Weight loss condition provides insight into failure of cancer immunotherapies

Cambridge: A weight loss condition that affects patients with cancer has provided clues as to why cancer immunotherapy – a new approach to treating cancer by boosting a patient’s immune system – may fail in a substantial number of patients. Cancer immunotherapies involve activating a patient’s immune cells to recognise and destroy cancer cells. They have shown great promise in some cancers, but so far have only been effective in a minority of patients with cancer. The reasons behind these limitations are not clear.

Study testing the impact of weight loss on breast cancer recurrence

Dana Farber: Researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and partnering oncology practices across the United States and Canada are testing whether weight loss prevents women with breast cancer from a recurrence. Nestlé Health Science is donating OPTIFAST^® nutritionally complete, low calorie meal replacements to help women in the newly launched Breast Cancer Weight Loss (BWEL) study realize their weight loss goals. Women in the trial will be followed to determine if weight loss should be part of the standard of treatment for breast cancer.

Are protein-based fitness products worth the money?

TheConversation: Protein-based fitness products are now big business. Once aimed largely at athletes and hardcore gym-goers seeking to “bulk up”, protein shakes, powders and bars are now being consumed by “ordinary” people seeking to lose weight or tone their bodies. UK sales increased from £73m in 2007 to £170m in 2012 and are expected to reach £358m by 2017. This rise can be partly explained by the creation of more protein-based weight loss products aimed at women. While some of these products have been criticised for inappropriate marketing strategies, it’s also worth asking whether protein-based food replacements are even worth the money. Weight loss is most often accomplished by restricting dietary energy intake. This means consuming fewer calories. But exactly what we eat also affects how our bodies change.

Both weight loss and weight gain linked with increased fracture risk

BMJ. UK: Both weight gain and weight loss in older (postmenopausal) women are associated with increased incidence of fracture, but at different anatomical sites, finds a study published in The BMJ this week.
The findings also challenge the traditional view that weight gain protects against fractures.

Could meal-in-a-pill 'trick' body into losing weight?

NHS. UK: “Weight loss drug fools body into reacting as if it has just eaten,” The Guardian reports. The drug, fexaramine (or Fex), stimulates a protein involved in metabolism that is usually activated when the body begins eating, though it has only been tested in mice.
Researchers found that obese mice given Fex stayed the same weight despite continuing to eat the same amount of a high-fat diet. However, unlike some media claims, they did not actually lose any weight. It had no effect on mice of normal weight.

Obesity

Author: Dr Robert Baron University of California San Francisco 2008-07-13
Obesity is both preventable and treatable. This article, written by the Director of the Weight Management Program at UCSF, presents both an evidence-based review of the scientific literature and numerous "clinical pearls" to help lose weight and successfully keep it off.

Weight loss surgery 'not a quick fix' for good health

Weight loss surgery, such as fitting a gastric band, usually results in significant weight loss.
But this weight loss doesn't automatically lead to improvements in important markers for metabolic health, such as insulin sensitivity.
A low level of insulin sensitivity is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
In a new study, 128 adults were randomised into two groups. One group received a six-month moderate

exercise programme, while the other received a six-month health education programme.
After six months, those that followed the exercise programme had better insulin sensitivity than those following the educational programme.
But the picture was not completely clear. Quite a few people dropped out of the study or did not adhere to the six-month exercise programme fully.
This could mean the programme as a whole would not yield any significantly better improvements at a population level.
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