A book as uplifting as the disease it discusses is tragic, Uplift is an inspiring collection of voices of breast cancer survivors. Barbara Delinsky, author of The Woman Next Door and other novels, and herself a survivor of breast cancer, presents inspirational snippets from more than 300 women sharing breast cancer tips and experiences. Reading this book is like listening to the friendly hubbub of a crowd of women all offering advice and comments. They share practical tips about comfortable clothing after mastectomy, treatments for radiation burns, nausea remedies, wigs, advice for friends, and more. They share stories of supportive husbands, boyfriends, and family members who continue to love them.
Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have used an innovative mathematical technique to find markers that effectively predict how deadly a cancer will be. The discovery, which in this case concerned bladder cancer, could lead to faster, less expensive and more accurate analysis of cancer risk and better treatment of the disease.
Scientists have cracked the genetic code and predicted some high priority drug targets for the blood parasite Schistosoma haematobium, which is linked to bladder cancer and HIV/ AIDS and causes the insidious urogenital disease schistosomiasis haematobia in more than 112 million people in Africa.
Bladder cancer patients who have radical surgery at university hospitals can benefit from excellent local control of the disease, acceptable clinical outcomes and low death rates, according to research in the August issue of the urology journal BJUI.
New data from the University of Rochester Medical Center confirms that an easier, two-drug chemotherapy regimen given to bladder cancer patients prior to surgery shrinks locally advanced tumors and completely eliminates all evidence of cancer in some patients.
BGI, the world's largest genomics organization, Peking University Shenzhen Hospital and Shenzhen Second People's Hospital, announced today that the study on frequent mutations of chromatin remodeling genes in transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder was published online in Nature Genetics.
In an article published online this week in Nature Genetics, a University of Colorado Cancer Center team in partnership with universities in China and Denmark reports the first genetic sequencing of urothelial carcinoma, the most prevalent type of bladder cancer.
Bladder cancer, most frequently caused by smoking and exposure to carcinogens in the workplace, is one of the top 10 most common forms of cancer in men and women in the U.S. More than 70 percent of bladder cancers are diagnosed in stage T1 or less and have not invaded the muscle layer.
In an article published online this week in Nature Genetics, a University of Colorado Cancer Center team in partnership with universities in China and Denmark reports the first genetic sequencing of urothelial carcinoma, the most prevalent type of bladder cancer.
Growing up on a livestock farm seems to be linked to an increased risk of developing blood cancers as an adult, indicates research published online in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
The most comprehensive search to date of DNA abnormalities in chronic lymphocytic leukemia has unearthed several new altered genes that drive this common blood cancer, a finding that could potentially help doctors predict whether an individual patient's disease will progress rapidly or remain indolent for years, say scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute.
In a study of nearly 18,000 cancer patients, University of Rochester Medical Center researchers found that when blood clots develop -- a well-known and serious complication of cancer treatment -- 78 percent of the time they occur when a person is out of the hospital, at home or elsewhere, while on chemotherapy.
Researchers at the University of Southampton have discovered clues to why many patients do not respond to a standard drug for the blood cancer lymphoma, raising hopes that more effective treatments can be designed.
Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have created a "cocktail" of immune-stimulating peptides they believe could provoke the body's defenses to attack multiple myeloma in its early "smoldering" phase and slow or prevent the blood cancer.
A group of life-threatening blood disorders collectively called myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS, may occur four times more often than reported by national cancer registries, according to new research from the University of Florida based on data from Medicare claims.
BioInvent International AB announced today that new preclinical data has been presented on its BI-505 programme that demonstrates anti-cancer activity in multiple myeloma and beneficial effect on bone density.
People with cancer that has spread to their bones are being recruited by Stanford University School of Medicine researchers for a clinical trial that will assess the use of ultrasound to alleviate pain.
The International and American Associations for Dental Research have released in its Journal of Dental Research a study that investigated bone fluoride levels in individuals with osteosarcoma, which is a rare, primary malignant bone tumor that is more prevalent in males.
Patients who receive a blood stem cell transplant from a donor outside of their family to treat leukemia and other blood diseases are more likely to have graft failure but less likely to experience graft-versus-host disease, a condition caused by the donor cells attacking the recipient's body, if the transplanted blood cells come directly from a donor's bone marrow, rather than from blood stem cells circulating in the donor's bloodstream.
Bone marrow-derived cells participate in the growth and spread of tumors of the breast, brain, lung, and stomach. To examine the role of BMDCs, researchers developed a mouse model that could be used to track the migration of these cells while tumors formed and expanded.
Bone marrow transplantation with genetically modified cells may prolong the period of cancer-free survival, suggests a study led by Dr. Vivek Rangnekar, associate director of translational research for the Markey Cancer Center at the University of Kentucky.
Each year, about 100,000 Americans with cancer find out that the cancer has spread to their bones. This is called bone metastasis, or "bone mets," and it's different from cancer that starts in the bone. Cancer that leads to bone metastasis may have started in your breast, your prostate, your lungs, or other parts of your body.
When the targeted drug bortezomib stops working in patients with advanced multiple myeloma, the patients survive only an average of five months longer. But a phase 2 clinical trial has shown that pairing bortezomib with an experimental drug, panobinostat, may be a promising new treatment for such patients.
A three-drug combination treatment for the blood cancer multiple myeloma compares favorably to the best established therapy for newly diagnosed patients.
Merck, known outside the United States and Canada as MSD, and ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc., today announced that the European Medicines Agency has completed its administrative validation process for the regulatory application for ridaforolimus, an investigational oral mTOR inhibitor developed for the treatment of metastatic soft-tissue or bone sarcomas in patients who had a favorable response to chemotherapy.
Exelixis, Inc. today reported interim data on pain relief and related reduction in narcotic analgesic use with cabozantinib in castration-resistant prostate cancer patients with bone metastases.
If you have cancer that has spread to the bone, you probably have pain. It may be right at the place where the cancer has metastasized or in areas surrounding it. It may be worse at night and when you rest, or it may be better when you rest and worse with movement.
"Acquired drug resistance" is a major problem encountered in treating some forms of cancer. The ability to monitor the proteins involved in drug resistance has been a hurdle facing cancer researchers.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists have successfully disrupted the function of a cancer gene involved in the formation of most human tumors by tampering with the gene's "on" switch and growth signals, rather than targeting the gene itself.
Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), a hormone produced in the anterior pituitary gland that regulates endocrine function in the thyroid gland, can promote bone growth independent of its usual thyroid functions.
A new University of Minnesota discovery may help bone cancer patients fight their disease more effectively, according to new research published in the September issue of Bone.
Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have created a "cocktail" of immune-stimulating peptides they believe could provoke the body's defenses to attack multiple myeloma in its early "smoldering" phase and slow or prevent the blood cancer.
A new study from SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, shows that MAL3-101, a recently developed inhibitor of the heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70), appears to have potent anti-tumor effects on multiple myeloma, a bone marrow cancer. Despite aggressive modes of treatments, myeloma ultimately remains incurable.
Bowel screening reduces the number of deaths from bowel cancer in Scotland by more than 25 per cent, according to research* presented at the National Cancer Research Institute Cancer Conference in Liverpool this week.
Bowel cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer in developed countries but occurs much less frequently in the developing world. A high fat diet, particularly high in saturated fat, can increase a person's risk of developing bowel cancer.
Research published in Health Technology Assessment has found little evidence to support the use of PET-CT add-on imaging device in the pre-operative staging of bowel cancer.
Deprived men are more likely to die from bowel cancer than men from the most affluent section of society, new research presented at the NCRI Cancer Conference in Liverpool this week shows.
Britons have very low awareness of the signs and symptoms of bowel cancer -- the third most common cancer in the UK and second largest cause of cancer deaths each year, new research shows.
A recent analysis of clinical trial results performed by the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) demonstrate that a chromosomal abnormality—specifically, the absence (co-deletion) of chromosomes 1p and 19q—have definitive prognostic and predictive value for managing the treatment of adult patients with pure and mixed anaplastic oligodendrogliomas.
In many cases, tumors suppress a patient's immune system in a way that keeps the cancer safe from immune system attack. This is particularly true for patients with glioblastoma, a primary brain tumor that carries a prognosis of only 12-15 months survival after diagnosis.
About every three days, Colleen Alexander, a chemistry graduate student, feeds cells that cause a deadly type of brain cancer. It's a ritual that involves assessing the health of the cells under a microscope, washing away dead cells with a special solution and instilling clean medium that will nurture the living cells and generate new ones.
By studying tumor biology at the molecular level, researchers are gaining a deeper understanding of drug resistance -- and how to avoid it by designing pediatric cancer treatments tailored to specific mutations in a child's DNA.
Ependymomas are the second most frequent type of malignant brain tumor in children. Ependymoma develops from precursor cells of the tissue that lines the hollow cavities of the brain.
Australian scientists have played a key role in the identification of a new biochemical mechanism that allows brain tumours to survive and grow, offering hope of new drug treatments for some of the most aggressive tumours.
New research suggests brain tumor patients who take the seizure drug valproic acid on top of standard treatment may live longer than people who take other kinds of epilepsy medications to control seizures.
Since 1928, the way breast cancer characteristics are evaluated and categorized has remained largely unchanged. It is done by hand, under a microscope. Pathologists examine the tumors visually and score them according to a scale first developed eight decades ago.
The latest advances in the treatment of brain tumours by non-surgical means, space science and non-fossil fuel energy generation, are among the topics being discussed by over 500 international scientists at Queen's University this week.
Medulloblastomas are the most common cancerous brain tumors in children. Although survival rates have improved over the years, medulloblastoma remains associated with substantial mortality, and long-term survivors often suffer debilitating effects from the intensive treatments.
Glioblastomas grow extremely aggressively into healthy brain tissue and, moreover, are highly resistant to radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Therefore, they are regarded as the most malignant type of brain tumor. Currently available treatment methods are frequently not very effective against this type of cancer. Glioblastoma can affect people of all ages, but is less common in children than in adults.
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have developed what they believe to be the first clinical application of a new imaging technique to diagnose brain tumors. The unique test could preclude the need for surgery in patients whose tumors are located in areas of the brain too dangerous to biopsy.
A research alliance of Heidelberg University Hospital and the German Cancer Research Center, jointly with colleagues of the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research in Leipzig, have discovered a new metabolic pathway which makes malignant brain tumors (gliomas) more aggressive and weakens patients' immune systems.
A new analysis has found that a decline in hormone therapy use among women aged 50 to 64 years is linked with lower mammogram rates among these women. The study suggests that when women stop seeing their doctor for HT prescriptions, physicians do not have the opportunity to remind them that their mammograms are due.
EGEN, Inc. is collaborating with the National Cancer Institute's Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory in Frederick, Md., to accelerate human clinical testing of a nanotechnology-based gene therapy for brain cancer.
EGEN and the Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory of the National Cancer Institute have partnered to speed up the human clinical trial of EGEN's nanoparticle-based gene therapy for the treatment of brain cancer.
A discovery by scientists at Duke University Medical Center and Johns Hopkins University could increase the chances for an effective combination of drug therapy to treat the second most common type of brain tumor.
Glioblastoma is regarded as the most malignant form of brain tumor. In many cases, neurosurgeons are not able to remove such tumors completely because of the risk of destroying too much brain tissue in the process.
Ever wondered how meteorologists can accurately predict the weather? They use complex spatiotemporal weather models, i.e. mathematical equations that track the motions of the atmosphere through time and space, and combine them with incoming data streams from weather stations and satellites.
Gene therapy delivered directly to a particularly stubborn type of breast cancer cell causes the cells to self-destruct, lowers chance of recurrence and helps increase the effectiveness of some types of chemotherapy.
An international research team led by the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre has made a major genetic breakthrough that could change the way pediatric cancers are treated in the future. The researchers identified two genetic mutations responsible for up to 40 per cent of glioblastomas in children -- a fatal cancer of the brain that is unresponsive to chemo and radiotherapy treatment. The mutations were found to be involved in DNA regulation, which could explain the resistance to traditional treatments, and may have significant implications on the treatment of other cancers.
Cancer Research UK funded scientists have conducted the first whole-genome scan of the brain tumour meningioma and revealed a genetic region that increases the risk of developing the disease.
In the field of brain cancer research, Glioblastoma is considered to be the most aggressive form, in which the tumour spreads to the surrounding brain tissue thereby causing greater difficulty to be removed surgically or be treated through radiation or chemotherapy.
Glioblastoma multiforme is the most common malignant brain cancer in humans. Patients with GBM have a poor prognosis because it is a highly aggressive form of cancer that is commonly resistant to current therapies.
The metabolic state of glioma stem cells, which give rise to deadly glioblastomas, is significantly different from that of the brain cancer cells to which they give birth, a factor which helps those stem cells avoid treatment and cause recurrence later.
A new study released this Wednesday revealed that breast cancer that is highly aggressive but caught early could be best treated with a combination of Herceptin and chemotherapy.
Brain tumor specimens taken from neurosurgery cases at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center have given scientists a new window on the transformation that occurs as healthy brain cells begin to form tumors.
Add one more item to the list of things machines can do better than humans: Examine and diagnose breast cancer. Stanford researchers have developed new software that can automatically evaluate microscopic images of breast cancer and make determinations about its aggressiveness and type, offering patients an accurate prognosis.
IsoRay, Inc. announced today that the FDA has cleared its GliaSite® radiation therapy system, a balloon catheter device used in the treatment of brain cancer. The clearance was the major step required to return the GliaSite® radiation therapy system to the marketplace.
The largest study ever of a rare childhood brain tumor found more than half the tumors carried extra copies of specific genes linked to cancer growth, according to research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators.
Ependymomas are the second most frequent type of malignant brain tumor in children. Ependymoma develops from precursor cells of the tissue that lines the hollow cavities of the brain.
MagForce, which is a holding company of NanoStart, and specialising in medical technology with specific interest in oncology has announced that it will use its proprietary NanoTherm therapy to treat patients with recurrent glioblastoma.
Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center and the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicinehave discovered a mechanism by which glioblastoma multiforme, the most common form of brain cancer, promotes the loss of function or death of neurons, a process known as neurodegeneration.
The metabolic state of glioma stem cells, which give rise to deadly glioblastomas, is significantly different from that of the brain cancer cells to which they give birth, a factor which helps those stem cells avoid treatment and cause recurrence later.
Patients suffering from an aggressive brain cancer will benefit from the results of a University of Illinois study that could advance the development of targeted gene therapies and improve prognosis.
A study published online Oct. 18 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute provides some new but qualified support for the idea that the immune system's response to allergies may reduce the risk of developing deadly brain tumors.
Glioblastoma is one of the most aggressive forms of brain cancer. Rather than presenting as a well-defined tumor, glioblastoma will often infiltrate the surrounding brain tissue, making it extremely difficult to treat surgically or with chemotherapy or radiation.
Nanostart-Holding MagForce AG, a leading medical technology company focusing on nanomedicine in oncology, announced today the treatment of a recurrent glioblastoma patient with the company's NanoTherm® therapy.
The causes of brain tumours have been hard to discern in most cases. But Umeå University researchers in Sweden and their colleagues have previously identified an inherited predisposition for brain tumours.
For the first time, scientists can see pathways to stop a deadly brain cancer in its tracks. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have imaged individual cancer cells and the routes they travel as the tumor spreads.
A new fourth-generation oncolytic virus designed to both kill cancer cells and inhibit blood-vessel growth has shown greater effectiveness than earlier versions when tested in animal models of human brain cancer.
A possible new target for breast cancer therapy comes from the discovery that the Tyk2 protein helps suppress the growth and metastasis of breast tumors, as reported in Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
Scientists are reporting development and successful initial testing of a new tool that tells whether brain tissue is normal or cancerous while an operation is underway, so that surgeons can remove more of the tumor without removing healthy tissue, improving patients' survival.
Researchers with UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have developed and used a high-throughput molecular screening approach that identifies and characterizes chemical compounds that can target the stem cells that are responsible for creating deadly brain tumors.
Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, in collaboration with colleagues in Boston and South Korea, say they have identified a novel gene mutation that causes at least one form of glioblastoma, the most common type of malignant brain tumor.
Medulloblastomas constitute the most frequent class of malignant childhood brain tumor. Tumors of this type arise due to the uncontrolled proliferation of immature nerve cells in the developing brain, and there is no targeted treatment available.
Personalized prognostic tools and gene-based therapies may improve the survival and quality of life of patients suffering from glioblastoma, an aggressive and deadly form of brain cancer.
University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and Lentigen Corporation announced today the initiation of a novel Phase I clinical trial of LG631 gene therapy for the protection of hematopoietic stem cells from the dose limiting toxicity of chemotherapy with Temodar.
Glioma, one of the most deadly and common types of brain tumor, is often associated with seizures, but the origins of these seizures and effective treatments for them have been elusive. Now a team funded by the National Institutes of Health has found that human gliomas implanted in mice release excess levels of the brain chemical glutamate, overstimulating neurons near the tumor and triggering seizures.
Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center and the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine have discovered a mechanism by which glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most common form of brain cancer, promotes the loss of function or death of neurons, a process known as neurodegeneration.
A single compound with dual function -- the ability to deliver a diagnostic and therapeutic agent -- may one day be used to enhance the diagnosis, imaging and treatment of brain tumors, according to findings from Virginia Commonwealth University and Virginia Tech.
Researchers with UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have developed and used a high-throughput molecular screening approach that identifies and characterizes chemical compounds that can target the stem cells that are responsible for creating deadly brain tumors.
Two previously unassociated proteins known to be overly active in a variety of cancers bind together to ignite and sustain malignant brain tumors, a research team led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reports this week in the journal Cancer Cell.
Since 1928, the way breast cancer characteristics are evaluated and categorized has remained largely unchanged. It is done by hand, under a microscope. Pathologists examine the tumors visually and score them according to a scale first developed eight decades ago. These scores help doctors assess the type and severity of the cancer and, accordingly, to calculate the patient's prognosis and course of treatment.
"It's not brain surgery" is a phrase often uttered to dismiss a job's difficulty, but when the task actually is removing a brain tumor, even the slightest mistake could have serious health consequences.
Scientists have discovered how a molecule that was first discovered in bacteria blocks a protein which causes breast cancer to develop and spread, reveals research published in Nature Chemistry today.
Most research on glioblastoma development, a complicated tumor of the brain with a poor prognosis, has focused on the gene transcription level, but scientists suggest that post-transcriptional regulation could be equally or even more important.
"It's not brain surgery" is a phrase often uttered to dismiss a job's difficulty, but when the task actually is removing a brain tumor, even the slightest mistake could have serious health consequences.
Gliomas, the most common types of brain tumor, are also among the deadliest cancers: Their mortality rate is nearly 100 percent, in part because there are very few treatments available.
Brain cancer cells are particularly resistant to chemotherapy -- toxins enter the cells, but before the toxins can kill, cancer cells quickly pump them back outside. In fact, brain cancer cells are even better than healthy cells at cleaning themselves. This means that when hit with chemotherapy, healthy cells tend to die before brain cancer cells. Especially in the brain, killing healthy cells is bad.
The study, which was conducted in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland, was recently published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. It surveyed nearly 1,000 children between the ages 7 and 19. The group looked at children who had been diagnosed with brain tumors between 2004 and 2008, as well as a control group drawn randomly from the general population.
Treating women with early stage breast cancer with a combination of chemotherapy and the molecularly targeted drug Herceptin significantly increases survival in patients with a specific genetic mutation that results in very aggressive disease, a researcher with UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center reported Wednesday.
"It's not brain surgery" is a phrase often uttered to dismiss a job's difficulty, but when the task actually is removing a brain tumor, even the slightest mistake could have serious health consequences.
Blocking the uptake of large amounts of cholesterol into brain cancer cells could provide a new strategy to battle glioblastoma, one of the most deadly malignancies, researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have found.
After people with low-grade glioma, a type of brain cancer, undergo neurosurgery to remove the tumors, they face variable odds of survival — depending largely on how rapidly the cancer recurs. Even though their doctors monitor the tumor closely with sophisticated imaging, it is difficult to determine with certainty whether cancer has returned in a more malignant state that requires aggressive treatment.
Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University and Virginia Tech have developed a molecule that could be used to help diagnose as well as treat brain tumors.
The toxicities associated with aromatase inhibitors (AIs) may explain the lack of overall survival improvement compared with tamoxifen, according to a study published August 22 in the Journal of The National Cancer Institute.
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have demonstrated for the first time that it is possible to inhibit the growth of brain tumours by treating the common Cytomegalovirus (CMV). The virus, which is found in a wide range of tumour types, offers a possible route towards controlling tumour growth and reducing the size of the tumour as a complement to conventional cytotoxin-based therapies.
In two separate, yet related, studies published in the June and August issues of the journal Molecular Endocrinology, professor Cecilia Williams and her team at the Center for Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling (CNRCS) explored the role of estrogen hormones in potentially treating and preventing these cancers. More specifically, Williams examined regulatory molecules called estrogen receptors (ER), which are the tools that allow estrogen and related molecules to act in the cell.
Physicians at the Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience, are tackling a particularly aggressive brain cancer that even surgery, chemotherapy and radiation often fail to treat with a promising new immunotherapy to attack a patient's tumor with their own cancer cells.
Women with a deleterious gene mutation are diagnosed with breast cancer almost eight years earlier than relatives of the previous generation who also had the disease and/or ovarian cancer, according to new research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
IsoRay, a medical technology company and innovator in seed brachytherapy and medical radioisotope applications, announced today that doctors at New York Presbyterian Hospital/ Weill Cornell Medical Center have performed the world's first treatment of metastasized brain cancer using IsoRay's Cesium-131 brachytherapy (internal radiation therapy) seeds.
Researchers think it could be the key for a greater understanding of the mechanisms of breast cancer recurrence as well as offering new options for patient care.
Researchers at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University have been investigating the use of a new 3D cell imaging technology called Cell-CT to characterize subtle changes in a cell’s nuclear structure in order to improve the diagnostic accuracy and prognosis for breast cancer.
Breast cancer patients over the age of 60 with early-stage, hormone-responsive small tumors who forego adjuvant endocrine, also called hormonal therapy, are not at an increased risk of mortality compared to women of the same age without breast cancer, according to a study published Aug. 31 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
After a mastectomy, women who undergo breast reconstruction with tissue from their own abdomen experience significant gains in psychological, social, and sexual wellbeing as soon as three weeks after surgery. That is one of the conclusions of a new study published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. The study's results provide new information to breast cancer survivors who are contemplating these types of breast reconstruction procedures.
Breast reconstruction following a mastectomy can be a painful and generally unpleasant experience that requires office visits for regular saline injections that pump up the implanted expander.
Consumption of 3 to 6 alcoholic drinks per week is associated with a small increase in the risk of breast cancer, and consumption in both earlier and later adult life is also associated with an increased risk, according to a study in the November 2 issue of JAMA.
Stockholm, Sweden: Results from the longest-running trial comparing tamoxifen with the aromatase inhibitor letrozole show unequivocally that letrozole has withstood the test of time and continues to prevent breast cancer recurrences and reduce the risk of death in post-menopausal women with hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer.
Psychosocial stress could play a role in the etiology of breast cancer aggressiveness, particularly among minority populations, according to study results presented at the Fourth AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities, held here from Sept. 18-21, 2011.
Beauty Encounter, a premier online source for all things fragrance and beauty and specializing in hard-to-find niche products, sponsored the American Cancer Society's annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in the local Orange County event that took place on October 9, 2011 at the Segerstrom Center in Costa Mesa.
By combining a nanoparticle that is readily visible in X-ray computed tomography scans with a molecule that targets tumor lymph vessels and other tumor tissues, a research team from the University of California, San Diego and the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute has developed a new imaging agent that provides high-fidelity CT images of tumors and their edges.
Breast cancer experts are cheering what could be some of the biggest advances in more than a decade: two new medicines that significantly delay the time until women with very advanced cases get worse.
The story will cover the Company's novel Ii-Key Hybrid-based HER-2/neu Peptide Vaccine, which is the subject of an ongoing Phase 2 clinical study in patients with HER-2 expressing breast cancer. The segment will be featured in Bloomberg's "Innovators" segment, which focuses on world-changing technologies and innovations.
Doctors were mostly hoping to prevent complications and relapses when they gave young women a medicine to keep their bones strong during breast cancer treatment. Seven years later, they found it did more than that: The bone drug improved survival, as much as many chemotherapies do.
A recent study accepted for publication in Molecular Endocrinology, a journal of The Endocrine Society, found that perinatal exposure to environmentally relevant doses of bisphenol A (BPA) alters long-term hormone response and breast development in mice that may increase the propensity to develop cancer.
Nearly half of breast cancer patients carrying the BRCA1 gene mutation experience a complete pathological response (pCR) -- the disappearance of all evidence of disease from the breast tissue and lymph nodes -- regardless of disease stage after standard neoadjuvent chemotherapy, according to new research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
A new avenue of treatment could fight two of the most prominent cancers -- effectively hitting both leukemia and breast cancer. We could soon be inhibiting tumor growth by targeting a single protein, and this could revolutionize treatments of both diseases. Two papers published this week in the Journal of Experimental Medicine examine the protein HSP90, which plays a role in the growth of tumors.
A Welsh medical research student has made a scientific breakthrough which could stop people dying from breast cancer by halting the spread of the disease, his university announced Thursday.
By shining infrared light on specially designed, gold-filled silicon wafers, scientists at The Methodist Hospital Research Institute have successfully targeted and burned breast cancer cells. If the technology is shown to work in human clinical trials, it could provide patients a non-invasive alternative to surgical ablation, and could be used in conjunction with traditional cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy, to make those treatments more effective.
The results of a new study revealed that treatment for women with HER2-positive breast cancer -- an aggressive form of the disease which is diagnosed in 10,000 British women each year -- slowed the progression of tumors by 40 per cent compared with conventional drugs. Tests on 137 women showed that the new therapy -- called T-DM1 -- which combines the drug Herceptin with an antibody drug, instead of with standard chemotherapy, appeared to stop the cancer "in its tracks".
The blockbuster drug Avastin should no longer be used in advanced breast cancer patients because there's no proof that it extends their lives and it presents dangerous side effects, the government declared Friday.
In this Washington Times Communities column, Anwaar Abdalla, a lecturer on Civilization and Cultural Affairs at Egypt's Helwan University, writes, "While breast cancer is a global issue, in Egypt, the figure for people suffering from breast cancer is alarming," adding, "According to official statistics of the National Cancer Institute (Cairo University), breast cancer accounts for 35.1 percent of the cases of cancer in Egypt."
Women may not receive adequate information on fertility preservation before breast cancer treatment, according to research presented at the National Cancer Research Institute Cancer Conference in Liverpool today.
Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine are recruiting women with breast cancer to test whether a technique to image tissue blood flow could help reduce complications after mastectomy surgery.
Women with a deleterious gene mutation are diagnosed with breast cancer almost eight years earlier than relatives of the previous generation who also had the disease and/or ovarian cancer, according to new research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
The risk of breast cancer dropped significantly in mice when their regular diet included a modest amount of walnut, Marshall University researchers report in the journal Nutrition and Cancer.
It can be difficult to sort through the many messages regarding breast cancer screening. Fancy billboards seen along the highways, recommendations made by your neighbor or the local newscaster, or mixed messages throughout the internet can cause confusion. What is the best way to screen for breast cancer?
Doctors at Johns Hopkins have shown that during an increasingly popular type of breast-reconstruction surgery, they can safely preserve the internal mammary artery, in case it is needed for future cardiac surgery.
Women recently diagnosed with breast cancer have higher survival rates than those diagnosed in previous decades, according to the American Cancer Society. However, survivors continue to face health challenges after their treatments end. Previous research reports as many as 50 percent of breast cancer survivors are depressed.
A new analysis has found that breast cancer survivors may experience problems with certain mental abilities several years after treatment, regardless of whether they were treated with chemotherapy plus radiation or radiation only.
New research has found that breast cancer tumours change their hormonal status throughout the course of disease, whereas the decision about the most effective treatment for the patient is usually only based on one biopsy of the primary tumour.
The risk of breast cancer is increased by genetic and lifestyle factors such as the inherited BRCA2 gene, age of having first child, or use of hormone replacement therapy.
As a woman ages, her chances of being diagnosed with a lower-risk breast tumor increase, according to a novel study led by UCSF which found that for women over 50, a substantial number of cancers detected by mammograms have good prognoses.
Post-menopausal women who experience new onset breast tenderness after starting combination hormone therapy may have an increased risk of breast cancer compared to women who don't experience breast tenderness, a study by researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has shown. One reason for this may be that their breasts are becoming more dense.
Post-menopausal women who experience breast tenderness after starting combination hormone therapy have a higher risk of breast cancer than women who don't, a study by researchers with UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has shown. One reason for this, they now say, may be that these women's breasts are becoming more dense.
Investigators from the Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center have reported findings that may shed light on why African American women have a disproportionately higher risk of developing more aggressive and difficult-to-treat breast cancers, specifically estrogen and progesterone receptor negative (ER-/PR-) cancers.
It took seven years of annual mammograms and a cancer diagnosis for Amy Colton to learn something her doctors had realized from the beginning: Her breast tissue is so dense that it could have masked tumors on earlier exams.
The American College of Radiology today denounced new breast cancer screening guidelines by the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health, which recommend against annual screening of women ages 40-49 and would extend time between screens for older women.
Cancer Research UK’s Drug Development Office has re-launched a trial of a promising drug to treat inherited breast and ovarian cancer -- but this time taken as a tablet by outpatients.
Investigators from the Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center have reported findings that may shed light on why African American women have a disproportionately higher risk of developing more aggressive and difficult-to-treat breast cancers, specifically estrogen and progesterone receptor negative (ER-/PR-) cancers.
Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and CIC bioGUNE discover a complex cell mechanism activated by a protein -- HOXB9 -- that becomes an obstacle for radiation effectiveness.
Whether chemotherapy is given before or after breast-conserving therapy does not have an impact on long-term local-regional outcomes, suggesting treatment success is due more to biologic factors than chemotherapy timing.
Today's chemotherapy treatments reduce deaths from breast cancer by around a third in a wide range of patients, a giant new analysis of data from over 100 different clinical trials has shown.
Receiving a boost to support its Breast Surgery Fellowship Program, The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) has been awarded a $75,000 grant from The Breast Cancer Alliance for academic year 2012-2013.
The presence of circulating tumor cells in the blood appears to have no relationship to survival in women who have just been diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer. However, the research shows that these stray tumor cells may signal that the disease has spread to other parts of the body, even before imaging reveals any metastases.
A class of drugs used to treat breast cancers which overproduce a protein called HER2 could also treat other types of cancer -- particularly head and neck cancers, according to research presented at the National Cancer Research Institute Cancer Conference in Liverpool this week.
Amid the controversy surrounding the Food and Drug Administration's ruling that Avastin should no longer be used to treat metastatic breast cancer, a new multinational Phase III clinical trial shows that Avastin significantly increased tumor response rates in breast cancer patients when given before surgery.
A recently presented study revealed that the bisphosphonate clodronate had a low incidence of adverse events and toxicity among patients with breast cancer and may modestly reduce the incidence of distant metastases in postmenopausal women.
The debate about using menopausal hormone therapies to relieve symptoms in post-menopausal women has been ongoing. Is the combination therapy of estrogen and progestin better or worse than just giving women estrogen alone?
In an international Phase III randomized study, everolimus, when combined with the hormonal therapy exemestane, has been shown to dramatically improve progression-free survival.
During involution -- the process during which milk-producing cells are killed and replaced by fat cells -- the breast is especially susceptible to the development of aggressive cancers. This study shows that NSAIDs like ibuprofen reduce the severity of these cancers.
Aromatase inhibitors prevent the conversion of androgens to estrogens, and could play a role in the development of breast cancer. This study of 36 pre-menopausal women consisted of a cross-over intervention trial to determine if there were differences between red wine and white wine in their effects on AIs. Subjects sequentially consumed eight ounces of red wine, followed by white wine (or vice versa), each beverage for a one-month period.
As if the field of pathology were not already thought of as being impersonal, a Stanford team has developed a Computational Pathologist (C-Path) capable of making more accurate diagnoses than its human counterparts. The traditional method for conclusively determining whether a patient has cancer is to perform a biopsy and analyze the tissue under a microscope.
McMaster University researchers have found consistent evidence that use of hormone replacement therapy is associated with breast cancer globally. This study comes at a time when more women are again asking for this medication to control hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause.
Depression, in addition to other barriers, may prevent Latina breast cancer survivors from undergoing preventive health screening for colorectal and ovarian cancer, according to data presented at the Fourth AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities, held here Sept. 18-21, 2011.
In Spain, 5-year survival following breast cancer diagnosis is more than 83%. Around 66% suffer fatigue following treatment. A Spanish research establishes the factors associated with tiredness in cancer survivors to improve their quality of life and rehabilitation.
Having diabetes or being obese after age 60 significantly increases the risk for developing breast cancer, a Swedish study has revealed. Data also showed that high blood lipids were less common in patients when diagnosed with breast cancer, while low blood lipids were associated with an increased risk.
A woman's mammography results should tell her if she has dense breasts, so that she'll know the test may miss a breast cancer diagnosis, a Ridgewood, N.J., radiologist told a federal advisory panel on mammography Friday.
Due to changing guidelines concerning when and how often they should first be screened for breast cancer with mammograms, many women are confused. The American Cancer Society recommends women 40 years and older get a mammogram every year, but the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends mammograms every other year for women older than 50. A University of Missouri researcher says doctors and patients should communicate better about individual patients' timing of breast cancer screenings.
In support of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, dressbarn announces a month-long program aimed at getting more than one-quarter million women to take its 'Pink Pledge' to combat breast cancer.
A new study has found that an osteoporosis drug protects against the bone damaging side effects of certain breast cancer medications. The study indicates that some breast cancer patients could take zoledronic acid in addition to their anti-cancer medications to maintain bone health.
The benefits of using tamoxifen to prevent recurrence of breast cancer after surgery continue to accrue long after women stop taking the drug, a study led by Oxford University has found.
BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced today that the independent Data Monitoring Committee has completed the seventh unblinded review of the LibiGel Phase III cardiovascular and breast cancer safety study, which has completed enrollment of subjects. The independent DMC has recommended that the LibiGel safety study should continue as per the FDA-agreed protocol, without modifications. LibiGel (testosterone gel) is in development for the treatment of female sexual dysfunction (FSD), specifically, hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) in menopausal women, for which there is no FDA-approved product.
MammaCare, a revolutionary tool that has set standards for teaching women and clinicians how to perform clinical breast exams, is training professionals around the country to detect lumps earlier and save lives.
According to the results of a new study many early-stage breast cancer survivors lacked knowledge about their disease and were not meaningfully involved in treatment discussions or asked their preferences regarding the approach to treatment. As a result, the study's investigators determined that there is a need for improvements in the quality of the surgical decision-making process for these patients.
Employers need to be more aware of the capabilities of women affected by breast cancer and provide them with better support, backed by employment directives and occupational health policies, according to a paper in the November issue of the European Journal of Cancer Care.
By the end of 2011, about 230,000 cases of breast cancer will have been diagnosed in the U.S. We know there's a genetic component to breast cancer, but as we're also understanding more and more, there's a decided environmental role to it.
For breast cancer patients who have undergone radiation therapy, a new technique consisting of fat injection followed by implant placement may provide a much-needed alternative for breast reconstruction, reports a study in the February issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
Fear, anxiety and embarrassment are some of the main barriers preventing women from going for breast screening, but this alone does not account for the variations in uptake, according to new work presented today at the National Cancer Research Institute Cancer Conference in Liverpool today.
In a 2-1 decision, a federal appeals court today partially reversed a lower court's ruling in a case challenging patents on two human genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. The court ruled that companies can obtain patents on the genes but cannot patent methods to compare those gene sequences.
A team of scientists at Tufts University will develop ultra-sensitive techniques at the single-molecule and single-cell levels designed to detect breast cancer earlier, and treat it with greater precision, through a $6.6 million Innovator Award from the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program made to Tufts chemist David R. Walt, Ph.D.
In their lifetime, women have more than a 12 percent risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer. This week, research on novel approaches to breast cancer treatment is being presented at the Era of Hope (EOH) conference, a scientific meeting hosted by the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP).
Initial results from an ongoing clinical trial, the first designed to examine the utility of whole-genome sequencing for triple negative breast cancer, were reported today during the CRTC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
Triple negative breast tumors, which make up nearly 20 percent of breast cancers, do not respond to treatment with targeted therapies such as Herceptin- (trastuzumab).
Puberty is a time in a girl's life considered highly sensitive to stimulation by the hormone estrogen and a critical window during which estrogen exposure could greatly influence the risk of breast cancer later in life. An early onset of puberty also has been consistently shown in studies to increase the risk of breast cancer. The Jersey Girl Study, which aims to examine factors affecting puberty in girls and is based at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ), has shown that estrogen-like substances produced by fungi may act as a hormone disrupter. CINJ is a Center of Excellence of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
Adding to research linking alcohol to breast cancer risk, a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that adolescent girls with a family history of breast disease - either cancer or the benign lesions that can become cancer - have a higher risk of developing benign breast disease as young women than other girls.
