in a large panel of cell lines and multi drug-resistant cancer types.

Obviously, I'm not a big fan of chemotherapy. But, as of right now, it is a part of the cancer treatment landscape and if it can be made to work better in certain individuals, so much the better.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

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Cool is a complex aesthetic of motion and interval, of tension and tranquility, of juxtaposition and coexistence, that has its roots in various West African cultures. Over time, it has been transformed by African-Americans and appropriated by American and Western popular culture, generally.

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A new study seems to indicate that Tai Chi may reduce falls in the elderly. The researchers concluded that ‘Improved functional balance through Tai Chi training is associated with subsequent reductions in fall frequency in older persons,' the authors write. ‘Healthcare providers and clinicians contemplating fall-prevention programs for older persons at risk of falling should consider Tai Chi, both as a balance-retraining program, and as part of a multifaceted treatment intervention for fall prevention.'On of the main topics at ifHI 2003 was the link between elevated levels of a 'soluable endothelial factor' called E-Selectin, and individuals who are blood type A. In a nutshell E-selectin is one of several molecules that are involved in the adhesion of certain white blood cells to the artery wall, typically as a result of inflammation. Higher levels of E-selectin may contribute to the overall greater levels of heart disease seen in type A individuals.

New research indicates (again) that a 'western' level of red meat consumption results in increased levels of E-selectin. Also worth noting is that the artery inflammation caused by E-selectin is greatly enhanced by elevated levels of other blood clotting factors (Factor VIII, von Willebrand Factor) which can be up to 25% lower in normal, healthy, type O individuals when compared to type A.

E-selectin levels drop with a vegetable based diet. so if you're type A an think you need to do Atkins or Paleo, think again. You may well wind up cooking your arteries.

Reading Stewart Brand's How Buildings Learn. Interesting book on how certain architectural designs become 'old' if only because they've become adaptable over long periods of time, and how so very few of our most recent architectural 'gems' shown any of this tendency.

Probably the most interesting story is one in which he discusses an analysis of how office furniture gets moved around over time. Apparently the most common second location for furniture is simply just back to its original site. As in so many other areas of life, first impressions often lead to the most workable solutions.

This last issue of Newseek magazine was devoted to 'Diet and Genes', so not surprisingly, there was no reference to blood type whatsoever. During an MSNBC chat with the article author, Anne Underword, the following interaction occurred:

Fredericksburg, VA: Did you ever hear about Dr. Peter D'Adamo, who has been advocating for over 20 years to eat according to your genetic profile: your blood type?

Anne Underwood: I'm amazed that his ideas have proven so popular. I certainly know people who swear by his books, but I've never seen any hard evidence backing up his ideas. Blood type is just one genetically determined trait among thousands. Tiny changes in genes, known an single-nucleotide polymorphisms, can determine the functioning of any gene in your body, including those that control the way you process different nutrients. Why would those tiny mutations, occuring randomly, have anything to do with blood type?

Perfect non-answer. 'We are doing an article on genes and diet, but the part about genes and diet that we want to talk about are the SNPs, and since blood type has nothing to do with SNPs, it must have nothing to do with diet.'

Dinner out last night with an old friend of ours who has struggled back from a series of health problems. Fish with assorted vegetables. Yummy, if a bit overpriced, but that is Greenwich Connecticut these days. Incredibly high noise levels, to which you can only add your own attempts to scream above the cacophony.

This is an example of what some people call 'the escalation phenomena.'

You can only be heard by screaming above the high noise level, produced by other people screaming loud enough to be heard above your screams.

Like Dean Ornish and Robert Atkins on the Larry King show in 'the old days.'

A good example of the escalation phenomena is sometimes seen in clinical medicine. It usually takes form in a clinician misinterpreting the side effects of his treatment as signs of the further progression of the disease, thereby requiring more treatment. An example of this in the last century was the use in allopathic medicine of huge doses of mercury to treat syphillis. Its use was so accepted that eventually the symptoms of mercury poisoning were included in the descriptions of end-stage syphillis.

Olga, our dinner guest, lost her husband Eric about a year ago. Once, about ten years ago, we got talking about medicine, and Eric volunteered his philosophy that 'the body has a bias towards healing.' I remember having to take a step back from this, since over the course of my life, I have never associated the word 'bias' with anything other than negative meaning.

However, I then remembered that radios were 'biased', i.e. the difference between an AM and FM radio, was simply that the AM radio was biased to receive AM frequencies, while FM radios were biased to receive FM. So to understand his meaning of the word, I had to understand that his use of the word bias was in the context of an orientation or leaning-towards.

It was so like Eric to have the ability to rescue a villified word like bias and put it back to work.

Tom Greenfield's column on blood type and osteoporosis is a must-read. Research published this year showed significant difference between the ABO blood types and the rate of osteoporosis. In a study that looked at 227 postmenopausal women. The results showed that the prevalence of osteoporosis in the proximal femur and lumbar spine averaged 2.3- and 1.7-fold higher in women with blood type AB than in those with blood type O.

This again validates the sophistication of choosing one's diet based upon the genetics of blood type. How many type O's have been lectured by dieticians and other vegetarian nutritionists that 'all that protein will give you osteoporosis.' Guess what? Doesn't happen. Type AB women on the other hand, may have a good friend in cultured dairy products, and the AB diet gives permission to use these high calcium foods.

A new study looked at the distribution of ABO blood groups in acute leukaemias and lymphomas. As I predicted in in my first book over ten years ago, in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, there were more patients with O blood group. In Hodgkin's lymphoma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients, there less patients with A blood group, respectively. This leads me to believe that the cellular mechanisms (T, Tn) that are found in 'A-like' cancers (breast, colon, stomach) are not a factor in lymphoproliferative diseases, which as my oncology professor many years ago quickly and frequently reminded us, 'are not true cancers.'

A study published in Acta Otolaryngol found a correlation between ABO group and noise induced hearing loss; with a significantly higher number of workers tested being blood group O.

I've been researching P-glycoprotein, a membrane glycoprotein that is associated with resistance to a variety of drugs, including many chemotherapy drugs used in cancer. There is evidence that p-glycoprotein levels can can be expressed up to seven times more numerously in tissues of individuals who are blood type A which may go along way towards explaining why it appears that type A's with cancer who receive chemotherapy often do not have as beneficial an effect as the other blood types.

Obviously finding ways to modulate P-glycoprotein would be very desirable, especially if they could be administered during chemotherapy. So far there appears to be a variety of flavones and alkaloids found in nature that up-regulate or down-regulate P-glycoprotein, so perhaps a nutritional application may be possible. Much more work is needed, but from the biochemical aspect, it is quite fascinating. From a broader perspective, the potential that P-glycoprotein inhibitors may have for the treatment of various immune disorders should also be investigated.

P-glycoprotein also influences the uptake of chemicals via the blood brain barrier (in the case of xenobiotics, with negative effect) so there may well be applications with regard to individuals who are 'brain allergic' i.e. have neurotoxic effects from common environmental chemicals.Interesting fact: Soy proteins have been criticized by certain nutritionists because they contain 'tyrosine kinase inhibitors'. Studies have shown that these same inhibitors block the multi-drug resistance resulting from excess P-glycoprotein.