London, March 9 : Researchers in London have discovered a way to stop cancer cells from spreading, which may prevent about 90 per cent patients.

Scientists at the Institute of Cancer Research, a constituent college of the University of London, say that rather than concentrating on stopping the formation on tumours, they focussed on singling out the enzyme that allows cancer to spread throughout the body.

The researchers say that their groundbreaking study led to the discovery that an enzyme called LOX is crucial in promoting the spread of the disease throughout a patient's body.

Lead researcher Dr. Janine Erler said called her team's discovery "the crucial missing piece in the jigsaw we have been searching for".

Munich  - Persistent or recurring back pain in women may have gynaecological causes, according to the Munich-based German Association of Gynaecologists (BVF).

This is particularly true, it said, in cases of lower-back pain around the lumbar vertebrae and sacrum.

The pain sometimes extends to the groin and anterior abdominal wall. Women experiencing such symptoms should see a gynaecologist, the BVF advised.

Copenhagen  - The regional office of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Europe has urged governments, health authorities and others to step up vaccination programmes against measles.

Although Europe is on the verge of eliminating measles, there have been outbreaks threatening the progress.

The Copenhagen-based regional WHO office attributed the lower immunization rates "to a combination of vaccine scepticism" as well as "the success of immunization programmes in earlier generations."

Berlin  - The lower the sun is in the sky, the less harmful its ultra violet rays are for the body's skin, according to Professor Hans Meffert writing in the German medical journal, Aktuelle Dermatologie.

The intensity of the ultra violet rays can be assessed by comparing the body with the length of the shadow cast by the sun, Meffert added.

Ultra violet rays pose a small risk to skin type II, which is common in the Northern Hemisphere, when your shadow is approximately a third longer than your body.

Berlin  - If a young child shows no interest in other people, this may be an early indication of autism, according to a German medical association.

Hamburg/Berlin  - Winter is almost over in the Northern Hemisphere and hay fever sufferers are already beginning to sneeze and sniffle.

About 10 million people in Germany are allergic to pollen, said the Association of German Allergists in Hamburg, northern Germany,.

Although most sufferers try to deal with the symptoms themselves, that can have potentially dangerous consequences.