The battle against breast cancer

A research project in Portugal, now nearing completion, has developed a new drug that will likely offer an unprecedented remedy for women with a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer.

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) severely reduces the chances of survival. It accounts for about 15% of cancer cases, but no specific treatment has been available. The best that could be done so far was to surgically remove the tumour and give a cocktail of chemotherapy drugs that are known to work against other types of cancer.

“After some time the body often creates defences against this cocktail and it no longer works,” says Dr Andrena Valenta who works at the University of Lisbon. Once such resilience has set in the cancer becomes all the more aggressive

Dr Valenta and her research partner, Dr Helena Garcia, have been concentrating on a one-year project called CanceResolution that runs to the end of this month. It is focused on ruthenium, a rare silvery-white metal known to be well tolerated by the human body. Their experiments show that a ruthenium-based drug they and their team have developed may halt the growth of TNBC cells and stop them from spreading. 

“So far from a toxicity point of view, the drug’s profile looks good,” says Dr Garcia. “Our studies show that 24 hours after administrating the drug, there’s a high concentration of the compound in the tumour, but in the surrounding blood and urine it’s almost gone. This means the secondary effects of our drug should be low.”  

In Portugal as in other European countries, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among women. The public awareness, diagnosis, treatment and survival rates of early cancer have all increased over the past decade. Just before a three-day international conference on all this was being held in Berlin last week, a panel of experts in the United States published a report aimed at greatly reducing all forms of this deadly disease.

The report advised that all women should be screened for breast cancer every other year from the age of 40. In Portugal it has been generally accepted that women should be screened every other year between the ages of 50 and 69. With early detection and prevention, patients are said to have an 80% chance of survival. Mammogram tests involving small doses of X-ray can detect early signs.

Normal chemotherapy treatment can have very harsh side-effects, ranging from nausea and lack of appetite to exhaustion and hair loss. This is because drugs that attack the cells of fast-growing tumour cells often attack healthy cells as well. Radiography is not a cell-based treatment, but it too can mean patients suffering severe side-effects. Surgery in which cancer tissue is cut out can be a fast method to remove a tumour, but if cancer tissue remains undiscovered, the cancer may continue to develop.

Many cancer-inhibiting oral drugs have been licensed and put on the market to help with the treatment of such illnesses as chronic myeloid leukaemia and melanoma, as well as breast cancer. Unfortunately, there are numerous safety concerns with these oral drugs. The absorption rate of about half of them is influenced by the patient’s diet, so their use confronts patients and medical staff with additional challenges. A multidisciplinary approach may be necessary, involving physicians, nurses and pharmacists.

Much hope is offered by therapies said to fight cancer by reinforcing the body’s immune system. When fully functional, our immune system protects us against infections. Many clinical reports have been published about relatively new therapies. Dendritic cell-based treatment uses the patient’s own blood cells to boost the immune system so that it recognises and destroys cancer cells. 

There is good reason to be optimistic about future trends in Portugal as a consortium that brings together the Champalimaud Foundation and several Portuguese companies funded by the Plano de Resiliencia e recuperacao has a project called ‘MetaBreast’ to improve breast cancer surgery through digital technology.

 

WEDNESDAY BRIEFING

Behind this week’s headlines

 ‘Europe Day’ unity

The speaker of the Portuguese parliament said yesterday - officially recognised as ‘Europe Day’ - that the European Union was the result of efforts by Europeans themselves to avoid a new war on the continent. The Portuguese president called for “an active, leading, more determined, more decisive than ever” European Union that knows how to unite for peace and solidarity “without illiberalism or nationalism.”  

Hottest April ever

Southern Portugal and Spain had their hottest April on record with temperatures at the end of the month above 30C and close to 40C in some areas. So far, May has been very hot and it’s still springtime, so summer is expected to be exceptionally hot.