In a follow-up study, researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues have found that patients who receive chemotherapy for breast cancer might experience prolonged fatigue years after their therapy.
France's health ministry advised 30,000 women with breast implants made by French firm PIP to have them removed on Friday, saying while there is no proven cancer risk, they could rupture dangerously.
New research out of McGill University's Goodman Cancer Research Centre provides compelling new evidence that a gene known as 14-3-3s plays a critical role in halting breast cancer initiation and progression.
The risk of breast cancer is increased by genetic and lifestyle factors such as the inherited BRCA2 gene, age of having first child, or use of hormone replacement therapy.
Adding to research linking alcohol to breast cancer risk, a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that adolescent girls with a family history of breast disease -- either cancer or the benign lesions that can become cancer -- have a higher risk of developing benign breast disease as young women than other girls.
Investigators from the Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center have reported findings that may shed light on why African American women have a disproportionately higher risk of developing more aggressive and difficult-to-treat breast cancers, specifically estrogen and progesterone receptor negative (ER-/PR-) cancers.
Mammography saves lives by detecting very small tumors. However, it fails to find 10-25% of tumors and is unable to distinguish between benign and malignant disease.
Using breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) screenings among targeted, high-risk, underserved women significantly decreased diagnostic cost and increased patient compliance rates with follow-up compared to using general risk mammography screenings.
Could some women who naturally produce excess aromatase in their breasts have an increased risk of developing breast cancer? Results of a new animal study suggests that may be the case, say researchers at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, a part of Georgetown University Medical Center.
There is still a one in eight lifetime risk that a woman will develop breast cancer, and the best tool against the disease remains early detection. Now, Women & infants Hospital of Rhode Island has taken the breast cancer battle to the next level with the installation of the most advanced imaging technology available, called digital breast tomosynthesis.
A woman's ethnicity as well as her genetic makeup are two of the main risk factors for hereditary breast cancer. Research into understanding and treating hereditary breast cancer will be presented today at the Era of Hope conference, a scientific meeting hosted by the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP).
iCAD, Inc., an industry-leading provider of advanced image analysis, workflow solutions and radiation therapies for the early identification and treatment of cancer, today announced that it has entered into a distribution agreement with Hitachi Medical Systems. With this agreement, iCAD's SpectraLook with PrecisionPoint image analysis solution for breast MRI will be available for purchase with Hitachi's Oasis and Echelon MRI systems. iCAD's MRI solution will assist radiologists in distinguishing potential cancers in the breast as part of their overall analysis of MRI studies and streamline the planning and performance of MRI-guided percutaneous breast biopsies.
The University of Sydney, in partnership with BreastScreen NSW and Ziltron, has developed a pioneering web-based program to monitor the performance of radiologists in detecting and diagnosing abnormalities in breast X-rays. Currently commencing its nationwide rollout, the BREAST Project has the potential to improve the early detection of breast cancer through screening and in turn reduce breast cancer mortality and morbidity.
The addition of zoledronic acid to adjuvant endocrine therapy increased bone mineral density and reduced the risk for disease recurrence among postmenopausal women with early hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, according to new data from the ZO-FAST trial.
Interferon-stimulated gene 15 (ISG15), a ubiquitin like protein, is highly elevated in a variety of cancers including breast cancer. How the elevated ISG15 pathway contributes to tumorigenic phenotypes remains unclear and is the subject of a study published in the January 2012 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine.
A Johns Hopkins breast cancer researcher is the recipient of a $50,000 award designed to encourage rapid translation of her basic research on biomarkers into a commercially available test that could predict the best treatment options for some women with breast cancer.
The spread of breast cancer is responsible for more than 90 percent of breast cancer deaths. Now, the process by which it spreads--or metastasizes--has been unraveled by researchers at Johns Hopkins. Reporting in two papers, the researchers have discovered the switch that enables breast cancer cells to travel to and be received in the lungs.
According to a new major study just two glasses of a wine a day can increase the risk of breast cancer among women by 50%. Researchers also warn that women who drink regularly in their 20s and 30s are far more likely to develop breast cancer in later life, regardless of whether they reduce their alcohol consumption.
It is widely known that mutations in the breast cancer susceptibility 1 (BRCA1) gene significantly increase the chance of developing breast and ovarian cancers, but the mechanisms at play are not fully understood. Now, researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center have shown that certain BRCA1 mutations result in excessive, uncontrolled DNA repair, which challenges the prior assumption that mutations in BRCA1 only contribute to breast cancer through a reduction in function.
The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is part of a team of medical investigators receiving a $3.5 million grant from Susan G. Komen for the Cure to study triple-negative breast cancer, a highly aggressive form of this cancer that disproportionately affects African-Americans.
Why are African-American women more likely than those of European descent to be diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age, and with poor prognoses? It's a provocative question, and one that a multidisciplinary team from the Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University (BU), the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center (UNC) and Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) are coming together to address, supported by a five-year, $19.3 million award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
Consumption of 3 to 6 alcoholic drinks per week is associated with a small increase in the risk of breast cancer, and consumption in both earlier and later adult life is also associated with an increased risk.
Low-educated and immigrant women run a lower risk of breast cancer occurrence than highly educated women and women born in Sweden. However, the risk of dying from breast cancer is higher for those low-educated and immigrant women that do get the diagnose - a development that has occurred in Sweden during the last ten years.
The largest study to investigate the tolerability of the breast cancer drug tamoxifen in male breast cancer patients has shown that men stop taking their prescribed therapy early because of problems with side effects caused by the drug.
Mutations that are found in stem cells could be causing some breast cancers to develop and may be the reason the disease recurs. These abnormal cells are likely controlling cell functions in the tumor and, given they are not targeted by chemotherapy and radiation, they enable the disease to recur.
While mammography rates have improved among foreign-born women residing in the United States, these women are still less likely to have undergone breast cancer screening than native-born U.S. women.
Women who want to reduce their risk of breast cancer may have heard they should avoid exposure to industrial chemicals but scientific evidence has so far not proven a direct link
Despite the benefits, only a small minority of women, regardless of age, are opting for immediate reconstructive breast surgery after undergoing mastectomy for treatment of breast cancer.
This year, more than 230,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and nearly 40,000 women will not survive their battle with cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. New research from the University of Missouri shows that certain factors, including marital status, having children in the home, income level and age, affect the likelihood of depression in breast cancer survivors. Further, depressed patients are less likely to adhere to medication regimens, potentially complicating the progress of their treatment.
Mayo Clinic has received investigational new drug approval from the Food and Drug Administration for two new cancer vaccines that mobilize the body's defense mechanisms to destroy malignant cells. The vaccines are among the first aimed at preventing cancer recurrence. The approval clears the way for Phase I clinical trials with women treated for ovarian or breast cancer.
A recent study on a sophisticated form of radiation treatment for breast cancer is inaccurate and has caused unnecessary concern among many patients, according to four top physician researchers.
Paclitaxel is one of a family of drugs originally derived from yew trees that block the growth of cancer by interfering with microtubules - structures that help chromosomes to separate during cell division. It's commonly used to treat breast and ovarian cancer, but some tumours can become resistant over time and start growing again.
Drinking red wine in moderation may reduce one of the risk factors for breast cancer, providing a natural weapon to combat a major cause of death among U.S. women.
A new study has found that when parents get tested for breast cancer genes, many of them share their results with their children, even with those who are very young. Published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study also revealed that most parents think that their children are not distressed when they learn about the test results.
Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging measures were associated with prognostic tumor markers, demonstrating the potential of magnetic resonance imaging for prediction of disease prognosis and stratification of patients to appropriate therapies.
Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging measures were associated with prognostic tumor markers, demonstrating the potential of magnetic resonance imaging for prediction of disease prognosis and stratification of patients to appropriate therapies.
NanoString Technologies, Inc., a privately held provider of life science tools for translational research and developer of molecular diagnostics, today announced that it is initiating the first in a series of studies to evaluate the clinical utility of the NanoString Breast Cancer Intrinsic Subtyping Assay. The initial investigation will utilize samples from the TransATAC study to evaluate whether the assay, which is based on the PAM50 gene signature, can quantitate the probability of cancer recurrence in individual post-menopausal women with hormone receptor-positive, early stage breast cancer (ESBC) who have been treated with hormonal therapy.
Breast cancer detection using mammography has improved clinical outcomes for many women, because mammography can detect very small (5 mm) tumors early in the course of the disease. However, mammography fails to detect 10 - 25% of tumors, and the results do not distinguish benign and malignant tumors. Reducing the false positive rate, even by a modest 10%, while improving the sensitivity, will lead to improved screening, and is a desirable and attainable goal.
Glioblastoma is one of the most aggressive forms of brain cancer. Rather than presenting as a well-defined tumor, glioblastoma will often infiltrate the surrounding brain tissue, making it extremely difficult to treat surgically or with chemotherapy or radiation. Likewise, several mouse models of glioblastoma have proven completely resistant to all treatment attempts.
Women who survive breast cancer show significant neurological impairment, and outcomes appear to be significantly poorer for those treated with chemotherapy.
Researchers at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson have identified cancer cell mitochondria as the unsuspecting powerhouse and "Achilles' heel" of tumor growth, opening up the door for new therapeutic targets in breast cancer and other tumor types.
The newest journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, details a large-scale project in genetic profiling that has identified many of the weak points in breast tumor cells.
Results from a phase III clinical trial have shown that combining two existing cancer drugs to treat post-menopausal women with advanced breast cancer resistant to hormonal therapy significantly improves outcome. Researchers told the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress that women treated with a combination of everolimus and exemestane had an improved progression-free survival of nearly seven months compared to women who were treated only with exemestane.
Research led by Dr. Suresh Alahari, the Fred Brazda Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans and its Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center, has found that a protein discovered by his laboratory can inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells.
More and more woman are surviving breast cancer, but lifesaving surgical and radiation therapies can cause a grave side effect: an incurable chronic condition called lymphedema that involves swelling of the arms and often debilitating pain and discomfort. While this disorder frequently has been ignored, misdiagnosed and untreated in breast-cancer survivors, that's beginning to change.
Women with the deadliest and rarest form of breast cancer now have a chance of treatment where once their options were severely limited, thanks to a new discovery by George Mason University researchers.
A second, larger clinical research study led by breast cancer specialists at Princess Margaret Hospital has again proven that comparing a new biopsy of progressing or recurring cancer with that of the original cancer can dictate a change in treatment.
A new potential target to slow breast cancer tumor progression and metastasis has been identified by a team of researchers led by Dr. Richard Kremer from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre.
In a significant advance for patients with ductal carcinoma in situ, researchers have developed and prospectively validated a multigene test to identify the risk for recurrence of breast cancer.
A Queensland University of Technology PhD student has developed a potential breakthrough test for predicting the likelihood of the spread or return of breast cancer.
Scientists are reporting development and successful initial testing of a new tool that tells whether brain tissue is normal or cancerous while an operation is underway, so that surgeons can remove more of the tumor without removing healthy tissue, improving patients' survival.
A safe, low-cost system that would allow women of all ages to be screened for breast cancer in GP surgeries, or alternative high street locations, has come a step closer following a third clinical trial.
Scientists have discovered a tiny RNA molecule, called miR-520, which at once blocks two important pathways in the development of cancer in cells. In estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer, the production of this microRNA is often reduced and this is correlated with malignant behavior of tumor cells.
It had taken some years for Nicole McLean to embrace her God-given breasts, ample at size H cups. So when, at 39, she was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer and told, despite her adamant protests, that mastectomy was the best option, McLean never hesitated to pursue reconstruction.
Australian women who have undergone surgery for early-stage breast cancer could be monitored afterwards by their GP instead of a hospital clinic, under a federal government project that acknowledges there will not be enough specialist doctors for the coming wave of cancer cases among ageing baby boomers.
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation will showcase more than one hundred and sixty presentations on data from its robust oncology portfolio at two key medical congresses this month, demonstrating significant advances for patients with cancers and hematological diseases.
In a novel therapeutic approach to treating breast cancer, Loyola University Medical Center researchers are reporting positive results from a clinical trial of a drug that targets tumor stem cells.
Jennifer Gass, MD, chief of surgery at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island and a breast surgeon with the Breast Health Center in the hospital's Program in Women's Oncology, recently completed a one-month sabbatical in Paris with the world-renowned breast surgeon Krishna B. Clough, MD, medical director of the Paris Breast Center.
Within many hormone-receptor positive breast cancers lives a subpopulation of receptor-negative cells -- knock down the hormone-receptor positive cells with anti-estrogen drugs and you may inadvertently promote tumor takeover by more dangerous, receptor-negative cells. A study describes how to switch these receptor-negative cells back to a state that can be targeted by existing hormone therapies.
Obese patients with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer may have worse outcomes than patients who are normal weight or overweight, Mayo Clinic researchers found in a study presented today at the 2011 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
Results from a German study demonstrated no improvement in disease-free survival among patients with breast cancer who were treated with dose-dense chemotherapy and the bisphosphonate ibandronate.
The study, which combined the results of 26 international trials, showed 44 per cent of women with BRCA1 faults and 52 per cent of women with BRCA2 faults were alive five years after they were diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer.
New research into the potential link between parabens and breast cancer has found traces of the chemicals in breast tissue samples from all of the women in the study. Parabens are commonly used as preservatives in cosmetics, food products and pharmaceuticals. As the research shows that parabens are measurable in the tissue of women who do not use underarm cosmetics the parabens must enter the breast from other sources.
UCD researchers have identified a novel biomarker that can identify those women with breast cancer who will have a poor response to tamoxifen, one of the principle anti-hormone drugs used to treat the disease. This may allow clinicians to tailor the treatment of early stage breast cancer patients appropriately.
For the first time, researchers at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance have demonstrated the feasibility of using serial positron emission tomography (PET) scans, using a special estrogen-containing isotope, to confirm the relative effectiveness of estrogen-blocking and estrogen-depleting therapy in patients with metastatic breast cancer.
The first randomised trial to investigate the use of trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) -- an antibody-guided drug -- for the initial treatment of HER2- (human epidermal growth factor receptor-2) positive metastatic breast cancer has shown that it makes a significant difference to the time women live without their disease worsening.
Phytoestrogens are plant compounds which, in the human body, can attach to the receptors for the female sexual hormone estrogen and which are taken in with our daily diet. A number of findings have attributed a cancer protective effect to these plant hormones. At DKFZ, a team headed by Prof. Dr. Jenny Chang-Claude summarized the results of several studies in a meta-analysis last year and showed that a diet rich in phytoestrogens lowers the risk of developing breast cancer after menopause. Now the Heidelberg researchers wanted to find out whether phytoestrogens also have an influence on the course of breast cancer. Prior investigations on this topic had provided contradictory results.
Breast cancer cells that mutate to resist drug treatment survive by establishing tiny pumps on their surface that reject the drugs as they penetrate the cell membrane - making the cancer insensitive to chemotherapy drugs even after repeated use.
It doesn't matter how advanced a breast cancer detection system is, it's only effective if patients have access to it. So Nihon University has developed a portable unit that can be taken to those without access to a hospital.
A Queensland University of Technology (QUT) PhD student has developed a potential breakthrough test for predicting the likelihood of the spread or return of breast cancer.
Exemestane steadily lowered levels of "good" cholesterol in women taking the agent as part of a breast cancer prevention study. Exemestane, an aromatase inhibitor used to treat estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, is being tested to prevent breast cancer in women at an increased risk of developing the disease.
A model used to estimate breast cancer survival rates found that the probability that a woman with screen-detected breast cancer will avoid a breast cancer death because of screening mammography may be lower than previously thought, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine.
Telomeres, the complex structures that protect the end of chromosomes, of peripheral blood cells are significantly shorter in patients with familial breast cancer than in the general population. Results of the study carried out by the Human Genetics Group of the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), led by Javier Benitez, to be published in open-access journal PLoS Genetics on July 28th, reflect that familial, but not sporadic, breast cancer cases are characterized by shorter telomeres. Importantly, they also provide evidence for telomere shortening as a mechanism of genetic anticipation, the successively earlier onset of cancer down generations.
Early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer-related lymphedema by a physical therapist can significantly reduce costs and the need for intensive rehabilitation.
Precisely quantifying the amount of three different HER growth proteins, along with several other proteins believed linked to breast cancer, did not predict a patient's outcome after treatment for HER2-Positive Breast Cancer with Herceptin. HER2-positive breast cancer gets its name from a protein called human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 that promotes cancer cell growth.
A protein in the nucleus of breast cancer cells that plays a role in fueling the growth of aggressive tumors may be a good target for new drugs, reports a research team at the Duke Cancer Institute.
As we near the end of the 2011 Breast Cancer Awareness Month, it is fitting to continue our coverage of new developments related to breast cancer diagnostics and treatments. We recently reported on GE Healthcare's newly FDA-approved SenoBright system that promises to greatly improve imaging of breast tissue over traditional mammograms. Though mammographies have tremendously enhanced patient care -- in some cases detecting pre-cancerous lesions three years prior to any problems arising -- they are not perfect. Mammograms currently are incapable of distinguishing between benign and malignant lesions and are estimated to miss detecting 10-25 percent of breast cancers.
Radiotherapy following surgery for breast cancer halves the chances of the cancer coming back over the next 10 years, a study led by Oxford University researchers has found.
Stockholm, Sweden: A major UK trial has produced firm evidence that giving radiotherapy between or during chemotherapy cycles to women with early breast cancer significantly reduces the risk of the cancer recurring in the breast or chest wall. The treatment, known as synchronous chemoradiation, has minimal adverse side-effects and no detrimental effect on the patients' quality of life.
A new research report appearing in the October 2011 issue of The FASEB Journal shows that resveratrol, the "healthy" ingredient in red wine, stops breast cancer cells from growing by blocking the growth effects of estrogen. This discovery, made by a team of American and Italian scientists, suggests for the first time that resveratrol is able to counteract the malignant progression since it inhibits the proliferation of hormone resistant breast cancer cells. This has important implications for the treatment of women with breast cancer whose tumors eventually develop resistance to hormonal therapy.
Mammography done yearly or every two years to detect new or recurrent tumors after surgery appears to prolong the lives of breast cancer survivors, according to a large new evidence review.
The most common breast cancer uses the most efficient, powerful food delivery system known in human cells and blocking that system kills it, researchers report.
A first-of-its kind study led by Xiao-Cheng Wu, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Public Health at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, reports that a significant number of women are not receiving guideline-recommended treatment for breast cancer and what factors contribute. The research is published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology December 5, 2011 Early Release section.
During pregnancy, women are counseled to refrain from consuming certain types of foods, beverages and medications in order to avoid jeopardizing the health and development of the fetus. In fact, the American Pregnancy Association has a list of a dozen items they recommend expectant mothers omit from their diets. However, there are some additions, such as folic acid, that, when taken before and/or during pregnancy, can actually reduce the risk of birth defects and other disorders.
NDSU animal sciences professor Chung S. Park is among the researchers who presented at the Era of Hope scientific conference in Orlando, Fla., Aug. 2-5, hosted by the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program. Research by Park suggests that a pregnant mother's diet containing certain nutrients can potentially reduce the risk of breast cancer in her female offspring.
In a study that holds major implications for breast cancer research as well as basic cell biology, scientists have discovered a rotational motion that plays a critical role in the ability of breast cells to form the spherical structures in the mammary gland known as acini. This rotation, which the researchers call "CAMo," for coherent angular motion, is necessary for the cells to form spheres. Without CAMo, the cells do not form spheres, which can lead to random motion, loss of structure and malignancy.
Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) have discovered key processes by which estrogen, the female sex hormone, activates genes in breast-cancer cells. Greater understanding of how this occurs is expected to eventually lead to new treatments for the disease.
The spread of breast cancer is responsible for more than 90 percent of breast cancer deaths. Now, the process by which it spreads -- or metastasizes -- has been unraveled by researchers at Johns Hopkins.
Researchers at Cleveland Clinic have discovered that a gene -- known as an androgen receptor (AR) -- is found in both prostate and breast cancers yet has opposite effects on these diseases.
An international research team led by Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center has found biological differences in hormone-receptor positive breast cancer that are linked to the timing of recurrence despite endocrine therapy.
A new study suggests some women needing a lumpectomy or mastectomy to treat their breast cancer have another potential option that is safe and effective, say researchers at Georgetown. They say the procedure known as a nipple sparing mastectomy is also a viable surgical option for women who choose to have their breasts removed because of their increased risk of developing the disease. For both groups of women, the surgery offers a chance for a more natural looking and normal feeling reconstructed breast as compared to other forms of mastectomy.
Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have made a discovery that brings them one step closer to being able to better predict which patients have the best chance of surviving breast cancer.
A key protein potentially involved in regulating breast cancer progression has been identified by researchers, the team worked to identify the binding partner of Tumor Differentiating Factor, a pituitary hormone that had previously been shown to reduce cancer progression in breast cancer cells.
In lab studies, researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center have effectively reprogrammed cells of the innate and adaptive immune system to overcome a key cancer defense mechanism and develop long-lasting memory to reject breast cancer cells and guard against tumor relapse.
Women living in rural areas face unique challenges concerning health and wellness issues. Now, an MU researcher has found that rural women are more likely than women living in cities to be diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer, the most severe form of the disease.
University of Manchester scientists are developing a test that will help identify patients who will benefit from a new breast cancer treatment, thanks to a research grant worth almost £180,000 from Breast Cancer Campaign.
Scientists from the University of Helsinki and from UCSF have exposed a cell pathway that breast tumor cells use to destruct local tissue neighborhood. Cancer cells may use this pathway to free themselves from mammary epithelial tissue architecture, to spread to surrounding tissues.
CANCER RESEARCH UK scientists have succeeded in purifying a protein found in bacteria that could reveal new drug targets for inherited breast and ovarian cancers - and other cancers linked to DNA repair faults. The study is published in the journal Nature today.
Breast cancer cells that mutate to resist drug treatment survive by establishing tiny pumps on their surface that reject the drugs as they penetrate the cell membrane -- making the cancer insensitive to chemotherapy drugs even after repeated use.
Early detection of breast cancer saves thousands of lives each year. But screening for breast cancer also produces false alarms, which can cause undue stress and costly medical bills. Now, a recent study using patient blood reveals a possible way to reduce the number of false alarms that arise during early screening. Researchers found a panel of proteins shed by breast cancer that are easily detected and can distinguish between real cancer and benign lumps.
Cancers rarely are deadly unless they evolve the ability to grow beyond the tissues in which they first arise. Normally, cells -- even early-stage tumor cells -- are tethered to scaffolding that helps to restrain any destructive tendencies. But scientists from the University of Helsinki, Finland, and from UCSF have identified a cleaver-wielding protein that frees some tumor cells, allowing them to further misbehave.
SouthWest NanoTechnologies' Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes (SWCNT) are being used in promising photothermal therapy to suppress tumor growth in breast cancer, new research reveals.
Over the past few years, newer digital mammography has been replacing older film mammography, but researchers wondered, is the newer technology better at detecting cancer? A new study reported October 18, 2011 in the Annals of Internal Medicine and coauthored by Berta Geller, Ed.D., professor of family medicine at the University of Vermont College of Medicine, is the first to assess the accuracy of digital compared to film mammography in U.S. community practice.
A landmark investigation which found that hormone treatment for the menopause boosts the risk of breast cancer is riddled with flaws, a new study published on Monday alleges.
The survival rates for older women with breast cancer lag behind younger women diagnosed with the disease, indicating that the elder population may be missing out on improvements in treatment and detection, according to new research from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Researchers have found that a protein linked to cell division and migration and tied to increased cell proliferation in ovarian tumors is also present at high levels in breast cancer specimens and cell lines. The protein, dubbed "UNC-45A," was also determined to be more active in breast cancer cells than in normal breast cells.
Accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) brachytherapy, the localized form of radiation therapy growing increasingly popular as a treatment choice for women with early-stage breast cancer, is associated with higher rate of later mastectomy, increased radiation-related toxicities and post-operative complications, compared to traditional whole breast irradiation.
Researchers exploring why some women who take a common breast cancer drug develop serious joint pain have eliminated two possible causes: inflammatory arthritis and autoimmune disease. Because of these findings, researchers say women should be encouraged to continue taking the medication to gain its full benefit.
Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. Ganetespib shows potent in vitro and in vivo activity against multiple types of breast cancer including HER2-positive, ER/PR positive, triple-negative, and inflammatory breast cancer according to results presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
Certain cancer signaling pathways that are activated in aggressive cancer can be detected very early, even in precancerous cells, among young African-American women at high risk for breast cancer. This may allow for earlier detection and prevention of cancer.
The place I'm going is called the Breast Center. On the train, I imagine the building is in the shape of a giant, skyward-turned breast, like an enormous Claes Oldenburg sculpture of a tit, and there is a door in the side of the boob and maybe the nipple is a massive skylight.
More and more members of the general public are becoming familiar with the idea that "cancer" is not one disease, but rather a word used to describe numerous diseases with countless underlying causes.
An international team of researchers has identified three new genetic loci associated with an increased susceptibility to breast cancer. The three new loci will be added to the previous 22 that have been previously found and appear to be associated with mammary gland and bone growth and estrogen receptor signaling.
Delivering anticancer drugs into breast ducts via the nipple is highly effective in animal models of early breast cancer, and has no major side effects in human patients, according to a report by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers in Science Translational Medicine on October 26. The results of the study are expected to lead to more advanced clinical trials of so-called intraductal treatment for early breast cancer.
Using a mathematical model, have now shown that spatial tissue structure, such as that found in the colon, slows down the accumulation of genetic mutations, thereby delaying the onset of cancer. Their model could help in the assessment of tissue biopsies and improve predictions of the progression of certain cancer types.
In dozens of experiments in mice and in human cancer cells, a team of Johns Hopkins scientists has closely tied production of a cancer-causing protein called TWIST to the development of estrogen resistance in women with breast cancer. Because estrogen fuels much breast cancer growth, such resistance -- in which cancers go from estrogen positive to estrogen negative status -- can sabotage anticancer drugs that work to block estrogen and prevent disease recurrence after surgery.
The University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center breast oncologist Dr. Suleiman Massarweh and his research team presented findings from their studies on relapse of breast cancer at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium this month.
Researchers at the University of Arizona College of Engineering received a grant to develop a new medical imaging technology to detect tumors and pathogens. The method is based on the terahertz block of the electromagnetic spectrum.
US health officials on Friday revoked the authorization of Roche's Avastin for breast cancer treatment, saying it concluded the drug had "not been shown to be safe and effective for that use.
Using a "systems biology" approach -- which focuses on understanding the complex relationships between biological systems -- to look under the hood of an aggressive form of breast cancer, researchers for the first time have identified a set of proteins in the blood that change in abundance long before the cancer is clinically detectable. The findings, by co-authors Christopher Kemp, Ph.D., and Samir Hanash, M.D., Ph.D., members of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center's Human Biology and Public Health Sciences divisions, respectively, are published online ahead of the Aug. 1 print issue of Cancer Research.
Varian Medical Systems, Inc., a Palo Alto, California firm, received FDA clearance to update the control software of the Clinac and Trilogy targeted radiotherapy devices and for the new Pivotal Care Solution for prone breast treatment. This enables a higher intensity dose delivery, up to 2400 monitor units per minute, and better support for treating breast cancer in the prone position.
A nondisease-causing virus kills human breast cancer cells in the laboratory, creating opportunities for potential new cancer therapies, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers who tested the virus on three different breast cancer types that represent the multiple stages of breast cancer development.
The Food and Drug Administration declared this morning that the blockbuster pharmaceutical Avastin -- one of the world's best-selling cancer drugs -- should no longer be prescribed for the treatment of breast cancer, claiming that the drug has proven to be neither safe nor effective in treating the disease.
Women concerned about breast cancer should worry less about cellphones and hair dyes and worry more about weighing or drinking too much, exercising too little, using menopause hormones and getting too much radiation from medical tests. So says a new report on environmental risks by a respected panel of science advisers.
In a paper to be presented at the upcoming HFES 55th Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, human factors/ergonomics researchers will describe WISE, a Web-based tool for breast cancer survivors designed to reduce work disabilities and improve employment outcomes.
Cholesterol-lowering statins seem to keep breast cancer at bay in some patients. Now researchers reporting in the January 20th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, provide clues about how statins might yield those unexpected benefits. The findings also suggest that mutations in a single gene could be used to identify tumors likely to respond to statin therapy.
A new research project involving Greenland women with breast cancer shows for the first time a clear link between the risk of breast cancer and exposure to perfluorocarbons found in products such as raincoats, pizza trays and baking paper.
Women who use bust-enhancing dietary supplements containing the mycoestrogen zearalenone, a naturally occurring toxin that widely contaminates agricultural products, could be increasing their risk of breast cancer.
A study of 64,659 women, recently published in the journal Academic Radiology, found that while 1,246 of these women were at high enough breast cancer risk to recommend additional screening with MRI, only 173 of these women returned to the clinic within a year for the additional screening.
French authorities are to issue an expert report on Friday saying whether the implants, produced by the now-bankrupt Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) company, should be removed after several suspicious cancer cases.
New research shows that Australian women are prepared to make lifestyle changes, such as altering their diet, following diagnosis with breast cancer, however they are unwilling to give up alcohol and cigarettes - increasing their risk of further cancers.
Among women with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer, patients having a germline (gene change in a reproductive cell that could be passed to offspring) mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes was associated with improved 5-year overall survival.
Due to changing guidelines concerning when and how often they should first be screened for breast cancer with mammograms, many women are confused. The American Cancer Society recommends women 40 years and older get a mammogram every year, but the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends mammograms every other year for women older than 50. A University of Missouri researcher says doctors and patients should communicate better about individual patients' timing of breast cancer screenings.
Younger women with breast cancer experience a decrease in their health-related quality of life (QOL), associated with increased psychological distress, weight gain, a decline in their physical activity, infertility and early onset menopause.
Quality of life in younger patients treated for breast cancer is seriously compromised and these women suffer from severe psychological distress, infertility, premature menopause, a decrease in physical activity and weight gain.
Researchers have proven the continuing effectiveness of treating patients with estrogen receptor-positive premenopausal breast cancer with adjuvant zoledronic acid in addition to adjuvant endocrine treatment including ovarian function suppression.
Investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have determined that the majority of primary care providers continue to recommend annual cervical cancer screening, and less than 15% would extend the screening interval when using the Papanicolaou test and human papillomavirus (HPV) test together, as some guidelines suggest. The results of the study are published online August 18 in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology (AJOG).
Research conducted by NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center global health investigators and cancer specialists in New York, Qatar and Haiti suggests that aspirin should be evaluated for its ability to prevent development of cervical cancer in HIV-infected women.
Intra-uterine devices designed to prevent conception may also protect against cervical cancer, according to a study covering more than 20,000 women that was released on Tuesday.
The incidence of cervical cancer in women in their 20s has risen by over 40 per cent between 1992 and 2006 in England, despite the overall incidence of cervical cancer dropping by 30 per cent, according to research* that will be presented at the annual National Cancer Research Institute Cancer Conference in Liverpool which starts tomorrow (Sunday).
A vaccine routinely used to shield against cervical cancer caused by the human papillomavirus also reduces women's risk of anal cancer, a study published by the journal The Lancet Oncology on Tuesday says.
A study published today in The Lancet shows how a do-it-yourself screen for cervical cancer could help prevent the disease in thousands of women who, for a number of reasons, cannot have a smear test.
There's more news on cancer screening tests - this time for women. Scientists advising the government say a Pap test is a good way to screen young and middle-aged women for cervical cancer, and it's only needed once every three years. But they say there is not enough evidence yet to back testing for HPV, the virus that causes the disease.
BSD Medical Corporation, a leading provider of medical systems that utilize heat therapy to treat cancer, announced today that the Company has obtained Humanitarian Device Exemption marketing approval for the BSD-2000 Hyperthermia System from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Fewer than three doses of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine Cervarix may be just as effective as the standard three-dose regimen when it comes to preventive measures against cervical cancer, according to a new study published September 9 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
On Oct. 25, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that all adolescent boys be immunized against the human papilloma virus, which causes several types of cancer in both sexes.
Soon all adolescent boys may be vaccinated against the sexually transmitted disease that causes some forms of cancer under an extension of a scheme now available to girls, the Australian government's expert panel has recommended. The committee adds that the shots would also widen immunity to the virus, which would further reduce the risk to women and stem the spread of genital warts in both sexes.
Gen-Probe Incorporated announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its APTIMA HPV assay, an amplified nucleic acid test that detects high-risk strains of human papillomavirus (HPV) that are associated with cervical cancer and precancerous lesions. The test has been approved to run on Gen-Probe's fully automated, high-throughput TIGRIS instrument system.
The American Cancer Society (ACS), the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP), and the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) have proposed new guidelines for the prevention and early detection of cervical cancer. The proposed guidelines, which are now posted for public comment, generally advise that women reduce the number of tests they get over their lifetime to better ensure that they receive the benefits of testing while minimizing the risks.
Despite some assumptions to the contrary, young women who receive recommended vaccinations to prevent human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and associated cancers do not engage in more sexually risky behavior.
Intrauterine devices (IUDs) may protect against cervical cancer. This is the conclusion of the broadest epidemiological study to date in which has participated the research group in Viruses and Cancer of IDIBELL, published at The Lancet Oncology.
Researchers reported that explicit inclusion of disparities in cost-effectiveness analysis, would allow policy makers to identify strategies that would reduce overall cancer risk, reduce disparities between racial ethnic subgroups, and be cost-effective, according to a study published online September 6 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
About 7 percent of adults and teens in the United States are orally infected with the human papillomavirus, or HPV, a new study says. This represents about 14.9 million people.
The same filtered light that enables sunglasses to reduce glare may improve a physician's ability to detect early signs of cervical cancer, reducing unnecessary biopsies and surgery.
Barriers that hinder young African-American, Hispanic and poor women from completing a series of three vaccinations to prevent human papillomavirus infection (HPV) also leave them at higher risk for cervical cancer and death
Doing the human papillomavirus (HPV) test twice with a short interval between tests would reduce the number of women having unnecessary treatment, new research shows.
Women over the age of thirty who test positive for HPV (Human Papillomavirus) should be re-tested two years later as part of cervical cancer screening, according to a study published online TK in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Only about half of the teenage girls in the U.S. have rolled up their sleeves for a controversial vaccine against cervical cancer - a rate well below those for two other vaccinations aimed at adolescents.
The world's first vaccine designed to prevent cancer was not developed by a pharmaceutical company. Instead, its development was funded by public institutions on two continents, including three universities, and the U.S. National Cancer Institute. The vaccine prevents human papillomavirus (HPV), an ailment that can lead to deadly cervical cancer. HPV is spread through sexual contact, and 80% of males and females become infected during their lifetimes. But, thanks the to HPV vaccine, it doesn't have to be that way anymore.
A team of German researchers has shown that women can accurately test themselves for human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, the most common cause of cervical cancer. The research is published in the October Journal of Clinical Microbiology.
The research team in France has developed an animal model carrying a mutation of the DCC gene. Mice carrying the mutation develop tumours, because this gene can no longer induce the death of the cancer cells. This discovery could lead to the development of a new targeted cancer treatment that aims to reactivate the dying of cancer cells.
A study based on more than 87,000 women and 47,000 men in the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, looks at whether there is a link between colon cancer and alcohol, and if so at what level of consumption, and the importance of a family history of the disease. A total of 1,801 cases of colon cancer were diagnosed during follow-up from 1980 onwards.
The findings of Almac scientists' research have been published in the online version of the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO) ahead of the print edition of the journal. The JCO is the peer-reviewed publication of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the world's leading professional society representing physicians who treat people with cancer.
After demonstrating that light accurately detected pre-cancerous cells in the lining of the esophagus, Duke University bioengineers turned their technology to the colon and have achieved similar results in a series of preliminary experiments.
AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the initiation of patient enrollment in an open-label, multicenter, randomized Phase 2 clinical trial, called BATON-CRC, evaluating tivozanib in combination with modified FOLFOX6 compared to bevacizumab in combination with mFOLFOX6 as first-line therapy in patients with advanced metastatic colorectal cancer.
Once a cancer gains the ability to invade local tissues and spread to a distant site it becomes much harder to treat. A team of researchers, led by Min Chang and Christopher Williams, at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, has now identified the protein BVES as a suppressor of colorectal cancer progression to this dangerous state, leading them to suggest that BVES could be a therapeutic or preventative target in colorectal cancer.
Even if health care is free, colorectal cancer screening rates among those without financial means are still low, and results of a new study suggest that may be due to an idea psychologists call cancer fatalism.
Eventually, colon cancers bleed and so tests for blood in stool seem an inexpensive and noninvasive alternative to traditional colonoscopies. In fact, a recent article in the journal Cancer Prevention Research showed that fecal immunochemical testing (FIT) is an accurate predictor of colorectal cancer and can provide a low-cost screening alternative for medically underserved populations.
