What's Hot
What's Hot
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| July 1999 Melanoma Metastases reduced by Soy Isoflavones The incidence of melanoma has been increasing. Malignant melanoma is one of the fastest cancers to metastasize and, if not detected and treated early, can be one of the more lethal forms. There are four major types of melanoma: lentigo-maligna melanoma which appears on sun exposed areas, superficial spreading melanoma, which accounts for two-thirds of all melanomas; nodular melanoma, which can occur anywhere on the body and acrolentiginous melanoma, an uncommon form that arises on the palms of the hands, soles of the feet or under the tongue. The thickness of the tumor when melanoma is diagnosed is a good predictor of the survivability of this form of cancer, thicker tumors being most likely to metastasize or recur. Tumors less than .76 mm show a good rate of cure. In a study reported in the Journal of Nutrition this year, mice injected with melanoma cells whose diets were supplemented with isoflavones from soybeans had a lower number of metastases than a control group fed the same diet without the isoflavones. Of the metastatic tumors observed, the mice receiving the isoflavones also had significantly smaller tumors than the control group. Patients diagnosed with melanoma may wish to try taking a soy isoflavone concentrate to help prevent potentially lethal metastasis. —D Dye
Human Embryos Cloned When the successful cloning of Dolly the sheep was announced, we knew it was only a matter of time until the cloning of the first human. Recently, scientists at Advanced Cell Technology in Massachusetts have announced the production of a male embryo consisting of approximately four hundred cells, cloned from a human cell extracted from a man's leg which was inserted into the outer protein of a denucleated cow's egg. The embryo was incinerated before it reached fourteen days old in conformance with government research guidelines. The goal of this experimentation is to produce tissue that can be useful in the treatment of Diabetes, Parkinson's disease, nerve damage or other conditions. —D Dye
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