Stem cell link to prostate cancer - BBC News

Stem cell link to prostate cancer

Prostate epithelial stem cells (green) may trigger cancer

A newly identified type of stem cell may cause some cases of prostate cancer, research on mice suggests.

The cells, found among those which line the inner cavity of the prostate gland, can produce copies of themselves, and other, more mature cell types.

But researchers showed that when the cells were deliberately mutated by switching off a tumour suppressor gene they rapidly formed tumours.

The Columbia University study appears in the journal Nature.

Cancers arising from these particular stem cells might be naturally resistant to therapy, which raises the possibility of the development of new prostate cancer treatments targeted against them Dr Owen Sansom Cancer Research UK

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK.

Each year around 34,000 men are diagnosed with the disease, and around 10,000 die from it.

Stem cells, the body's master cells which can form many different types of tissue, have previously been implicated in other forms of cancer, such as leukaemia.

Their possible role in prostate cancer has been the subject of speculation for many years.

The cells have a long lifespan in the prostate and exist to generate new tissue, so in theory if they mutate and start to grow in an unregulated way they have the potential to be very damaging.

The newly identified cells - a type of luminal epithelial stem cell - do not rely on androgens - the male sex hormones that control prostate growth - to thrive.

Drug resistance

This may give a clue as to why prostate cancer often becomes resistant to treatments designed to regulate these androgens in the later stages of the disease.

However, researcher Dr Michael Shen stressed more work was needed to establish whether the cells existed in humans, and could trigger cancer.

He said: "While there does appear to be increasing evidence suggesting that normal stem cells may serve as an origin for cancer, the 'cancer stem cell' model remains far from proven, especially in solid tumours such as prostate.

"In principle, therapies directed at putative cancer stem cells may be beneficial, but this field is still at a very early stage."

Dr Helen Rippon, of The Prostate Cancer Charity, said: "It will be some time before we know if or how these findings apply to humans.

"However, understanding the very earliest stages of prostate cancer development and the cells involved is critical if we are to develop better ways to detect and treat the disease."

Dr Owen Sansom, a stem cell researcher from Cancer Research UK's Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, said the study raised the possibility of developing new treatments to tackle prostate cancer that was resistant to hormone-based therapy.

Sex disease link

In a separate study, a team from Harvard School of Public Health has found a strong association between a common sexually transmitted infection, Trichomonas vaginalis, and advanced lethal prostate cancer.

The National Cancer Institute study suggests the infection could be a source of inflammation which might trigger the cancer.

Trichomonas vaginalis infects an estimated 174 million people globally each year, but in up to three-quarters of infected men it produces no obvious symptoms.

Researchers analysed blood samples from 673 men with prostate cancer, comparing them with a similar number of samples from men who were free from the disease.

They found Trichomonas vaginalis infection was associated with a more than two-fold increase in the risk of prostate cancer that was advanced stage at diagnosis, and a nearly three-fold increase in prostate cancer that would result in death.

Opel and Vauxhall fate in balance - BBC News

Opel and Vauxhall fate in balance

Opel and Vauxhall employ about 50,000 people in Europe

General Motors (GM) is due to make an announcement in Berlin later about what it wants to do with its European brands, Opel and Vauxhall.

There have been rival bids for the units from Belgian investment group RHJ and Canadian car parts maker Magna.

But sources close to the negotiations say "the noise within the system" is that GM will reject the offers and try to keep control of its European arm.

Any GM decision would have to be approved by the German-led Opel Trust.

The Opel Trust has been in control since GM sought bankruptcy protection in the US.

It contains representatives from GM, the German federal government and the German states that contain Opel plants.

Job news

Opel employs a total of 54,500 workers across Europe, with 25,000 based in Germany.

Its Vauxhall brand employs 5,500 people in the UK, primarily at its two British plants in Luton and Ellesmere Port.

Unions in the UK say that GM keeping control of Vauxhall would be the best news for British jobs.

The German government has said that GM would have to repay its 1.5bn euro ($2.2bn; £1.3bn) loan.

"The 1.5bn-euro bridging credit is a loan. And a loan is a loan. GM must pay back the 1.5bn under the conditions that we agreed on for Opel," German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said on Wednesday.

Bankruptcy protection

He also said that there would be no more government help for GM if it closed German factories.

It is not clear where GM would get the money it would need to hang on to Opel.

GM emerged from 40 days of bankruptcy protection in July, based on a plan involving disposing of many of its brands. It is now 61% owned by the US government.