A new study on living animals has shown for the first time that eating cocoa can help to prevent intestinal complaints linked to oxidative stress, including colon carcinogenesis onset caused by chemical substances.
Since the 1970s, U.S. mortality rates due to colorectal cancer have declined overall, yet among blacks and Hispanics, the death rates rose. Evidence suggests that underuse of colonoscopy screening among these groups is one reason for the large disparities.
Could preventing colon cancer be as simple as developing a taste for yerba mate tea? In a recent University of Illinois study, scientists showed that human colon cancer cells die when they are exposed to the approximate number of bioactive compounds present in one cup of this brew, which has long been consumed in South America for its medicinal properties.
Eating legumes at least three times a week and brown rice at least once a week was linked to a reduced risk of colon polyps by 33 percent and 40 percent respectively, according to Loma Linda University research recently published in Nutrition and Cancer. High consumption of cooked green vegetables and dried fruit was also associated with greater protection, the study shows.
Fecal immunochemical testing (FIT) is more effective in its health benefits at the same or lower costs compared to guaiac fecal occult blood testing (gFOBT) at all levels of colonoscopy capacity, according to a study published November 9 by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Repeated screening by flexible sigmoidoscopy (FSG) increased the detection of colorectal cancer or advanced adenoma in women by one-fourth and in men by one-third.
The effects of fruit and vegetable consumption on colorectal cancer (CRC) appear to differ by site of origin, according to a new study published in the October issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. Researchers found that within the proximal and distal colon, brassica vegetables (Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli) were associated with decreased risk of these cancers.
Synergy Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a developer of new drugs to treat gastrointestinal (GI) disorders and diseases, today announced that poster P409 presented at the upcoming 2011 annual scientific meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology highlights the potential use of guanylate cyclase-C agonists to delay progression of colitis into colon cancer. Poster P409 was selected as an "ACG Presidential Award Winning Poster", a recognition given to the most highly ranked abstracts selected for poster sessions in each category.
Ginger supplements reduced markers of colon inflammation in a select group of patients, suggesting that this supplement may have potential as a colon cancer prevention agent, according to a study published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
A meta-analysis of case-control and cohort studies on the association of alcohol consumption with colorectal cancer was carried out, based on 22 studies from Asia, 2 from Australia, 13 from Western Europe, and 24 from North America. The paper provides evidence that alcohol, at least at higher levels of consumption, is associated with an increase in the risk of colorectal cancer. Overall, there was no increase in the risk for consumers reporting an average intake of up to 1 drink per day, but an increase (of 21%) for what the authors defined as "moderate drinking" (averaging up to 49.9 g of alcohol - far in excess of all responsible drinking guidelines). The increase in risk was greater (52%) for consumers of 50 or more grams of alcohol per day.
Elevated blood sugar levels are associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer, according to a study led by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.
Eating a diet high in fibre, particularly from cereal and whole grains, is associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer, finds a new study integrating all available evidence published in the British Medical Journal today.
A protein that regulates cell differentiation in normal tissue may play a different role in colon and breast cancer, activating proliferation of damaged cells, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine.
After demonstrating that light accurately detected pre-cancerous cells in the lining of the esophagus, Duke University bioengineers turned their technology to the colon and have achieved similar results in a series of preliminary experiments.
University of Florida researchers have modified a toxic chemical produced by tiny marine microbes and successfully deployed it against laboratory models of colon cancer.
A new study finds that men are at a higher risk of colon cancer than women and should get their first colonoscopy to screen for the disease at age 45, five years earlier than the current recommendation.
Using nanoparticles to deliver a cocktail of aspirin and folic acid, researchers at the Western University of Health Sciences (WUHS) have created what could be an effective agent to prevent colon cancer.
UT Southwestern Medical Center has developed a new lifesaving genetic screening program for families at high risk of contracting colorectal cancer, a deadly yet highly preventable form of cancer.
Each year, around 5,000 people die from colorectal cancer in Austria, with the mortality rate being just under 50 per cent. A screening colonoscopy (bowel imaging) is recommended in Austria for people who turn 50, regardless of their gender. A current study by the Austrian Society for Gastroenterology and Hepatology, led by Monika Ferlitsch from the Medical University of Vienna, however, concludes that this screening procedure is advisable from the age of 45 in men
Results of two studies suggest that a new, investigational colorectal cancer screening test is highly accurate and significantly more sensitive than other noninvasive tests at detecting precancerous tumors and early-stage cancer. These findings have important implications for clinicians and tens of thousands of Americans.
Postmenopausal women who reported having used nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for at least 10 years at the time of enrollment in the Women's Health Initiative study had a lower risk for death from colorectal cancer compared with women who reported no use of these drugs at enrollment, according to data presented at the 10th AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, held Oct. 22-25, 2011.
Physicians who listen to Mozart while performing colonoscopy may increase their detection rates of precancerous polyps, according to the results of a new study unveiled today at the American College of Gastroenterology's (ACG) 76th Annual Scientific meeting in Washington, DC.
Luteolin is a flavonoid commonly found in fruit and vegetables. This compound has been shown in laboratory conditions to have anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and anti-cancer properties but results from epidemiological studies have been less certain. New research shows that luteolin is able to inhibit the activity of cell signaling pathways important for the growth of cancer in colon cancer cells.
Oxaliplatin, a platinum-based anticancer drug that's made enormous headway in recent years against colorectal cancer, appears to cause nerve damage that may be permanent and worsens even months after treatment ends. The chemotherapy side effect, described by Johns Hopkins researchers in the September issue of Neurology, was discovered in what is believed to be the first effort to track oxaliplatin-based nerve damage through relatively cheap and easy punch skin biopsies.
For the first time, a specific microorganism has been found to be associated with human colorectal cancer. In two studies published online today in Genome Research, independent research teams have identified Fusobacterium in colon cancer tissue, a finding that could open new avenues for diagnosis and treatment of the disease.
A protein critical in heart development may also play a part in colon cancer progression. Research led by investigators from Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and the Vanderbilt Eye Institute suggests that the protein BVES (blood vessel endocardial substance) -- which also is key in regulating corneal cells -- may be a therapeutic target for halting colon cancer metastasis.
Public health researchers have long attributed the disparity in colonoscopy rates between whites and minorities to a lack of health insurance or access to doctors. Now, a new study suggests the reasons for the differences are more complex.
A meta-analysis of case-control and cohort studies on the association of alcohol consumption with colorectal cancer was carried out, based on 22 studies from Asia, 2 from Australia, 13 from Western Europe, and 24 from North America. The paper provides evidence that alcohol, at least at higher levels of consumption, is associated with an increase in the risk of colorectal cancer.
The first study to assess improvements in detection of pre-cancerous growths in the colon through intensive physician training was presented at the American College of Gastroenterology's 76th Annual Scientific Meeting, where colorectal cancer detection was an important focus of the scientific presentations. Other studies highlighted the relationship between the location of pre-cancerous growths in the colon and the development of colorectal cancer in high risk populations, as well as detection rates for pre-cancerous growths in the upper reaches of the colon.
Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin have shown that a protein can inhibit metastasis of colon and melanoma cancers. The findings are published in the October 10, 2011 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Drinking can wreak havoc on your insides, and not just the relatively short-lived brand of havoc brought on by a one-night drinking spree. We're talking long-term damage to the mucous membrane of your stomach that can give rise to all manner of gastrointestinal disorders, including ulcers, colorectal cancer, and inflammatory bowel disease.
Several clinical studies have shown that taking the anti-inflammatory drug celecoxib can reduce the risk of developing polyps that lead to colon cancers, at the cost of increasing the risk of heart disease. But what if this tradeoff was not necessary?
A University of Illinois study reports a promising new weapon in treating metastatic colon cancer, particularly in patients who have developed resistance to chemotherapy.
A single flexible sigmoidoscopy screening between the ages of 55-64 years is associated with a lower level of colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and mortality, according to a study published online August 18 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
An analysis of results of more than 40,000 screening colonoscopies finds that men have a higher rate of advanced tumors compared to women in all age groups examined, suggesting that the age that individuals should undergo an initial screening colonoscopy should be sex-specific, according to a study in the September 28 issue of JAMA.
A new study finds that while colorectal cancer mortality rates dropped in the most recent two decades for every stage in both African Americans and whites, the decreases were smaller for African Americans, particularly for distant stage disease.
During the past two decades there has been a significant increase in the percentage of patients who have a high number of lymph nodes evaluated during colon cancer operations, but this improvement is not associated with an increase in the overall proportion of colon cancers that are node positive, according to a study in the September 14 issue of JAMA.
Cancer investigators from Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center (Tennessee Valley Health System in Nashville) have found that eating a steady diet of red or processed meat, especially meat that has been cooked at high temperatures, may increase the risk of developing colon polyps.
Stage III colon cancer patients in the general population who receive adjuvant treatment for the disease have an improved rate of survival when oxaliplatin is added to 5-fluorouracil (5FU).
African-American patients with resected stage II and stage III colon cancer experienced worse overall and recurrence-free survival compared to whites, but similar recurrence-free intervals, according to a study published Oct. 12 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
In two separate, yet related, studies published in the June and August issues of the journal Molecular Endocrinology, professor Cecilia Williams and her team at the Center for Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling (CNRCS) explored the role of estrogen hormones in potentially treating and preventing these cancers. More specifically, Williams examined regulatory molecules called estrogen receptors (ER), which are the tools that allow estrogen and related molecules to act in the cell.
A new study from researchers in Indiana reports that use of a retroflexion technique in the right side of the colon during colonoscopy is safe and results in the detection of additional adenomatous (precancerous) polyps in approximately four percent of patients. This result is comparable to that expected from a second colonoscopy in the forward view. The study appears in the August issue of GIE: Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE).
UT Southwestern Medical Center has developed a new lifesaving genetic screening program for families at high risk of contracting colorectal cancer, a deadly yet highly preventable form of cancer.
CDx Diagnostics is releasing in the U.S. their brush biopsy system for detection of precancerous esophageal adenocarcinoma. The device features a considerably larger brush that covers an area larger than forceps are typically able to grab.
Obesity doubles the risk of cancer recurrence and cancer-related death in patients with esophageal cancer who have been treated with surgery, found that five-year survival in obese patients -- those with a body mass index of 30 or higher -- with esophageal cancer was 18 percent, compared to 36 percent in patients of normal weight.
Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) have identified the critical early cellular and molecular events that give rise to a type of esophageal cancer called esophageal adenocarcinoma, the fastest-rising solid tumor in the United States.
Scientists working at the Medical Research Council have identified changes in the patterns of sugar molecules that line pre-cancerous cells in the esophagus, a condition called Barrett's dysplasia, making it much easier to detect and remove these cells before they develop into esophageal cancer.
A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine reveals that the risk of patients with Barrett's esophagus developing adenocarcinoma of the esophagus are not as high as once originally thought.
Cancer Research UK has launched a large multi-centre trial to test a new device for detecting Barrett's oesophagus -- a condition that puts sufferers at increased risk of developing cancer of the oesophagus, one of the most deadly cancers.
Dave Kyle had suffered from heartburn for years. When he started to have difficulty swallowing food and began to lose weight, he saw his family doctor. After medical testing, he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. His prognosis was grim, and conventional treatments offered little chance of recovery. Extensive research brought Kyle to Baja California, Mexico for a new treatment that targets only cancer cells and does not have side effects. According to TMD Limited, a medical tourism company, Kyle became one of half a million Americans annually who seek treatment outside of the United States.
Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have identified the critical early cellular and molecular events that give rise to a type of esophageal cancer called esophageal adenocarcinoma, the fastest-rising solid tumor in the United States. The findings challenge conventional wisdom regarding the origin and development of this deadly cancer and its precursor lesion, Barrett's esophagus, and highlight possible targets for new clinical therapies.
Researchers have determined that a combination of P16 immunohistochemistry and DNA qPCR to test for viral E6 can accurately determine the oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, a form of head and neck cancer, which derive from HPV16, according to a study published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Patients who have high-risk non-melanoma skin carcinomas of the head and neck may benefit from concomitant radiotherapy and chemotherapy, according to a UNC-led study. Their study is the first to report on multiple patients with these skin carcinomas treated simultaneously with radio-and chemotherapy.
Powerful new technologies that zoom in on the connections between human genes and diseases have illuminated the landscape of cancer, singling out changes in tumor DNA that drive the development of certain types of malignancies such as melanoma or ovarian cancer.
In Denmark, implementing a national fast track system for cancer patients reduced the waiting time between a patient's initial meeting with a health care provider and their first treatment by four weeks when comparing 2010 to 2002, according to a study presented at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium.
Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC) is responsible for nearly a quarter of all head and neck cancers. It is one of the leading causes of cancer death - largely due to the failure of current histological procedures in predicting the recurrence of the disease. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Cancer shows that a four-gene signature may accurately predict which patients are at higher risk of OSCC recurrence.
Radiation therapy is an important part of head and neck cancer therapy, but most head and neck tumors have a built-in mechanism that makes them resistant to radiation. As a result, oncologists have to deliver huge doses of X-rays to the patient, damaging surrounding tissues and producing significant side effects.
A study published this week in the journal Carcinogenesis shows that in both cell lines and mouse models, grape seed extract kills head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cells, while leaving healthy cells unharmed.
Transplant patients who develop head and neck cancer are more likely to be non-smokers and non-drinkers, and less likely than their non-transplant counterparts to survive past one year of diagnosis.
Among patients with head and neck cancer, poor overall quality of life, pain, and continued tobacco use appear to be associated with poorer outcomes and higher mortality rate two years after diagnosis.
Lymphoma is a cancer that affects organs of the immune system, including the lymph nodes. In a subtype of the disease called extranodal lymphoma, tumors arise in non-lymphoid organs, such as the tongue and tonsils. Patients with extranodal lymphoma of the head and neck often undergo radiation therapy, but this treatment frequently damages the salivary glands and causes dry mouth, which can lead to problems with eating, speaking and swallowing.
Lymphoma is a cancer that affects organs of the immune system, including the lymph nodes. In a subtype of the disease called extranodal lymphoma, tumors arise in non-lymphoid organs, such as the tongue and tonsils. Patients with extranodal lymphoma of the head and neck often undergo radiation therapy, but this treatment frequently damages the salivary glands and causes dry mouth, which can lead to problems with eating, speaking and swallowing.
Researchers from Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have found that among advanced head and neck cancer (HNC) patients receiving radiation-based treatment (RT), being non-English speaking (NES) was a more significant predictor of treatment outcome than being of non-white race. The findings, to be presented at the 53rd annual American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) annual meeting in Miami, Florida, suggest that language barriers may play a role in health-care disparities and that further interpreter/translation services are warranted in the care of such diverse patients.
Slight temperature increases of the oral mucus membranes early in a head and neck cancer patient's chemotherapy and radiation therapy (chemoradiotherapy) treatment is a predictor of severe mucositis later in treatment, according to a study presented at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium.
Curcumin, the main component in the spice turmeric, suppresses a cell signaling pathway that drives the growth of head and neck cancer, according to a pilot study using human saliva by researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Routine use of positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scans in head and neck cancer patient follow-up can detect local recurrences before they become clinically apparent and may improve the outcome of subsequent salvage therapy.
Scientists at A*STAR's Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) have made a landmark discovery in the battle against the rapid spread of aggressive cancers associated with PRL-3 oncoprotein . Contrary to the current accepted theory that antibodies can only bind to cancer proteins found on the cancer cell surface, the IMCB team led by Dr Zeng Qi is the first to discover that antibodies can in fact directly target intracellular oncoproteins like PRL-3 that reside within the cancer cells to suppress cancer growth successfully. This breakthrough finding will pave the way for more targeted solutions for cancer treatment and also offers hope for cancer prevention.
A common technique for determining whether melanoma has spread can be used safely and effectively even in tumors from the head and neck area, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Radiation therapy with or without chemotherapy is less effective for patients with HIV when compared to the recurrence and overall survival rates in patients who do not have HIV.
Cancer Research UK scientists have found that blocking the pathway used by some kidney cancer cells to generate energy can kill the cancer cells, sparing the healthy ones.
The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new Pfizer drug for patients with advanced kidney cancer that has spread to other parts of the body despite treatment with at least one previous drug.
Two recent studies by Van Andel Research Institute scientists are providing a foundation for a more complete understanding of distinct kidney cancer subtypes, which could pave the way for better treatments.
A new study finds liver cancer incidence rates continue to increase in some low-risk parts of the world such as North America, and are decreasing in some of the highest risk countries of Asia. Despite this, the incidence rates in Asian countries remain twice as high as those in Africa and more than four times as high as rates in North America. The study will be published in an upcoming issue of Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention and appears early online.
Leukemic cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (L-CTCL) is a leukemia arising from T-cells, a type of white blood cell. This cancer can involve the skin and other organs, and patients often die within three years.
Biotech giant Amgen said Thursday it was buying the German-American cancer research firm Micromet, giving it access to Micromet's promising leukemia therapy.
Adding a drug that activates genes to frontline combination therapy for acute myeloid leukemia resulted in an 85 percent remission rate after initial treatment, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology.
Approximately half of the cases of T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) carry genetic mutations in a cellular signaling pathway called Notch, which result in aberrant activation of the cell. A study by Andrew Weng and colleagues at the British Columbia Cancer Agency now shows that activation of the Notch pathway promotes the expression of a receptor for insulin growth factor (IGF-1), which drives the growth and survival of the cancer cells.
The most comprehensive search to date of DNA abnormalities in chronic lymphocytic leukemia has unearthed several new altered genes that drive this common blood cancer, a finding that could potentially help doctors predict whether an individual patient's disease will progress rapidly or remain indolent for years, say scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute.
Cancer Research UK's Drug Development Office has opened the first trial of a new type of drug to treat children aged from six months to 18 years with acute leukaemia, who are no longer responding to treatment.
Researchers have discovered that a subtype of leukemia characterized by a poor prognosis is fueled by mutations in pathways distinctly different from a seemingly similar leukemia associated with a much better outcome.
A drug now prescribed for cardiovascular problems could become a new tool in physicians' arsenals to attack certain types of leukemia that so far have evaded effective treatments, researchers say.
Melbourne researchers have discovered that acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), an aggressive blood cancer with poor prognosis, may be susceptible to medications that target a protein called Mcl-1.
A new potential leukemia therapy targets only cancer cells, while leaving healthy cells alone. Many current chemotherapy treatments affect cancer cells and healthy cells, causing significant side effects, such as fatigue, hair loss, nausea, anxiety and depression. This research is being presented at the 2011 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, D.C., Oct. 23 -- 27.
Cancer researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have carried out the first comprehensive study of the changes seen in the DNA of a patient with mast cell leukemia, an extremely aggressive subtype of acute myeloid leukemia with a very poor prognosis.
A compound produced from fish oil that appears to target leukemia stem cells could lead to a cure for the disease, according to Penn State researchers. The compound -- delta-12-protaglandin J3, or D12-PGJ3 -- targeted and killed the stem cells of chronic myelogenous leukemia, or CML, in mice.
Researchers have discovered a gene that when mutated can cause lymphedema (swollen limbs due to a failure of the lymph system), immune abnormalities, deafness and leukemia. The identification of the gene responsible for causing this rare combination of medical conditions, known as Emberger syndrome, could allow earlier identification and treatment of those at risk.
Older people with acute myeloid leukemia and normal looking chromosomes in their cancer cells have a higher risk of recurrence if they have mutations in a gene called ASXL1, according to a new study by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center -- Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.
One of the causes of resistance to cancer treatment in children is now beginning to be elucidated. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients with a particular form of the ATF5 gene are at higher risk of having a relapse when treated with E. coli asparaginase, a key chemotherapy drug for this type of leukemia. This is what a study by Dr. Maja Krajinovic published in the Blood, the journal of the American Society of Hematology, reveals Dr. Krajinovic is an investigator at the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center, which is affiliated with the University of Montreal.
In a cancer treatment breakthrough 20 years in the making, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania's Abramson Cancer Center and Perelman School of Medicine have shown sustained remissions of up to a year among a small group of advanced chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients treated with genetically engineered versions of their own T cells. The protocol, which involves removing patients' cells and modifying them in Penn's vaccine production facility, then infusing the new cells back into the patient's body following chemotherapy, provides a tumor-attack roadmap for the treatment of other cancers including those of the lung and ovaries and myeloma and melanoma.
Hispanic children are more likely than those from other racial and ethnic backgrounds to be diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and are more likely to die of their disease. Work led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists has pinpointed genetic factors behind the grim statistics.
Scientists have uncovered a critical genetic mutation in some patients with myelodysplastic syndromes -- a group of blood cancers that can progress to a fatal form of leukemia.
The trifecta of biological proof is to take a discovery made in a simple model organism like baker's yeast and track down its analogs or homologs in "higher" creatures right up the complexity scale to people, in this case, from yeast to fruit flies to humans. In a pair of related studies, scientists at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research have hit such a trifecta, closing a circle of inquiry that they opened over a decade ago.
Taking a leukemia chemotherapy drug may help breast cancer patients who don't respond to tamoxifen overcome resistance to the widely-used drug, new research from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson suggests.
On Wednesday scientists announced an exciting new potential cure for leukemia using gene therapy. Yay. Let's hope the test subjects don't get sick and die. Because that's what happened last time.
ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced long-term results of the Phase 1 study of its investigational pan-BCR-ABL inhibitor, ponatinib, in heavily pretreated patients with resistant and refractory chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and Philadelphia-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL). With the trial fully enrolled and all patients evaluable, 72% of chronic-phase CML patients treated with ponatinib achieved a major cytogenetic response (MCyR), including 92% of patients who also had a T315I mutation. Since the last data update from the trial was presented in December, 2010, all chronic-phase CML patients who achieved a MCyR remain in response with no signs of resistance.
Micromet, Inc. today announced that it has initiated a phase 2 trial of its lead product candidate blinatumomab in adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Blinatumomab is the first of a new class of agents called BiTE® antibodies, designed to harness the body's T cells to kill cancer cells.
Three US cancer patients were brought back from the brink by a new therapy that turned their own immune cells into tumor killers, wiping out an advanced form of leukemia, researchers said Wednesday.
Cancer scientists have long debated whether all cells within a tumour are equal or whether some cancer cells are more potent - a question that has been highly investigated in experimental models in the last decade. Research published today in Nature Medicine focuses on patients and shows that acute myeloid leukemia (AML) contains rare cells with stem cell properties, called leukemia stem cells (LSC), that are better at predicting clinical outcome than the majority of AML cells, showing for the first time that LSCs are significant not just in experimental models but also in patients.
A new study published in the journal Nature Medicine by NYU Cancer Institute researchers, shows how the cancer causing gene Notch, in combination with a mutated Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) protein complex, work together to cause T- cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL).
The development of simple tests to predict a leukemic relapse in young patients is a step closer thanks to researchers from the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center and the University of Montreal. Approximately 20 percent of young leukemia patients who are treated with stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood will experience leukemic relapse.
While testing a new drug designed to treat chronic leukemia, researchers at Cleveland Clinic discovered new markers that could identify which patients would receive maximum benefit from the treatment.
A new potential leukemia therapy targets only cancer cells, while leaving healthy cells alone. Many current chemotherapy treatments affect cancer cells and healthy cells, causing significant side effects, such as fatigue, hair loss, nausea, anxiety and depression.
A newly identified defect in a DNA repair system might leave some young leukemia patients less likely to benefit from a key chemotherapy drug, possibly putting them at greater risk of relapse. The problem was identified in a study led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists.
Parents, siblings and children of patients with the most common form of acute leukemia do not run a higher risk of developing the disease as was once believed, according to a new study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet.
An experimental drug that works by blocking the export of key control molecules from the nucleus of cancer cells shows promise as a treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia and other incurable B-cell malignancies.
Looking for ways to halt the uncontrolled growth of cancer cells, scientists at Johns Hopkins have found that a new class of drugs, called PARP inhibitors, may block the ability of pre-leukemic cells to repair broken bits of their own DNA, causing these cells to self-destruct.
An interim analysis of a phase Ib/II clinical trial indicates that a novel experimental agent for chronic lymphocytic leukemia is highly active and well tolerated in patients who have relapsed and are resistant to other therapy.
A team lead by Cancer Research UK scientists have shown that a potential new drug could treat mixed-lineage leukaemia (MLL), the most common form of leukaemia in babies, according to a study published in Nature today.
Researchers at UC Santa Barbara have discovered a molecular pathway that may explain how a particularly deadly form of cancer develops. The discovery may lead to new cancer therapies that reprogram cells instead of killing them.
Cancer researchers studying genetic mutations that cause leukemia have discovered a connection to the rare disease cherubism, an inherited facial bone disorder in children.
Researchers at UC Santa Barbara have discovered a molecular pathway that may explain how a particularly deadly form of cancer develops. The discovery may lead to new cancer therapies that reprogram cells instead of killing them.
While testing a new drug designed to treat chronic leukemia, researchers at Cleveland Clinic discovered new markers that could identify which patients would receive maximum benefit from the treatment.
The new process is a step toward eliminating the harsh side effects that result from the commonly prescribed drug, which improves progression-free survival in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia but destroys patients' healthy immune cells in the process, leaving them vulnerable to serious viral and bacterial infections. The drug's effects on the immune system tend to be so violent that it has been dubbed "AIDS in a bottle."
Cancer Research UK-funded scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research have revealed a technique to kill chronic myeloid leukaemia cells that have stopped responding to a targeted drug.
According to a study published in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), researchers have reported that administration of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), a drug that releases stem cells from the bone marrow into the blood, is unlikely to put healthy stem cell donors at risk for later development of abnormalities involving loss or gains of chromosomes that have been linked to hematologic disorders such as myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
New research suggests that blood stem cells can be involved in the generation of leukemia, even when the leukemia is caused by the abnormal proliferation of mature cells. The study, published by Cell Press in the August 16th issue of the journal Cancer Cell, may guide future strategies aimed at identifying therapeutic targets for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
There are numerous specialized growth factors that are responsible for cells of different tissues of our body to divide and differentiate when needed. These hormone-like factors bind to matching receptors on the surface of their target cells and thus give order for the cell to divide. However, a single genetic alteration can be sufficient for the whole system to get out of control. If, for example, the gene for such a growth factor or for the matching receptor is hyperactive, then the cell permanently receives signals to divide -- and this can result in cancer.
University of Rochester Medical Center researchers have discovered new links between leukemia cells and cells involved in bone formation, offering a fresh perspective on how the blood cancer progresses and raising the possibility that therapies for bone disorders could help in the treatment of leukemia.
Although significant progress has been made in treating chronic myeloid leukemia, the disease cannot yet be eliminated in all patients, and that challenge must be addressed.
A three-pronged immunotherapy approach nearly doubles five-year survival among patients with rare leukemic form of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, reports a new study by dermatologists from the Abramson Cancer Center and Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and five other institutions have used an unconventional approach to cancer drug discovery to identify a new potential treatment for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). As reported in Nature online on August 3, the scientists have pinpointed a protein called Brd4 as a novel drug target for AML, an aggressive blood cancer that is currently incurable in 70% of patients. Using a drug compound that inhibits the activity of Brd4, the scientists were able to suppress the disease in experimental models.
Manhattan Scientifics announced today that the National Cancer Institute has funded a grant for its Senior Scientific, LLC unit, for the use of its proprietary, highly precise magnetic cancer cell measurement in leukemia research for determining the progress of cancer treatment.
Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology studies on yttrium-90 radioembolization treatment for liver cancer illustrate ways to assist in treating even the most challenging cases
BioAlliance Pharma, a company developing specialty and orphan oncology products has declared the commencement of the production of clinical batches of Livatag, a regimen to supply doxorubicin in nanoparticle form to chemoresistant cells, for its phase III clinical trial for primary liver cancer.
Men are four times more likely to develop liver cancer compared to women, a difference attributed to the sex hormones androgen and estrogen. Although this gender difference has been known for a long time, the molecular mechanisms by which estrogens prevent -- and androgens promote -- liver cancer remain unclear.
Finding innovative, minimally invasive ways to treat liver cancer--and being able to tailor that treatment individually to patients--are hallmarks of interventional radiologists. Advances in yttrium-90 (Y-90) radioembolization for liver cancer, a leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, are reported in studies in the October Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology.
Patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) with advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis have a lower incidence of liver-related complications and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) than patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), according to the prospective study published in the October issue of Hepatology, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. Patients with both NAFLD and HCV had similar mortality rates.
The human liver fluke Clonorchis sinensis affects more than 35 million people in South East Asia and 15 million in China. Infection by this parasite causes clonorchiasis. Repeated or chronic infection can lead to serious disease of the liver, gall bladder or bile ducts, including the frequently fatal bile duct cancer - cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). The complete genome sequence the genome of C. sinensis, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Biology, has provided insight into the biochemical pathways available to the fluke and shows that they are lacking enzymes required for fatty acid biosynthesis.
In a phase II study, 41 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a liver cancer that often does not respond well to chemotherapy, were treated with very low levels of an electromagnetic field emitting from a spoon-like device placed in the patients' mouths.
Scientists at the Helmholtz Zentrum München have played a major role in two studies that could fundamentally change the medical treatment of liver cancer.
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that it has completed its Phase I study with ALN-VSP, a systemically delivered RNAi therapeutic for the treatment of advanced solid tumors with liver involvement.
Analysis revealed survival for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is achievable using 90Y-resin microsphere radioembolization. The analysis conducted at multiple centers across Europe showed that the procedure is likely to provide survival benefit across different tumor stages, including patients with advanced liver cancer and with limited treatment options. Findings of the study--the largest to date--are published in the September issue of Hepatology, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.
Cancer of the liver -- rare in the United States but the third-leading cause of cancer death worldwide -- can result from environmental exposures or infections like chronic hepatitis, but the link is poorly understood.
New research suggests that saffron provides a significant chemopreventive effect against liver cancer in animal models. When saffron was administered to rats with diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced liver cancer an inhibition of cell proliferation and stimulation of apoptosis was observed. Full findings appear in the September issue of Hepatology, a journal published by Wiley Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.
Hepatitis G virus was identified in 1995. Some little research was carried out on the virus and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declared it a non-harmful virus in 1997. Researchers in Saudi Arabia, writing in the International Journal of Immunological Studies present evidence to suggest that this may have been the wrong decision. They claim that transmission of the virus through donated blood that was not screened for the virus as well as infection through other routes has led to an increase in cirrhosis of the liver and liver cancer.
Lung Cancer Alliance the leading national support and advocacy voice for those at risk for or living with lung cancer, issued its annual 2011 National Report Card on Lung Cancer, an overall assessment of the nation's response to the continuing high mortality of lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death.
Lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S., takes a particularly heavy toll on African Americans. Despite their lower smoking rates, African Americans are more likely than Caucasians to develop and die from lung cancer.
Patients with non-small cell lung cancer who have mutations in the KRAS gene should respond well to the antifolate class of drugs, according to results of a recent study conducted by Quintiles comparing human lung cancer cell lines and patients.
A third wave of asbestos-related cancers is emerging as the rate of malignant mesothelioma caused by exposure to asbestos during home renovations increases dramatically, according to new research.
It has been well established that certain lifestyle habits relate to the risk of certain cancers. In a well-done analysis, the authors estimate the proportion of cancer in the population associated with a variety of lifestyle and environmental factors. They find that smoking has, by far, the largest effect on the risk of cancer, with 19.4% of cancer cases in the UK attributable to tobacco use.
Just two months shy of marking its 7-year anniversary, BJALCF announced today that it has awarded over $1 million in grants for 2012 Lung Cancer Research. BJALCF has made a promise to the Lung Cancer Community to fund only immediate results-oriented projects or programs promising to catalyze progress through early detection, genetic testing, drug discovery and patient-focused outcomes.
British patients will soon take part in a trial of a Cuban-designed therapeutic lung cancer vaccine, the first of its kind, a company executive announced Thursday.
Using a strategy based on treating cancer cells that carry a specific genetic signature - hyper-expression of the protein Myc - with therapy that affects the stability of the cell's DNA, more effective results can be achieved. This was discovered by Andreas Höglund in his dissertation to be publicly defended at Umeå University on September 9.
Several clinical studies have shown that taking the anti-inflammatory drug celecoxib can reduce the risk of developing polyps that lead to colon cancers, at the cost of increasing the risk of heart disease. But what if this tradeoff was not necessary?
New research published in Nature Medicine indicates that targeted drugs such as gefitinib might more effectively treat non-small cell lung cancer if they could be combined with agents that block certain microRNAs.
Nearly 50,000 Americans are diagnosed each year with stage III or locally advanced NSCLC, for which surgery is usually not a viable treatment option. Optimizing nonsurgical treatment strategies for these patients is an ongoing research endeavor. In an article published online September 8, 2011 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, RTOG researchers report that treating patients with concurrent chemotherapy and radiation therapy significantly increased five-year survival rates compared with treating patients with radiation therapy upon completion of chemotherapy treatment.
Among men who were current or former heavy smokers, undergoing lung cancer screening with computed tomography (CT) scanning identified a substantial proportion who had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), suggesting that this method may be helpful as an additional tool in detecting COPD, according to a study in the October 26 issue of JAMA.
Researchers at the University of Colorado Cancer Center have developed a test that identifies key biomarkers in advanced lung cancer that helped reduce the risk of death by 36 percent over a 30- month period in a recent clinical trial.
From the island nation known for the quality of its cigars comes some pretty big news today: Xinhua reports that Cuban medical authorities have released the first therapeutic vaccine for lung cancer. CimaVax-EGF is the result of a 25-year research project at Havana's Center for Molecular Immunology, and it could make a life or death difference for those facing late-stage lung cancers, researchers there say.
Compared with other cities, Detroit has one of the highest mortality rates in the United States for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Based on data from the National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program, researchers from the McLaren Regional Medical Center in Flint, Michigan and the Mayo Clinic, in Minneapolis, Minnesota studied cancer-specific survival between Detroit and other city registries by ethnicity.
Two new studies have found that smokers who tend to take their first cigarette soon after they wake up in the morning may have a higher risk of developing lung and head and neck cancers than smokers who refrain from lighting up right away. Published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the results may help identify smokers who have an especially high risk of developing cancer and would benefit from targeted smoking interventions to reduce their risk.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have shown that DNA changes in a gene that drives the growth of a form of lung cancer can make the cancer's cells resistant to cancer drugs. The findings show that some classes of drugs won't work, and certain types of so-called kinase inhibitors like erlotinib--may be the most effective at treating non-small cell lung cancers with those DNA changes. Some kinase inhibitors block a protein known as EGFR from directing cells to multiply.
The use of asbestos building materials in developing countries results in millions of preventable cancer cases, a University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health epidemiologist reports in the coming issue of Annals of Epidemiology.
The study, which will be presented at the European Respiratory Society's Annual Congress in Amsterdam today (25 September 2011), has linked a professional exposure to goats with a distinct subset of lung cancer, known as pneumonic-type lung adenocarcinoma (P-ADC).
The prognosis for patients with stage II and III inoperable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is poor, with only about 15 percent of patients surviving at five years post-treatment for the disease. While new treatment strategies are being intensely studied, timely assessment of their efficacy has proven difficult. In a presentation today, Mitchell Machtay, MD, principal investigator of the ACRIN 6668/RTOG 0235 trial and RTOG deputy chair, reported the that post-treatment F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scans show promise for predicting the prognosis of patients with inoperable disease.
The nature of the connective tissue surrounding lung cancer nests can help predict the aggressiveness of squamous cell carcinoma, according to research published in the September issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, the official publication of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC).
Smoking is a well-known risk factor for lung cancer, but nearly 25% of all lung cancer patients have never smoked. Researchers have identified a previously unknown gene fusion event that could explain a significant proportion of lung cancer cases in never-smokers, and might serve as a target for new therapies.
The investigational drug ganetespib, a synthetic second-generation Hsp90 inhibitor, slowed the growth of cancer cells taken from non-small cell lung cancer tumors with a mutation in the KRAS gene. The drug was even more active when combined with traditional lung cancer treatments and other investigational targeted therapies, according to preclinical study data.
Data also demonstrated that the EGFR and KRAS genes, which are mutually exclusive, can be used to define clinically relevant molecular subsets of lung adenocarcinoma and can define tumor clonality.
A bacterial strain that specifically targets tumours could soon be used as a vehicle to deliver drugs in frontline cancer therapy. The strain is expected to be tested in cancer patients in 2013 says a scientist at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn Conference at the University of York.
Heavy alcohol consumption may be linked to a greater risk of developing lung cancer, while higher BMI and increased consumption of black tea and fruit are associated with lower risk of the deadly disease. In three separate studies presented at CHEST 2011, the 77th annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), heavy alcohol consumption was related to increased risk of lung cancer, while specific ethnic groups, including African American men and Asian women, had slightly higher risks for lung cancer. Conversely, black tea consumption was shown to reduce lung cancer risk in nonsmoking women, while higher BMI and increased fruit consumption were associated with a lower risk of lung cancer in both men and women.
