Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

UK Government ignoring scientific concerns over proposed Human Tissue Bill

The Royal Society today (Monday 26 April 2004) warned the UK Government that continuing to ignore the concerns of the scientific community over the proposed Human Tissue Bill could cut off vital avenues of research into understanding disease.

26 Apr 2004

New cancer drug Tarceva - a breakthrough with significant survival benefit in patients with advanced lung cancer

OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Genentech, Inc., and Roche today announced that a Phase III study of Tarceva™ (erlotinib HCl), an investigational HER1/EGFR-inhibitor agent in previously treated patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), met its primary endpoint of improving overall survival, with patients receiving Tarceva™ living longer than those in the placebo arm of the study.

26 Apr 2004

Diets like Atkins could help prevent Alzheimer's, cancer, diabetes and Parkinson's disease

Though diets like Atkins and South Beach are the current rage, an emerging eating philosophy may do more than temporarily take off pounds: It could help treat disease.

26 Apr 2004

US airport screening in question after health and screening issues

Security screeners at Miami International Airport have become ill for the fourth time in a single month.

25 Apr 2004

The cancer death rate for African-American males would drop by nearly two-thirds if their exposure to tobacco smoke was eliminated

The overall cancer death rate for African-American males would drop by nearly two-thirds -- without any other intervention -- if their exposure to tobacco smoke was eliminated, a new study suggests.

25 Apr 2004

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) overview

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is an atypical form of pneumonia that first appeared in November 2002 in Guangdong Province, China.

24 Apr 2004

Health Canada prepares for West Nile virus

To prepare for the upcoming West Nile (WN) virus season, Health Canada, in collaboration with its many partners, is focussing its efforts in six main areas of activity

24 Apr 2004

Skin cancer is now the UK's most common cancer in both men and women

Macmillan skin cancer nurse specialists will be promoting sun awareness and the dangers of skin cancer during Sun Awareness Week which runs from 10 to 16 May.

23 Apr 2004

Leading cancer care charity Macmillan Cancer Relief is once again rated most effective charity at campaigning by MPs

Leading cancer care charity Macmillan Cancer Relief is once again rated most effective charity at campaigning by MPs. The latest nfpSynergy Charity Parliamentary Monitor puts Macmillan ahead of the UK's other leading charities.

23 Apr 2004

Dance Marathon to commit $10 million for new pediatric cancer pavilion

The 2004 Overall Committee for the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon (THON) has announced that THON will commit $10 million over the next six years to create a pediatric cancer pavilion at Children's Hospital at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

23 Apr 2004

CellCept linked to reduced cancer incidence

A study presented today at an international transplant meeting showed that heart transplant patients treated with the immunosuppressant CellCeptÒ (mycophenolate mofetil) in standard immunosuppressive regimens had a significantly lower risk of developing cancer compared to those receiving non-CellCept-based treatment regimens.

23 Apr 2004

The April 2004 issue of Otolaryngology focuses on head and neck surgery

The efficacy of a new cancer-fighting virus is tested in the study, “Treatment of Solid Sarcomas in Immunocompetent Mice with Novel Oncolytic Herpes Simplex Viruses.” A team of multi-disciplinary Japanese researchers found that a weakened version of herpes simplex virus (HSV) effectively eradicated neck and flank tumors in mice.

23 Apr 2004

Palliative care improvements needed in Australia

While Australian expertise in palliative care to ease the suffering of dying people has developed rapidly over the past 20 years, there is still a long way to go, writes Professor Margaret O'Connor, who holds the inaugural Vivian Bullwinkel chair in palliative care nursing at Monash.

23 Apr 2004

Researchers make millions upon millions of drug-like peptides quickly and efficiently

Two Johns Hopkins scientists have figured out a simple way to make millions upon millions of drug-like peptides quickly and efficiently, overcoming a major hurdle to creating and screening huge "libraries" of these super-short proteins for use in drug development.

23 Apr 2004

Hepatitis B vaccination for inmates

rrectional settings provide a unique opportunity to offer hepatitis B vaccination to a substantial number of high-risk adults who are willing to be vaccinated and who would not otherwise have access to the preventive medicine, according to a new Brown University study of inmates within the Rhode Island Department of Corrections.

23 Apr 2004

Potential new drug may slow the progression of the Parkinson's disease

An international team of Parkinson's disease researchers has shown that a potential new drug is effective at treating patients in the early stages of Parkinson's and may even slow the progression of the disease. The results from the Parkinson Study Group are in the April 19 issue of the Archives of Neurology.

22 Apr 2004

Commons urged to support palliative care financially

Leading cancer care charity Macmillan Cancer Relief today gave evidence to the influential Commons Health Select Committee as part of its inquiry into palliative care provision.

22 Apr 2004

Research into link between oceans and human health

The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), one of the National Institutes of Health, have announced funding for four joint Centers for Oceans and Human Health (COHH). The centers will be located at the University of Washington, the University of Hawaii, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, and the University of Miami.

22 Apr 2004

Breast cancer reduction findings need further investigation

Last month, an observational study conducted by the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) was halted prematurely because of possible risks associated with the use of conjugated equine estrogen (CEE) therapy in women who have undergone hysterectomy.

22 Apr 2004

New techniques to search the yeast genome for genes that help keep copied chromosomes together

Johns Hopkins scientists have successfully used new techniques to search the yeast genome for genes that help keep copied chromosomes together, protecting the integrity of the organism's genetic material during cell division.

22 Apr 2004