Science Media Centre

The suggestion from a WHO task-force that cellphone exposure is “possibly carcinogenic”  has generated wide spread media buzz over the potential risks of mobile devices. At 4am on Wednesday (NZ time) the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a subsidiary of the World Health Organization, released a monograph classifying exposure to mobile phones as [...]

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a subsidiary of the World Health Organization, has released a monograph classifying exposure to mobile phones as “possibly carcinogenic to humans”, or in Group 2B by their classification system. They found that wireless phone use may increase the risk of glioma, a malignant brain cancer. The official [...]

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is assessing the carcinogenic hazards associated with exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields. They are looking at: (a) occupational exposures to radiation from radar and to microwaves, (b) environmental exposures associated with transmission of signals for radio, television and wireless telecommunication, and (c) personal exposures associated with the [...]

University of Otago scientists have uncovered how a key protein is involved in the uncontrolled growth of cancer cells. Research into the protein PAX8, undertaken by Prof Mike Eccles and his team, has just been published in an high-ranking international journal. Reporting for the Otago Daily Times, John Gibb explains the implications of the research. [...]

Media coverage and commentary on the crisis in Japan’s Fukeshima Daiichi nuclear plant has focused intensely on possible acute effects from radiation exposure. In response, a local expert has contacted the Science Media Centre with the following comments on a topic he thinks is more relevant for people outside the ailing nuclear plant’s evacuation perimeter, including Kiwis [...]

Martin Johnston writes in the New Zealand Herald about a ‘stealth’ anti-cancer drug, developed by Auckland University researchers, which is to begin clinical development overseas. The drug, PR509, targets lung tumours while leaving healthy tissue alone: it is activated by the hypoxic (low oxygen) conditions which exist in solid tumours. An excerpt: (read in full [...]

A study of more than 82,000 heart patients in Quebec was published today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ). It concludes that radiation used in cardiac angioplasty or myocardial perfusion imaging is strong enough to cause a five per cent increase in cancer risk during the five years after imaging. Our colleagues at the [...]

Rebecca Todd writes in Stuff about new statistics out from the World Cancer Research Fund showing that New Zealand has the fourth highest rate of cancer in world: kiwi women are ranked second highest for cancer rates, and kiwi men eighth. However, health experts say a third of kiwi cancer could be prevented by healthier [...]

Jeff Hampton reports for 3 News about a new blood test which researchers believe could substantially change how cancer is detected and treated. The test, which is able to detect a single cancer cell, could show cancer before conventional scans, and also provides a non-invasive means of monitoring the disease. An excerpt: (read in full [...]

A newly-released Ministry of Health report shows that New Zealand survival rates for cancer improved between 1998 and 2007. However, there were differences in survival rates by gender, disease extent, ethnicity and level of deprivation, with women having slightly higher survival rates than men, and non-Maori having higher survival rates than Maori. Media coverage: Stuff: [...]