The National Cancer Institute today announced that a team co-led by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and The Broad Institute in Cambridge, Mass., has been selected to participate in a National Cancer Institute-funded research consortium dedicated to understanding the molecular basis of cancer. The researchers will aim to identify and analyze proteins in the blood that are associated with genetic alterations that lead to cancer. The overarching goal of the Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium, or CPTAC, is to improve the ability to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer.
The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer has taken a proactive role in advancing discussions with the international lung cancer community on how we should take lung cancer screening forward.
An ideal treatment for lung cancer would be one that could be inhaled deep into lung tissue where it would deliver tumor-killing agents that would then largely stay in the lungs, avoiding the toxicities that limit the effectiveness of today's lung cancer therapies.
Patients with ALK-rearranged non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) responded significantly better to pemetrexed (brand name: Alimta) than patients whose cancer did not show ALK translocation, according to research published in the September issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, the official publication of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC).
A new study finds that lung cancer patients treated in hospitals that care for a high percentage of uninsured and Medicaid-insured patients, so-called "high safety-net burden facilities," were significantly less likely to undergo surgery that was intended to cure the cancer compared to patients treated at low safety-net burden facilities. This difference persisted even after controlling for other factors that significantly decreased the likelihood of curative-intent surgery, such as race, insurance status, stage, and female gender as well as other hospital characteristics.
Lung cancer patients with diabetes tend to live longer than patients without diabetes, according to a Norwegian study published in the November issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, the official publication of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.
Lung cancer is one of the most common and deadly types of cancer. Mouse models of lung cancer recapitulate many features of the human disease and have provided new insight about cancer development, progression and treatment. Now, a new study published by Cell Press in the September 13th issue of the journal Cancer Cell identifies protein signatures in mouse blood samples that reflect lung cancer biology in humans.
A malignancy-risk gene signature developed for breast cancer has been found to have predictive and prognostic value for patients with early stage non-small cell lung cancer.
Tissue with wound-like conditions allows tumors to grow and spread. In mouse lung cancer cells, treatment with silibinin, a major component of milk thistle, removed the molecular billboards that signal these wound-like conditions and so stopped the spread of these lung cancers
A Kansas State University professor is trying to create a patient-friendly treatment to help the more than 220,000 people who are diagnosed with lung cancer each year.
When lung cancer strikes, it often spreads silently into more advanced stages before being detected. In a new article published in Nature Nanotechnology, biological engineers and medical scientists at the University of Missouri reveal how their discovery could provide a much earlier warning signal.
Every aspect of cellular activities, including cell proliferation, differentiation, metabolism and apoptosis, can be regulated by a class of tiny but very important nucleic acids fragments called microRNAs (miRNAs). They bind to specific messenger RNAs and cause messenger RNA degradation or inhibit translation, thereby regulate gene expression at the post-translational level. In cancer cells, the homeostasis of these normal biological processes is disrupted, partially by dysregulated miRNAs, therefore the level of microRNAs is an indicator to the disease development, and miRNAs in cancer tissues or biofluids, either whole spectrum or a set of miRNAs, can be utilized as a diagnostic biomarker for cancer detection.
Pfizer Oncology announced today that data evaluating crizotinib in anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as well as data from Pfizer's renal cell carcinoma (RCC) portfolio on axitinib, an investigational compound, and SUTENT® (sunitinib malate) will be presented at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress (EMCC) in Stockholm, Sweden, September 23 - 27, 2011.
The metabolism of lung cancer patients is different than the metabolism of healthy people. And so the molecules that make up cancer patients' exhaled breath are different too.
A new type of diagnostic imaging - which can better differentiate benign lung lesions from those which are cancerous - could be used to prevent unnecessary surgery by enabling more accurate diagnosis of the disease.
A report from investigators at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center has defined the role of a recently identified gene abnormality in a deadly form of lung cancer. Tumors driven by rearrangements in the ROS1 gene represent 1 to 2 percent of non-small-cell lung cancers, the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S.
Advanced imaging with Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans shows great promise in predicting which patients with inoperable lung cancer have more aggressive tumors and need additional treatment following standard chemotherapy/radiation therapy, according to new research.
Tecnalia, is contributing to develop biosensors capable of detecting the presence of tumour markers of lung cancer in exhaled breath. This is possible because of the changes produced within the organism of an ill person, changes reflected in the exhaled breath of the patient and which enable determining the presence of this type of marker during the initial stages of the disease.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have shown that DNA changes in a gene that drives the growth of a form of lung cancer can make the cancer’s cells resistant to cancer drugs. The findings show that some classes of drugs won’t work, and certain types of so-called kinase inhibitors like erlotinib--may be the most effective at treating non-small cell lung cancers with those DNA changes. Some kinase inhibitors block a protein known as EGFR from directing cells to multiply.
All the excitement about nanotechnology comes down to this: Structures of materials at the scale of billionths of a meter take on unusual properties. Technologists often focus on the happier among these newfound capabilities, but new research by an interdisciplinary team of scientists at Brown University finds that nanoparticles of nickel activate a cellular pathway that contributes to cancer in human lung cells.
Scientists have found that individuals who carry a mutation in a gene called BAP1 are susceptible to developing two forms of cancer -- mesothelioma, and melanoma of the eye.
Carefully tracking the rate of response of human lung tumors during the first weeks of treatment can predict which cancers will undergo sustained regression, suggests a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
Researchers have shown that DNA changes in a gene that drives the growth of a form of lung cancer can make the cancer's cells resistant to cancer drugs. The findings show that some classes of drugs won't work, and certain types of so-called kinase inhibitors like erlotinib -- may be the most effective at treating non-small cell lung cancers with those DNA changes.
A study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine may lead to a way to prevent the progression, or induce the regression, of lung injury that results from use of the anti-cancer chemotherapy drug Bleomycin. Pulmonary fibrosis caused by this drug, as well as Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) from unknown causes, affect nearly five million people worldwide. No therapy is known to improve the health or survival of patients.
An investigation by a group of Thai researchers has demonstrated that Caveolin-1 plays an important role in the migration and invasion of human lung cancer cells and that these effects are regulated by cellular reactive oxygen species.
The journal Radiology will publish in its September issue an article written by Damian E. Dupuy, M.D., director of tumor ablation at Rhode Island Hospital, supporting the use of ablation procedures for the treatment of lung cancer. The article, "Image-guided Thermal Ablation of Lung Malignancies," reviews the results of nearly 100 studies conducted between 1991 and 2011 that conclude that image-guided ablation for lung cancer is a successful alternative for patients who cannot withstand surgery due to advanced age or medical comorbidities.
A research team led by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has discovered proteins in the blood that are associated with early lung cancer development in mice and humans. The advance brings the reality of a blood test for the early detection and diagnosis of lung cancer a step closer.
Smoking is a well-known risk factor for lung cancer, but nearly 25% of all lung cancer patients have never smoked. Researchers have identified a previously unknown gene fusion event that could explain a significant proportion of lung cancer cases in never-smokers, and might serve as a target for new therapies.
The University of Missouri's research team comprising medical scientists and biological engineers has used nanopore technology as a tool to detect lung cancer early.
The journal Radiology will publish in its September issue an article written by Damian E. Dupuy, M.D., director of tumor ablation at Rhode Island Hospital, supporting the use of ablation procedures for the treatment of lung cancer. The article, "Image-guided Thermal Ablation of Lung Malignancies," reviews the results of nearly 100 studies conducted between 1991 and 2011 that conclude that image-guided ablation for lung cancer is a successful alternative for patients who cannot withstand surgery due to advanced age or medical comorbidities.
Riverain Technologies has received FDA clearance for its Temporal Comparison software for chest X-rays. The software compares current and previous chest X-rays of the same patient and highlights the differences in order to improve detection of new nodules which may be early lung cancer.
Researchers have developed a method to analyze circulating tumor cells in the blood of patients with non-small cell lung cancer. This method, which can analyze a sample size as small as three cells, may allow clinicians to track cancer progress and treatments and could help them develop new therapies.
Research into an enzyme that produces a hormone released after sex has inspired Australian National University chemists to create new treatments for small-cell lung cancer.
Two new studies have found that smokers who tend to take their first cigarette soon after they wake up in the morning may have a higher risk of developing lung and head and neck cancers than smokers who refrain from lighting up right away. The findings by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and Penn State College of Medicine may help identify smokers who have an especially high risk of developing cancer and would benefit from targeted smoking interventions to reduce their risk.
Patients with lung cancer and a KRAS mutation are believed to have a poor prognosis and may not benefit from treatment with epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors, according to study author Wouter W. Mellema, M.D., a doctoral candidate at VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam.
A Wayne State University researcher has shown that compounds found in soybeans can make radiation treatment of lung cancer tumors more effective while helping to preserve normal tissue.
Tumors driven by rearrangements in the ROS1 gene represent 1 to 2 percent of non-small-cell lung cancers , the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. The researchers show that ROS1-driven tumors can be treated with crizotinib, which also inhibits the growth of tumors driven by an oncogene called ALK, and describe the remarkable response of one patient to crizotinib treatment.
Scientists from the University of Colorado Cancer Center have once again advanced the treatment of a specific kind of lung cancer. The team has documented how anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) becomes resistant to a drug targeting the abnormal protein in the cancer.
A new study finds that lung cancer patients treated in hospitals that care for a high percentage of uninsured and Medicaid-insured patients, so-called "high safety-net burden facilities," were significantly less likely to undergo surgery that was intended to cure the cancer compared to patients treated at low safety-net burden facilities. This difference persisted even after controlling for other factors that significantly decreased the likelihood of curative-intent surgery, such as race, insurance status, stage, and female gender as well as other hospital characteristics.
A research team led by Masaaki Tamura of Kansas State University in partnership with University of Kansas scientists is working on developing a patient-friendly lung cancer treatment process using nanoparticles.
A relatively simple and inexpensive method may be used to determine whether a lung cancer patient is a candidate for crizotinib therapy, according to research published in the August issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, the official monthly journal of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC).
A Kansas State University professor is trying to create a patient-friendly treatment to help the more than 220,000 people who are diagnosed with lung cancer each year.
Tuberculosis (TB) has been suspected to increase a person's risk of lung cancer because the pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis can induce genetic damage. However, direct evidence of specific genetic changes and the disease have not been extensively reported.
Kentucky has the highest lung cancer rates in the nation, but counties in the southeastern portion of the state - those in the 5th Congressional District - have an exceptionally high incidence of lung cancer. Data from the Kentucky Cancer Registry, a Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Result (SEER) site, revealed that the age-adjusted incidence rate for lung cancer in Appalachian Kentucky from 2003-2007 was 115.2 cases per 100,000 residents, compared to 61.6 cases per 100,000 residents nationally.
Nearly 17 percent of nurses who work in outpatient chemotherapy infusion centers reported being exposed on their skin or eyes to the toxic drugs they deliver, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Her creation is being heralded as a "Swiss army knife of cancer treatment." Zhang managed to develop a nanoparticle that can be delivered to the site of a tumor through the drug salinomycin. Once there it kills the cancer stem cells. However, Zhang went further and included both gold and iron-oxide components, which allow for non-invasive imaging of the site through MRI and Photoacoustics.
An engineered virus, injected into the blood, can selectively target cancer cells throughout the body in what researchers have labelled a medical first.
According to the Canadian Cancer Society, one in four Canadians will die of cancer. This year alone, the disease will kill an estimated 75,000 people. With incidence rates on the rise, more cancer patients are facing grave prognoses. Fortunately, Lawson Health Research Institute's Dr. John Lewis, Dr. Ann Chambers, and colleagues have found new hope for survival. Their new study released July 28 in Laboratory Investigation shows that maspin, a cellular protein, can reduce the growth and spread of cancer cells -- but only when it is in the nucleus.
Don Wright was diagnosed with myeloma--cancer in his blood cells and bone marrow--two weeks after running his first marathon. His doctor gave him a five-year survival estimate. Eight years later he has run 60 26.2-mile races in 41 states and takes just one pill per day to keep his cancer at bay.
EPFL scientists have shown that inorganic, metal-containing molecules can be used to fight cancer. The discovery has opened up a whole new area of research.
Many imaging technologies and their contrast agents -- chemicals used during scans to help detect tumors and other problems -- involve exposure to radiation or heavy metals, which present potential health risks to patients and limit the ways they can be applied.
Scientists have discovered a mechanism that causes an aggressive type of lung cancer to re-grow following chemotherapy, offering hope for new therapies.
A revolutionary discovery regarding motile cancer cells made by research scientists at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and the University of Turku is challenging previous conceptions. The results have been published on July 25, 2011 in the Journal of Cell Biology, one of the most renowned journals in the field.
A study carried out by Eric Vivier and Sophie Ugolini at the Marseille-Luminy Centre for Immunology has just reveal a gene in mice which, when mutated, can stimulate the immune system to help fight against tumors and viral infections. Whilst this gene was known to activate one of the body's first lines of defense, paradoxically, when deactivated it makes these NK cells hypersensitive to the warning signals sent out by diseased cells.
Despite what you sometimes hear in the media, America's war against cancer has been a failure. Even with the best efforts of those in conventional cancer treatment, death rates from cancer have barely budged over the last 50 to 60 years. In fact, the average American has a 1 in 4 chance of dying from cancer.
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), today will release its AACR Cancer Progress Report 2011, in which its calls on Congress to increase funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
UK researchers studied 13,276 patients who were registered with 53 family doctors and agreed to an in-depth health assessment. Patients were drawn at random from the general population and those who were terminally ill or living in nursing homes were excluded.
The new methods align with new principles from the Institutes of Medicine by creating a single generalist group for writing the guidelines, commissioning systematic evidence reviews, and clearly articulating the benefits, limitations, and harms associated with cancer screening tests.
Acupuncture may help ease the severe nerve pain associated with certain cancer drugs, suggests a small preliminary study published in Acupuncture in Medicine.
Adaptimmune, the T cell therapy company pioneering enhanced T cell receptor-driven T cells for the treatment of cancer and infectious disease, announces two new Board appointments with immediate effect. Dr Jonathan Knowles joins the Board as a non-executive director and Dr Helen Tayton-Martin, Adaptimmune's Chief Operating Officer, becomes an executive director.
If you're a spicy food fan, take heart as combining certain piquant foods with broccoli may give the vegetable a much more powerful cancer-fighting kick.
A Phase III study of Afinitor® (everolimus) tablets in patients with non-cancerous kidney tumors, or angiomyolipomas, associated with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) met its primary endpoint of best overall angiomyolipoma response rate, which includes reduction in kidney tumor size and absence of new tumors. Findings from the trial, known as EXIST-2, were presented today at the International TSC Research Conference in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Women who experience heavy periods, cramping, pain during sex, an urge to urinate frequently and even infertility may have a common disorder that affects African-American women three times more often than other women. This condition, called uterine fibroids, occurs when benign tumors grow in the uterus. Eighty percent of African-American women develop uterine fibroids by their late 40s, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
New research raises troubling concerns about the use of aggressive drug therapies to treat a wide range of diseases such as MRSA, C. difficile, malaria, and even cancer.
Cancer is one of the five leading causes of death. And yet, despite decades of research, there is no standardized first-line treatment for most cancers. In addition, disappointing results from predominant second-line treatments like chemotherapy have established the need for alternative methods.
Forty-five per cent of cancer survivors in Northern Ireland suffer from physical and mental health problems years after their treatment has finished, according to new research from Macmillan Cancer Support and Queen's University Belfast.
The new methods align with new principles from the Institutes of Medicine (IOM) by creating a single generalist group for writing the guidelines, commissioning systematic evidence reviews, and clearly articulating the benefits, limitations, and harms associated with cancer screening tests.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology today released Clinical Cancer Advances 2011: ASCO's Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer, an independent review of the advances in cancer research that have had the greatest impact on patient care this year. The report also identifies the most promising trends in oncology and provides insights from experts on where the future of cancer care is heading.
Amgen, the largest standalone biotechnology company, and generic drug firm Watson Pharmaceuticals will collaborate on developing biosimilar drugs for cancer.
Amgen today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved two new indications for Prolia® (denosumab) as a treatment to increase bone mass in women at high risk for fracture receiving adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy for breast cancer and as a treatment to increase bone mass in men at high risk for fracture receiving androgen deprivation therapy for non-metastatic prostate cancer. In patients with prostate cancer, Prolia also reduced the incidence of vertebral fractures. Prolia is the first-and-only therapy approved by the FDA for cancer treatment-induced bone loss in patients undergoing hormone ablation therapy.
AMP's written remarks were submitted to NIH in response to a request for comments in the Federal Register Notice entitled, "Prospective Grant of Exclusive License: The Development of a Companion Diagnostic Kit for Predicting Therapeutic Efficacy of Anti-Cancer Agents."
The European Association of Echocardiography has announced that it is working together with the American Society of Echocardiography to issue joint recommendations on the usefulness of serial echocardiographic evaluations and the potential impact of more advanced ultrasound technologies (in particular Speckle Tracking Echocardiography) in patients undergoing cancer therapy.
Long-term use of nonaspirin anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is associated with an increased risk of renal cell cancer (RCC), according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
A paper from the National Institutes of Health in the United States has evaluated the separate and combined effects of the frequency of alcohol consumption and the average quantity of alcohol drunk per occasion and how that relates to mortality risk from individual cancers as well as all cancers. The analysis is based on repeated administrations of the National Health Interview Survey in the US, assessing more than 300,000 subjects who suffered over 8,000 deaths from cancer. The research reports on total cancer deaths and deaths from lung, colorectal, prostate, and breast cancers.
As part of an initiative to give back to the cancer communities in the cities visited during its annual scientific meetings, the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) is partnering with the Cancer Support Community Greater Miami to raise awareness of cancer survivorship issues.
The data from numerous pre-clinical research programs completed by Aura Biosciences shows that the company's NanoSmart platform is able to detect distant metastases and cancers early and offers accurately focused treatment for those cancers.
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) may be alleviated by the anti-cancer drug Rituximab, suggesting that the source of the disease could lie in the immune system, according to a new study published Oct. 19 in the online journal PLoS ONE. Uncertainty about the cause of CFS, which is characterized by extreme, unexplained exhaustion, among other symptoms, has led to much debate, but the authors of this recent study believe they may have found the answer.
Cancer Research UK scientists have succeeded in purifying a protein found in bacteria that could reveal new drug targets for inherited breast and ovarian cancers - and other cancers linked to DNA repair faults.
Smoking doubles the risk of developing oesophageal cancer in people with Barrett's Oesophagus, according to scientists at Queen's University Belfast and the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry.
As many as one in ten elderly people in the US, registered with Medicare, do not stick to their prescribed medication because it is too expensive, according to Dr. Larissa Nekhlyudov and colleagues from Harvard Medical School. Their work, funded by the National Institute on Aging and the National Cancer Institute, shows that cost-related medication non-adherence - skipping pills to make the medicine last longer, and not filling in a prescription because it is too expensive - is common among this group, whether or not they suffer from cancer.
Taxol, the first microtubule stabilizer derived from the Yew family, has been an effective chemotherapy drug, but patients eventually develop problems with resistance over time and toxicity at higher doses. Researchers have long been seeking alternatives.
In geriatric medicine, the adage that age is just a number holds true. New research from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center uses a simple assessment tool to determine how well older adults diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) can handle treatment.
According to new Dutch research featured in the September issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, a peptide receptor radiolabeled therapy (PRRT), [177Lu-DOTA0,Tyr3]Octreotate (177Lu-octreotate) , is effective not only in decreasing tumor size but also in reducing the severity of side effects that often accompany a cancer diagnosis. While many neuroendocrine cancers are incurable, they grow relatively slowly, and life expectancy is relatively long, making quality of life an important factor in treatment.
Compared with oral corticosteroids, use of the beta-blocker propranolol for treatment of infantile hemangiomas (IHs) was associated with higher rates of lesion clearance, fewer adverse effects, fewer surgical interventions after treatment, and lowers cost, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Dermatology.
A protein called "fascin" appears to play a critical transformation role in TGF beta mediated tumor metastasis, say researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., who published a study in a recent issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Quantum dots, small semiconductor nanoparticles that fluoresce brightly with sharply defined colors, have tremendous promise as biomedical imaging agents except for one problem—most are made from potentially hazardous materials such as cadmium and selenium. Now, however, a collaborative effort between researchers at Stanford University and Xiamen University in China has produced a stable, biocompatible quantum dot that appears to have the desired set of properties needed for biomedical imaging.
Cord Blood America, Inc., the umbilical cord blood stem cell preservation company focused on bringing the life saving potential of stem cells to families nationwide and internationally, today announced that Biocordcell Argentina S.A., headquartered in Buenos Aires, its stem cell storage company which services South America and Miami, Florida, has begun storing bone marrow stem cells prior to transplantation in treatments for cancer.
Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a powerful tool for detecting and analyzing chemicals. The technology has recently emerged as a non-invasive tool for imaging cells and detecting cancer. Compared with fluorescence microscopy and other conventional fluorescence-based imaging techniques, SERS does not suffer from the problem of photobleaching--degradation of the fluorescence of the probes used as a result of repeated light exposure. However, there remain very few SERS probes--typically made of gold nanoparticles coated with a highly sensitive 'reporter' compound--that are suitable for use in live cell imaging.
Biological agents used to treat rheumatoid arthritis seem to be associated with an increased risk of skin cancer, indicates a systematic review of published research in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
Researchers led by ETH professor Yaakov Benenson and MIT professor Ron Weiss have successfully incorporated a diagnostic biological "computer" network in human cells. This network recognizes certain cancer cells using logic combinations of five cancer-specific molecular factors, triggering cancer cells destruction.
Making a tumor more sensitive to radiotherapy is a primary goal of combining chemo and radiation therapy to treat many types of cancer, but with the chemotherapy drugs come unwanted side effects.
A University of Michigan Health System-led team of researchers has found a biomarker they believe can help rapidly identify one of the most serious complications in patients with leukemia, lymphoma and other blood disorders who have received a transplant of new, blood-forming cells.
A research team at the University of Illinois at Chicago has developed a highly sensitive biomimetic surface utilizing the anti-epithelial cell adhesion molecule called aEpCAM and the dendrimers of seventh-generation polyamidoamine called PAMAM to remove circulating cancer cells from the blood.
Radiation can make cancer cells resistant to radio- and chemotherapy. University of Oslo researchers have now figured out how resistance can be switched on and off.
Cancer Research UK scientists have found that blocking the pathway used by some kidney cancer cells to generate energy can kill the cancer cells, sparing the healthy ones. The research is published in Nature yesterday.
Shortening end caps on chromosomes in human cervical cancer cells disrupts DNA repair signaling, increases the cells' sensitivity to radiation treatment and kills them more quickly, according to a study in Cancer Prevention Research.
Researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have demonstrated that a growth hormone, PDGF-BB, and the blood protein EPO are involved in the development of cancer tumours and that they combine to help the tumours proliferate in the body. These new preclinical findings offer new potential for inhibiting tumour growth and bypassing problems of resistance that exist with many drugs in current use.
Breast cancer: for the first time, very specific blood vessels have been discovered in tumors. These vessels facilitate the access of certain white blood cells, known as "killer lymphocytes", into tumor tissues and thus lead to the efficient destruction of tumors. This work, led by Jean-Philippe Girard, Inserm senior researcher at the Institut de Pharmacologie et de Biologie Structurale, in collaboration with the Institut Claudius Regaud, is published in the journal Cancer Research (August 2011).
Body weight in young adulthood and diet appeared to be associated with the risk for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, according to results presented at the 10th AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, held Oct. 22-25, 2011.
A recent study accepted for publication in Molecular Endocrinology, a journal of The Endocrine Society, found that perinatal exposure to environmentally relevant doses of bisphenol A (BPA) alters long-term hormone response and breast development in mice that may increase the propensity to develop cancer.
Just as people's bodies and minds can become addicted to substances such as drugs, caffeine, alcohol, their cancers can become addicted to certain genes that insure their continued growth and dominance.
Cape Cod-TV correspondent Melissa Chartrand went into the hospital three years ago to undergo a hysterectomy, a common procedure that was supposed to eliminate her abdominal pains. But for Melissa, a far more serious pain was just beginning.
For the first time since stem cells were discovered by University of Toronto researchers 50 years ago, scientists have isolated a human blood stem cell in its purest form -- as a single stem cell capable of regenerating the entire blood system. This breakthrough opens the door to harnessing the power of these life-producing cells to treat cancer and other debilitating diseases more effectively.
Researchers have discovered the first known mechanism by which cells control the survival of messenger RNA (mRNA) -- arguably biology's most important molecule. The findings pertain to mRNAs that help regulate cell division and could therefore have implications for reversing cancer's out-of-control cell division.
Scientists from the UK have figured out a way to turn chemicals found in the crocus flower which blooms throughout the UK into a 'smart bomb' of sorts when it comes to a new cancer medication. This new treatment may potentially create a drug that is capable of targeting cancerous tumors, such as associated with breast, colon, lung and prostate, without causing any side effects.
Cancer cells maintain their life-style of extremely rapid growth and proliferation thanks to an enzyme called PK-M2 (pyruvate kinase M2) that alters the cells' ability to metabolize glucose - a phenomenon known as the Warburg effect.
Shortening end caps on chromosomes in human cervical cancer cells disrupts DNA repair signaling, increases the cells' sensitivity to radiation treatment and kills them more quickly.
Can a flexible LED conformably placed on the human heart, situated on the corrugated surface of the human brain, or rolled upon the blood vessels, diagnose or even treat various diseases? These things might be a reality in the near future.
An anti-cancer drug used extensively in chemotherapy binds pervasively to RNA -- up to 20-fold more than it does to DNA, a surprise finding that suggests new targeting approaches might be useful, according to University of Oregon researchers.
A drug used to treat cancer may also be effective in diseases that cause scarring of the internal organs or skin, such as pulmonary fibrosis or scleroderma.
For many years, most of the studies done to see what effects cancer treatment has on the offspring of survivors, has involved radiation. This is because radiation is known to cause mutations in cells. Not so well studied have been the generational effects of chemicals used to treat cancer.
The cancer-causing potential of fetal exposure to carcinogens can vary substantially, a recent study suggests, causing different types of problems much later in life depending on the stage of pregnancy when the fetus is exposed.
Cancer is responsible for killing 40 per cent of all the men and women who die prematurely between the ages of 25 and 74 in the UK -- according to a new analysis of the figures released today by Cancer Research UK.
Even after surviving cancer treatment, a new study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology reports that many cancer patients suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, that can worsen as the years go by.
Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center, who teamed with colleagues at five universities around the United States, analyzed past studies of cancer-related pain reduction and found that psychosocial interventions can have a beneficial effect on cancer patients' pain severity. They also found that certain psychosocial interventions provide better pain management and are effective in reducing the degree to which pain related to cancer and its treatment interferes with patients' lives.
Cancer Research UK has started recruiting patients for a pioneering initiative to demonstrate how genetic tests could be used within the NHS to help match cancer patients to the most appropriate treatment, while building a database of information for research into new targeted therapies.
A first-of-its kind federal study that looked at cancer screening rates in the U.S. has found that the percentage of Americans tested for three major types of cancer is inadequate. Asians, Hispanics, and the uninsured had particularly lower chances of being screened, the report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute said.
A Cardiff team has identified a weakness in breast cancer stem cells which could help prevent the disease from spreading. The team has found a laboratory method to switch off breast cancer stem cells' resistance to a particular drug. The breakthrough offers the long-term possibility of blocking the cells from creating new tumours in patients.
Assessing the quality of life experienced by cancer survivors is becoming increasingly important, say researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla. Such an assessment has a number of important applications when doing research on cancer survivorship, but just how to measure quality of life for cancer survivors is still being developed.
Side effects are currently the biggest problem with any cancer treatment. A Norwegian biotech company is drawing closer to the goal of creating a treatment which kills only cancer cells, leaving other cells unaffected.
Drug companies currently developing therapeutic cancer vaccines may be determining the cancers they target based on the number of annual cases, not the number of deaths they cause.
A few weeks ago, the Mayo Clinic made an intriguing announcement: One of its scientists had discovered a possible way to prevent ovarian and breast cancer with vaccines. And Mayo was ready to start testing them in people.
Cancer researchers studying genetic mutations that cause leukemia have discovered a connection to the rare disease cherubism, an inherited facial bone disorder in children.
Scientists at A*STAR's Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology have made a landmark discovery in the battle against the rapid spread of aggressive cancers associated with PRL-3 oncoprotein. Contrary to the current accepted theory that antibodies can only bind to cancer proteins found on the cancer cell surface, the IMCB team led by Dr Zeng Qi is the first to discover that antibodies can in fact directly target intracellular oncoproteins like PRL-3 that reside within the cancer cells to suppress cancer growth successfully. This breakthrough finding will pave the way for more targeted solutions for cancer treatment and also offers hope for cancer prevention.
The National Cancer Institute has awarded $11.3 million to Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine to establish a center of excellence for research on gastrointestinal cancers. The funding designates the university as a Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in Gastrointestinal (GI) Cancers - recognition extended to just one institution this year. University Hospitals Case Medical Center is the primary affiliate of Case Western Reserve and is collaborating with the School of Medicine on a portion of the comprehensive program.
Celgene International Sàrl, a subsidiary of Celgene Corporation,, announced final results from a phase II investigational study evaluating the combination of REVLIMID® and rituximab in 59 patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Since cancer cells grow indefinitely, it is commonly believed that senescence could act as a barrier against tumor growth and potentially be used as a way to treat cancer. A collaboration between a cancer biologist from the University of Milano, Italy, and two physicists has shown that cell senescence occurs spontaneously in melanoma cells, but does not stop their growth, which is sustained by a small population of cancer stem cells.
For better and for worse, human health depends on a cell's motility -- the ability to crawl from place to place. In every human body, millions of cells --are crawling around doing mostly good deeds -- though if any of those crawlers are cancerous, watch out.
Using an ultrafast femtosecond laser, researchers at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., were able to label, draw patterns on, and remove individual melanocytes cells from a species of frog tadpole (Xenopus) without damaging surrounding cells and tissues. Melanocytes are the cells responsible for skin pigment; they also are descendants of a specific type of stem cell that has regenerative potential and other characteristics similar to some cancer cells.
The process of metastasis -- which is the main cause of cancer death -- is caused by tumor cells invading distant organs with no direct anatomical relationship with the organ originally affected. For this to happen, it is necessary that these cells -which researchers call "circulating tumor cells" (CTCs) -, travel to these organs through blood.
The protein p53 plays an essential role in the prevention of cancer by initiating the controlled death of a cell with damaged genes which is in danger to transform into a cancerous cell. The heat shock protein Hsp90, in turn, activates and stabilizes p53. Now scientists of the Technische Universität München (TUM) have discovered both the site where the two proteins interact and the interaction mechanism.
Finding ways to counteract or disrupt the invasive nature of cancer cells, called "metastasis," has been a long-term goal of cancer researchers. Now, researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., have identified an interactive pathway that regulates metastases in some cancers that may be vulnerable to chemical targeting in order to prevent cancer cell proliferation and tumor growth.
Rectal cancer patients who use a new combination of the chemotherapy, Capecitabine, together with five weeks of radiation (50 Gy) before surgery have an 88 percent chance of surviving the cancer three years after treatment, according to randomized trial presented at the plenary session, October 3, 2011, at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
Patients who have received high doses of chemotherapy may find it harder to express themselves verbally, according to new research from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Speech difficulties among cancer patients who received chemotherapy treatment were two times higher than among those who did not.
Oncolytic virology uses live viruses to sense the genetic difference between a tumor and normal cell. Once the virus finds a tumor cell, it replicates inside that cell, kills it and then spreads to adjacent tumor cells to seed a therapeutic "chain reaction". As reported in today's issue of Cancer Cell, Dr. David Stojdl, a scientist from the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute at the University of Ottawa has found a way to trick resistant cancer cells into committing suicide following oncolytic virus therapy.
A research team led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists has identified a potential new target for treatment of the childhood eye tumor retinoblastoma. Their work also settles a scientific debate by showing the cancer's cellular origins are as scrambled as the developmental pathways at work in the tumor.
The majority of children experience personal changes and changes in relationships one year after their sibling has died from cancer; however, positive and negative changes are not universal.
A recent study at Oregon State University found that the chlorophyll in green vegetables offers protection against cancer when tested against the modest carcinogen exposure levels most likely to be found in the environment.
More than 100,000 cancers -- equivalent to one third of all those diagnosed in the UK each year -- are being caused by smoking, unhealthy diets, alcohol and excess weight.
Cleveland BioLabs has entered into a joint venture with RUSNANO to fund five pre-clinical drug candidates for the treatment of cancer and other infectious diseases developed by Panacela Labs, which is a subsidiary of Cleveland BioLabs.
A research team led by scientists at the Chinese University of Hong Kong is releasing study results this week showing how a bacterium, Helicobacter pylori, that causes more than half of peptic ulcers worldwide and that has been implicated in stomach cancer has managed for eons to turn the acidic environment of the human gut into one in which it can thrive.
A research team at the University of Pennsylvania has developed a safer, efficient and economical method to coat contrast agents made of nanoparticles comprising iron oxide in order to make them interfere only with the tumor’s acidic environment, paving the way for eliminating the potential health risks and limitations of heavy or radiation metals that are commonly used as contrast agents in cancer imaging technologies.
A combination of several well-known safety procedures could greatly reduce patient-harming errors in the use of radiation to treat cancer, according to a new study led by Johns Hopkins researchers.
Some cancers can be effectively treated with drugs inhibiting proteins known as receptor tyrosine kinases, but not those cancers caused by mutations in the KRAS gene. A team of researchers led by Jeffrey Engelman, at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, has now identified a potential way to effectively use receptor tyrosine kinases inhibitors to treat individuals with KRAS mutant colorectal cancers -- combine them with inhibitors of the MEK/ERK signaling pathway.
The role that emotional support plays in helping a patient in their fight against breast cancer is to be examined as part of a year-long research project at The University of Nottingham.
The Cancer Immunotherapy Consortium (CIC) of the Cancer Research Institute (CRI) and the Association for Cancer Immunotherapy (CIMT) have issued a joint white paper, published in the October 13 issue of Nature Biotechnology, outlining a comprehensive roadmap that promises to help improve and facilitate the path forward in the development of novel immunotherapies for cancer. Cancer immunotherapies that can safely and powerfully train patients' immune systems to fight their tumors have the potential to fundamentally change the way that many, if not all, cancers are treated.
A computer-based tool could help GPs to speed up the diagnosis and treatment of patients suffering from two of the most common forms of cancer, potentially saving thousands of lives every year.
NUT midline carcinoma is a cancer without a cure, and one that affects all age groups. NMC is a rapid-growth disease with an average survival time of four and a half months after diagnosis, making the development of clinical trials for potential therapies or cures for this cancer difficult, to say the least.
An analysis of more than 30,000 cancer patients has shown that blood clots are a more common complication than doctors may realize, causing additional hospitalizations and driving up the cost of care, according to a study led by a Duke Cancer Institute researcher.
Interferons, protective chemicals produced by most cells in the body, live up to their name, hampering cancer and viral infections. It takes many different kinds of interferon molecules to get the job done, with each one activating a particular component of the body's defense systems. Researchers have long been puzzled by how interferons could call in such a wide range of cellular attacks if they all transmitted their messages to cells through the same molecular antenna, or receptor. A new study suggests that key may be in how tightly the interferons grip that receptor at each of their attachment points.
Cancer Research Technology, the commercial arm of Cancer Research UK, has today launched Acublate Limited, a spin-out company which will develop a next-generation High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) surgery device to treat a range of solid tumour types.
A new family of proteins which regulate the human body's 'hypoxic response' to low levels of oxygen has been discovered by scientists at Barts Cancer Institute at Queen Mary, University of London and The University of Nottingham.
Case Western Reserve University and NeoProteomics Inc. have announced the university's licensing of four software programs designed to improve understanding of biology at a complex molecular level for improved treatment of cancers and various other diseases.
Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have explored the active principles of a Danish mushroom and found that some of the substances it contains are particularly toxic towards cancer cells. The goal is to synthesise and refine substances in the mushroom that may be useful in future drug development.
Dendritic cells, discovered in 1973 by Ralph Steinman and known for their role as sentinels of the immune system, have an essential function in the development of high endothelial venules, acting as genuine entry sites of lymphocytes into lymph nodes, inflamed tissues and malignant tumors.
Despite guidelines from a major medical group recommending limited -- or no -- screenings for four types of cancer for people in their 60s, 70s, and 80s, a UConn researcher has found that more than half of elderly adults continue to receive the screenings.
Contrary to what you might think, cancer and diabetes appear to have some biology in common. According to a report in the September 30th issue of the Cell Press journal, Cell, a pathway that initially drew attention for its role in embryonic stem cells and cancer also influences the odds that mice develop or resist diabetes.
The FDA, which regulates medical technology, has long opposed large-scale X-ray machine deployment, arguing that people shouldn't be irradiated without a direct medical benefit. So how did 250 X-ray "backscatter" scanners, which potentially increase cancer rates, land in American airports? Because the TSA insists they're safe.