Strikes by nurses

Nurses are planning to strike on Friday this week. They will hold a demonstration in front of the ministry of health in Lisbon. They are demanding better working conditions and the hiring of more professional staff. Operations and appointments were cancelled in the Santa Maria hospital in Lisbon two weeks ago when nurses went on strike demanding the employment of more nurses and complaining about such requirements as having to carry patients on stretchers in hospital corridors.

Measles outbreak

Measles cases among children are rising across Europe. The risk of catching this viral illness is increasing because it is highly contagious. It is most common among children aged between one and four, though anyone who has not been vaccinated can catch it.

Water efficiency

An internal study released yesterday claims that the growers of fresh fruits and nuts in Portugal are much more efficient in the use of water than their counterparts in the United States.  Here, farmers reportedly use 30% to 40% less water.

Drought worries

The agriculture and food minister declared on Monday that 40% of southern Portugal is already in a drought situation requiring aid for farmers from the EU. The irrigation situation for Algarve golf course is so serious that they want to be connected to waste water systems rather than depend on normal public fresh water sources.

 

Climate and sports

The climate is changing major sports in Portugal and around the world. Almost all except water sports are being impacted, increasingly so.

The sports most affected in Portugal are golf, football, tennis, cycling and horse riding.

Golf is the number one sport in the Algarve for visitors and many expats. Most golfers prefer to play in the cooler months, but even then problems due to heat are getting worse.

It’s mainly about water. Greenkeepers on the Algarve’s many excellent courses are having to cope with severe or extreme droughts. The fairways, driving range, tees and greens on an 18-hole course need an awful lot of irrigation. Even a nine-hole course needs plenty of water.

A 18-hole round of golf may take about four and a half hours to play. Most golfers don’t want to be out in the midday sun, even in the months of April or May. And even spending half that time on a nine-hole course can be gruelling enough at a warm time of year.

Courses close to the coastline sometimes offer cooling breezes, but rising sea levels are already threatening to flood some coastal courses, including for example, the iconic Old Course at St Andrews, Scotland.

Algarve courses have always attracted many winter visitors from northern European countries. Rising temperatures and less snow are keeping northern courses open longer and reducing the number of visitors to the increasing economic detriment of clubs here.  

Football is by far the most popular sport in Portugal. The top professional season usually starts in mid-September and continues well into the following July. The summer months can be sweltering for players and fans alike. How many years they can go on like this is anyone’s guess.

Some football clubs, such as FC Barelona in Spain, are starting to help minimize CO2 levels by transporting players for matches in distant venues by train than than more polluting private jets. This is also creating more public awareness and encouraging fans to do the same, in some cases with free train tickets.    

Tennis attracts many visitors to the Algarve, but, like golfers, increasingly they are finding it best to avoid playing In the mid-afternoon. A match can take anywhere between one and several hours depending on the type of game and skill of the players. Morning or late afternoon is best even at this time of the year.

Irrigating tennis courts is only a fraction of the problem faced by golf greenkeepers and there is always the option of artificial grass or clay courts 

Horse-riding is enjoyed all-year-round by many Portuguese and resident expats.  The warming climate can affect the health of horses more than riders, causing hypothermia, dehydration, weight loss, as well as respiratory, skin, hoof and eye infections.

Anyone who watched on TV the Grand National at Aintree in the UK last month will have seen the countless buckets of water splashed on the over-heated winning horse. The biggest annual horse festival in Portugal is held in Golegã in the cool though often wet month of November.

As in other sports in the warmer months here, morning and evening are best for enjoyable horse riding in the countryside. Very helpfully in the heat of summer, volunteers ride their horses in forested areas to detect and report any outbreaks of wildfires.

Portugal is well-known internationally for its cycling holiday tours. A seven-day package in the Algarve, including bed and breakfast, might start with transport from Faro Airport to Alte in the countryside and then on to and around Silves, Monte de Cima, Lagos or Salema. Visiting cyclists can choose their own time of year.

Local bikers, as well as long and short-distance joggers and hikers can choose and change their own time of day. Enclosed venues are available for athletes and gymnasts, but the changing climate remains important, if not key, to most non-water sports.