Last month, GM failed to choose between Magna and RHJ's initial bids, leading to speculation that the sale would not happen, for fear of technology and engineering resources ending up in a competitor's hands.

The German government prefers the Magna bid, based on the two companies' plans for job cuts at Opel following the takeover.

Both will see significant cutbacks in the workforce, but Magna is proposing fewer job cuts in Germany.

Nearly 25,000 people are employed at Opel's four plants in Germany, so the country has a strong interest in the outcome of the takeover, especially with a general election taking place in Germany later this month.

There is also understood to be pressure to find a solution in order to avoid distracting attention from model launches at next week's Frankfurt Motor Show.

Freed journalist thanks rescuers - BBC News

Freed journalist thanks rescuers

Stephen Farrell (left) and Sultan Munadi were held in Kunduz

A journalist whose rescue in Afghanistan left a British paratrooper dead has thanked the soldiers who saved him, saying "it will never be enough".

New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell also paid tribute to his colleague, Afghan journalist Sultan Munadi, who died in the rescue "trying to help me".

They were kidnapped travelling to the scene of a Nato air strike and have been criticised for going to the area.

But Mr Farrell said his Afghan drivers advised him the road "appeared safe".

Crowd gathers

The 46-year-old had travelled to Kunduz, in the north of the country, to investigate the air strike last Friday on two hijacked fuel tankers when he was abducted with Mr Munadi, a journalist who was working as an translator.

In his blog in the New York Times, he said: "The drivers made a few phone calls and said the road north appeared to be safe until mid to late afternoon.

It was over. Sultan was dead. He had died trying to help me, right up to the very last seconds of his life Stephen Farrell Farrell's New York Times blog Kidnapped reporter 'fearless' Reporting from the danger zones

"It was close to the cut-off point, but if we left immediately we could do it."

En route to see the tankers, the reporters stopped at the hospital where injured Afghanis were being treated. Mr Farrell said there were other Western journalists and aid workers there.

The following day they visited the site of the strike. Mr Farrell said: "There was no sign of hostility from the crowd, only faces eager to tell a story."

But he added: "A crowd began to gather, time passed and we grew nervous. I do not know how long we were there, but it was uncomfortably long. I am comfortable with the decision to go to the riverbank, but fear we spent too long there."

The pair were captured shortly afterwards, and spent the next four days being moved between safe houses by the Taliban. Mr Farrell said they were treated well.

Two Afghan civilians also died in the Nato raid, a local governor told the BBC.

I would not leave Afghanistan. I have passed the very darkest times of my country, when there was war and insecurity Sultan Munadi Mr Munadi's New York Times blog

A resident of Char Dara district in Kunduz province, Mohammad Nabi, reportedly said his brother's wife was killed when his home was raided.

The Taliban had turned up there on Tuesday night with their two captives, demanding shelter, Mr Nabi told Reuters.

Military insiders have questioned whether going to an area where anger against the West had been caused by the civilian deaths in the Nato strike was wise.

The Daily Telegraph quotes a senior Army source: "When you look at the number of warnings this person had it makes you really wonder whether he was worth rescuing, whether it was worth the cost of a soldier's life.

"In the future, special forces might think twice in a similar situation."

Robin Horsfall, a former SAS officer, told Channel 4 News: "Some questions will be asked if a journalist has behaved in a reckless fashion and put them in this position.

"There's going to be some resentment."

This is the second time Mr Farrell has been abducted while on assignment - in 2004 he was kidnapped in the Iraqi city of Falluja while working for London's Times newspaper.

Journalist Stephen Grey, who has worked in Afghanistan, said Mr Farrell was a fearless reporter.

"He is the sort of person who realises that you have to get out of your comfort zone beyond the wire in order to work out the truth."

Mr Farrell has described the moment the firefight with the Taliban started and Mr Munadi died.

"I did not know whether the bullets came from in front, to his right or to his left," he said.

"It was over. Sultan was dead. He had died trying to help me, right up to the very last seconds of his life."

Mr Farrell said he had thanked the soldiers who rescued him. "It wasn't, and never will be, enough," he said.

Turkish flood death toll rises - BBC News

Turkish flood death toll rises

Dazed Turks have begun to clear up after the sudden deluge

The death toll following huge floods that swept through Istanbul and north-western Turkey has risen to at least 31 people, with others still missing.

Authorities have begun the clear-up, while teams are still searching for the missing, after what the prime minister called the "disaster of the century".

The rain - described as the heaviest in 80 years - has abated, but more is expected in the coming days.