Scientists in Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, have developed a new vaccine to treat cancer at the pre-clinical level. The research team led by Professor Kingston Mills, Professor of Experimental Immunology at Trinity College Dublin discovered a new approach for treating the disease based on manipulating the immune response to malignant tumours. The discovery has been patented and there are plans to develop the vaccine for clinical use for cancer patients.
Researchers presenting at the 242nd National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society this week in Denver have demonstrated a new DNA test that can measure the amount of potential carcinogens clinging to a person's DNA. But unlike previous tests that required white blood cell or urine samples and fairly intensive lab scrutiny, this one can hunt for carcinogens in a simple saliva swab.
The study, which was published in the British Medical Journal yesterday, argues that even after using a cell phone for more than a decade, a person's chances of getting a brain tumor are about the same as they would be without cell phone use. The study, which is an update to previous research that found no link between mobile phone use and cancer, examined the instances of brain tumors among long-term cell phone users in Denmark.
Microfluidics expert, Dolomite, is delighted to announce its collaboration with Clearbridge BioMedics in the development of a novel instrument capable of detecting and isolating Circulating Tumour Cells (CTCs) from small quantities of whole, unprocessed blood.
A drug commonly used to treat seizures appears to make eye tumors less likely to grow if they spread to other parts of the body, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
DSS, Inc., a leading provider of software development, integration, project management, implementation and support of VistA, today announced that its customized VistA Chemotherapy Manager (VCM) system is now live and in production at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.
Cancer needs blood. In fact, some cancer medications work solely to slow or prevent cancer cells from creating new capillaries, choking off their much-needed blood and nutrient supply to halt the growth of tumors.
Scientists have found a potential new mechanism to stimulate the body's own ability to fight cancer using Baculillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) -- the germ commonly used to inoculate against tuberculosis (TB).
A team of UWA researchers have found they may be able to alter the club drug 'ecstasy' to kill certain types of blood cancers at the same time boosting the potency and reducing the psychoactivity.
An experimental vaccine developed by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's schools of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine is the first veterinary cancer vaccine of its kind that shows an increase in survival time for dogs with spontaneous non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The work shows for the first time the feasibility and therapeutic efficacy of this alternative cell-based vaccine, which could be employed in the treatment of a number of different cancer types.
Errant Gene Therapeutics, LLC ("EGT"), a pioneering boutique drug development firm specializing in Rare Diseases, announced the transfer of its clinical grade lentiviral vector, TNS 9.55.3, to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center ("MSKCC"). TNS 9.55.3 developed by EGT pursuant to an exclusive license agreement with Sloan Kettering Institute (SKI), will be used for MSKCC's upcoming beta Thalassemia human clinical trial. The trial protocol provides for the "in vitro" treatment of beta-thalassemia patients, offering the prospect for a cure for a chronic condition which would otherwise subject the patient to early death without incurring life-long regular blood transfusions and chelation therapy.
Bill Doyle of Novocure, a company that developed non-invasive technology to control cell division in glioblastoma tumors, spoke at TEDMED 2012 about the role low intensity alternating electric fields can have on cancer therapy:
Following the lead of the FDA earlier this year, the European Medicines Agency Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has completed a safety review of angiotensin II receptor antagonists (ARBs) and found no evidence of any increased risk of cancer associated with the drugs. The FDA and EMA safety reviews were initially prompted by a meta-analysis in Lancet Oncology by Sipahi and colleagues.
Emergent BioSolutions Inc. today announced the initiation of a Phase 1b/2 study (16011) of TRU-016 in combination with rituximab and bendamustine for patients with relapsed indolent non-Hodgkin's B-cell lymphomas, including follicular lymphoma, small lymphocytic lymphoma and marginal zone lymphoma. TRU-016 is a CD37-directed Small Modular ImmunoPharmaceutical™ protein therapeutic in development for the treatment of B-cell malignancies. TRU-016 is being developed in collaboration with Abbott.
We have previously covered Endomagnetics‘ intriguing technology that offers an alternative to radioisotope guided sentinel lymph node biopsy for breast cancer staging. In brief, the current standard is to use injectable technetium to trace the lymph drainage of the breast. By only biopsying the first 1-2 lymph nodes that drain the breast, called the “sentinel nodes,” surgeons can avoid performing a rather morbid and more risky complete axillary lymph node dissection.
EntreMed, Inc., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, announced today that it has secured $10 million in financing with strategic accredited investors, including IDG-Accel China Growth Fund II L.P., Emerging Technology Partners, LLC, and Dr. Tak W. Mak, Director of The Campbell Family Institute for Cancer Research.
Cancer cells tend to take up more glucose than healthy cells, and researchers are increasingly interested in exploiting this tendency with drugs that target cancer cells' altered metabolism.
The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) has honored three of Europe's leading medical oncologists with prestigious awards recognizing their achievements in clinical care and research.
New research explains how cells regulate their bonds during the development of new blood vessels. For the first time, the role of the protein Raf-1 in determining the strength of the bond between cells has been shown. If Raf-1 is not present, the cells cannot stick together and the formation of new blood vessels is inhibited. This discovery may one day lead to new approaches to cancer treatment.
The risk of gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding needs to be considered when determining the potential preventive benefits associated with low-dose aspirin for cardiovascular disease and cancer. According to a new study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the use of low-dose aspirin increases the risk for GI bleeding, with the risk being increased further with accompanying use of cardiovascular disease-preventing therapies, such as clopidogrel and anticoagulants. In patients who took proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), bleeding risk decreased. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology is the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association.
Combination treatment with everolimus, an inhibitor of the mammalian target rapamycin (mTOR), and octreotide has shown to improve progression-free survival for patients with advanced neuroendocrine tumors and a history of carcinoid syndrome.
Previous research found that cancer patients expect to resume daily activities having completed their main cancer-related treatment and yet often find that they suffer from increased fatigue, decreased physical activity and a reduction in quality of life.
Like normal tissue, tumors thrive on nutrients carried to them by the blood stream. The rapid growth of new blood vessels is a hallmark of cancer, and studies have shown that preventing blood vessel growth can keep tumors from growing, too. To better understand the relationship between cancer and the vascular system, researchers would like to make detailed maps of the complete network of blood vessels in organs. Unfortunately, the current mapping process is time-consuming: using conventional methods, mapping a one-centimeter block of tissue can take months.
Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for filing a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for RELISTOR (methylnaltrexone bromide) Subcutaneous Injection to treat opioid-induced constipation (OIC) in patients with non-cancer pain. The FDA has issued an action date of April 27, 2012 under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA).
DiagnoCure, Inc., a life sciences company that develops and commercializes high-value cancer diagnostic tests, announced today that Gen-Probe Incorporated, its commercial partner for the PCA3 test, received notice from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the PROGENSA® PCA3 Assay will not be reviewed by the Immunology Panel of FDA's Medical Devices Advisory Committee on October 14, 2011 as previously scheduled, but will be reviewed by the Panel at a later date.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced organizational changes within the office responsible for reviewing all drug and biologic applications for cancer therapies. The Center for Drug Evaluation and Research's (CDER) Office of Oncology Drug Products has been reorganized and renamed the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products (OHOP).
The Food and Drug Administration approved Adcetris, from Seattle Genetics, to treat Hodkin lymphoma and anaplastic large cell lymphoma. It is the first new treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma in 34 years.
Scientists investigating the interactions, or binding patterns, of a major tumor-suppressor protein known as p53 with the entire genome in normal human cells have turned up key differences from those observed in cancer cells.
Blocking a key DNA damage repair enzyme, called APE1, could provide a new way to kill cancer cells containing faulty BRCA genes, according to research presented at the National Cancer Research Institute Cancer Conference in Liverpool, today.
FEI and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) today announced a partnership to create the OHSU/FEI Living Lab for Cell Biology that will provide researchers with several state-of-the-art electron microscopes to advance the understanding and treatment of complex diseases such as cancer and AIDS.
According to federal health officials last Thursday, the number of Americans being screened for colon, breast and cervical cancers still fall below national targets.
For the first time, has obtained a high-resolution, full 3D image of a small but vital molecule locked up within our cells: the vitamin D receptor (VDR). Published on 18 January 2012 in The EMBO Journal, this study provides key information on the 3D structure and action mechanism of the receptor at the molecular scale. This data is crucial to pharmaceutical research, since VDR is involved in numerous diseases such as cancer, rickets and type 1-diabetes.
"Snowflake" was stuck on a rock 25 feet off the ground on the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park on a bright, crisp Colorado afternoon. It was her second day ever of rock climbing and a ledge above her head blocked her path upward. As she struggled to propel herself higher, Snowflake began to sob.
Oncologists have long sought a powerful "magic bullet" that can find tumors wherever they hide in the body so that they can be imaged and then destroyed. Until recently scientists accepted the notion that such an agent, an agonist, needed to enter and accumulate in the cancerous cells to act. An international research team has now shown in cancer patients that an investigational agent that sticks onto the surface of tumor cells without triggering internalization, an antagonist, may be safer and even more effective than agonists.
Researchers report they have figured out how the cancer-causing bacterium Helicobacter pylori attacks a cell's energy infrastructure, sparking a series of events in the cell that ultimately lead it to self-destruct.
Researchers at University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands, have discovered a substance that has an adverse effect on nearly all types of chemotherapy - making cancer cells insensitive to the treatment. Chemotherapy often loses effectiveness over time. It is often unclear how or why this happens.
Just two extra hours of focused training significantly increased the ability of physicians to find potentially precancerous polyps, known as adenomas, in the colon, according to researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida. These findings suggest that new methods to educate endoscopists, the physicians who examine the colon, could increase colorectal cancer detection rates and potentially reduce cancer deaths. Results of the study were presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology in Washington, D.C.
A regulatory bias against taking oral anti-cancer medications with food places many patients at increased risk for an overdose and forces them to "flush costly medicines down the toilet," argues Mark Ratain, MD, an authority on cancer-drug dosing.
Foundation Medicine, Inc., a molecular information company that brings comprehensive cancer genome analysis to routine clinical care, today announced the initiation of a strategic collaboration with Sanofi. Foundation Medicine will use their genomic sequencing and analytic capabilities to identify genetic biomarkers and potential companion diagnostics for select Sanofi oncology drug candidates.
New discoveries about follicular lymphoma, a currently intractable form of cancer, highlight the power of functional genomics in cancer gene discovery. A report in the Oct 28th issue of Cell demonstrates how genetic insights can be translated directly into therapies.
Leica Microsystems has signed an agreement with the Max Planck Society and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) for the development of the next generation of super-resolution STED (Stimulated Emission Depletion) microscopy. This gives Leica Microsystems the license to develop the new technology, called gated STED, into a commercial product and put it on the market.
New findings from the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital – Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project (PCGP) have helped identify the mechanism that makes the childhood eye tumor retinoblastoma so aggressive. The discovery explains why the tumor develops so rapidly while other cancers can take years or even decades to form.
When investigating cancer cells, researchers discovered numerous peculiarities: Particular RNA molecules are present in large numbers, particular genes are overactive. Do these characteristics have a relation to cancer? Do they promote cell growth? Do they inactivate growth brakes or are they just a whim of nature? To find clues for answering these questions scientists perform what are called loss-of-function analyses. They knock out (silence) the gene of interest in living cells or whole organisms and subsequently look for any changes in the cells' metabolism, physiology or behavior in order to find out whether specific cellular functions are lost.
Using a liquid laser, University of Michigan researchers have developed a better way to detect the slight genetic mutations that might predispose a person to a particular type of cancer or other diseases.
Results of a study by Baylor College of Medicine physicians underscore the important role that clinical genetic evaluation can have in the management plan of patients with retinoblastoma, a childhood cancer of the eye.
The human papillomavirus (HPV) is more likely to be found in tumors of laryngeal cancer patients who are male and those with private health insurance, according to a new study from researchers at Henry Ford Hospital.
BioReference Laboratories, Inc. and its GenPath Oncology business unit and through its exclusive commercialization agreement with the Massachusetts General Hospital is introducing its groundbreaking solid tumor genotype test.
Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have identified a protein that kick-starts the response to low levels of oxygen, suggesting new lines of research relevant to a variety of potentially fatal disorders associated with diminished oxygen supply, including cancer, heart disease, stroke and other neurological conditions that affect millions of people worldwide.
Marie Curie was born on November 7th in 1867, and the 66 years she was alive saw her awarded two Nobel Prizes as well as laying the groundwork for the use of radiation to help fight cancer.
Brook Byers, the health care venture capitalist at famed tech investor Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, has been investing in biotech companies for 38 years. He invested in Genentech, the biotech stalwart, in the 1970s, and later on in Applied Biosystems, whose DNA sequencers were used to map the human genome in 2000.
The Center for Immunotherapy at Roswell Park Cancer Institute is about to begin a very exciting new cancer clinical trial that will test a personalized immunotherapy to attack cancer cells.
Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing products targeting the extracellular matrix for the diabetes, cancer, dermatology and drug delivery markets, today announced the commencement of a Phase 1/2 clinical trial with HTI-501 (rHuCAT-L) in women with moderate to severe edematous fibrosclerotic panniculopathy (also known as cellulite).
An engineering researcher and a global health expert from Michigan State University are working on bringing a low-cost, hand-held device to nations with limited resources to help physicians detect and diagnose cancer.
ChemotherapyAdvisor.com is designed to empower oncology professionals to make informed treatment decisions. The site provides practice-focused and comprehensive clinical and drug information reflecting best current practices and emerging trends in cancer treatment.
The new findings shed light on the possible cause of immune resistance in cancer cells, and indicate that nitroglycerin, a relatively safe and low-cost drug used for more than a century to treat angina, may be effective for managing certain cancers.
In findings with major implications for the genetics of cancer and human health, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and two other science teams in New York City and Rome have uncovered evidence of powerful new genetic networks and showed how it may work to drive cancer and normal development.
New research from Queen Mary, University of London has uncovered a gene which plays a key role in the development of oesophageal cancer (cancer of the gullet).
In collaboration with researchers from the Weizmann Institute in Israel, a team from the Institut de Génétique Humaine has, for the first time, revealed the detailed three-dimensional architecture of chromosomes: Giacomo Cavalli and his colleagues have achieved high-resolution mapping of the different contacts that exist within and between chromosomes.
Hologic, Inc., a leading developer, manufacturer and supplier of premium diagnostic products, medical imaging systems and surgical products dedicated to serving the healthcare needs of women, announced today the commercial release of its C-View synthesized 2D image reconstruction algorithm that eliminates the need for a conventional 2D mammogram as a component of a tomosynthesis breast cancer screening exam.
Cancer cells usually live in an environment with limited supplies of the nutrients they need to proliferate -- most notably, oxygen and glucose. However, they are still able to divide uncontrollably, producing new cancer cells.
In cancer, genes turn on and off at the wrong times, proteins aren't folded properly, and cellular growth and proliferation get out of control. Even a cancer cell's metabolism goes haywire, as it loses the ability to appropriately sense nutrients and use them to generate energy. One particular piece of cellular machinery that is known to malfunction in a number of cancers is a group of proteins called mTORC1. This master control center coordinates many cellular functions by sensing external signals such as nutrients and growth factors and telling cells how to respond.
In the treatment of large tumors, how effective is adoptive T cell therapy in comparison to drug-based cancer treatment? The researchers showed that both forms of therapy are highly effective against large tumors. However, the T cells not only kill cancer cells – they additionally destroy the tumor blood vessel system, thus impeding the supply of nutrients to the tumor. Consequently, quasi as a side effect, "escapee" mutant tumor cells are eradicated that have become resistant to drug-based treatment and are responsible for tumor recurrence. The researchers hope that their insights in defining optimal conditions for T cell therapy may help improve future clinical trials and thus the treatment of cancer patients.
UCSF scientists have discovered the unexpected way in which a key cell of the immune system prepares for battle. The finding, they said, offers insight into the processes that take place within these cells and could lead to strategies for treating conditions from spinal cord injury to cancer.
Consider it the ultimate health twofer. A new Northwestern Medicine study shows the behaviors and risk factors that reduce the incidence of heart disease also substantially lower the risk of lung, breast, prostate and colon cancers by up to nearly 40 percent.
Forty-two-year-old Manahawkin, New Jersey resident David Caldarella can recite a long list of dates off the top of his head. The first one starts with the day he found a lump on the right side of his neck while shaving. It was March 23, 2010. Caldarella immediately called his physician.
A burst of hydrogen peroxide causes neutrophils, the immune system's first responders, to rush to the wound to fight microorganisms, remove damaged tissue and then start the inflammation process.
Dr. Hiroaki Mamiya, in collaboration with Prof. Balachandran Jeyadevan have investigated theoretically the mechanism of hyperthermic potentiation of cancers using magnetic nanoparticles, which enables selective heating of hidden micro cancer tissue, and clarified the fact that the nanoparticles under large magnetic fields form unique oriented states, depending respectively on subtle differences in their local environment in the cancer tissue and consequently affect the optimum heating conditions.
A Hyundai Tucson left San Francisco this morning, heading to Los Angeles in the first leg of a cross-country trip. But this trip is no family vacation; the Tucson will be picking up handprints from children as it makes stops at pediatric cancer facilities. And the car will not burn any gasoline in its travels, as its fuel cell stack converts hydrogen into electricity for its drive motor.
The human c-myc gene encodes a transcription factor (MYC) involved in the regulation of a vast number of other genes -- it has been estimated that the transcription of about one in six genes is somehow under the control of MYC. Perhaps because of MYC's wide range of targets, mutations of the c-myc gene are frequently associated with a variety of tumours, not only with Burkitt's lymphoma. Mutations that lead to excessive amounts of the MYC protein are particularly threatening.
Based upon the binding specificity of antibodies to target molecules, immunohistochemistry (IHC) has been used in labs for decades to research protein expression, or lack thereof, in tissue samples. It’s a great example of a translational technique that is being used every day in hospital pathology labs around the world to, for example, classify tumor biopsies based on diagnostic markers.
IGN is designed to link researchers needing large-scale whole human genome sequencing with leading institutions that provide this application as a service using industry-leading Illumina sequencing platforms.
Immunicum, which is developing cancer vaccines, has received approval from the Swedish Medical Products Agency to start its first clinical trial. The study will be conducted on kidney cancer patients at the University Hospital in Uppsala. At the same time, the company secures substantial financing to complete the clinical trial.
One study presented at the meeting, reports on an initiative using echocardiography to document early warning signs of adverse effects from trastuzumab, while the other uses echocardiography to evaluate the protective role of ACE inhibitors and statins on the hearts of cancer patients.
Oncologists and their patients are increasingly challenged with making difficult decisions about screening, prevention and treatment. Unfortunately, most patients are neither armed with adequate knowledge nor the means of interpreting the information they do have in a qualitatively and quantitatively useful way.
Cancer cells are most deadly when they're on the move -- able not only to destroy whatever organ they are first formed in, but also to create colonies elsewhere in the body. New research has now shown how a small RNA prevents the recruitment and formation of blood vessels near cancer cell destined to become metastases, a process that must occur in order for them to grow.
An Irish company is using four American diamondback rattlesnakes in a new clinical trial that will test snake venom as a treatment for cancer. The snakes, which hail from the Albuquerque BioPark, will be allowed to bite something and have their venom extracted humanely. The venom contains proteins that will be extracted and refined to target and kill cancer cells.
First there is the tumor and then there's the horrible question of whether the cancerous cells will spread. Scientists increasingly believe that the structural properties of the tumor itself, such as how tightly the tumor cells are packed together, play a decisive role in the progression of the disease.
Strong, incompatible views are common in biomedicine but are largely invisible to biomedical experts themselves, creating artificial barriers to effective modeling of complex biological phenomena. Researchers at the University of Chicago explored the diversity in views among scientists researching the process of cancer metastasis and found ubiquitous disagreement around assumptions in any model of the progression of cancer cells from their original location to other parts of the body. The researchers suggest that making often invisible assumptions explicit could significantly improve the modeling of biomedical processes.
A new cancer research centre established at the University of Adelaide will focus on treatment options tailored to the individual, taking into account DNA and genetic variations between people.
Tumors that do not respond to chemotherapy are the target of a cancer therapy that prevents the function of two enzymes in mouse tumor cells, according to Pennsylvania medical researchers.
The future of regenerative medicine lies in harnessing the potential of the human body to renew and repair itself. Now, scientists at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), the world's first bioengineering and nanotechnology research institute, have developed a new genetic engineering technique that promises safer stem cell therapy for cancer patients. Using an insect virus, the team of researchers successfully inserted a therapeutic gene into a safe site in the DNA of human embryonic stem cells without compromising the functionality of the engineered cells.
Intellikine, Inc., a company focused on the discovery and development of innovative, small molecule drugs targeting the PI3K/mTOR pathway, announced today that the first patient has been treated in a Phase I dose escalation study of INK1117 in patients with advanced solid malignancies. INK1117, a selective, orally available, small molecule inhibitor of the PI3Kalpha isoform has demonstrated impressive efficacy in several PI3Kalpha mutant-specific preclinical tumor models.
Allos Therapeutics, Inc. today reported interim results from the Company's ongoing Phase 1 combination study of FOLOTYN® and bexarotene in patients with relapsed or refractory cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. The combination treatments demonstrated encouraging activity in heavily pre-treated patients. Data were presented during an oral presentation at the Fourth Annual T-cell Lymphoma Forum, on January 28 in San Francisco, CA.
A drop of blood or saliva can be analysed using an ordinary touch screen - and once boffins perfect the identification of biological molecules, then diagnosis by iPhone isn't far off.
Half-matched bone marrow or stem cell transplants for blood cancer patients have typically been associated with disappointing clinical outcomes. However, a clinical trial conducted at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson testing its unique, two-step half-match procedure has produced some promising results: the probability of overall survival was 45 percent in all patients after three years and 75 percent in patients who were in remission at the time of the transplant.
Scientists at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia have identified a key mechanism of metastasis that could lead to blocking tumor growth if their findings are confirmed.
Plasmonic nanoparticles are extremely sensitive to light, and even the tiniest amount can cause these particles to heat up. Scientists are now trying to use plasmonic nanoparticles in cancer therapy whereby light energy is converted into heat in order to kill cancer cells.
Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation, a world-leader in molecular intelligence research, announced the launch of its TranscriptoNET KnowledgeBase for the study of human gene expression in over 300 types of human tissues and organs as well as over 300 human cancer cell lines. This open-access resource for the biomedical research community features comprehensive information on the mRNA expression levels for almost ~23,000 human genes.
New research demonstrates that previous models used to examine cancer may not be complex enough to accurately mimic the true cancer environment. Using oral cancer cells in a three-dimensional model of lab-made tissue that mimics the lining of the oral cavity, the researchers found that the tissue surrounding cancer cells can epigenetically mediate, or temporarily trigger, the expression or suppression of a cell adhesion protein associated with the progression of cancer. These new findings support the notion that drugs that are currently being tested to treat many cancers need to be screened using more complex tissue-like systems, rather than by using conventional petri dish cultures that do not fully manifest features of many cancers.
Researchers at UC Santa Barbara are introducing a novel technique using a form of laser spectroscopy and biotags that help discriminate between cancerous and healthy cells.
The Lawson Translational Cancer Research Team of the Lawson Health Research Institute is one of five groups participating in a new study that seeks to personalize cancer drug treatment.
According to the Canadian Cancer Society, one in four Canadians will die of cancer. This year alone, the disease will kill an estimated 75,000 people. With incidence rates on the rise, more cancer patients are facing grave prognoses. Fortunately, Lawson Health Research Institute's Dr. John Lewis, Dr. Ann Chambers, and colleagues have found new hope for survival. Their new study released today in Laboratory Investigation shows that maspin, a cellular protein, can reduce the growth and spread of cancer cells - but only when it is in the nucleus.
An agreement has been signed by Leica Microsystems with the German Cancer Research Center and the Max Planck Society for the manufacture of sophisticated super-resolution stimulated emission depletion microscopy.
Five years ago, Sheri Scott was beginning a new chapter in her life. The recently engaged 31-year-old was eagerly browsing bridal magazines and busy planning for her big day. Unfortunately, just weeks following her engagement, Scott was diagnosed with breast cancer. Suddenly, she was juggling medical appointments and planning a double mastectomy instead of a wedding. Soon after her diagnosis, Scott was approached by her doctor at Northwestern Memorial Hospital about preserving her fertility. He explained that cancer treatment could compromise her fertility and stated there were options available if she wanted to preserve her chances of having children. In that moment, having a family was the farthest thing from her mind, but the conversation sparked a decision that would change her life forever.
FINDINGS: UCLA researchers demonstrated that loss of a key protein that regulates estrogen and immune activity in the body could lead to aspects of metabolic syndrome, a combination of conditions that can cause Type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis and cancer. Called estrogen receptor alpha, this protein is critical in regulating immune system activity such as helping cells suppress inflammation and gobble-up debris.
Patients with cancer, heart disease and other chronic illness struggle not only with complications inherent to their disease, they also experience an involuntary loss of weight and muscle mass triggered by the body's natural response to infection and inflammation.
Medical researchers have discovered a new type of mechanism causing cancer susceptibility, showing that tiny changes in some anti-cancer genes can act as magnets to attract modifying "biochemical tags," effectively switching them off and predisposing families to an increased risk of the disease.
Several prominent cancer researchers are now joining forces in an advanced new cancer study. The goal is to understand which tumors will be difficult to treat and to find out why certain cancer drugs lose their effect after a period of use. The study is to be directed by Tobias Sjoblom, associate professor of tumor biology at Uppsala University, Sweden.
Two MIT researchers have cracked some fundamental problems with high resolution 3-D imaging using a novel gelatinous interface and computer-vision algorithms that, in tandem, can easily and portably provide imaging resolutions that were previously only possible with large and expensive laboratory gear.
More than 50% of men diagnosed with cancer in Australia are turning to complementary and alternative medicine to help find a cure, or to improve their health
A University of North Carolina-led international study shows that among Kenyan men, circumcision is associated with a lower prevalence of human papillomavirus-associated precancerous lesions of the penis. Human papillomavirus - HPV - is a sexually transmitted virus that plays an important role in genital cancers in men and women, including cancers of the penis and cervix.
Asserting control over how to communicate -- or not communicate -- about their illness helps cancer patients overcome feelings of helplessness in a traumatic situation, according to researchers at The University of Texas at Austin.
Manhattan Scientifics acquired Senior Scientific in June in order to commercialize innovative nanotechnology tools for detecting, diagnosing, and treating cancer, invented by Dr. Edward R. Flynn. The company has now named V Gerald Grafe to help in the commercialization in a lead role.
A chemical component of the marijuana plant could prevent the onset of pain associated with drugs used in chemo therapy, particularly in breast cancer patients, according to researchers at Temple University's School of Pharmacy.
A breakthrough in the laboratory of Kevin Vaughan, associate professor of biological sciences at the University of Notre Dame, will assist researchers in understanding cell cycle regulation. The group identified a novel protein that is regulated by the mitotic kinase Aurora B, an important factor in mitosis, or cell division.
Scientists from the University of Miami and the University of Heidelberg in Germany find a way to predict the evolution of a patient's tumor to advance highly individualized cancer treatment
A research team from the Institute for Cancer Research at the MedUni Vienna has decoded a previously unknown mechanism of the active ingredient imiquimod in tumour defence. They have been able to prove that imiquimod transforms plasmacytoid dendritic cells into “tumour-killers” which can fight the tumour independently from other immune cells.
A surgery is usually one of the first therapy options in cancer treatment. However, some tumors, such as brain tumors, can be difficult to operate on if there is a risk of damaging surrounding nerve tissue. Other cancerous tumors, such as prostate carcinoma, grow at a very slow rate and primarily affect older patients. Operating in these cases often lowers patients' quality of life without significantly extending their life expectancy.
As an enduring tribute to a valued Board member and woman of incomparable grace, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center has joined with The Robertson Foundation to undertake two high-profile initiatives in honor of Josephine "Josie" Robertson: the Josie Robertson Surgery Center and the Josie Robertson Investigators Program.
Most middle-schoolers struggle to grasp the introductory concepts of genetics, a field of study considered crucial to advancing solutions to health problems and disease such as cancer, according to a study led by a Michigan State University researcher.
Researchers from North Carolina State University, Sandia National Laboratories, and the University of California, San Diego published about a new technology that uses micro needles for real-time detection of chemical changes in the body. The paper, "Multiplexed Microneedle-based Biosensor Array for Characterization of Metabolic Acidosis" was published online in the journal Talanta this week.
Rosetta Genomics, Ltd., a leading developer and provider of microRNA-based molecular diagnostics, announces that results from a joint study by researchers at the Institutes of Oncology, Davidoff Center, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Hospital and Golda-Hasharon Hospital in Petach-Tikva, Israel show that in post-resection gastric cancer patients microRNAs may serve to predict the risk of recurrence.
Though it seems like science fiction, microscopic "factories" in which nanomachines produce tiny structures for miniaturized components or nanorobots that destroy tumor cells within the body and scrape blockages from our arteries may become reality in the foreseeable future. Nanomotors could transport drugs to specific target organs more rapidly or pilot analytes through the tiny channels on microchip diagnostic systems. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, Ayusman Sen and his team from Pennsylvania State University (USA) describe a new type of micromotor that is powered by a polymerization reaction and deposits tiny threads along its trail like a microspider.
Medical researchers are demonstrating that Office of Naval Research (ONR)-funded software developed for finding and recognizing undersea mines can help doctors identify and classify cancer-related cells.
Silence Therapeutics plc ("Silence"), a leading RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics company, today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Mirna Therapeutics Inc. ("Mirna"), a biopharmaceutical company pioneering microRNA-based therapeutics for cancer, to assess the delivery capabilities of Silence's proprietary AtuPLEX™ and DBTC delivery systems for Mirna's novel microRNAs.
MIT and Draper Laboratory have developed a device that enables drug manufacturers to develop medicines that inhibit the spread of cancer and allows them to view the migration of diseased cells.
Moberg Derma AB has been granted 4 MSEK by Vinnova for the development of Limtop, an innovative formulation for the treatment of actinic keratosis, genital warts and basal cell cancer.
Researchers from Birmingham University have designed a drug similar to the illicit drug Ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) that could be used to treat leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma after making it 100 times more effective at suppressing growth.
When the American Society of Hematology convenes its 53rd Annual Meeting and Exposition on Dec. 10-13 in San Diego, Calif., researchers from Moffitt Cancer Center will break a new record for Moffitt participants with one plenary presentation, 16 oral presentations and more than 50 poster presentations on new research results in a variety of meeting programs that focus on blood cancer basic science and clinical applications, including bone marrow transplantation and clinical trials results.
Developing type 2 diabetes is a lengthy process. An early sign that it has begun is high levels of insulin in the blood. As long as the insulin-producing beta cells are able to compensate for the increased demand, for example when the individual is overweight, the blood sugar levels remain normal.
Molecular markers found in cancer cells that have spread from a primary tumor to a limited number of distant sites can help physicians predict which patients with metastatic cancer will benefit from aggressive, targeted radiation therapy.
Research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists has identified an unexpected mechanism facilitating some protein interactions that are the workhorses of cells and, in the process, identified a potential new cancer drug development target.
The removal of rare tumor cells circulating in the blood might be possible with the use of biomolecules bound to dendrimers, highly branched synthetic polymers, which could efficiently sift and capture the diseased cells.
Teaming fresh broccoli with a spicy food that contains the enzyme myrosinase significantly enhances each food's individual cancer-fighting power and ensures that absorption takes place in the upper part of the digestive system where you'll get the maximum health benefit, suggests a new University of Illinois study.
Teaming fresh broccoli with a spicy food that contains the enzyme myrosinase significantly enhances each food's individual cancer-fighting power and ensures that absorption takes place in the upper part of the digestive system where you'll get the maximum health benefit, suggests a new University of Illinois study.
More than three-quarters of cancer patients have insufficient levels of vitamin D (25-hydroxy-vitamin D) and the lowest levels are associated with more advanced cancer, according to a study presented on October 2, 2011, at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
While the majority (70 percent) of surveyed cancer care physicians initiate contact with the bereaved family and caregivers of their patients who have died, over two-thirds do not feel they have received adequate training in this area during their residency or fellowship, according to a study presented October 2, 2011, at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
A new study has shown that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) used to evaluate responses to pre-surgery (neo-adjuvant) chemotherapy or radiation may predict survival among patients with advanced rectal cancer. The findings suggest that MRI-assessed tumor responses to neoadjuvant therapy can help physicians to better plan their patients' subsequent treatments.
From precancerous lesions in the bladder to polyps in the colon, pathologists are constantly examining tissue biopsies for diagnoses. Researchers at Cornell are pushing the limits of the well-established imaging technology called multiphoton microscopy by shrinking the microscopes so they can be inserted safely into a patient's body -- and minimizing the need for unnecessary biopsies.
A compound isolated from a wild, poisonous mushroom growing in a Southwest China forest appears to help a cancer killing drug fulfill its promise, researchers report.
Cancer patients may benefit from sessions with trained music therapists or from listening to music. A new Cochrane systematic review shows using music can reduce anxiety in cancer patients, and may also have positive effects on mood, pain and quality of life.
Cells with too few or too many chromosomes have long been known to be a hallmark of cancer -- but the cause of this abnormal number of chromosomes has been little understood. Now, in the August 19th issue of Science, researchers at the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, a part of Georgetown University Medical Center, have identified a gene that is commonly mutated in human cancers and have demonstrated its direct role in causing aneuploidy, an abnormal number of chromosomes.
It is known that the unmarried are in general more likely to die than their married counterparts and there is some indication that the divide is in fact getting worse. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Public Health looks at the changes in cancer survival over the past 40 years and show that the difference in mortality between the married and never married, especially between married and never married men, has also increased.
Nanobiotix, a company developing cancer novel nanotherapeutics, announced today that its lead compound NBTXR3 has received the formal authorization from the French Medicine Agency, AFSSAPS1, to start the first clinical trial2.
The medicine agency of France, AFSSAPS has approved the commencement of the first clinical trial of NBTXR3, the lead compound in the NanoXray pipeline of Nanabiotix.
Nanoscale drug delivery systems that distinguish tumors from healthy tissue are expected to revolutionize chemotherapy. By selectively releasing antitumor therapeutics into the appropriate target cells, these nanoparticles promise to limit the undesirable damaging side effects that are inherent to traditional anticancer agents. Guangshan Zhu and colleagues from Jilin University in China have now developed silica-based porous nanoparticles that liberate drug molecules in response to the low pH intracellular environment associated with cancers ("pH-Triggered Controlled Drug Release from Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles via Intracelluar Dissolution of ZnO Nanolids").
The bottom-line measure of success is survival, but having some rapid measure of drug targeting would enable oncologists to make early changes in therapy if the amount of drug reaching its intended target was insufficient to kill a tumor.
While there has been some progress in finding such markers, researchers have been largely stymied in this pursuit by the fact that such proteins are present in trace amounts that are cloaked by the few proteins present in far larger amounts, such as albumin and antibodies.
A new class of nanoparticles, synthesized by a UC Davis research team to prevent premature drug release, holds promise for greater accuracy and effectiveness in delivering cancer drugs to tumors.
Sensors made from custom DNA molecules could be used to personalize cancer treatments and monitor the quality of stem cells, according to an international team of researchers led by scientists at UC Santa Barbara and the University of Rome Tor Vergata.
NanoSmart Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a corporation developing novel cancer pharmaceuticals, has entered into a research collaboration with Children's Hospital Los Angeles, one of the nation's top pediatric hospitals, to develop and assess NanoSmart's novel drug-delivery platform.
A technique that lets researchers monitor single cancer cells in real time as they float in liquid could help doctors study the breakaway tumor cells that cause metastasis. Metastasis is the process of the disease spreading through the body.
Turmeric has been an integral part of India's cultural and culinary heritage for thousands of years. Historical evidence says that turmeric was first cultivated in Harappa as early as about 3000 B.C.1, and for the first time, its medicinal potential was recognized and documented in Sushruta Samhita dating back to 250 B.C2.
The Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer of the National Cancer Institute is initiating a public private industry partnership called TONIC (Translation Of Nanotechnology In Cancer) to promote translational research and development opportunities of nanotechnology-based cancer solutions. An immediate consequence of this effort will be the formation of a consortium involving government and pharmaceutical, and biotechnology companies. This consortium will evaluate promising nanotechnology platforms and facilitate their successful translation from academic research to clinical environment, resulting in safe, timely, effective and novel diagnosis and treatment options for cancer patients.
According to a federal criminal Information filed August 11, 2011, Jihan S. Cover, 33, of Arden, N.C., worked as a purchasing agent with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Cancer Institute (NCI), a subdivision of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), during which time her job was to procure items and services for NIH/NCI using assigned government credit cards or purchase cards. The Information alleges that between June 2009 and December 2010, Cover used NIH/NCI purchase cards to engage in 250 unauthorized personal transactions totaling approximately $114,494.
