A new skin cancer cure has emerged recently when skin cancer patients were cured by his own cloned cells.

This happened in the US when a group of doctors has for the first time successfully treated a skin cancer patient with cells cloned from his own immune system.  The ground breaking skin cancer treatment for advanced melanoma, or skcin cancer, led to a long remission for the cancer suffering patient.

This was what happened - Dr Yee and his team from the Clinical Research Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre in Seattle removed CD4+ T-cells, a type of white blood cell, from the 52-year old patient, whose melanoma was already well advanced and in stage four.  The patient had been given less than a year to live.

The T-cells which specifically fight melanoma were modified and expanded in the lab and some five billion cells were then infused into the patient, who received no other kind of treatment.  2 months later, no tumoours were found during scans of his organs.  And he has been cancer free for 2 years, according to Dr. Yee.

It was the first ever case to show that cloned cells from a patient's own immune system can successfully combat skin cancer.  If further tests confirm the efficiency of the method, it could be used in some 25% of patients with late stage skin cancer, the study said.

Using a patient's own immune system to combat cancer, called immunotherapy, is a growing area of research that aims to develop less toxic cancer treatments than standard chemotherapy and radiation.  Because cancer occurs when the body's own cells grow out of control, the immune system responds weakly to the disease.

"The ability of the bodys own defences to tackle cancer in this case is all the more remarkable because the most deadly feature of the disease is its ability to colonise other parts of the body, when it becomes much harder to treat", London's Telegraph said.

Another piece of good news is that there were no harmful side effects to the therapy.  What was more is that the pateitn's immune system had targeted not just one type of protein target on cancer cells, but 2 others as well.  It is possible that treatment spurred the immune system to expand its cancer fighting ability in new ways.

However, the immune priming experiments has yet to yield a consistent therapy.  Even the researchers who worked on the experiement involving 9 patients and just 1 success were quick to qualify the results. - "Its only 1 patient"

Some 160,000 cases of melanoma are diagonsed around the world every year.  According to the World Health Organisation, some 48,000 people die from melanoma every year.

Tags: Melanoma, Skin Cancer

Studies show that babies breastfed exclusively for the first six months are less prone to developing allergies later on in life than babies who aren't. In fact, there is mounting evidence that the longer you breastfeed, the greater the benefits in terms of health and development.

Similarly, the variety of food that a baby is exposed to in the first few years of life may well set the tone of his dietary preferences in later years.

A good weaning diet is one that can provide the baby with the essential nutrients as well as variety. It should be balanced and food should be offered in moderation. Baby's first foods should also be easy to digest. It is recommended that iron-fortified rice cereal as the first solid food as rice is one of the least allergenic foods.  The baby's iron stores will run out at around six months and it is therefore crucial to provide him with an adequate amount of iron to prevent iron deficiency.

Once the baby shows no adverse reaction to the rice cereal, you may proceed to feeding him other single ingredient foods such as pureed fruit, vegetables or other grains, then follow with other protein-rich foods such as meat and chicken.

Purees are a good way to start as their smooth and runny texture will give the baby a comfortable first-food experience. Breast milk or formula can be added to the puree to modify the consistency if needed, especially for babies who have just started on their first solid food adventure.

One key piece of advice about feeding: 'Do not cook too much and do not push the baby to finish the food. One or two spoonfuls may be all your baby will be able to take at the beginning.'

Most children who eat a wide variety of food will not need additional supplementation. But for fussy eaters, growing-up milks which comprise special formulas may help. These can act as a safety net which provides them with energy and nutrients needed for growth.

Tags: Baby, Weaning