The truth about how the victims perished has begun to emerge.

Thirteen truck drivers were reported to have been killed as a sudden tide of water and mud swept through the lorry park where they were sleeping.

"We heard a crashing sound and then saw the waters coming down carrying cars and debris," Nuri Bitken, a 42-year-old night guard at a the lorry park, told the Reuters news agency.

My friend got stuck in the truck after the water rose all at once. The vehicle stopped working after filling with water. We rescued him with a winch Kamil Coskun, Istanbul resident In pictures: Istanbul floods

"We tried to wake up those who were still asleep in the trucks but some didn't make it. The dead had to be retrieved by boats."

Earth movers began lifting the debris at the scene on Thursday, where trailers had been tipped on their side and left in heaps like litter washed up on shore.

A family of five - a man, his wife and three daughters - were all found dead in the mud that swept through their farm in Tekirdag, outside Istanbul.

Meanwhile a minibus in Bagcilar, a working-class suburb of Istanbul, was found to contain the bodies of seven women drowned as they travelled to work at a textile factory.

Poor drainage

The flooding came suddenly following very heavy rain on Tuesday and overnight into Wednesday.

Lorries were swept up and dumped like litter

Main roads were suddenly submerged - some under several feet of water. Pictures showed people sitting on top of buses, while cars barely poked above the surface.

Rescuers toured the scene in boats, while others were helped from their stranded vehicles with the help of planks or ladders stretched to a safe place, while helicopters plucked people from the roofs of buildings.

The worst flooding was in low-lying areas in the western (European) part of the city straddling the Bosphorus Strait, which divides Europe from Asia.

That part of the city is known to suffer from poor drainage.

However other parts of the city, including the historic tourist area of Sultanahmet, were largely unscathed.

Japan death row 'breeds insanity' - BBC News

Japan death row 'breeds insanity'

Criminal trials in Japan have more than a 99% conviction rate

Prisoners on death row in Japan are being driven towards insanity by harsh conditions, according to human rights group Amnesty International.

The group is calling for an immediate moratorium on all further executions and for police interrogation reform.

A total of 102 prisoners face execution in Japan. Many of them are elderly and have spent decades in near isolation.

International human rights standards prohibit the imposition of the death penalty on the mentally ill.

In Japan, where criminal trials have a 99% conviction rate, the death penalty has wide public support.

AMNESTY REPORT Hanging By A Thread: Mental Health and the Death Penalty in Japan Most computers will open this document automatically, but you may need to download Adobe Reader Download the reader here

But Amnesty's UK Director Kate Allen called on the government to immediately halt executions.

"Rather than persist with a shameful capital punishment system, the new Japanese government should immediately impose a moratorium on all further executions," she said.

'Sheer non-existence'

Ms Allen called the death row system a "regime of silence, isolation and sheer non-existence".

She said that the Japanese practice of informing prisoners that they would be killed with only a few hours notice was "utterly cruel".

According to the report - which researchers said had been challenging to compile due to the secrecy of the country's justice system - the conditions faced by many death row prisoners are making them mentally ill.

Death row prisoners, according to Amnesty, are not allowed to speak to other inmates and are held in isolation.

Apart from twice or thrice-weekly exercise sessions, they are not even allowed to move around their cells but must remain seated, the group says.

As a result, many are now suffering from mental illnesses and are delusional.

According to Japan's code of criminal procedure if a person condemned to death is in a state of insanity, the execution shall by stayed by the justice minister.

But, Amnesty says, executions of inmates who exhibit signs of mental illness - caused by the extreme conditions and the sheer length of their detention - continue.

Between January 2006 and January 2009, the group says, 32 men were executed - including 17 who were older than 60. Five of this group were in their seventies, making them among the oldest executed prisoners in the world.

Capello hails 'best' England win - BBC News

Capello hails 'best' England win

Capello delighted to qualify for World Cup

Fabio Capello called England's 5-1 win over Croatia the "best performance" under him as the squad qualified for the 2010 World Cup finals.

England cantered to victory at Wembley thanks to goals from Frank Lampard (2), Steven Gerrard (2) and Wayne Rooney to keep up their 100% qualifying record.

Coach Capello said: "I'm very happy. We've achieved our target early.

"I think this was the best performance under me. We played fast, pressed the ball and our movement was fantastic."

The romp was England's eighth win out of eight in Group Six, ensuring their qualification for next summer's tournament in South Africa with two games to spare.