Navigating Cancer's Patient Engagement Portal, the industries only oncology specific solution that can integrate with any electronic health record (EHR) system, has received the federal government's "meaningful use" stamp of approval by earning (EHR) modular certification. The designation officially deems Navigating Cancer's solution capable of enabling healthcare providers to qualify for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Tested and certified under the Drummond Group's Electronic Health Records Office of the National Coordinator Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB) program, Navigating Cancer's solution is 2011/2012 compliant in accordance with the criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Through its Childhood Cancer Research Coalition program, the NCC has provided support to help medical centers to better treat their pediatric cancer patients via research funding or access to chemotherapies.
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network™ (NCCN™) Oncology Research Program (ORP) has been awarded a $2 million grant from Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to develop a program to scientifically evaluate and define the clinical effectiveness of Afatinib (BIBW 2992) in solid tumors, including breast, head and neck, and non-small cell lung (NSCL) cancers.
The NCD Alliance, which represents about 2,000 health organizations from around the world focused on non-communicable diseases (NCDs), "on Thursday accused the United States, Canada and Europe of harming efforts to fight cancer, diabetes, heart and other diseases because they will not agree to set United Nations targets," Reuters reports (Kelland, 8/18). The first-ever U.N. High-Level Meeting on the Prevention and Control of NCDs is scheduled for September 19-20 in New York.
"World leaders at a meeting of the United Nations on Monday will agree to a deal to try to curb the spread of preventable 'lifestyle' diseases," including heart disease, cancers and diabetes, also known as non-communicable diseases (NCDs), "amid concern that progress is already being hampered by powerful lobbyists from the food, alcohol and tobacco industries," the Guardian reports. "The scale and disastrous potential of these diseases has led the U.N. to call only its second high-level summit on a health issue on Monday -- the first was over AIDS in 2001. Months of negotiation have led to a draft declaration that will be signed at the summit," the newspaper writes.
NanoSort, a start up biomedical device manufacturer, has received a two-year grant worth $297,000 from the National Cancer Institute for Small Business Innovation Research. NCI has also granted a contract worth $198,000 to NanoSort.
Harris Corporation, an international communications and information technology company, has been awarded a $37 million recompete contract by the National Cancer Institute's Center for Cancer Research (NCI CCR). The contract, which includes one base year and four one-year options, continues Harris' twenty-nine year legacy of providing comprehensive clinical data management for the National Cancer Institute's intramural clinical trials program.
Genesis Biopharma, Inc., a biotechnology company developing targeted cancer immunotherapies, today announced it has signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Under the terms of the five-year cooperative research and development agreement, Genesis Biopharma will work with Steven A. Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D., the NCI Surgery Branch Chief, to develop adoptive cell immunotherapies that are designed to destroy metastatic melanoma cells using a patient's tumor infiltrating lymphocytes.
Neogenix Oncology, Inc. has announced that the company's novel antibody NEO-101, which targets pancreatic and colorectal cancer cells, has been selected as one of Windhover's 2011 Top 10 Projects to Watch.
Doses of a neurotransmitter might offer a way to boost the effectiveness of anticancer drugs and radiation therapy, according to a new study led by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center -- Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.
Sandra and George Norcross today announced a $5 million pledge to Cooper University Hospital. It is the first commitment in a $50 million capital campaign to help fund the rapid expansion of one of New Jersey's preeminent medical centers.
A technique developed by Johns Hopkins surgeons is providing a new route to get to and remove tumors buried at the base of the skull: through the natural hole behind the molars, above the jawbone and beneath the cheekbone.
Updated guidelines on nutrition and physical activity for cancer prevention from the American Cancer Society stress the importance of creating social and physical environments that support healthy behaviors. The report includes updated recommendations for individual choices regarding diet and physical activity patterns, but emphasizes that those choices occur within a community context that can either help or hinder healthy behaviors.
For a cancer treatment to be adapted to each individual patient, a large number of tumor samples need to be examined carefully. Collaboration between a company and Uppsala University has now led to a method that makes this process ten times more efficient than in the past.
Physicians can use medical records to track the quality of cancer care and determine whether their patients are receiving the right treatments at the right time. Yet the patient is the only one who ultimately can evaluate the quality of his or her experience while receiving treatment.
Cancer research UK scientists have developed a new imaging technique that uses vitamin C to detect cancers likely to be more aggressive or resistant to treatment, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
As the "recycling plant" of the cell, the proteasome regulates vitally important functions. When it is inhibited, the cell chokes on its own waste. Cancer cells, are very sensitive because they need the proteasome for their uncontrolled growth.
A computer-based tool could help GPs to speed up the diagnosis and treatment of patients suffering from two of the most common forms of cancer, potentially saving thousands of lives every year.
Bayer HealthCare announced today that the company will present data on several of its investigational compounds at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress (ECCO-ESMO), September 23-27, 2011, in Stockholm, Sweden. These presentations, including the pivotal Phase III ALSYMPCA (ALpharadin in SYMptomatic Prostate CAncer) data evaluating radium-223 chloride in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), will highlight the potential of Bayer's growing oncology pipeline.
In a major step that could revolutionize biomedical research, scientists have discovered a way to keep normal cells as well as tumor cells taken from an individual cancer patient alive in the laboratory -- which previously had not been possible.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Kyushu University Medical School say a novel combination of a specific sugar molecule with a pair of cell-killing drugs prompts a wide variety of cancer cell types to kill themselves, a process called apoptosis or programmed cell death.
Having a brother or sister with newly diagnosed cancer can be a distressing and difficult time for a child. While most children eventually cope, there can be a period of adjustment when their school work and social functioning suffer. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health shows that a teaching program, designed to improve the child's knowledge about their sibling's disease and to give them coping skills, was able to improve their adjustment and psychological well being in this early time period after diagnosis.
New findings from a phase 1 trial presented yesterday at the 53rd Annual American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting demonstrate Micromet's blinatumomab induces durable responses in patients with extensively pre-treated diffuse large B cell lymphoma.
A new DNA-based logic circuit can sense the signs of cancer, compute that a cell is cancerous, and then cause it to self-destruct, researchers say. The cell-level diagnostic system could be used for drug screening or perhaps for disease treatment, killing tumors while leaving healthy cells alone.
Scientists at the BC Cancer Agency in British Columbia, Canada and their U.S. collaborators have identified a number of new genetic mutations involved in non-Hodgkin lymphoma, or NHL.
Researchers at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) have identified the gene GATA 6 as responsible for epithelial cells -which group together and are static- losing adhesion and moving towards a new site.
Advances in microchip technology may someday enable clinicians to perform tests for hundreds of diseases -- sifting out specific molecules, such as early stage cancer cells -- from just one drop of blood. But fabricating such "lab-on-a-chip" designs -- tiny, integrated diagonistic sensor arrays on surfaces as small as a square centimeter -- is a technically challenging, time-consuming and expensive feat.
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a new imaging system that enables high-speed, three-dimensional (3-D) imaging of microscopic pre-cancerous changes in the esophagus or colon. The new system, described in the Optical Society's (OSA) open access journal Biomedical Optics Express, is based on an emerging technology called optical coherence tomography (OCT), which offers a way to see below the surface with 3-D, microscopic detail in ways that traditional screening methods can't.
If you were the size of a bacterium, the lining of a stomach would seem like a rugged, hilly landscape filled with acid-spewing geysers, said Manuel Amieva, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics and of microbiology and immunology. Stomach-dwelling bacteria called Helicobacter pylori, the cause of ulcers and some gastric cancers, must navigate through the treacherous terrain to find sanctuary in the mucous layer that coats the inside of the stomach.
Ovarian cancer is one of the most frequent forms of cancer that affect women. As tumors can initially grow unchecked in the abdomen without causing any major symptoms, patients are usually diagnosed at an advanced stage and have to undergo surgery plus chemotherapy. During the operation, surgeons attempt to remove all tumor deposits as this leads to improved patient prognosis. To do this, however, they primarily have to rely on visual inspection and palpation -- an enormous challenge especially in the case of small tumor nests or remaining tumor borders after the primary tumor excision.
Independent of other factors, such as smoking history and HPV status, matted lymph nodes appear to signal increased chance of oropharyngeal cancer spreading to other parts of the body.
Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have gained new insight into the delicate relationship between two proteins that, when out of balance, can prevent the normal development of stem cells in the heart and may also be important in some types of cancer.
Researchers have gained a new understanding of the way in which growing tumors are fed and how this growth can be slowed via angiogenesis inhibitors that eliminate the blood supply to tumors. This represents a step forward towards developing new anti-cancer drug therapies.
In a technical tour de force, scientists at Fox Chase Cancer Center have cataloged and cross-indexed the actions of 178 candidate drugs capable of blocking the activity of one or more of 300 enzymes, including enzymes critical for cancer and other diseases. Additionally, a free library of the results has been made available online to the research community. This unique library represents an important new tool for accelerating the development of an entire class of targeted cancer drugs.
A collaboration between Danish and American researchers has resulted in the development of a new method that enables the measurement of enzyme activities in individual human cells. This method can be used to measure how cell-to-cell variation in tumours affects the overall response to chemotherapy and thus clarify some of the molecular causes of the chemo-resistance often seen in cancer patients. In the long run, the researchers hope that the method can be used to target chemotherapy to those patients who benefit from this treatment.
The week before and two weeks after surgery are a critical period for the long-term survival rate of cancer patients. Physiological and psychological stresses caused by the surgery itself can inhibit the body's immune responses, heightening vulnerability to tumor progression and spreading.
Tumors can grow for 10 years or longer before currently available blood tests will detect them, a new mathematical model developed by Stanford University School of Medicine scientists indicates.
Engineers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a way to coat an iron-based contrast agent so it interacts preferentially with acidic environments in the body such as areas of tumor formation or inflammation. The technology may lead to a potentially cheaper, safer, and more effective method of tumor detection than current less specific contrast agents.
A new type of nanoparticle developed in the laboratories at the University of North Carolina has shown potential for more effective delivery of chemotherapy to treat cancer. Wenbin Lin, PhD, Kenan Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Pharmacy, and colleagues report their finding in the Sept. 14, 2011 issue of Angewandte Chemie, the German-based flagship chemistry journal.
Researchers from the NYU Cancer Institute, an NCI-designated cancer center at NYU Langone Medical Center, have discovered a new potential therapeutic target for Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL), the most aggressive and common type of lymphoma in adults.
Gold isn't just lovely in jewelry; it has long been used as medicine. Modern medicine is particularly focused on nanoscopic gold, which can be used as a contrast agent and in the treatment of cancer.
People who are at risk for a certain form of colon and other types of cancer may soon have a better chance at surviving or even avoiding the diseases, thanks to a new study done by the Intermountain Clinical Genetics Institute at LDS Hospital.
Researchers have identified a new protein involved in a defense mechanism against cancer. The VCP/p97 complex is best known for its role in protein destruction and is involved in a type of familial dementia and ALS.
Men who have lost their partner to cancer and who are still single four to five years after their loss run a far greater risk of developing mental illness than those who have managed to find a new partner.
Beth Faiman MSN, CNP, a doctoral candidate at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University, is studying whether an over-the-counter medication could ease chemotherapy side effects for people with blood and bone marrow cancers.
A new scoring system can more reliably predict whether patients with advanced cancer are likely to survive for "days", "weeks" or "months" finds a study published in the British Medical Journal today.
Earlier this year, we found out that dogs can be trained to successfully detect cancer on the breath of humans — but we're still not sure exactly what smell it is they're responding to.
Physicians can now take advantage of a new genetics test -- one of the first of its kind to be offered in the United States -- that can help determine the best treatment for cancer patients.
Scientists are reporting development and successful initial testing of the first practical "smart" material that may supply the missing link in efforts to use in medicine a form of light that can penetrate four inches into the human body. Their report on the new polymer or plastic-like material, which has potential for use in diagnosing diseases and engineer new human tissues in the lab, appears in ACS' journal Macromolecules.
Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, through a combination of time-lapse live imaging and mathematical modeling of a special line of human breast cells, have found evidence to suggest that for low dose levels of ionizing radiation, cancer risks may not be directly proportional to dose.
Scientists from the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Brussels identified a new target for cancer therapy, an enzyme which prevents the immune system from recognizing and destroying certain types of tumors. Called tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase or TDO, the enzyme works by depriving immune cells of tryptophan, an amino acid essential to their activity.
A novel technique that enables scientists to measure and document tumor-inducing changes in DNA is providing new insight into the earliest events involved in the formation of leukemias, lymphomas and sarcomas, and could potentially lead to the discovery of ways to stop those events.
Football has often been called "a game of inches," but biology is a game of nanometers, where spatial differences of only a few nanometers can determine the fate of a cell -- whether it lives or dies, remains normal or turns cancerous. Scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a new and better way to study the impact of spatial patterns on living cells.
Tumors have an arsenal of tricks to help them sidestep the immune system. A study published on September 19 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine reveals a new trick--the ability to keep tumor-fighting T cells out by disabling a T cell-attracting protein within the tumor core.
University of Bath researchers have developed a new approach to studying cells that gives a much clearer picture of the intricate details of how they work.
Papillary carcinoma is the most common form of thyroid cancer. Approximately one quarter of these carcinomas have mutations in the BRAF gene. The prevalence of such mutations is even greater in high-grade carcinomas, particularly those that are refractory to standard treatment, which is radioactive iodine (RAI).
Patients with head and neck cancers who have been treated with newer, more sophisticated radiation therapy technology enjoy a better quality of life than those treated with older radiation therapy equipment, a study by UC Davis researchers has found.
Some of the newest therapies in the war on cancer remove the brakes cancer puts on the immune system, Georgia Health Sciences University researchers report.
A new type of lab has been created to utilize near-atomic resolution microscopy and other structural biology technologies to help accelerate important medical discoveries relating to global health challenges, such as cancer and HIV/AIDS. The Living Lab Structural Biology Center was formed through a cooperative research and development agreement between the National Institutes of Health and FEI, Hillsboro, Ore., a scientific instruments company.
Investigators have identified a new class of human immune cells that behave like stem cells. These cells, a subtype of T lymphocytes, which comprise a small fraction of white blood cells, may prove more effective than any previously reported type of T cell for treating tumors. The study, by scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institute of Health, describes how these stem cell-like T cells can trigger a prolonged immune attack against tumor cells by continuously generating killer T cells and regenerating themselves. The findings were published online Sept. 18, 2011, in Nature Medicine.
Recent findings in mice suggest that blocking the production of small molecules produced in the body, known as epoxyeicosatrienoic acids, may represent a novel strategy for treating cancer by eliminating the blood vessels that feed cancer tumors.
Glioma, one of the most deadly and common types of brain tumor, is often associated with seizures, but the origins of these seizures and effective treatments for them have been elusive. Now a team funded by the National Institutes of Health has found that human gliomas implanted in mice release excess levels of the brain chemical glutamate, overstimulating neurons near the tumor and triggering seizures.
The proliferation of metastases is often the main cause of complications and death from cancer. For the first time, researchers are looking very closely at the development of these metastases themselves, instead of focusing on the "primary" cancers from which they originated.
The NHS must start planning now to deal with a predicted leap of 45 per cent in the number of new cancer cases in the UK over the next two decades, Cancer Research UK warns today.
In a case that could affect India's role as drug provider to the developing world, the Supreme Court began hearing arguments Tuesday over whether the government had the right to deny a patent to Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG for its lifesaving cancer treatment Gleevec.
Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have identified a new combination of targeted therapies that, together, may treat two aggressive tumor types that until now have not had effective treatments.
Scientists from the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research (FMI) publish exciting new results on the regulation of cell fate in the scientific journal Nature. They identified novel epigenetic patterns that are generated dynamically by transcription factors depending on the cell type and stage of development.
Investigators at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center have identified a new genetic signature associated with bile duct cancer, a usually deadly tumor for which effective treatment currently is limited. Their report, which has been published online in The Oncologist, finds that growth-enhancing mutations in two related genes may account for nearly a quarter of bile duct tumors arising within the liver, presenting the possibility that drugs targeting this mutation could represent a new strategy to control tumor growth.
When cancers become aggressive and spread they are the most deadly. Unfortunately, little is known about how to stop this development. A new imaging platform developed by Lawson Health Research Institute's Drs. Ann Chambers and John Lewis is providing insight into just that - the exact moment when cancer cells turn deadly.
Researchers report promising new results from a small clinical trial using an immune-system-based gene therapy for treating advanced stages of a deadly cancer, malignant mesothelioma. The treatment, immuno-gene therapy, transfers just enough genetic material from an existing virus to trigger a patient's innate defenses to destroy cancer cells.
Upconversion emission materials are ideal for bioimaging due to its effectiveness as contrast agents for the detection of cancer cells, more so when the background emission of non-cancerous tissues can be minimised. These materials could be used as biomarkers for luminescent labeling of cancerous cells.
One of the promises of using nanoparticles to deliver potent anticancer agents to tumors is that it is easy to coat nanoparticles with tumor-targeting molecules that should increase the amount of drug that reaches a tumor while decreasing the amount of drug that hits healthy tissue.
Researchers have discovered a method for simultaneously visualizing gene number and protein expression in individual cells. The fluorescence microscopy technique could permit a detailed analysis of the relationship between gene status and expression of the corresponding protein in cells and tissues, and bring a clearer understanding of cancer and other complex diseases, according to researchers who led the study.
A young scientist from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University's Food Safety and Technology Research Centre has successfully prepared highly stable selenium nanoparticles by using the polysaccharide-protein complex extracted from the African Tiger Milk mushroom.
The field of survivorship is relatively new, in part because the idea that cancer is survivable is too. In 1971, the year Richard Nixon declared war on cancer, there were 3 million survivors in the United States. ... By 2007, there were 11.7 million cancer survivors, including more than a million who had been alive 25 or more years after diagnosis. Because cancer occurs most often in people over 65, the number of cancer survivors is likely to grow exponentially as the population ages.
Researchers in Family and Community Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University recently found that obesity was linked to higher rates of prostate cancer screening across all races/ethnic differences and lower rates of cervical cancer screening, most notably in white women. Their study on the role of obesity in cancer screening rates for prostate, cervical as well as breast and colorectal cancers across race/ethnicity and gender is examined in the current issue of the Journal of Obesity.
Scientific instruments company FEI has entered into a partnership with Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) to establish the OHSU/FEI Living Lab for Cell Biology that will have advanced electron microscopes to enhance knowledge about lethal diseases such as AIDs and cancer and their treatment.
OncoSec Medical Incorporated, which is developing its advanced-stage OMS ElectroOncology therapies for the treatment of solid tumor cancers, announced today the submission of its Device Master File (DMF) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its patented OncoSec Medical System (OMS) which consists of a generator and hand-held applicator. The Company has been developing the OncoSec Medical System as its lead medical device for delivering DNA based cytokines and chemotherapeutic agents for the treatment of solid tumor cancers.
Translational Sciences Corporation, a firm specializing in the licensing and commercialization of medical software, has received 510(k) approval from the FDA for its OncoTrac medical imaging software. OncoTrac is designed for quantitatively tracking the treatment response of tumors in accordance with a number of accepted assessment standards.
African-American men living in areas with low sunlight are up to 3.5 times more likely to have Vitamin D deficiency than Caucasian men and should take high levels of Vitamin D supplements, according to a new study from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
With researchers, authors and funders challenging the traditional journal publishing model, Open Access (OA) publishing is likely to become the preferred option, suggests a paper published in ecancermedicalscience. This is supported by the finding that 59% of researchers indicated that their work was often hindered by a lack of free access to research findings.
Armed with a new ability to find retinal anomalies at the cellular level, neurobiologists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have made a discovery they hope will ultimately lead to a treatment for cancer of the retina.
One of the ways in which cancer cells evade anticancer therapy is by producing a protein that pumps drugs out of the cell before these compounds can exert their cell-killing effects. A research team at Northwestern University has found that biocompatible iron oxide-titanium dioxide nanoparticles can bypass this pump and enable DNA-damaging anticancer drugs to reach the cell nucleus.
Scientists are constantly on the hunt for treatments that can selectively target cancer cells, leaving other cells in our bodies unharmed. Now, Prof. Eytan Ruppin of Tel Aviv University's Blavatnik School of Computer Science and Sackler Faculty of Medicine and his colleagues Prof. Eyal Gottlieb of the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in Glasgow, UK, and Dr. Tomer Shlomi of the Technion in Haifa have taken a big step forward. They have successfully created the first computerized genome-scale model of cancer cell metabolism, which can be used to predict which drugs are lethal to the function of a cancer cell's metabolism.
What if a new medication for severely ill patients had no role in curing them but made them feel much better despite being sick? Let's say this elixir were found to decrease the pain and nausea of cancer patients, improve the sleep and energy of heart failure patients, prolong the lives of people with kidney failure, drive down healthcare expenditures and ease the burdens of caregivers?
Being diagnosed with cancer can be devastating, and the treatment can take its toll in physical, emotional, social, and even spiritual ways. Palliative care providers can lessen the suffering cancer brings to patients and their families--both during treatment and at the end of life. Many people don't realize that palliative care to treat symptoms and improve a patient's quality of life can and should be given throughout their illness, not just at the end of life.
Physicians can use medical records to track the quality of cancer care and determine whether their patients are receiving the right treatments at the right time. Yet the patient is the only one who ultimately can evaluate the quality of his or her experience while receiving treatment.
Past research shows that minorities suffer higher rates of advanced cancer and deaths from all types of cancer compared to whites. According to an article in the August issue of Cancer, the role of "patient navigator" is emerging as a tool to address these disparities.
Parents of children in the palliative stage of cancer favour aggressive chemotherapy over supportive care compared with health care professionals, states an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
Mariusz A. Wasik, MD, professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and Qian Zhang, MD, PhD, research assistant professor, both from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and their colleagues, found that a cancer-causing fusion protein works by silencing the tumor suppressor gene IL-2R common gamma-chain (IL-2R?). The results, which appeared in a recent Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest news targets for lymphoma and other types of cancer.
A new multimedia informed consent tool accessed via the Internet may make it easier for cancer patients to understand and feel comfortable enrolling in clinical trials, according a study conducted by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania that will be presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's (ASTRO) 53rd Annual Meeting. The research group points to the tool as a potential way to buoy the low percentage of adult cancer patients who participate in clinical trials, which hovers between 2 and 4 percent nationwide.
More than a third of people in the UK fear cancer more than other life-threatening conditions -- such as Alzheimer's, stroke and heart disease according to a Cancer Research UK survey.
The scientists suggest that some of the genetic changes that lead to MMD may also be responsible for the observed increase in cancer risk, but more research is needed to confirm this hypothesis. The study appeared Dec. 14, 2011, in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The use of genetic tests to predict a patient's response to drugs is increasingly important in the development of personalized medicine. But genetic tests often only look for the most common gene variants.
Royal Philips Electronics NV has received approval from U.S. regulators to introduce a single medical imaging device that can scan the body for cancer using two technologies.
Early detection of skin cancer may soon be possible, thanks to researchers who compare their approach to looking for a black 18-wheeler in an eight-lane highway of white cars.
Plasmonic nanoparticles are extremely sensitive to light, and even the tiniest amount can cause these particles to heat up. Scientists are now trying to use plasmonic nanoparticles in cancer therapy whereby light energy is converted into heat in order to kill cancer cells.
People in lower paid jobs are pessimistic about the benefits of diagnosing cancer early and more scared than affluent people to see a doctor about an unusual symptom, new research shows.
Acai berry, cumin, herbal tea, turmeric and long-term use of garlic -- all herbal supplements commonly believed to be beneficial to your health -- may negatively impact chemotherapy treatment according to a new report presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in Chicago this summer. Researchers from Northwestern Memorial hospital say there is growing evidence that these popular supplements may intensify or weaken the effect of chemotherapy drugs and in some cases, may cause a toxic, even lethal reaction.
Cancer cells are essentially immortal. The acquisition of an unlimited capacity to divide -- the process of immortalization - is a central event in the genesis of tumors. Normally, cells are subject to stringent mechanisms which control their proliferation.
There is much interest in the unequal health care caused by postcode lotteries. The area you live in can impact the treatment you receive for cancer treatment, surgery or GP care. Research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Public Health shows that there are also geographic differences in the implementation of public health programs.
New research from a team including several Carnegie scientists demonstrates that a specific small segment of RNA could play a key role in the growth of a type of malignant childhood eye tumor called retinoblastoma. The tumor is associated with mutations of a protein called Rb, or retinoblastoma protein. Dysfunctional Rb is also involved with other types of cancers, including lung, brain, breast and bone.
Researchers from the NYU Cancer Institute, an NCI-designated cancer center at NYU Langone Medical Center, have identified a cell cycle-regulated mechanism behind the transformation of normal cells into cancerous cells. The study shows the significant role that protein networks can play in a cell leading to the development of cancer. The study results, published in the October 21 issue of the journal Molecular Cell, suggest that inhibition of the CK1 enzyme may be a new therapeutic target for the treatment of cancer cells formed as a result of a malfunction in the cell's mTOR signaling pathway.
Preventive use of blood thinners, or anticoagulants, in people receiving outpatient treatment for cancer could prevent the development of blood clots and improve their quality of life.
An inflammation-promoting protein triggers deactivation of a tumor-suppressor that usually blocks cancer formation via the NOTCH signaling pathway, a team of researchers led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reports today in Molecular Cell.
Most molecular probes used in biomedical research require dyes or fluorescence in order to obtain meaningful signals. These probes usually are quite limited with regard to the complexity of what they can image -- be it the measurable concentration range or the number of molecules that can be simultaneously detected. This is an issue that is particularly relevant when it comes to track the simultaneous multiple molecular transformations that dictate complicated diseases like cancer.
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that taking a probiotic before radiation therapy can protect the intestine from damage -- at least in mice.
A large-scale analysis of patients whose myelodysplastic syndrome is related to earlier cancer treatment overturns the notion that all of them have a poor prognosis.
The list of aging-associated proteins known to be involved in cancer is growing longer, according to research by investigators at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
A team of scientists from the University of Colorado and EMSL has characterized the biology of CD147, a type I transmembrane protein involved in the progression of inflammatory diseases, infections, and cancer--especially the cancer that develops in the cells of the retina, retinoblastoma. Using several methods including EMSL's high-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), the researchers also identified how the protein's activity can be disrupted to reveal targets for therapeutic intervention.
The first step in defending against a hostile attack is identifying the enemy. It's how a healthy immune system mounts a response to invading pathogens. In the case of certain fungi, however, the attacking cells may be so cleverly disguised that they're able to slip past our cellular guardians undetected and wreak havoc through infection. Such infections are a rising source of morbidity and mortality in healthy individuals, as well as in patients suffering from chronic diseases, such as cancer or AIDS.
Quest PharmaTech Inc., today announced the acceptance for publication of a research paper entitled "Antitumor Efficacy of Photodynamic Therapy Using Novel Nanoformulations of Hypocrellin Photosensitizer SL052", in the Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology.
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death and morbidity worldwide, and its economic burden grows year by year. In 2008, the worldwide cost of cancer due to premature death and disability, excluding direct medical costs, was estimated to be US$895 billion.
Raised blood pressure is linked to a higher risk of developing cancer or dying from the disease according to the findings of the largest study to date to investigate the association between the two conditions.
In the hunt for new medicines, any technique that expedites drug candidates into the clinic is a welcome advance. A team led by Hiroyuki Osada at the RIKEN Advanced Science Institute, Wako, recently developed a faster way to unravel the mode of action of experimental anticancer drugs, an essential step in the drug development pathway. The team--including RIKEN researchers Makoto Kawatani and Makoto Muroi--is now using this so-called 'proteomic profiling' technique to assess new drug leads, including a promising compound dubbed BNS-22.
Researchers investigating the genetic cause of a disease in just two patients have made an unexpected finding which has opened a major new possibility for treating serious diseases such as cancer.
RaySearch Laboratories AB announces that the first patient in Europe has been treated with a treatment plan created with RaySearch's treatment planning system RayStation®.
Asymptomatic patients diagnosed with nonbulky follicular lymphoma, a slow-growing type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, have traditionally been watched for signs or symptoms of disease progression and then treated with a combination of rituximab and chemotherapy or rituximab alone for select cases.
Patients who have received a solid organ transplant, such as kidney, liver, heart or lung, have an overall cancer risk that is double that of the general population, with an increased risk for many different types of malignancies, according to a study in the November 2 issue of JAMA.
By changing the organic molecule that coats gold nanorods, scientists at Rice University in Houston have increased the number of gold nanorods inserted into a single, living cell to over 2 million. The previous record was 150,000. This achievement could greatly improve photothermal therapy for cancer, which uses near-IR light to heat nanorods inside cancer cells to destroy them.
New active substances can be produced quickly and efficiently with the help of reaction cascades. Once set in motion, these processes lead to the desired end product via a series of intermediate steps which take place in one go in a single reaction vessel.
Research findings published recently in Nature Communications describe a completely new way in which TGFβ receptors regulate nuclear signalling. The findings are significant given that this new signalling pathway seems to be restricted to tumour cells.
A regulatory bias against taking oral anti-cancer medications with food places many patients at increased risk for an overdose and forces them to "flush costly medicines down the toilet," argues Mark Ratain, MD, an authority on cancer-drug dosing.
Over the past quarter century in Australia, cancer incidence rates have increased while deaths from cancer have steadily decreased. Those are some of the findings of a recent study published early online in the Asia-Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Scientists at the University of Leicester have opened up a whole new approach to the therapeutic intervention for a family of anti-cancer drug targets, thanks to a completely new and unexpected finding.
How do fetal cells know what cell types to become? Why do cells in the adult body sometimes forget what they are and develop into cancer cells? These are some of the questions intensively investigated within the research field of epigenetics. Danish epigenetic research has a very strong position internationally and one of the players is Associate Professor Anja Groth from BRIC, University of Copenhagen. She has just received an ERC Starting Grant and has been selected for EMBO's prestigious Young Investigator Program (YIP).
A paper on the anti-cancer drug Irosustat, designed by researchers at the University of Bath, has been awarded 'Very Important Paper' status by the medicinal chemistry journal ChemMedChem, including a special cover feature designed by the research group.
Challenging a half-century-old theory about why chemotherapy agents target cancer, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have devised a test that can predict how effective the drugs will be by determining whether a patient's tumor cells are already "primed" for death.
A synthetic estrogen--diethylstilbestrol (DES)--prescribed to women in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s to prevent miscarriages had serious, untoward effects in daughters of these women, including the development of a rare type of cancer of the uterus. There has been renewed interest in light of an Oct. 6 report in the New England Journal of Medicine documenting lifelong health complications facing daughters of women given DES.
Researchers at Imperial College London and the University of Oxford have pioneered a new technique to see exactly how our body's "natural killer" white blood cells actually do their dirty work. It's the first time we've ever been able to see how this element of the body's natural defenses actually works.
Pharmaceutical researchers have achieved only 5% success in the clinical trials for anti-cancer drugs. In order to increase this success percentage, Japanese research team, headed by Dr. Tetsuya Terasaki has identified a new method to overcome the complications of producing effective drugs against diseases such as cancer.
An important new study from the Laboratory for Developmental Genetics at USC has confirmed cytomegalovirus (CMV) as a cause of the most common salivary gland cancers. CMV joins a group of fewer than 10 identified oncoviruses -- cancer-causing viruses -- including HPV.
Researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Fla., report they have created prototype drugs having powerful anti-diabetic effects, yet apparently free - at least in mice - of dangerous side effects plaguing some current diabetes medications.
A compound found in green tea shows great promise for the development of drugs to treat two types of tumors and a deadly congenital disease. The discovery is the result of research led by Principal Investigator, Dr. Thomas Smith at The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and his colleagues at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Their findings are published in the recent article, "Green Tea Polyphenols Control Dysregulated Glutamate Dehydrogenase In Transgenic Mice By Hijacking The ADP Activation Site" in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Researchers at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) have identified the gene GATA 6 as responsible for epithelial cells -which group together and are static- losing adhesion and moving towards a new site.
A study made by IDIBELL researchers shows that glucose metabolism inhibition with 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) induces cell death in a type of childhood sarcoma: alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma. The results have been published in the journal Cancer Research.
Researchers at the Centro de Gen-mica e Investigaci-n Oncol-gica - of which the University of Granada, Pfizer and the Andalusian Regional Government are members- have identified the genetic and phenotypic changes that cause tumor progression and metastasis.
When cancers become aggressive and spread they are the most deadly. Unfortunately, little is known about how to stop this development. A new imaging platform developed by Lawson Health Research Institute's Drs. Ann Chambers and John Lewis is providing insight into just that - the exact moment when cancer cells turn deadly.
Ohio State University researchers have discovered a hereditary cancer syndrome that predisposes certain people to a melanoma of the eye, along with lung cancer, brain cancer and possibly other types of cancer.
Cancer cells are essentially immortal. The acquisition of an unlimited capacity to divide - the process of immortalization - is a central event in the genesis of tumors. Normally, cells are subject to stringent mechanisms which control their proliferation. Together these ensure that pre-malignant cells are induced to enter a senescent, non-dividing state or to undergo apoptosis, i.e. commit suicide.
Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center have discovered a protein called TAT-5 that affects the production of extracellular vesicles, small sacs of membrane released from the surface of cells, capable of sending signals to other cells.
Using two cell surface markers found to be highly expressed in breast cancer lymph node metastases, researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center, working with colleagues at other institutions, have developed targeted, fluorescent molecular imaging probes that can non-invasively detect breast cancer lymph node metastases. The new procedure could spare breast cancer patients invasive and unreliable sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsies and surgery-associated negative side effects.
Finding ways to counteract or disrupt the invasive nature of cancer cells, called "metastasis," has been a long-term goal of cancer researchers. Now, researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., have identified an interactive pathway that regulates metastases in some cancers that may be vulnerable to chemical targeting in order to prevent cancer cell proliferation and tumor growth.
Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a serious risk in many kinds of cell transplants, including for stem cell transplants carried out when stem cells are partially depleted of conventional T cells, which play an important role in the immune system. Now, researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center have tested a process by which T regulatory cells (Tregs) can be "expanded" to help prevent GVHD.
Researchers in the United States have shown, for the first time, that it is possible to screen cancer patients for a broad range of cancer-causing genetic mutations as part of normal clinical practice. By identifying patients' individual genotypes within a relatively short time frame, doctors are able to target tumours with the most appropriate therapy.
Researchers have gained a new understanding of the way in which growing tumors are fed and how this growth can be slowed via angiogenesis inhibitors that eliminate the blood supply to tumors. This represents a step forward towards developing new anti-cancer drug therapies. The results of this study have been published today in the September issue of The American Journal of Pathology.
In a new study published in the August 16th issue of Developmental Cell, researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center identified a molecular mechanism that guarantees that new blood vessels form in the right place and with the proper abundance.
A study by scientists at the University of California, San Diego and UC Irvine has identified an enzyme called a proteasome phosphatase that appears to regulate removal of damaged proteins from a cell. The understanding of how this process works could have important implications for numerous diseases, including cancer and Parkinson's disease.
Researchers are in the midst of testing a personalized, dendritic cell vaccine in patients with recurrent ovarian, primary peritoneal or fallopian tube cancer – a group of patients who typically have few treatment options.
A new class of nanoparticles, synthesized by a UC Davis research team to prevent premature drug release, holds promise for greater accuracy and effectiveness in delivering cancer drugs to tumors.
The first report of the presence of alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) in cancers arising from the bladder, cervix, endometrium, esophagus, gallbladder, liver, and lung was published today in The American Journal of Pathology. The presence of ALT in carcinomas can be used as a diagnostic marker and has implications for the development of anti-cancer drug therapies.
A study conducted by Carnegie Mellon University in collaboration with the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research has described how tiny molecular protein motors save energy or fold in on themselves when their transport services are not needed.
Terahertz (THz) technologies show promise for myriad medical, military, security, and research applications ranging from the detection of cancer to airport security systems to shipment inspection to spectroscopy. Relatively little is known, however, about the effect of THz radiation on biological systems. So a team of researchers, led by Los Alamos National Laboratory, evaluated the cellular response of mouse stem cells exposed to THz radiation. They applied low-power radiation both from a pulsed broadband (centered at 10 THz) source and from a continuous wave (CW) laser (2.52 THz) source, and applied both modeling and empirical characterization and monitoring techniques to minimize the impact of radiation-induced increases in temperature.
A protein called "fascin" appears to play a critical transformation role in TGF beta mediated tumor metastasis, say researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., who published a study in a recent issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Many cancer therapies target specific proteins that proliferate on the outside of some cancer cells, but the therapies are imperfect and the cancer does not always respond. Since it is beneficial for doctors to know as soon as possible how a cancer is affected by treatment, and cost-effectively.
Aeterna Zentaris Inc. today announced that a poster on its novel orally active anticancer Erk inhibitor, which includes AEZS-131, was presented at the 242nd American Chemical Society National Meeting held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado. The poster was presented by Matthias Gerlach, Ph.D., Senior Director of Medicinal Chemistry for Aeterna Zentaris Inc.