Forced changes have started and will likely become increasingly inhibiting. How things are in 2030 and the hopefully net-zero year of 2050 remains to be seen.

 

WEDNESDAY BRIEFING

Behind this week’s headlines

 

Portugal and China

The Vice President of China, Han Zheng, will visit Lisbon between Sunday May 7 and Wednesday 10. It will follow his attendance representing Beijing at the coronation ceremony of King Charles III in London. His visit here will be viewed as a strong indication of the keenness of China to remain on good terms with Portugal and the European Union as a whole.

Ministers on the move

Portugal’s minister of foreign affairs arrived in Angola yesterday at the start of a week-long visit to Africa, which will include visits to Rwanda and Ethiopia. The Prime Minister is scheduled to pay a visit to the Angolan capital, Luanda, in June. At home the prime minister is facing calls for another reshuffle of his government.  

Ukraine and the EU

The speaker of Ukraine’s parliament said yesterday he had discussions with his Portuguese counterpart about Ukraine’s accession to the EU and had welcomed the Portuguese government’s support.

Weather warnings

In just the first week of May, serious warnings associated with ever-warming weather are already being issued by Portugal’s national meteorological institute. Heightening temperatures, lack of rainfall and very high risks of wildfires are some of the predictions we all need to be aware of. Meanwhile, there is much pollen in the air, especially on breezy days.

Lisbon traffic restrictions

A three-month trial period has started in Lisbon restricting and even banning motorised traffic passing through the inner city. The argument behind these changes is that the authorities are going to use the summer to implement some major infrastructural works, such as the construction of two new Metro stations. Although a time limit has been given, officials are vague about whether this is set in stone, calling the plan “dynamic” instead and hinting that it might signal a new reality to come for the Portuguese capital. In a way, the trial period might be more about getting drivers and residents to feel the change and adopt it through necessity and patience.

Food Bank volunteers

As many volunteers as possible are asked to take part in a special campaign organised by the Algarve Food Bank at 103 stores across the region this Friday and Saturday. Volunteers willing to help distribute bags and receive food donations should register on the Banco Alimentar do Algarve’s website https://registo.bacfalgarve.pt/.

The Foof Bank is also appealing to companies in the food sector, such as producers and distributors, to deliver their surplus to the institution. All donations will be distributed among the thousands of families on the verge of poverty.

Dead fish washed up

A shocking example of what seems like marine pollution has occurred  on a beach near Porto in the northwest of the country. Hundreds of dead fish were washed up yesterday. The marine authorities are still investigating the cause.

Missing Madeleine

This week marks the 16^th anniversary of the disappearance of Mdeleine McCann from Praia da Luz. There seems little prospect of a proper legal solution to the case any time soon, if ever. The so-called “prime suspect” Christian B, and the young Polish woman who thought she might be Madeline, have been totally ruled out as having had any involvement. The London Metropolitan Police’s Operation Grange investigation, which has cost £13 million, has so far been futile.  

McCann backer’s new deal

Multi-millionaire Brian Kennedy, one of Britain’s riches men who has worked closely with Gerry and Kate McCann since Madeleine’s  disappearance, has snapped up a £37 million stake in the Manchester-headquartered retail and software giant THG , according to the Manchester Evening News. The THG group includes such brands as Cult Beauty, Look Fantastic and Myprotein.

 

Should we all be doing our bit?

We’ve heard it all before, but it cannot be over-stated that much more action is needed to protect our planet’s biodiversity from global warming.

Is there much point in us lowly individuals doing our bit to help when the most powerful politicians are clearly not doing nearly enough?

One very simple thing ordinary folk are doing is looking after the flowers in a window box or a corner of the garden that will attract bees and butterflies to feed and pollinate.

 

Depositing waste household plastic, glass and paper in recycling bins is easy. Groups can continue collecting rubbish, especially plastics, along our shores. Climate activists in Lisbon have done a splendid job of raising awareness by compiling in the centre of the city a massive heap of some 650,000 cigarette butts, none of which are biodegradable. They are part of the estimated 4.5 trillion toxic cigarette butts left polluting the world each year, according to the World Health Organisation.