Beckham hails Lennon's performance

They have scored 31 goals in that time, conceding only five, and the difference between England under Capello compared to predecessor Steve McClaren could hardly be more marked.

It was at Wembley that McClaren watched his England side fail to qualify for Euro 2008 with a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Croatia.

But Wednesday's procession made it 9-2 on aggregate over the two games in which the sides have met in this campaign, following a 4-1 win in Zagreb last September.

"Both of our performances against Croatia pleased me," stated Capello. "We need to press hard, play fast and develop our movement on and off the ball - and we showed that in both games.

FOOTBALL BLOG Fabio Capello makes managing England look easy BBC Sport's Phil McNulty

"In the first 20 minutes tonight we were fantastic. I don't think we've ever been so strong and compact as we were at the start of this game."

And the Italian hinted he would give the fringe players in the squad the chance to impress in the final two qualifying games and he added: "I think I will give others a chance and have a look at things.

"I don't need to decide now but it is an option, yes."

Captain John Terry was equally pleased but echoed his manager's sentiments to guard against complacency from now on.

"When we play like that, pressing opponents and working the ball, we're a difficult opposition for any side," said the Chelsea defender.

Terry proud to lead team to World Cup finals

"But don't forget, it's taken a year or so for us to get this good and we've still got a way to go to get to where we ultimately want to be. But we're on the right track."

Terry meanwhile claims to have been spat at by Bolton striker Ivan Klasnic during the second half of Wednesday's victory.

However, the 28-year-old insists the incident should not detract from the joy of qualifying for the World Cup.

"It's not a nice situation," said Terry.

"He is the first person who has ever spat at me. It's one of those things but let's not let it ruin a massive night for us."

Two-goal midfielder Lampard, though, insisted the players should be allowed to enjoy their qualification and commented: "The way we've played tonight typifies our campaign I think.

"We've got a long way to go to win the whole thing, obviously, but we've qualified and we're there. It's nice to get excited at the moment and we will celebrate this, I'm sure."

Croatia boss Slaven Bilic was left in awe of England's performance and believes that if Capello's side can continue in the same vein then they will be contenders to win the World Cup next summer.

606: DEBATE Well done to the whole squad, and of course FABIO CAPELLO, who is a legend. What a performance! ArsenalRules4Eva

"We didn't expect this in our worst nightmares," conceded Bilic. "They were fantastic from the start.

"They didn't surprise us. They played their own game and they looked the sharper, more aggressive side even before the first goal.

"We were very happy at half-time that it was only 2-0. It could have been five. Our goalkeeper was fantastic.

"When we conceded a third goal we could not come back. I would like to congratulate them for a fantastic performance.

"If they manage to play like this then of course they can the World Cup."

Obama woos Congress on healthcare - BBC News

Obama woos Congress on healthcare

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Obama cheered and heckled

US President Barack Obama has made one of the most important speeches of his presidency, as he faced Congress over his plans for healthcare reform.

Mr Obama said that failure to introduce reform had led the country to breaking point and it was now time to act.

He said he planned to improve health insurance for those who have it and to create an insurance exchange to extend cover to those who do not.

Republicans said Mr Obama's plans would make healthcare much more expensive.

See how healthcare spending is divided up

Mr Obama told Congress that the US was the only developed country that allowed millions of its people to endure the hardship of going without healthcare.

MARDELL BLOG It seemed to go down pretty well in the chamber, but it's how Americans receive it over the next few hours and days that really counts Mark Mardell BBC North America editor Mark Mardell follows the speech Obama speech: Full text Send us your comments

"Everyone understands the extraordinary hardships that are placed on the uninsured, who live every day just one accident or illness away from bankruptcy," he said.

"These are not primarily people on welfare. These are middle-class Americans."

But Mr Obama said the current system did not serve well those Americans who do have health insurance either.

"Those who do have insurance have never had less security and stability than they do today.

"More and more Americans worry that if you move, lose your job, or change your job, you'll lose your health insurance too."

He said the US spent one-and-a-half times more on health insurance than any other country but Americans were no healthier than other people.

Heckled

Mr Obama set out details of his plan to reform the system.

One Republican shouted: "You lie" at Barack Obama during the speech

He said that nothing in his proposal would require Americans who already have health insurance to change their coverage or doctor.

But he said he would make the insurance work better for individuals by prohibiting insurers from dropping coverage for sick patients or by capping it.

He would also require insurers to cover the cost of routine check-ups and preventative care.