This paper provides an extensive analysis of the proportion of the risk of upper aero-digestive tract (UADT) cancers in the population (the population attributable risk) that may be due to alcohol consumption and/or smoking. The analyse provides strong evidence that smoking is the most important factor in the risk of these cancers, and the risk is enhanced among those who smoke and also consume 2 or more drinks per day. Alcohol alone (i.e., among non-smokers) has little effect on the risk (less than 1%).
RUSNANO and Cleveland BioLabs, Inc. announce that they have entered into an agreement to provide funding for CBLI's new subsidiary, Panacela Labs, Inc., which will develop a portfolio of new preclinical drug candidates.
BIND Biosciences and Selecta Biosciences, two leading nanomedicine companies, announced today that they have entered into investment agreements with RUSNANO, a $10-billion Russian Federation fund that supports high-tech and nanotechnology advances.
In a major advance in treatment, a multicenter study found that ruxolinitib did a better job than off-label chemotherapy drugs reducing the terrible symptoms associated with myelofibrosis, including pain, enlarged spleen, anemia, fever, chills, fatigue, and weight loss.
In a major advance in treatment, a multicenter study found that ruxolinitib did a better job than off-label chemotherapy drugs reducing the terrible symptoms associated with myelofibrosis, including pain, enlarged spleen, anemia, fever, chills, fatigue, and weight loss.
A new type of nanoparticle developed in the laboratories at the University of North Carolina has shown potential for more effective delivery of chemotherapy to treat cancer. Wenbin Lin, PhD, Kenan Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Pharmacy, and colleagues report their finding in the Sept. 14, 2011 issue of Angewandte Chemie.
Taxanes are a family of compounds that includes one of the most important cancer drugs ever discovered, Taxol®, among other cancer treatments. But the difficulty producing these complex molecules in the lab has hampered or blocked exploration of the family for further drug leads. Now, a group of Scripps Research Institute scientists has successfully achieved a major step toward the goal of synthetically producing Taxol® and other complex taxanes on a quest to harness chemical reactions that could enable research on previously unavailable potential drugs.
Researchers have revealed how a molecule called telomerase contributes to the control of the integrity of our genetic code, and when it is involved in the deregulation of the code, its important role in the development of cancer.
Scientists at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) have mimicked the ways viruses infect human cells and deliver their genetic material. The research hopes to apply the approach to gene therapy -- a therapeutic strategy to correct defective genes such as those that cause cancer.
Researchers have created a new phenotypic screening platform that better predicts success of drugs developed to prevent blood vessel tumor growth when moving out of the lab and onto actual tumors.
Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center have developed a novel treatment strategy for multiple myeloma that delivers a deadly one-two blow to kill even the most inactive, or cytokinetically quiescent, cells.
Football has often been called "a game of inches," but biology is a game of nanometers, where spatial differences of only a few nanometers can determine the fate of a cell -- whether it lives or dies, remains normal or turns cancerous. Scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a new and better way to study the impact of spatial patterns on living cells.
Scientists in Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, have developed a new vaccine to treat cancer at the pre-clinical level. The research team led by Professor Kingston Mills, Professor of Experimental Immunology at Trinity College Dublin discovered a new approach for treating the disease based on manipulating the immune response to malignant tumours. The discovery has been patented and there are plans to develop the vaccine for clinical use for cancer patients.
Cancer Research UK-funded scientists have discovered that a protein called JAK triggers contractions in tumors which allows cancer cells to squeeze though tiny spaces and spread, in research published in Cancer Cell today.
Scientists at Warwick Medical School have uncovered the molecular process of how cells are by-passing the body's inbuilt 'health checkpoint' with cells that carry unequal numbers of chromosomes that have a higher risk of developing cancer.
A multi-disciplinary team of researchers at King's College London have captured the first live images of a key molecular switch in the body's natural defence system against tumour cells.
Football has often been called "a game of inches," but biology is a game of nanometers, where spatial differences of only a few nanometers can determine the fate of a cell -- whether it lives or dies, remains normal or turns cancerous. Scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a new and better way to study the impact of spatial patterns on living cells.
Cancer Research UK scientists have discovered that cancer cells can 'bag up and bin' a toxic protein to cheat death -- revealing a new Achilles heel in cancer cells that could be targeted for treatment.
Investigators have identified a new class of human immune cells that behave like stem cells. These cells, a subtype of T lymphocytes, which comprise a small fraction of white blood cells, may prove more effective than any previously reported type of T cell for treating tumors. The study, by scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institute of Health, describes how these stem cell-like T cells can trigger a prolonged immune attack against tumor cells by continuously generating killer T cells and regenerating themselves.
A new and better understanding of blood vessel growth and vascular development (angiogenesis) in cancer has been made possible by research carried out by a team of scientists from Moffitt Cancer Center, the University of Florida, Harvard University, Yale University and the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles.
Scientists at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute have identified a way that chemotherapy causes platelet numbers to drop, answering in the process a decade-old question about the formation of platelets, tiny cells that allow blood to clot.
Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have identified a gene mutation that underlies the vast majority of cases of Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia, a rare form of lymphoma that has eluded all previous efforts to find a genetic cause.
Scientists at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia have identified a key mechanism of metastasis that could lead to blocking tumor growth if their findings are confirmed.
University of Rochester Medical Center researchers found more evidence that T cells going awry in the microenvironment -- or the tissue immediately surrounding the tumor -- may play a role in the biology of follicular lymphoma (FL).
Cancer Research UK scientists have created the first 3D structure of a key protein that protects against the development of cancer, according to research published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology today.
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have shown that a particular white blood cell plays a direct role in the development and spread of cancerous tumors. Their work sheds new light on the development of the disease and points toward novel strategies for treating early-stage cancers.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists have successfully disrupted the function of a cancer gene involved in the formation of most human tumors by tampering with the gene's "on" switch and growth signals, rather than targeting the gene itself. The results, achieved in multiple myeloma cells, offer a promising strategy for treating not only myeloma but also many other cancer types driven by the gene MYC, the study authors say. Their findings are being published by the journal Cell on its website Sept. 1 and in its Sept. 16 print edition.
In findings with major implications for the genetics of cancer and human health, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and two other science teams in New York City and Rome have uncovered evidence of powerful new genetic networks and showed how it may work to drive cancer and normal development.
UK scientists have discovered how blocking a key controller of energy production in cancer cells and treating them with a diabetes drug, metformin, effectively starves cancer cells. The research1 is published today (Sunday) in Nature Cell Biology.
One of the hallmarks of cancer cells is that certain regions of their DNA tend to get duplicated many times, while others are deleted. Often those genetic alterations help the cells become more malignant -- making them better able to grow and spread throughout the body.
People resist medical screening, or don't call back for the results, because they don't want to know they're sick or at risk for a disease. But many illnesses, such as HIV/AIDS and cancer, have a far a better prognosis if they're caught early. How can health care providers break down that resistance?
Regulatory T cells, which are part of the body's immune system, downregulate the activity of other immune cells, thus preventing the development of autoimmune diseases or allergies. Since Tregs can also suppress the body's immune defense against cancer, the findings obtained by the DKFZ researchers are important for developing more efficient cancer treatments.
A chip implant may soon be capable of monitoring tumors that are difficult to operate on or growing slowly. Medical engineers at Technische Universitaet Muenchen have developed an electronic sensor chip that can determine the oxygen content in a patient's tissue fluid. This data can then be wirelessly transmitted to the patient's doctor to support the choice of therapy. A drop in oxygen content in tissue surrounding a tumor indicates that the tumor might be growing faster and becoming aggressive.
Patients with Merkel Cell Carcinoma who underwent a procedure called sentinel lymph node biopsy (SNLB) had a lower risk of cancer recurrence after two years, according to a study by researchers from Fox Chase Cancer Center. When the biopsy's results were used to guide subsequent tests and treatment, these patients had longer survival rates than patients who had not undergone the procedure.
In a truly challenging task, the FANTOM5 Consortium, an international collaboration headed by scientists at the RIKEN Omics Science Center in Yokohama, Japan, is striving to profile the regulation of gene expression in every known human cell type. "We expect to generate on the order of 3,000 or more for this project," says Masayoshi Itoh, a RIKEN scientist involved in the effort. "This will capture the majority of human cell types, tissues and cancer subtypes."
For many people, bestiality is a bad joke, but for some it could be a matter of life or death, according to a new study finding that men who had sex with animals in their lifetimes were twice as likely to develop cancer of the penis as others.
Shasun Pharmaceuticals has planned to make an expansion of its business in two years by investing Rs. 100 crore. A portion of the fund amounting to $6 million will be borrowed from external commercial sources.
a positron emission tomography-computed tomography scanner at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago. The new Biograph mCT incorporates the Siemens OptisoHD Detector System, which will feature a volumetric resolution of 87 mm3.
Postmenopausal women who gained weight during adulthood had an increased risk for endometrial cancer compared with women who maintained a stable weight, according to data from the American Cancer Society's Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort.
Scientists at the BC Cancer Agency, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, and the University of British Columbia are excited over a discovery made while studying rare tumour types.
Tiny particles are making a big difference in the world of cancer therapy. And SLAC physicists--experts in particle transport--are using computer simulations to make those therapies safer.
Scientists from Freie Universität Berlin and the NeuroCure Cluster of Excellence led by biochemist Volker Haucke in collaboration with colleagues from Australia and the Leibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology (FMP) in Berlin have developed small molecules that inhibit the internalization of important signaling molecules but also of pathogenic organisms such as the immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and bacteria into cells.
A novel compound inhibits dengue virus, as well as other closely related important human pathogens. The research is published in the September 2011 issue of the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.
Researchers from Boston College have developed a new class of small molecule receptors capable of detecting a lipid molecule that reveals the telltale signs of cellular death, particularly cancer cells targeted by anti-cancer drugs, the team reports in the current electronic edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
All cells in our body have a system that can handle cellular waste and release building blocks for recycling. The underlying mechanism is called autophagy and literally means "self-eating". Many cancer cells have increased the activity of this system and the increased release of building blocks equip the cancer cells with a growth advantage and can render them resistant towards treatment.
Patients suffering from an aggressive brain cancer will benefit from the results of a University of Illinois study that could advance the development of targeted gene therapies and improve prognosis.
With the advent of personalised medicine, gains in cancer survival over the long term could be improved by running smaller, faster trials with less stringent evidence criteria, a researcher told the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress today (Monday 26 Sept).
As tissue slides are more routinely digitized to aid interpretation, a software program whose design was led by the University of Michigan Health System is proving its utility.
In 2005, news first broke that researchers in Scotland found unexpectedly low rates of cancer among diabetics taking metformin, a drug commonly prescribed to patients with Type II diabetes. Many follow-up studies reported similar findings, some suggesting as much as a 50-per-cent reduction in risk.
Scientists are another step closer to understanding what drives tumor metastasis, as laboratory models suggest there are factors inside tumors that can slow their own growth.
Spire Corporation, a global solar company providing capital equipment and turn-key manufacturing lines to produce photovoltaic (PV) modules, announced today it has been awarded a patent for its invention of a nanophotovoltaic (Nano-PV) device which, when applied to biological cells such as cancer, can control and/or limit their growth.
Two months ago we reported on the first ovarian cancer surgeries performed with fluorescence guidance. The international team of researchers from The Netherlands, Germany, and Indiana used folate coupled to fluorescein isothiocyanate to make ovarian cancer cells glow so they could be easily identified.
It takes life-saving research and access to clinical trials to help children with cancer. The St. Baldrick's Foundation, a volunteer-driven charity dedicated to raising money for childhood cancer research, awarded an infrastructure grant of $47,000 to the Biopathology Center (BPC), housed in The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has launched a website for published research results from its partnership with Washington University in the Pediatric Cancer Genome Project (PCGP). This project aims to sequence the entire genomes of normal and cancer cells from pediatric cancer patients. By comparing differences in the DNA they want to identify genetic mistakes that can lead to cancer in children.
Stanford University School of Medicine researchers have identified a compound that attacks the Achilles' heel of certain cancer cells by depriving them of their energy source, the sugar glucose.
A research group led by ETH Zurich professor Dario Neri have developed a new strategy to fight cancer. Blood vessels in the environment of tumors are killed with a new molecule which leads to the "starvation" of the tumor. Compared to currently applied treatments, this new strategy has a series of advantages.
Adult stem cells from mice converted to antigen-specific T cells -- the immune cells that fight cancer tumor cells -- show promise in cancer immunotherapy and may lead to a simpler, more efficient way to use the body's immune system to fight cancer, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.
Radiosurgery is a non-invasive medical procedure in which focused beams of high-energy X-rays target tumors and other abnormalities in the body. A single large dose of radiation is capable of ablating a lesion that might not be amenable to surgical removal. However, some radiosurgery systems, such as the CyberKnife (CK), can be relatively time-consuming because the treatment planning requires the delivery of up to several hundred cone-shaped beams to adequately cover an irregularly shaped tumor.
Researchers report they have figured out how the cancer-causing bacterium Helicobacter pylori attacks a cell's energy infrastructure, sparking a series of events in the cell that ultimately lead it to self-destruct.
A disease-fighting protein in our teardrops has been tethered to a tiny transistor, enabling UC Irvine scientists to discover exactly how it destroys dangerous bacteria. The research could prove critical to long-term work aimed at diagnosing cancers and other illnesses in their very early stages.
Spine surgery patients who got a bone growth stimulating agent as part of a clinical trial were three to five times more likely to develop cancer two to three years after being implanted with the product, according to a new analysis.
In a study investigating immune response in cancer, researchers have found that interaction between the immune system's antigen-specific CD4 T cells and myeloid-derived suppressor cells -- cells that play a major role in cancer-related immune suppression -- dramatically change the nature of MDSC-mediated suppression.
A recent, large-scale study on cat intestinal cancer has provided new insight into a common pet disease and its causes; the findings could ultimately benefit humans.
A new study finds that a group of little-explored cells in the tumor microenvironment likely serve as important gatekeepers against cancer progression and metastasis. These findings suggest that anti-angiogenic therapies – which shrink cancer by cutting off tumors' blood supply – may inadvertently be making tumors more aggressive and likely to spread.
With cancer care costs rising at an unprecedented rate, The US Oncology Network, one of the nation's largest networks of community-based oncologists dedicated to advancing cancer care in America, reported a study that identified areas where both the cost and quality of care could be improved. The new study titled, "Benchmarks for value in cancer care: an analysis of a large commercial population," found that the key areas driving the spike in costs are chemotherapy, hospital admissions, emergency room visits and aggressive end of life care. In fact, cancer patients in a commercially insured population receiving chemotherapy averaged $111,000 per year in total medical and pharmacy costs -- about four times the cost of cancer patients not receiving chemotherapy and nearly 26 times the cost of non-oncology patients. Plus, more than half of the cancer patients in the study received chemotherapy within the last 30 days of life.
The list of aging-associated proteins known to be involved in cancer is growing longer, according to research by investigators at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
A Henry Ford Hospital study has identified 23 microRNAs for laryngeal cancer, a discovery that could yield new insight into what causes certain cells to grow and become cancerous tumors in the voice box.
Aristolochic acid, a component of a plant used in herbal remedies since ancient times and still used in certain herbal medicines worldwide, leads to kidney failure and upper urinary tract cancer in individuals exposed to the toxin. This association is reported by Arthur Grollman, M.D., Distinguished Professor of Pharmacological Sciences, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, and an international team of scientists, based on their study of patients in Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia with the unusual kidney disease known as Balkan endemic nephropathy. Their findings, an explanation of the 50-year-old mystery as to the cause of these devastating diseases, are reported in the early online edition of Kidney International.
Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and colleagues overseas have discovered a pair of backup circuits in cancer cells that enable the cells to dodge the effect of a widely used cancer drug. Jamming those circuits with targeted therapies may heighten or restore the drug's potency, according to a study published in the Sept. 7 issue of Science Translational Medicine.
A new method to boost the number of immune cells in umbilical cord blood prior to cord blood transplants for cancer patients appears to lead to a quicker rebuilding of a new immune system in the patient's body than with a conventional cord blood transplant procedure.
Blocking key proteins could improve response to a common chemotherapy drug, suggests an Oxford University-led study which used cancer cells grown in the lab.
A study led by a group of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) researchers has found that a chemical commonly used in consumer products can potentially cause cancer.
Blueberries are one of our favourite fruits and no wonder--they're tasty and they're good for us. They're rich in antioxidants, substances that can help reduce the natural cell damage in our aging bodies that can lead to cancer, heart disease and other ailments.
Cancer cells maintain their life-style of extremely rapid growth and proliferation thanks to an enzyme called PK-M2 (pyruvate kinase M2) that alters the cells' ability to metabolize glucose -- a phenomenon known as the Warburg effect.
Flax has been part of human history for well over 30,000 years, used for weaving cloth, feeding people and animals, and even making paint. Now, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have discovered that it might have a new use for the 21st century: protecting healthy tissues and organs from the harmful effects of radiation. In a study just published in BMC Cancer, researchers found that a diet of flaxseed given to mice not only protects lung tissues before exposure to radiation, but can also significantly reduce damage after exposure occurs.
UCLA researchers demonstrated that loss of a key protein that regulates estrogen and immune activity in the body could lead to aspects of metabolic syndrome, a combination of conditions that can cause Type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis and cancer. Called estrogen receptor alpha, this protein is critical in regulating immune system activity such as helping cells suppress inflammation and gobble-up debris.
First results from an international comparison of the care of patients with rectal cancer have shown there are substantial differences in the use of chemotherapy and radiotherapy between European countries.
When a 41-year-old woman was diagnosed with chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia, she received a bone marrow transplant and subsequent leukocyte infusion from her sister. These treatments controlled her leukemia, but seven years later, both sisters developed follicular lymphoma.
A team of researchers, Gloria Petersen, Ph.D., of Mayo Clinic, Barbara Koenig, Ph.D., of the University of California, San Francisco, and Susan Wolf, J.D., of the University of Minnesota, have received a five-year, $2.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute and the National Human Genome Research Institute to study the ethical and legal implications of providing genetic research results, such as DNA test results, from tissue donated to research bio banks to relatives of the donor.
It is a commonly held that information on Wikipedia should not be trusted, since it is written and edited by non-experts without professional oversight. But researchers from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson have found differently, according to a study published online Sept. 15 in the Journal of Oncology Practice.
An early phase multiple myeloma trial has unexpectedly revealed that the drug lenalidomide interacts with another protein in cells that affect its dose level in the body, say researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center -- Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC -- James) who conducted the study.
The study was conducted in New York City, Baltimore, Maryland and San Juan, Puerto Rico, through a random-dial telephone survey of 1,148 adult African Americans, whites, and Puerto Rican Hispanics who answered questions from the Cancer Screening Questionnaire.
Drug companies currently developing therapeutic cancer vaccines may be determining the cancers they target based on the number of annual cases, not the number of deaths they cause.
Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have shown that a simple visual technique called "subtle gaze direction," in which gentle visual cues are used to guide a viewer's gaze, can be an effective technique to help radiology students learn how to study a mammogram.
When SUMO grips STAT5, a protein that activates genes, it blocks the healthy embryonic development of immune B cells and T cells unless its nemesis breaks the hold, a research team led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reports today in Molecular Cell.
Surgical device company Medtronic paid surgeons millions of dollars to investigate the safety of their spinal implant products. Turns out they cause cancer, but no one reported it.
Older female cancer survivors are significantly more likely to suffer from long-term cognitive impairment after diagnosis and treatment compared to their twin sibling with no history of cancer.
Suppressing a newly identified and characterized protein involved in regulating cell division could be a novel strategy to fight certain cancers because it stops the malignant cells from dividing and causes them to die quickly.
Greg Weiss wears a big, old-fashioned watch on his left wrist that no longer marks ordinary time. It belonged to his father, a tumor surgeon who died of cancer himself. In large measure, that loss is what keeps Weiss ticking.
Scientists are reporting development of a long-sought new way to detect the activity of proteins that bind to the DNA in genes, often controlling the activity of genes in ways that make cells do everything from growing normally to becoming cancerous. Their report appears in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
In an African county lacking any specialists in children's cancers, a team approach that "twins" Rwandan physicians with Boston-based pediatric oncologists has shown it can deliver expert, curative care to young patients stricken with lymphoma.
Taconic, a leading provider of life sciences solutions, and Oncodesign(R), an innovative leader in the discovery of novel anti-cancer therapies, announce today that they have entered into an agreement to co-develop and co-promote pre-clinical oncology in vivo solutions for researchers worldwide. The agreement provides researchers with improved access to a large, diverse portfolio of translational models for use in pre-clinical oncology studies, along with supporting scientific services.
A prototype device developed at Temple University emulates human tactile sensation while providing objective feedback related to the mechanical properties of what it touches. Developed by Chang-Hee Won, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, the sensor could one day be used by doctors in the diagnosis of lumps, lesions, or tumors during physical exams.
Using a unique combination of biology and physics techniques, Swinburne University of Technology researchers are improving our understanding of cancer on a microscopic scale.
A group of small molecules called EETs -- currently under scrutiny as possible treatment targets for a host of cardiovascular diseases -- may also drive the growth and spread of cancer, according to researchers at the Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center (DF/CHCC) and other institutions.
Mansoor Amiji, Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Northeastern University, has designed a nano-cocktail that targets multi-drug resistant tumors with remarkable accuracy and makes chemotherapy more efficient.
Even when surgical tumor removal is combined with a heavy dose of chemotherapy or radiation, there's no guarantee that the cancer will not return. Now researchers at Tel Aviv University are strengthening the odds in favor of permanent tumor destruction -- and an immunity to the cancer's return -- with a new method of tumor removal.
Telormedix, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on TLR7 agonists in the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases, today announced that it has raised 7.5 Million CHF from existing investors Aravis Venture and Proquest Investments.
Talking with doctors about cancer and cancer treatments can feel like learning a new language, and people facing cancer diagnoses often need help to understand their treatment options, and the risks and benefits of each choice.
Cedars-Sinai has combined efforts with the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Arizona so researchers may offer joint clinical trials and collaborate to develop personalized therapies that could lead to more effective cancer treatments.
Liver cell carcinoma is one of the most abundant malign cancer diseases worldwide. In the majority of cases its emergence is triggered by cirrhosis of the liver which is caused by chronic Hepatitis B or C virus infections. Researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and the Hanover Medical School have now revealed how a healthy and potent immune system is able to detect and kill potentially premalignant liver cells at an early stage. Cells with a high risk of degenerating into tumor cells -- e.g. as a result of chemical stress or nuclear radiation -- often abandon their normal life cycle and enter a state of arrest, designated as "senescence".
Unaffordable new drugs, even when they're covered by insurance, are being rationed by price as patients, doctors and hospital officials struggle with what is likely to be the most pressing problem for the nation's health care system over the next decade: how to pay for the spectacular rise in the cost of cancer care, especially drugs and diagnostic tests.
The practical utility of magnetic materials was identified thousands of years ago when lodestones were first used in compasses to navigate the oceans. Today, magnetism forms the basis for many of the technologies we take for granted, as well as some with decidedly futuristic applications. Jinwoo Cheon and colleagues from Yonsei University, the Korea Basic Science Institution and the Yonsei University College of Medicine in Korea have now worked out how to maximize the heat produced by magnetic nanoparticles to extraordinary effect in the treatment of cancer ("Exchange-coupled magnetic nanoparticles for efficient heat induction").
Protein p53 is known for controlling the life and death of a cell and has a key role in cancer research. P53 is known to be inactive in 50 percent of cancer patients. If researchers succeed in re-establishing the presence of p53 in patients, they may hold the key to a promising avenue of research. However, p53 does not act alone.
That white blob on the left is one of the ninjas living inside your body, a Natural Killer blood cell. This photograph shows it attacking a cancerous cell (on the right) in unprecedented detail.
Researchers have created and tested miniature devices that are implanted in tumors to generate oxygen, boosting the killing power of radiation and chemotherapy.
Radiation therapy requires oxygen to be effective, which makes cancers that tend to be hypoxic (meaning they are deprived of oxygen)--such as pancreatic and cervical cancers--harder to treat. (Tumors can become hypoxic for a few reasons, e.g. they grow so quickly they actually outgrow blood supply, or cells proliferate so many times that the density taxes the available oxygen.)
A new study reports that a drug already approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in patients undergoing a bone marrow transplant may also have promise for treating people who have a rare immune deficiency known as WHIM syndrome. People with the syndrome are more susceptible to potentially life-threatening bacterial and viral infections, particularly human papillomavirus infections, which cause skin and genital warts and can lead to cancer. The study was conducted by investigators at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The concerted efforts of researchers from both PolyU and Peking University's Shenzhen Graduate School have led to the first total synthesis of a natural marine product as a promising anti-cancer agent.
Worrying levels of BPA, an industrial chemical with suspected links to cancer, lurk inside canned soups and pasta targeted at American children, the Breast Cancer Fund said Wednesday.
The first study to investigate the effect of the breast cancer drug trastuzumab (Herceptin) on heart and vascular function in elderly patients has found that it increases the risk of heart problems, particularly in women with a history of heart disease, diabetes or both.
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have demonstrated for the first time that it is possible to inhibit the growth of brain tumours by treating the common Cytomegalovirus (CMV). The virus, which is found in a wide range of tumour types, offers a possible route towards controlling tumour growth and reducing the size of the tumour as a complement to conventional cytotoxin-based therapies.
Stockholm, Sweden: First results from an international comparison of the care of patients with rectal cancer have shown there are substantial differences in the use of chemotherapy and radiotherapy between European countries.
Larry Conrad went in for his annual physical on his 50th birthday. During his exam, his doctor found swollen lymph nodes in his armpits and groin. Conrad had a cough and said he'd lost weight because he 'felt full all the time'.
Oncolytic virology uses live viruses to sense the genetic difference between a tumor and normal cell. Once the virus finds a tumor cell, it replicates inside that cell, kills it and then spreads to adjacent tumor cells to seed a therapeutic "chain reaction." As reported in the October 18 issue of Cancer Cell, Dr. David Stojdl, a scientist from the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute at the University of Ottawa has found a way to trick resistant cancer cells into committing suicide following oncolytic virus therapy.
TrovaGene, Inc., a developer of transrenal molecular diagnostics, confirmed today that it regained ownership of its worldwide rights and control over its patent estate for transrenal technology for non-invasive prenatal applications and cancer through the termination of a license agreement between TrovaGene and Sequenom, Inc. In 2008, TrovaGene licensed several of its patents to Sequenom for the development of prenatal diagnostic and screening applications on an exclusive basis. In 2009, TrovaGene initiated a lawsuit against Sequenom alleging fraud and demanding the return of its rights licensed to Sequenom.
Tumors have an arsenal of tricks to help them sidestep the immune system. A study published on September 19 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine reveals a new trick -- the ability to keep tumor-fighting T cells out by disabling a T cell-attracting protein within the tumor core.
A research team led by UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists has identified an atypical metabolic pathway unique to some tumors, possibly providing a future target for drugs that could reduce or halt the spread of cancer.
One major obstacle in the fight against cancer is that anticancer drugs often affect normal cells in addition to tumor cells, resulting in significant side effects.
The "Lance Armstrong effect" could become a powerful new weapon to fight cancer cells that develop resistance to chemotherapy, radiation and other treatments, scientists say in a report in the ACS journal Molecular Pharmaceutics.
Molecular probes that can illuminate cancer cells are often invaluable tools in the fight against the disease. The latest addition to this group is a family of fluorescent probes that can highlight a particularly pernicious kind of tumor cell: those resistant to anticancer drugs.
A new study of the CRYM protein, previously connected with deafness and cancer, has now proven that it has an enzymatic function. This opens up new implications for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric conditions, even suggesting that diet choices might influence their progression.
Rice University chemists have found a way to load more than 2 million tiny gold particles called nanorods into a single cancer cell. The breakthrough could speed development of cancer treatments that would use nanorods like tiny heating elements to cook tumors from the inside.
In advance of a United Nations conference today on the global challenges of treating cancer and other diseases, the UBC Graduate School of Journalism has launched an ambitious multimedia site, The Pain Project, which documents one of the greatest challenges to treating chronic illnesses: severely constrained access to morphine.
An 11-month-old partnership between UCSF and Pfizer, Inc., aimed at rapidly moving new therapies into human clinical trials, has selected its first projects for funding and joint development. Teams from the University and Pfizer will work together on experimental therapies developed by the UCSF scientists with a goal of testing them in people with five hard-to-treat, often deadly conditions, including lung and prostate cancer.
About 10 years ago, scientists discovered a new type of genetic material called microRNA, which appears to turn genes on or off inside a cell. More recently, they found that these genetic snippets often go haywire in cancer cells, contributing to tumors' uncontrollable growth.
Researchers from the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG in Spanish) have discovered that ultraviolet light affects the function of the protein EWS, the mutation of which is responsible for Ewing's sarcoma. The results, published in the journal Molecular Cell, indicate that the EWS protein has a protective effect on DNA.
For the first time, scientists can see pathways to stop a deadly brain cancer in its tracks. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have imaged individual cancer cells and the routes they travel as the tumor spreads.
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death and morbidity worldwide, and its economic burden grows year by year. In 2008, the worldwide cost of cancer due to premature death and disability, excluding direct medical costs, was estimated to be $895 billion (US).
Scientists at the University of Leicester have opened up a whole new approach to the therapeutic intervention for a family of anti-cancer drug targets, thanks to a completely new and unexpected finding.
The increasingly prevalent notion that expensive organic fruits and vegetables are safer because pesticides -- used to protect traditional crops from insects, thus ensuring high crop yields and making them less expensive -- are a risk for causing cancer has no good scientific support, an authority on the disease said here today. Such unfounded fears could have the unanticipated consequence of keeping healthful fruits and vegetables from those with low incomes.
Scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston have uncovered important molecular and genetic keys to the development of soft-tissue sarcomas in skeletal muscle, giving researchers and clinicians additional targets to stop the growth of these often deadly tumors.
Wenbin Lin, PhD, Kenan professor of Chemistry and Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina has proved that a newly developed nanoparticle has the potential to deliver chemotherapy treatment for cancer more effectively.
New research from the University of Southampton could lead to enhanced MRI scans, producing brighter and more precise images, and potentially allowing the detection of cancerous cells before they cause health problems.
Updated guidelines on nutrition and physical activity for cancer prevention from the American Cancer Society stress the importance of creating social and physical environments that support healthy behaviors. The report includes updated recommendations for individual choices regarding diet and physical activity patterns, but emphasizes that those choices occur within a community context that can either help or hinder healthy behaviors.
Monika McBride has acute myeloid leukemia, a life-threatening blood cancer that requires six months of intensive chemotherapy. Three days before her third treatment, however, a nurse called to cancel her appointment: Her doctor had run out of the drug.
A new, finely tuned light-based treatment kills cancer cells in mice without harming the tissue around them, and could conceivably used to treat a wide range of human cancers, researchers say. The therapy is much more precise than other light-therapy methods attempted to date, and it has the potential to replace chemotherapy and radiation.
Researchers from the University of Miami (UM) and the University of Heidelberg in Germany have developed a mathematical model to understand and predict the progress of a tumor, from its early stages to metastasis, in hopes of creating highly personalized treatment strategies for patients who have cancer.
Many tumors cause chronic inflammations, which, in their turn, suppress specific attacks against the tumor by the immune system. Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center and Medical Faculty Mannheim at Heidelberg University have now shown in mice with melanoma that sildenafil - the active ingredient in Viagra - cancels the suppression of the specific immune response. Cancerous mice treated with the drug survived more than twice as long as untreated fellow animals.
RaySearch Laboratories AB has received an order for its RayStation® treatment planning system from The Valley Hospital Cancer Center in Paramus, New Jersey.
Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) and two other institutions have uncovered a vast new gene regulatory network in mammalian cells that could explain genetic variability in cancer and other diseases. The studies appear in the online edition of Cell.
A widespread shortage of prescription drugs is hampering the treatment of patients who have cancer, severe infections and other serious illnesses. While some Republican politicians have railed against the imaginary threat of rationing under health care reform, Congress has done nothing to alleviate the all-too-real rationing of lifesaving drugs caused by this crisis.
In a new project, researchers from LIFE -- the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Copenhagen -- document that the vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) plays a previously unknown dual role in the prevention of a number of cancers. The new findings show that the virus both kills cancer cells and stops the expression of the molecules which certain types of cancer cells produce to hide from the immune system.
Researchers from Yale University are looking to a virus from the same family as the rabies virus to fight a form of cancer primarily found in children and young adults. They report their findings in the September 2011 issue of the Journal of Virology.
Researchers of the University of Zurich have discovered a new substance for labeling and visualization of DNA synthesis in whole animals. Applications for this technique include identifying the sites of virus infections and cancer growth, due to the abundance of DNA replication in these tissues. This approach should therefore lead to new strategies in drug development.
More than three-quarters of cancer patients have insufficient levels of vitamin D (25-hydroxy-vitamin D) and the lowest levels are associated with more advanced cancer, according to a study presented on October 2, 2011, at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
Doctors agree that vitamin D promotes bone health, but a belief that it can also prevent cancer, cardiovascular disease and other causes of death has been a major health controversy. Consistent with advice issued last fall by the Institute of Medicine, a new study finds that vitamin D did not confer benefits against mortality in postmenopausal women after controlling for key health factors such as abdominal obesity.
The number of new cancer cases has increased by 20% in under a decade and now stands at 12 million a year, according to the World Cancer Research Fund.
Using viruses and bacteria that normally cause disease to cure disease is an apparent contradiction, but it's fundamental to the work being carried out by Dr. David Ackerley.
Like snakes, tumour cells shed their skin. Cancer is not a static disease but during its development the disease accumulates changes to evade natural defences adapting to new environmental circumstances, protecting against chemotherapy and radiotherapy and invading neighbouring organs, eventually causing metastasis.
This is unlikely to surprise some investors, but a new study has determined that advanced knowledge of Phase III clinical trials of new cancer meds and FDA decisions may affect the publicly traded shares prices of drugmakers. If you put another way, pharma stocks tend to rise during the run up to reporting positive trial results, but they fall when negative results are reported.
A large study of the daughters of women who had been given DES, the first synthetic form of estrogen, during pregnancy has found that exposure to the drug while in the womb (in utero) is associated with many reproductive problems and an increased risk of certain cancers and pre-cancerous conditions. The results of this analysis, conducted by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and collaborators across the country, were published Oct. 6, 2011, in the New England Journal of Medicine.
A 35-year-old woman preemptively had a hysterectomy and had her breasts removed after she tested positive for a gene strongly associated with breast and cervical cancer.
Women at high risk of developing breast cancer who smoked cigarettes and drank alcohol were less likely to continue with their chemopreventive regimen and may require more adherence support, according to results of a study published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
The structure and function of a 'molecular motor' critical to the functioning of human organs and, when malfunctioning, implicated in cancer, kidney failure, and osteoporosis, has been revealed in unprecedented detail.
As anyone familiar with the phrase 'man-flu' will know women consider themselves to be the more robust side of the species when it comes to health and illness. Now new research, published in BioEssays, seems to support the idea. The research focuses on the role of MicroRNAs encoded on the X chromosome to explain why women have stronger immune systems to men and are less likely to develop cancer.
Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have identified a new type of potential anticancer drug. The compound, named FOBISIN, targets 14-3-3 proteins, important for the runaway growth of cancer cells.
Using a new approach to developing biomarkers for the very early detection of ovarian cancer, researchers at Rush University Medical Center have identified a molecule in the bloodstream of infertile women that could one day be used to screen for those at high risk for the disease -- or even those with early-stage ovarian cancer.
Among women with a certain type of high-grade ovarian cancer, having BRCA2 genetic mutations, but not BRCA1, was associated with improved overall survival and improved response to chemotherapy, compared to women with BRCA wild-type (genetic type used as a reference to compare genetic mutations), according to a study in the October 12 issue of JAMA.
A potential breakthrough in treating late-stage ovarian cancer has come from University of Guelph researchers who have discovered a peptide that shrinks advanced tumours and improves survival rates for this deadly but often undetected disease.
The use of two drugs never tried in combination before in ovarian cancer resulted in a 70 percent destruction of cancer cells already resistant to commonly used chemotherapy agents, say researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida. Their report, published online in Gynecologic Oncology, suggests that this combination (ixabepilone and sunitinib), might offer a much needed treatment option for women with advanced ovarian cancer. When caught at late stages, ovarian cancer is often fatal because it progressively stops responding to the chemotherapy drugs used to treat it.
Ovarian cancer is a rare but often deadly disease that can strike at any time in a woman's life. It affects one in 70 women and in the past was referred to as a silent killer, but researchers have found there are symptoms associated with ovarian cancer that can assist in early detection. Experts at Northwestern Memorial say the best defense is to make use of preventive methods, understand the risks and recognize potential warning signs of ovarian cancer.