Growing fresh fruit and vegetables and distributing them locally is so much cheaper than transporting mass-harvested agricultural produce by air or cargo ships from far-flung foreign lands.

Private landowners in Portugal and everywhere else could upgrade barren areas or stop cattle over-grazing so that trees could be planted to lessen CO2 emissions and allow many different species to survive.

A small pond in the garden is a good idea for plants and creatures dependent on fresh water. An even better idea for the Lagoa City Council would be to reverse its decision to allow the Alagoas Brancas wetland to be destroyed and agree to turn it into a wildlife sanctuary as environmental organisations and many local citizens have long been advocating.

milar positive things can be quietly done to benefit our own and future generations in Portugal, one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to global heating problems, such as rising sea levels, raging wildfires and droughts.

We are halfway through a critical period since the landmark Paris Agreement signed by 196 countries in 2015. The agreement’s main goal was to limit global warming to well below 2 C and preferably below 1.5 C. This will mean reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030 and to net zero by 2050. So far, so good? No! Scientists say humanity needs to double its efforts to save life on our planet from a climate calamity.

This is not doomsday talk. It’s a deeply researched, evidence-based fact. It may  come down to greatly reducing human hatred and aggression and focusing instead on multi-national compassion, as hard as that may be to even imagine nowadays.

President Xi Jinping, leader of the worst of all polluting countries, seems much more determined to continue repressing the entire 1.4 billion population of mainland China and seizing the relatively small island of Taiwan than securing a zero-limit on greenhouse gas emissions.

The focus now in the United States, the world’s number two CO2 polluter, is not the future well-being of the planet, but who will win the presidential election in November 2024 between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. And not only Trump himself, but millions of his republican followers, believe global warming is just fake news.

India, the number three polluter, has border tensions with China, in addition to which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is well aware that all eyes of the world’s media will be on India this year when it hosts the G20 summit, one year before the nation’s general election.

President Putin in Russia, the world’s fourth biggest CO2 polluter, just wants to win his war and n0-one is sure how far he is willing to go to achieve that.

The British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, is almost submerged in protests and workers’ strike actions associated with the cost of living crisis that followed the less than promising outcome of the COP26 climate change summit overseen by the disgraced former Prime minister Boris Johnson in Glasgow in 2021.

Portugal’s Prime Minister António Costa has plenty of internal problems, but remains fully committed to rejecting all fossil fuels and relying entirely on renewable sources of energy.  The European Union as a whole, however, is warming more rapidly than anywhere else. While this is obviously of great concern to the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, she is being much distracted by the war in Ukraine and the millions of refugees fleeing both from Ukraine and Africa.

So where does all this leave you and me?

 

WEDNESDAY BRIEFING

Behind this week’s headlines

Revolution celebration

The formal celebration of the 49^th anniversary of the 1974 Carnation Revolution was celebrated on Tuesday with the traditional sitting of the Portuguese parliament. It coincided with a special welcome for Brazil’s president at the last leg of his state visit aimed at further improving relations between Portugal and its former colony. The anniversary was covered on the front pages of all of Portugal’s national newspapers.

Praise and  insults

On his visit to Portugal this week, Brazil’s President Lula da Silva has been highly praised by the speaker of Portugal’s parliament as a defender of democratic institutions. The speaker was furious, however, that members of Portugal far-right Chega party raised protest banners ridiculing Lula during a speech to parliamentarians.

Slavery apology needed

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said on Tuesday that this country should take responsibility and apologise for its past role in the transatlantic slave trade.  Ihe Reuters news agency pointed out that this is the first time a southern European country has suggested such an apology. Between the 15^th and 19^th century, Portuguese vessels transported six million kidnapped Africans who were then sold into slavery, mainly in Brazil.