For the millions of uninsured Americans, he said he would create an insurance exchange - a market place where individuals and small business will be able to shop for health insurance at competitive prices.

Mr Obama said a public insurance option could help keep the private health insurance companies honest and competitive.

But he said it would not be subsidised by the government, so would not create unfair competition for the private sector.

He added that the public option was only a means to an end, and he remained open to other ideas if they had the same effect.

HEALTHCARE IN THE US 46 million uninsured, 25 million under-insured Healthcare costs represent 16% of GDP, almost twice OECD average Reform plans would require all Americans to get insurance Some propose public insurance option to compete with private insurers Q&A: US healthcare reform Reform: Who wants what? Obama's healthcare fight-back

When Mr Obama said illegal immigrants would not benefit from his plan, the Republican ranks showed signs of near mutiny, says the BBC's Jonathan Beale in Washington.

One Republican representative shouted: "You lie", and the president paused briefly.

In the official Republican response to Mr Obama's speech, Representative Charles Boustany, a heart surgeon, urged a fresh start on "a commonsense, bipartisan plan".

He added: "Replacing your family's current healthcare with government-run healthcare is not the answer. In fact, it'll make healthcare much more expensive."

Our correspondent says Mr Obama was clearly not looking for right-wing Republican support - he knows he will not get it.

He says the speech was another strong performance from Mr Obama and an attempt to turn the tide in the healthcare debate.

But our correspondent adds the speech may have also come too late as positions are already entrenched and some of Mr Obama's supporters wonder why he did not do this months ago.

Healthcare reform has been the central issue of his change agenda but has divided both the US public and the country's political establishment.

President Obama said that Congress agreed on about 80% of the reforms that are needed.

But he said months of partisan bickering had only hardened the disdain many Americans have towards their own government.

He is facing almost unanimous opposition from Republicans, who are uneasy about the idea of government-run healthcare and who have accused Mr Obama of attempting to introduce a "socialist" policy.

There are, in theory, enough Democrats in Congress to approve the changes.

But in practice, the party is deeply divided between those that want a publicly-run insurance scheme and those alarmed by the borrowing necessary to fund it.

US MEDIA REACTION TO OBAMA'S SPEECH

The complaints about Republicans at the end also didn't sound, to me, like they'll play well. Right now, more voters are on their side than yours. Don't tell them they're gullible dupes, and/or mean-spirited obstructionists.

The Atlantic Monthly's Megan McArdle has some advice for the president.

The majority of the speech was proddingly practical, in a dutiful debater kind of way... But then, at the end, came the rousing defense of liberalism I was waiting for. For a speech in which he was trying to forge a consensus this was a brave and risky move.

Hanna Rosin, of DoubleX, was heartened by Mr Obama's finale.

[It] was nearly an hour of snake-oil salesmanship, promises that cannot possibly be kept, and false invocations of bipartisan civility even as he was trying to deliver partisan roundhouses of his own.

John Podhoretz, of Commentary magazine, thought the speech was too partisan.

If Obama hasn't created the perfect plan, he's created something arguably more impressive: a plan that actually might pass. That plan might not do enough to change the system, and it may not spend enough to protect everybody, but there is plenty in the proposal that will better the lives, health coverage, and financial security for millions of real people.

The Washington Post's Ezra Klein applauds the president's pragmatism.

Even though I didn't think coming in that he had to move public opinion, he may have actually done that. But if nothing else, he's set the stage for positive action in Congress, laid down the markers he needed to lay down, and in general, regained some serious momentum for health care reform.

The New Republic's Ed Kilgore says the president regained momentum.

Taken together I thought President Obama did a solid job laying out the essential elements of his reform, rebuking the liars and laying out some beginnings of an elevating vision of just what this whole effort is about. Just what the effect will be, I find it difficult to predict.

Talking Points Memo's Josh Marshall thinks it was a solid job.

Never has a president been warped by Washington quicker. At times tonight, Obama sounded like an embattled second-termer with a 35% approval rating. What percentage of his speech was spent lashing out at his enemies, real and imagined?... This isn't how confident leaders speak. These are the complaints of a man on his way to bitterness. So soon?

The Daily Beast's Tucker Carlson says the president sounded bitter.

The problem for Democrats is they are scaring voters by proposing a takeover of healthcare that spends too much money, creates too much debt, gives Washington too much power, and takes too much decision-making away from doctors and patients… the prospect of their own political future may yet concentrate many Democratic minds in Congress.

Karl Rove, for the The Wall Street Journal, says Obama's plan could backfire for Democrats.