In a recent issue of Cancer Research, Daniel J. Powell, Jr., PhD, a research assistant professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, showed for the first time that engineered human T cells can eradicate deadly human ovarian cancer in immune-deficient mice. Ovarian cancer is the most lethal reproductive cancer for women, with one-fifth of women diagnosed with advanced disease surviving five years. Nearly all ovarian cancers (90%) are characterized by their expression of a distinct cell-surface protein called alpha-folate receptor, which can be a target for engineered T cells.
EntreMed, Inc., a clinical stage pharmaceutical company developing therapeutics for the treatment of cancer today announced the final data for the primary endpoint of progression free survival rate at 6 months for its Phase 2 study with ENMD-2076 in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer patients. Data from all 64 patients showed a six-month progression free survival rate of 22 percent. Four patients achieved a partial response as measured by RECIST v1.1. Median overall survival has not yet been reached. The side effect profile was consistent with activity against ENMD-2076's targets, in particular, VEGFR2 and Aurora A.
Cancer Research UK scientists have discovered that the commonest type of ovarian cancer evolves at a startling rate, which may allow cancer cells to 'dodge' the current standard treatment.
A large pad of fat cells that extends from the stomach and covers the intestines provides nutrients that promote the spread and growth of ovarian cancer, reports a research team based at the University of Chicago in the journal Nature Medicine, published online October 30th, 2011.
In a new study published in Nature Genetics researchers say that women who possess a fault in a gene named RAD51D have a greater risk of developing ovarian cancer than women who do not have this fault and tests are expected to be available within the next few years for those at highest risk, according to Cancer Research UK.
A constellation of defective proteins suspected in causing a malfunction in the body's ability to repair its own DNA could be the link scientists need to prove a new class of drugs will be effective in treating a broad range of ovarian cancer patients.
Approval last week by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clears the path for nationwide use of tools that show the greatest specificity in estimating the risk of ovarian cancer in women with a pelvic mass.
A new strategy that takes advantage of ovarian cancer's reliance on folate appears to give relapse patients extra months of life with few side effects, researchers say.
Yale Cancer Center researchers have shown that a tiny genetic variation predicts chances of survival and response to treatment for patients with ovarian cancer.
It is widely known that mutations in the breast cancer susceptibility 1 (BRCA1) gene significantly increase the chance of developing breast and ovarian cancers, but the mechanisms at play are not fully understood. Now, researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center have shown that certain BRCA1 mutations result in excessive, uncontrolled DNA repair, which challenges the prior assumption that mutations in BRCA1 only contribute to breast cancer through a reduction in function.
An experimental two-drug combination for treating late-stage ovarian cancer continues to produce strong results, leading its Indiana University researchers to actively pursue the next step, conducting a larger clinical trial to test the therapy and to see how it compares with existing treatments for ovarian cancer.
Mayo Clinic has received investigational new drug approval from the Food and Drug Administration for two new cancer vaccines that mobilize the body's defense mechanisms to destroy malignant cells. The vaccines are among the first aimed at preventing cancer recurrence. The approval clears the way for Phase I clinical trials with women treated for ovarian or breast cancer.
Paclitaxel is one of a family of drugs originally derived from yew trees that block the growth of cancer by interfering with microtubules - structures that help chromosomes to separate during cell division. It's commonly used to treat breast and ovarian cancer, but some tumours can become resistant over time and start growing again.
By combining three previously unrelated imaging tools into one new device, a team of researchers from the University of Connecticut and the University of Southern California has proposed a new way to diagnose early-stage ovarian cancer in high-risk women through minimally invasive surgery. The new technique may be better than the current standard procedure of preemptively removing the ovaries.
A new study from the University of Hawaii Cancer Center reveals that PEA-15, a protein previously shown to slow ovarian tumor growth and metastasis, can alternatively enhance tumor formation in kidney cells carrying a mutation in a cancer-promoting gene called H-Ras.
Among women with a certain type of high-grade ovarian cancer, having BRCA2 genetic mutations, but not BRCA1, was associated with improved overall survival and improved response to chemotherapy, compared to women with BRCA wild-type (genetic type used as a reference to compare genetic mutations), according to a study in the October 12 issue of JAMA.
Women with high-grade ovarian cancer live longer and respond better to platinum-based chemotherapy when their tumors have BRCA2 genetic mutations, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Institute for Systems Biology report in the Oct. 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Treating ovarian cancer with the drug bevacizumab ("Avastin") delays the disease and may also improve survival, show the results of an international clinical trial co-led by Drs. Amit Oza of the Princess Margaret Cancer Program.
Researchers from The Netherlands have found that subfertile women whose ovaries are stimulated into producing extra eggs for in vitro fertilisation (IVF) have an increased risk of ovarian malignancies, in particular borderline ovarian tumours, later in life.
A team of German and Italian EU-funded scientists has designed peptides that can target the protein-protein interface of an enzyme that plays a key part in the DNA synthesis crucial for cancer growth.
Tropical plants may contain the basis of new and effective treatments for ovarian cancer, according to researchers at the Universities of Strathclyde and Portsmouth.
Australian scientists have identified biochemical changes that commonly occur in the DNA of women with ovarian cancer, which may help diagnose the cancer at an earlier stage in the future.
New research findings by UCD scientists published online in the Journal of Pathology may help clinicians predict how patients with high grade, serous, epithelial ovarian cancer will respond to paclitaxel chemotherapy (Taxol).
Using a new approach to developing biomarkers for the very early detection of ovarian cancer, researchers at Rush University Medical Center have identified a molecule in the bloodstream of infertile women that could one day be used to screen for those at high risk for the disease -- or even those with early-stage ovarian cancer.
The use of two drugs never tried in combination before in ovarian cancer resulted in a 70 percent destruction of cancer cells already resistant to commonly used chemotherapy agents. Their report, suggests that this combination (ixabepilone and sunitinib), might offer a much needed treatment option for women with advanced ovarian cancer.
Blocking the action of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) with the new anti-VEGF drug aflibercept can curb the development of malignant ascites (excessive fluid in the abdomen), a common and painful complication of advanced ovarian cancer.
A common chemotherapy drug has been successfully delivered to cancer cells inside tiny microparticles using a method inspired by our knowledge of how the human immune system works. The drug, delivered in this way, reduced ovarian cancer tumours in an animal model by 65 times more than using the standard method. This approach is now being developed for clinical use.
Targeted drugs, which block or disrupt particular molecules involved in the growth of tumors, have been shown to be effective treatments against many types of cancer. A new phase 3 clinical trial conducted by the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) showed that a targeted therapy called bevacizumab.
Women throughout the world will benefit from a new, pan-Canadian Terry Fox Research Institute (TFRI) initiative that aims to change the way in which ovarian cancer is diagnosed and managed. TFRI and the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer are providing a total of $5-million in funding for a five-year, multi-site Ovarian Cancer Pan-Canadian Program called COEUR. The program will identify new biomarkers to predict and treat this relatively rare but deadly form of cancer, which will result in the use and application of current and new drugs more effectively for patients.
Tropical plants may contain the basis of new and effective treatments for ovarian cancer, according to researchers at the Universities of Strathclyde and Portsmouth.
In the current debate sparked by the recent USPSTF recommendation on PSA screening, it is clear that better biomarkers than PSA are urgently needed. One new biotechnology that may go a long way in detecting only prostate cancer and reducing unnecessary prostate cancer biopsies and possible subsequent overtreatment, is the development of a new urine test for prostate cancer. It was enabled by the discovery of specific prostate cancer DNA fusions in 2005 at the University of Michigan. This discovery opened the door to developing diagnostic tools that are specific only to prostate cancer.
Patients with gynecologic cancer have new hope in a novel technology now offered at the Seidman Cancer Center at University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center. A team of cancer specialists, led by Robert DeBernardo, MD, is among the first in the nation to launch a dedicated program using Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC) to treat ovarian, endometrial and select other cancers.
Pancreatic cancer researchers at Thomas Jefferson University have shown, for the first time, that blocking a receptor of a key hormone in the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) reduces cancer cell growth by activating the enzyme AMPK to inhibit fatty acid synthase, the ingredients to support cell division.
Particular types of mouth bacteria, some of which are found in gum disease, are associated with the development of pancreatic cancer, indicates a small study published online in the journal Gut.
Combination treatment with everolimus, an inhibitor of the mammalian target rapamycin (mTOR), and octreotide has shown to improve progression-free survival for patients with advanced neuroendocrine tumors and a history of carcinoid syndrome, according to researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene is essential for KRAS-driven pancreatic cancer development, according to study results presented at the Second AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Basic Cancer Research, held here Sept. 14-18, 2011.
Pancreatic cancer is a particularly challenging one to beat; it has a tendency to spread and harbors cancer stem cells that stubbornly resist conventional approaches to therapy. Now, researchers reporting in the November issue of Cell Stem Cell, a Cell Press publication, have evidence to suggest there is a way to kill off those cancer stem cells. The target is a self-renewal pathway known for its role not in cancer but in embryonic stem cells.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most morbid cancers, with less than 5 percent of those diagnosed with the disease surviving to five years. Approximately 10 percent of patients come from families with multiple cases of pancreatic cancer.
A mutant protein found in nearly all pancreatic cancers plays a role not only in the cancer's development but in its continued growth, according to a new study from University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers. The finding suggests a possible target for developing new ways to treat this deadly disease.
Mattress Firm, a leading specialty mattress retailer with more than 720 stores nationwide, is committed to supporting the fight against pancreatic cancer by raising funds for clinical trials through the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) globalCure initiative.
Ben Stanger discovered that pancreatic cancer cells in an animal model begin to spread before clinically obvious tumor tissue is detected. What's more, they showed that inflammation enhances cancer progression in part by facilitating a cellular transformation that leads to entry of cancer cells into the circulation.
Scientists have connected two signature characteristics of pancreatic cancer, identifying a self-perpetuating "vicious cycle" of molecular activity and a new potential target for drugs to treat one of the most lehal forms of cancer.
A team of researchers from four Boston-area institutions led by Nicusor Iftimia from Physical Sciences, Inc. has demonstrated for the first time that optical coherence tomography (OCT), a high resolution optical imaging technique that works by bouncing near-infrared laser light off biological tissue, can reliably distinguish between pancreatic cysts that are low-risk and high-risk for becoming malignant. Other optical techniques often fail to provide images that are clear enough for doctors to differentiate between the two types.
Researchers at Queen's University in Kingston, Canada have identified a possible cause for the loss of a tumour suppressor gene (known as PTEN) that can lead to the development of more aggressive forms of prostate cancer.
There are almost as many deaths from it each year as there are new cases. The deaths this week of Apple founder Steve Jobs and Nobelist Ralph Steinman bring unusual attention to this less-well-known type of cancer that has actually been declining despite no big advances in treatment or finding it early.
Erxi Wu, assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences, and Shuang Zhou, doctoral student of pharmaceutical sciences in Wu's lab, co-wrote the article, "High glucose promotes pancreatic cancer cell proliferation via the induction of EGF expression and transactivation of EGFR," which will be published by PLoS ONE.
Erxi Wu, assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences, and Fengfei Wang, research associate in pharmaceutical sciences, co-wrote the article, "ß2-adrenoceptor blockage induces G1/S phase arrest and apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells via Ras/Akt/NFkB pathway," which will be published by Molecular Cancer.
Patients at Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center Clinical Trials at Scottsdale Healthcare were the first in the nation to participate in a clinical trial to determine the safety, tolerability and effectiveness for usage of a new drug combination consisting of a standard drug called gemcitabine and a drug called nab-paclitaxel for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.
Over 17,000 patients will have been diagnosed with locally-advanced pancreatic cancer in the United States in 2011. Surgery is not a treatment option for these patients whose tumor has grown beyond the pancreas to surrounding vital structures. In the past 20 years, numerous treatment regimens have been evaluated for locally-advanced pancreatic cancer with high-dose chemotherapy followed by chemoradiation being the current standard approach.
Often, and without much warning, pancreatic cancer cells slip through the endothelial cells, head into the blood and out to other parts of the body to metastasize, making it one of the deadliest and hardest to treat cancers today.
A son's passion to find a cure for the cancer that claimed the life of his mother has led to a new series of clinical trials under a Translational Genomics Research Institute initiative to find a cure for pancreatic cancer.
Researchers are investigating a potential treatment and noninvasive imaging modality for pancreatic cancer that shows promise, according to researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, N.Y., and Genelux Corporation in San Diego, Calif.
Prostate cancer is the number two killer of American men, second only to lung cancer. It is a disease that affects more than 2 million American men, and in 2010 there were over 218,000 new diagnoses. It is a disease that kills, but even for those who survive it, the world is never quite the same. Issues such as impotence, urinary incontinence and depression are common after-effects of prostate cancer, and until now there were few resources for those facing these hurdles for the first time.
Abiraterone (trade name: Zytiga™) has been approved since September 2011 for men with metastatic prostate cancer that is no longer responsive to hormone therapy and progresses further during or after therapy with the cytostatic drug docetaxel. In an early benefit assessment pursuant to the "Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products" (AMNOG), the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) examined whether abiraterone offers an added benefit compared with the present standard therapy.
Contrary to common belief, men age 75 and older are diagnosed with late-stage and more aggressive prostate cancer and thus die from the disease more often than younger men, according to a University of Rochester analysis published online this week by the journal, Cancer.
Weill Cornell physician-scientists say this vulnerability can be attacked by a targeted drug already in clinical trials to treat other types of cancers
The US Preventive Screening Task Force recently concluded, amid considerable controversy, that the evidence does not support recommending PSA screening for men under 75 years old at all, because the risks outweigh the benefits. Now, a study shows that physicians in a large Washington state health plan were being conservative in biopsy referral even before the USPSTF recommendation.
New research links contraceptive pills to an increased rate of prostate cancer. Don't worry: you haven't been taking it wrong all these years. There's a body of research that links prostate cancer to increased exposure to estrogen, and it's possible that widespread use of the Pill could cause an uptick of the hormone in the environment.
A team of researchers at UC Santa Barbara has developed a breakthrough technology that can be used to discriminate cancerous prostate cells in bodily fluids from those that are healthy. The findings are published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ("Quantitative ratiometric discrimination between noncancerous and cancerous prostate cells based on neuropilin-1 overexpression").
Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center has started a Phase I clinical trial investigating the latest prostate cancer chemotherapy drug to extend survival, Cabazitaxel, in combination with radiation and hormone therapy. This first-of-its-kind multimodality approach could improve disease control and eventually survival for locally advanced prostate cancer patients.
A new study supports the use of a DNA-based "biomarker" blood test as a complement to the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test currently offered to screen men for prostate cancer. University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers report their findings online ahead of print in the British Journal of Cancer.
Physicians are now better able to predict a man's recovery of sexual function after prostate cancer treatment, making a conversation between doctor and patient an important part of pre-treatment planning, a Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center-led research team suggests.
Prostate cancer survivors and their partners experience improved sexual satisfaction and function after couples counseling, according to research at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The article, published in the September issue of Cancer, a journal of the American Cancer Society, revealed both Internet-based sexual counseling and traditional sex therapy are equally effective in improving sexual outcomes. Couples on a waiting list for counseling did not improve.
An international clinical trial has found that treatment with a drug that suppresses the normal breakdown of bone can delay the development of bone metastases in men with prostate cancer.
A new study suggests that men with early stage prostate cancer may benefit with drugs that can slow or stop the cancer’s progress. Less than 10 percent of the 100,000 men each year who are diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer and have the option of leaving the cancer in place. Rest get it removed using surgery or radiation. But those treatments can have serious side effects like impotence and incontinence.
The 3rd European Multidisciplinary Meeting on Urological Cancers will kick off this Friday, bringing together representatives of three adjacent fields involved in the management of prostate, bladder, kidney, testicular and penile cancer.
Exelixis recently announced positive phase 3 data in the EXAM trial in medullary thyroid cancer and that the company is initiating pivotal phase 3 trials in castration-resistant prostate cancer.
Taking vitamin E supplements appear to increase a man's risk of prostate cancer, according to a study that appears in the Oct. 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
In a new study led by Fox Chase Cancer Center radiation oncologist Natasha Townsend, M.D., researchers have found that Gleason scores determined by pathologists at Fox Chase Cancer Center more accurately predict the risk of recurrence than Gleason scores from referring institutions. She presented the new research at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology on Monday, October 3.
Genetic differences in prostate cells seem to be a root cause of the prostate cancer disparities between African-American men and white men, according to findings presented at the Fourth AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities, held here Sept. 18-21, 2011.
A new study has found that men who inherit a rare genetic mutation are 10 to 20 times more likely than average to develop prostate cancer. The gene variant may help explain cases of the disease that run in families and strike men at unusually young ages.
A study led by University of Southern California (USC) epidemiologists suggests that a high intake of calcium causes prostate cancer among African-American men who are genetically good absorbers of the mineral.
Gen-Probe announced today that Health Canada has granted the Company a medical device license for the PROGENSA(R) PCA3 assay, a new molecular urine test that helps determine the need for repeat biopsies in men suspected of having prostate cancer.
The quest for genetic information in the fight against prostate cancer is nearly two decades long. While researchers and doctors have long accepted the hereditary nature of the disease, in that closer relatives are at a two-fold increased risk of developing prostate cancer, the genetic explanation remained a mystery. Last week geneticists shared news of a novel gene mutation linked to familial prostate cancer risk.
Men with localized prostate cancer treated with a newer technology, intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), have more than a quarter (26 percent) fewer late bowel and rectal side effects and a statistically improved lower dose of radiation to the bladder and rectum, compared to those who undergo 3D-CRT, according to a randomized study presented at the plenary session October 3, 2011, at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men in the United States. It is estimated that in 2010, approximately 32,000 American men died of prostate cancer and 218,000 were newly diagnosed with the disease. Most prostate cancers are detected by a blood test that measures prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a tumor marker.
Current methods of prostate cancer detection, like the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, often fail to identify which cancers will prove fatal and which cancers will remain benign until a patient dies of other causes.
Kitware, an open-source software development company, has been awarded Phase I Small Business Innovation Research funding from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, through a unique joint agency initiative of The National Institutes of Health, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the National Science Foundation, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Homeland Security.
There's new evidence that annual prostate cancer screening does not reduce deaths from the disease, even among men in their 50s and 60s and those with underlying health conditions, according to new research led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Nearly half of men undergoing surgery for prostate cancer expect better recovery from the side effects of the surgery than they actually attain one year after the operation, a University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center study finds.
The invasion of a new species into an established ecosystem can be directly compared to the steps involved in cancer metastasis. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Theoretical Biology and Medical Modelling uses the Tilman model of competition between invasive species to study the metastasis of prostate cells into bone.
Approximately 10-20 percent of prostate cancer patients have a family history of the disease. There are three major factors that are used to evaluate the extent and aggressiveness of prostate cancer, help make treatment decisions, and estimate prognosis: the Prostate Specific Antigen Level (PSA), Gleason score (GS) from the biopsy, and the digital rectal exam findings (DRE). However, men with a family history of prostate cancer have often been feared to have a more aggressive form of the disease not otherwise represented by these three factors and therefore are sometimes urged to undergo more aggressive treatment.
For prostate cancer patients with bone metastases, repeated administrations of radionuclide therapy with 188Re-HEDP are shown to improve overall survival rates and reduce pain, according to new research published in the November issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
Honing chemotherapy delivery to cancer cells is a challenge for many researchers. Getting the cancer cells to take the chemotherapy "bait" is a greater challenge. But perhaps such a challenge has not been met with greater success than by the nanotechnology research team of Omid Farokhzad, MD, Brigham and Women's Hospital Department of Anesthesiology Perioperative and Pain Medicine and Research.
Stockholm, Sweden: Inhibiting a protein involved in bone metabolism can delay the onset of the bone metastases which are common in men with a particular form of prostate cancer, a researcher will tell the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress today (Sunday).
Forty years after prostate-specific antigen (PSA) was identified and nearly 20 years after it became available for prostate-cancer screening, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recently recommended against PSA-based screening. ... For two decades, primary care physicians have been expected to present a flawed screening test to patients, cloaking the flaws in an elaborate ritual of informed decision making.
A new prostate screening test developed by AnalizaDx, Inc., a Cleveland-based biotech company, and studied by researchers at the Seidman Cancer Center at University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center along with colleagues at the Cleveland Clinic, the Veterans Administration Boston Healthcare and the National Cancer Institute, may prove to be a promising new tool in the diagnosis of prostate cancer. The study which will be published in the September issue of Urology found that this new screening test, the PSA/SIA assay, may be more sensitive in detecting prostate cancer than traditional screening methods.
At the Oct. 2-6 microTAS 2011 conference, the premier international event for reporting research in microfluidics, nanotechnology and detection technologies for life science and chemistry, University of Cincinnati researchers will present a simple, low-cost, method for separating and safely collecting concentrated volumes of fragile prostate cancer cells.
Researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have developed a way to image the spread of a particularly dangerous form of prostate cancer earlier than conventional imaging in use today, which may allow oncologists to find and treat these metastases more quickly and give patients a better chance at survival.
IMRT uses three-dimensional images of the cancerous tumor and surrounding tissues to conform the radiation beams to the size and shape of the tumor. Radiation doses are customized for each patient, with the goal of maximizing the dose to the tumor and minimizing the radiation received by surrounding healthy tissue -- primarily the bladder, rectum and femoral heads. In less than a decade, IMRT has become a common and successful prostate cancer treatment. But developing individual IMRT treatment plans is still a time consuming process derived through trial and error.
Prostate cancer that has become resistant to hormone treatment and that does not respond to radiation or chemotherapy requires new methods of treatment. By attacking stem cell-like cells in prostate cancer, researchers at Lund University are working on a project to develop a new treatment option.
A new urine test can help aid early detection of and treatment decisions about prostate cancer, a study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology finds.
A recent report in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, suggests that a new treatment may be on the horizon for neuroendocrine prostate cancers, the most lethal subtype of this disease.
Contrary to common belief, men age 75 and older are diagnosed with late-stage and more aggressive prostate cancer and thus die from the disease more often than younger men, according to a University of Rochester analysis published online this week by the journal, Cancer.
An independent panel convened this week by the National Institutes of Health has concluded that many men with localized, low-risk prostate cancer should be closely monitored, permitting treatment to be delayed until warranted by disease progression.
An independent panel convened this week by the National Institutes of Health has concluded that many men with localized, low-risk prostate cancer should be closely monitored, permitting treatment to be delayed until warranted by disease progression.
A blood screening result that suggests prostate cancer is bound to provoke high anxiety - even though up to 80 percent of those findings turn out to be false positives.
Aeterna Zentaris Inc., today announced positive interim data for the Phase 1 portion of its ongoing Phase 1/2 study in castration and taxane-resistant prostate cancer with its targeted cytotoxic luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH) analog, AEZS-108. The data were presented by Jacek Pinski, M.D, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center of the University of Southern California, during a poster session on Saturday, September 24, 2011, at the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress currently being held in Stockholm, Sweden. The trial is being supported by a three year grant of about US$1.5 million from the National Institutes of Health.
Using technologies common to the semiconductor industry, a team of investigators at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Liquidia Technologies has created a polymer nanoparticle that can encapsulate large loads of therapeutic molecules that may have use in treating prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer is a significant public health concern and cause of morbidity among men in the United States. In 2011, it is estimated that 240,890 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed and almost 34,000 men will die of this malignancy. The lifetime probability of developing prostate cancer in American men is one in six. Current treatment alternatives for clinically localized prostate cancer include removal of the prostate gland, radiation to the cancerous prostate, active surveillance or other treatments (hormonal or cryotherapy).
A new study published in the International Journal of Paleopathology reveals a case of prostate cancer in a 2,250-year-old mummy. The researchers also believe that cases of cancer at that time may not be as rare as previous research has noted.
For prostate cancer patients with bone metastases, repeated administrations of radionuclide therapy with 188Re-HEDP are shown to improve overall survival rates and reduce pain.
Physicians advising men whether to be screened for prostate cancer with a PSA test must rely more on available evidence when recommending screening, biopsies and treatments rather than long held beliefs that PSA-based testing is beneficial for all.
Veterans Affairs hospitals screen elderly men with limited life expectancies for prostate cancer at surprisingly high rates, even though guidelines recommend against such screening, according to a study led by a physician at the UCSF-affiliated San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC).
Prostate cancer patients who undergo radical prostatectomy get better results at teaching hospitals than at non-academic medical institutions, according to the findings of an international study led by researchers at Henry Ford Hospital.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force announced recommendations that surprised the medical community: Healthy men should no longer have the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test to screen for prostate cancer.
The prostate-specific antigen test, commonly known as the PSA test, is valuable in predicting which men should have biopsies and which are likely to be diagnosed with low-risk prostate cancer, a Mayo Clinic study has found. The findings were released today during a meeting of the North Central Section of the American Urological Association in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Prostate cancer screening that combines an adjusted blood test with other factors including the size of the gland, the patient's overall weight and family history, can help up to one-quarter of men avoid biopsies and the risks associated with them.
Men with locally advanced or high-risk prostate cancer who receive combined radiation and hormone therapy live longer and are less likely to die from their disease, shows clinical research led by radiation oncologists at the Princess Margaret Hospital Cancer Program, University Health Network.
An international team of researchers led by clinicians at Weill Cornell Medical College have discovered a genetic Achilles' heel in an aggressive type of prostate cancer -- a vulnerability they say can be attacked by a targeted drug that is already in clinical trials to treat other types of cancers.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the United States, as well as the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in this population. Many of these patients undergo surgical removal of their prostate, followed by radiation therapy applied to their prostate bed -- the space where the prostate was once situated.
A team of researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington has conducted the first comprehensive assessment of every gene in the genome of advanced, lethal prostate cancer. Until now, the genetic composition of such tumors had been poorly defined.
In a study of complication rates following prostate biopsy among Medicare beneficiaries, Johns Hopkins researchers have found a significant rise in serious complications requiring hospitalization. The researchers found that this common outpatient procedure, used to diagnose prostate cancer, was associated with a 6.9 percent rate of hospitalization within 30 days of biopsy compared to a 2.9 percent hospitalization rate among a control group of men who did not have a prostate biopsy.
A shorter course of radiation treatment that delivers higher doses of radiation per day in fewer days (hypofractionation) is as effective in decreasing intermediate to high-risk prostate cancer from returning as conventional radiation therapy at five years after treatment, according to a randomized trial presented at the plenary session, October 3, 2011, at the 53rdAnnual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
UC Santa Barbara researchers have developed a novel technology for distinguishing prostate cancer cells in bodily fluids. The technology holds potential for developing a microdevice that would help understand when metastasis of prostate cancer would occur.
Researchers at the Centenary Institute in Sydney have discovered a potential future treatment for prostate cancer--through starving the tumor cells of an essential nutrient they need to grow rapidly.
A team of nutrition researchers and urologic surgeons at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Siteman Cancer Center is conducting two studies to investigate a potential link between cancer and excess protein in the diet.
After a 20-year quest to find a genetic driver for prostate cancer that strikes men at younger ages and runs in families, researchers have identified a rare, inherited mutation linked to a significantly higher risk of the disease.
The size of a man’s prostate gland may help predict the severity of cancer, with a smaller prostate being more likely to harbor serious disease. This finding by a group of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center researchers was published in the December issue of the Journal of Urology.
Of the 250,000 American men who will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, very few of them--about 1 percent--will develop lethal, metastatic disease. Finding a way to distinguish between this small cohort and the majority of patients who will develop an indolent, non-lethal form of prostate cancer is a key goal in prostate cancer research.
Prostate cancer patients who undergo radical prostatectomy get better results at teaching hospitals than at non-academic medical institutions, according to the findings of an international study led by researchers at Henry Ford Hospital.
This comprehensive handbook gives men the vital information they need to effectively navigate every step of dealing with prostate cancer. A newly diagnosed cancer patient faces a mind-numbing array of treatment options, including medical therapies that carry serious side effects--and determining the right course of action is an overwhelming task. In simple yet scientific terms, this book empowers readers with the tools they need to proactively fight cancer by making the most informed treatment decisions possible.
Men who experience a sudden inability to pass urine because of a non-cancerous enlarged prostate are hospitalised and treated differently depending on where they live.
Cleveland: Men who take a daily vitamin E supplement -- a regimen once thought to reduce cancer risk -- face an increased risk of prostate cancer, according to results of a large national study.
In the study, which involved about 76,000 men, those who underwent yearly screening for prostate cancerwere just as likely to die from the disease over a 13-year period as those who underwent screening only if their doctor recommended it.
A low-fat diet with fish oil supplements eaten for four to six weeks prior to prostate removal slowed down the growth of prostate cancer cells -- the number of rapidly dividing cells -- in human prostate cancer tissue compared to a traditional, high-fat Western diet.
As the realisation that radiation emitted by the sun can give rise to skin cancer has increased, so also has the use of sunscreen creams. These creams, however, can give rise to contact allergy when exposed to the sun, and this has led to an increasing incidence of skin allergy. Scientists at the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology are leading the hunt for a natural UV filter that does not have undesired effects.
Beta-blocker drugs, commonly used to treat high blood pressure, may also play a major role in slowing the progression of certain serious cancers, based on a new study.
Viagra®, the pharmaceutical savior of aging men the world over, may be a more valuable drug than even its diehard fans realize. If the results of a recent study are confirmed, the drug may eventually become a first line defense against malignant melanoma.
Certain patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) may have an increased risk of skin cancer, which is intensified by the use of immunosuppressant medications , according to two new studies in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. Immunosuppressants are commonly used in the treatment of IBD.
About 50 to 60 percent of patients with melanoma have a mutation in the BRAF gene that drives the growth of their cancer. Most of these patients respond well to two novel agents being studied in clinical trials that inhibit the gene, with remarkable responses that are, unfortunately, almost always limited in duration.
A new study from the American Cancer Society finds recent declines in melanoma mortality rates in non-Hispanic Whites in the U.S. mainly reflect declines in those with the highest level of education, and reveals a widening disparity in melanoma mortality rates by education.
Skin is the body's armor, protecting us from disease agents, injury, excessive water loss, and cold and heat. Yet mutations in a single gene, the gene for the protein p63, cause numerous diseases and malformations of the uppermost layer of skin -- the epidermis -- and other tissues. In the epidermis, these range from skin cancers to dysplasias that cause cracking, bleeding, infection, and discoloration.
Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute have begun to uncover how the virus that causes most Merkel cell carcinoma -- a rare and aggressive skin cancer -- operates, meaning that a rational chemotherapeutic target for this cancer could be developed in the near future.
A Johns Hopkins Children's Center study of young people with melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer, has found that some children have a higher risk of invasive disease than adults.
The pigmented cells called melanocytes aren't just for making freckles and tans. Melanocytes absorb ultraviolet light, protecting the skin from the harmful effects of the sun. They also are the cells that go haywire in melanoma, as well as in more common conditions as vitiligo and albinism.
Patients with metastatic melanoma taking the recently approved drug vemurafenib (Zelboraf®) responded well to the twice daily pill, but some of them developed a different, secondary skin cancer.
There might be a time when instead of just drinking that morning cup of coffee you lather it on your skin as a way of preventing harmful sun damage or skin cancer.
Research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill suggests that the timing of exposure to UV rays -- early in the morning or later in the afternoon -- can influence the onset of skin cancer.
Because the incidence of malignant melanoma is rising faster than any other cancer in the U.S., researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., and colleagues at Tampa-based Intezyne Technologies, Inc., Western Carolina University and the University of Arizona are working overtime to develop new technologies to aid in both malignant melanoma diagnosis and therapy. A tool of great promise comes from the world of nanomedicine -- where tiny drug delivery systems are measured in the billionths of meters and are being designed to deliver targeted therapies.
Promising findings on a novel combination treatment approach for a chronic type of skin lymphoma are being published today (embargoed for 4 pm) in JAMA's Archives of Dermatology by clinical researchers from Seidman Cancer Center at University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
Researchers from UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center are part of a team that has identified a protein, called P-Rex1, that is key to the movement of cells called melanoblasts. When these cells experience uncontrolled growth, melanoma develops.
Researchers have developed a new genetic screening tool that will aid in the investigation of possible treatments for patients with melanoma and the unique genetic mutations that may accompany the disease.
Jennerex, Inc., a private clinical-stage biotherapeutics company focused on the development and commercialization of first-in-class targeted oncolytic products for cancer, today announced that positive results from a proof-of-concept clinical trial using JX-594 to treat patients with metastatic melanoma were published in the peer-reviewed journal Molecular Therapy.
Cancer Research UK scientists have discovered that a protein called Rac1 prompts pigment cells to sprout long 'legs' that could propel skin cancer cells, allowing them to spread, according to research published in Developmental Cell today.
Ultra-tiny zinc oxide (ZnO) particles with dimensions less than one-ten-millionth of a meter are among the ingredients list of some commercially available sunscreen products, raising concerns about whether the particles may be absorbed beneath the outer layer of skin.
A new study has found a link between tobacco use and skin cancer especially in women. The study found that women who had squamous cell skin cancer were more likely to have smoked than those who were free from the disease. And those who smoked at least 20 years were twice as likely to develop squamous cell skin cancer - a less aggressive form of skin cancer as melanoma.
An antiparasitic agent used to treat African sleeping sickness might someday be used to prevent nonmelanoma skin cancers. Researchers found that DFMO, or a-difluoromethylornithine, still appeared to protect against nonmelanoma skin cancers years after people stopped taking the drug, according to a poster presented at the 10th AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, held Oct. 22-25, 2011.
In a survey of hair professionals, some reported that they look at customers' face, scalp and neck for suspicious skin lesions, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Dermatology.
An extraordinary breakthrough in understanding what stops a common form of skin cancer from developing could make new cancer treatments and prevention available to the public in five years.
New Zealanders aged 60 and over appear to wrongly believe they are at low risk of the fatal form of skin cancer melanoma, according to a new University of Otago study conducted for the Cancer Society of New Zealand.
With so many sunscreen options on the market, it can be confusing to know which ones offer the best protection. A new study further emphasizes the importance of selecting a broad-spectrum sunscreen to protect the skin against skin cancer and early aging. "Broad spectrum" means that a sunscreen provides protection against ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB) rays.
As an individual's level of vitamin D increases, the risk of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) seems to increase as well, although factors such as ultraviolet (UV) radiation exposure may complicate the relationship, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Dermatology.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Zelboraf (vemurafenib), a drug to treat patients with late-stage (metastatic) or unresectable (cannot be removed by surgery) melanoma, the most dangerous type of skin cancer.
Stomach cancer is actually two distinct disease variations based on its genetic makeup, and each responds differently to chemotherapy, according to an international team of scientists led by researchers at Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School.
The stomach bacterium Helicobacter pylori is one of the biggest risk factors for the development of gastric cancer, the third most common cause of cancer-related deaths in the world. Molecular biologists from the University of Zurich have now identified a mechanism of H. pylori that damages the DNA of cells in the gastric mucosa and sets them up for malignant transformation.
Without the ability to swim to their targets in the stomach, ulcer-causing bacteria do not cause the inflammation of the stomach lining that leads to ulcers and stomach cancer.
Antineoplastic agents such as immunotherapies and targeted therapies that specifically target signaling pathways in cancer cells are associated with thyroid dysfunction in 20%-50% of cancer patients taking them, which can adversely affect patients' quality of life, according to a study published Oct. 18 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Papillary carcinoma is the most common form of thyroid cancer. Approximately one quarter of these carcinomas have mutations in the BRAF gene. The prevalence of such mutations is even greater in high-grade carcinomas, particularly those that are refractory to standard treatment, which is radioactive iodine.
As the rate of thyroid cancer continues to climb, doctors are urging patients to be more cautious about thyroid nodules, a common disorder that is responsible for a small but growing number of thyroid cancer cases. Thyroid nodules affect nearly 13 million Americans and are a result of abnormal cell growth on the gland. Until recently, the only way to remove nodules and rule out cancer was through surgery that required a five centimeter incision across the front of the neck. The procedure, and the large scar that resulted, was a deterrent for many patients who feared altering their appearance for something that may not be life threatening.
Papillary thyroid cancer accounts for the majority of all thyroid malignancies, which primarily impact women. A new study indicates that routinely removing lymph nodes in the neck in these cancer patients may help prevent the disease from coming back.
Where thyroid cancer patients go for care plays a large role in whether they receive radioactive iodine treatment, a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center finds.
As the rate of thyroid cancer continues to climb, doctors are urging patients to be more cautious about thyroid nodules, a common disorder that is responsible for a small but growing number of thyroid cancer cases. Thyroid nodules affect nearly 13 million Americans and are a result of abnormal cell growth on the gland. Until recently, the only way to remove nodules and rule out cancer was through surgery that required a five centimeter incision across the front of the neck. The procedure, and the large scar that resulted, was a deterrent for many patients who feared altering their appearance for something that may not be life threatening. Today however, a new option exists that allows surgeons to access the neck through the armpit, allowing for a biopsy of tissue with no visible scar.
Despite uncertainty about the appropriate use of radioactive iodine after surgery for different stages of thyroid cancer, between 1990 and 2008 its use has increased among patients with all tumor sizes, and there was wide variation in use of this treatment among hospitals, according to a study in the August 17 issue of JAMA.