Aerospace agreement

A memorandum of understanding was signed on Monday between several Portuguese aerospace companies and Brazil’s Embraer aircraft manufacturer. The partnership deal is expected to strengthen Portugal’s defence technology and to produce aircraft that will meet NATO’ high standards and requirements. 

Cigarette pollution

Climate activists collected about 650,00o cigarette butts and placed them in a huge pile in central Lisbon with the aim of making people more aware of this often overlooked kind of pollution. Cigarette butts are not biodegradable. According to the World Health Organisation, 4.5 trillion cigarette ends are dumped worldwide each year.

Books are selling well

More than 31,000 books wre sold in Portugal each day in the first three month of this year. This is a year-on-year increase of 8.3%, according to APEL, the Portuguese publishers and booksellers association. 

The electric vehicle transition

The future of plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) is speeding ahead and before too long petrol and diesel vehicles may seem as ancient as donkeys and carts.

The European Commission has ordered that from 2025 all new motor vehicles must be electrically operated. A major objective is to help environmental sustainability by reducing CO2 emissions from internal combustion engines.

To accelerate the transition, governments are offering tax incentivises on the price of vehicles and charging costs, as well as increasing the number of charging stations.   

The number of electric vehicles produced in Europe has risen dramatically from three-quarters of a million in 2019. Germany is ahead of the race with 1.3 million EVs on its roads in 2021.  It’s followed in the fast lane one way or another by the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands and Sweden.  Among the millions expected to come on to the market this year will be 50 new models of various types. The most popular car so far is said to be the Tesla Model Y (pictured here).

In Portugal, thousands of euros are on offer as an incentive to each individual or company purchasing single or multiple vehicles. The money is coming from a special EU fund. It seems to be working well. In the first two months of this year there was an increase of nearly 140% in new electric cars registered (total 4,850) compared to the number registered in January and February last year.  

In the Algarve, Ian Fitzpatrick, the well-known ceramic artist, has happily upgraded to a practical multi-purpose EV, a Citroën e-Belingo, which is basically a van with extra seats.

“My previous car was 21 years old and was becoming unreliable and so I needed to replace it. As I have a solar panel system at home, I liked the idea of doing away with harmful fossil fuels and driving around on the sunshine!”

EVs are considerably more expensive to buy than conventional vehicles, but running costs are a lot cheaper, he explained. “My solar panels produce more electricity than we need for our house and car. If you have a smart charger you can set it in ‘ecomode’ to only take power from the panels and not the grid. But even if you were charging from the grid, as many urban dwellers would have to do, it is considerably cheaper per kilometre than petrol.”

Ian added: “Being automatic it is easier to drive. Also, over the life of the car, repair and maintenance costs should be less as EVs have far fewer moving parts that can deteriorate or malfunction.”

Extra planning is necessary for long trips, although more charging stations are being introduced all over the country all the time. Driving at relatively high speed on motorways uses more battery power per kilometre than local journeys.

As an indication of how vehicles are changing across the world, by the middle of last year China had 10 million EV units representing 46% of the global total. The stock includes everything from cars and light commercial vehicles to heavy trucks and buses.

In the United States, as in Portugal but on a vaster scale, the federal government has this year set aside billions of dollars to encourage customers and manufacturers to “hitch a ride,” as one commentator put it.

The environmental benefits of this transport transition are said to be in the worst case scenario that an electric car with a battery produced in China and driven in Poland emits 37% less CO2 than a petrol car. In the best case scenario, an electric car with a battery produced in Sweden and driven in Sweden emits 83% less CO2 less than petrol. It is expected that electric cars bought in 2030 will reduce CO2 emissions fourfold because of the EU grid will rely much more on renewables than fossil fuels.

The downside to all this, however, is that EVs use lithium-ion batteries. Much more efficient ways have yet to be found to recycle and discard ever-increasing quantities of lithium-ion batteries. According to a recent report: “The need for battery recycling in Europe will demand a fundamental shift from today’s position, where just a very small percentage of lithium-ion battery recycling occurs, and only a limited volume of materials are recovered for reuse.”