Lymph Node News and Research

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Lymph is clear or white fluid that travels through vessels, moves within tissues and work to keep all the parts of the body clean. After passing through the channels of the lymphatic system they drain into the lymph nodes. The lymph nodes act as filters along the lymphatic system. These nodes trap germs like bacteria, viruses, toxins as well as cancer cells and ensure that these are removed from the body.

Biopsy of recurrent breast cancer can alter treatment

For women with recurrent breast cancer, the treatment the doctor chooses is usually based on the properties of their original breast cancer.

20 Mar 2009

Obesity brings worse outcomes after pancreatic cancer surgery

Obese patients with a body mass index (BMI) of more than 35 appear more likely to have cancer that has spread to their lymph nodes, lower rates of survival and higher rates of recurrence following surgery for pancreatic cancer, according to a report in the March issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

16 Mar 2009

Dendritic cells ensure immune tolerance

One of the most important tasks of the immune system is to identify what is foreign and what is self. If this distinction fails, then the body's own structures will be attacked, the result of which could be an autoimmune disease such as diabetes mellitus type 1 or multiple sclerosis. The only way to protect against these afflictions is to destroy all immune factors that turn against the body's own tissue - in other words: immune tolerance.

16 Mar 2009

Bottom up assembly of cells into 3-D microtissues

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory can now control how cells connect with one another in vitro and assemble themselves into three-dimensional, multicellular microtissues.

5 Mar 2009

Dermatologists find new application for technique used to treat spider veins

Recent advances in skin rejuvenation can take years off one's appearance by softening or erasing fine lines and wrinkles, plumping sunken cheeks and erasing sun spots and uneven pigmentation.

5 Mar 2009

New technique to determine tumor methylation status

Current research suggests that a new technique to determine tumor methylation status can be used in archived tissue samples.

23 Feb 2009

Metastasis-promoting protein identified; could provide a prognostic test or target for breast cancer

Tumors that are about to progress and metastasize go through a process also seen in normal embryonic development, known as the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT).

23 Feb 2009

B-cell clones as early markers for chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Testing of blood specimens may detect abnormal white blood cells in patients years before the chronic form of lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) develops, according to research published in the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

22 Feb 2009

Genetic ID of marker in lymph nodes may be linked to colorectal cancer recurrence risk

A preliminary report suggests that genetic testing may help identify a marker in lymph nodes that is associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer recurrence among patients in whom conventional testing indicates that those lymph nodes show no evidence of cancer spread, according to a study in the February 18 issue of JAMA.

18 Feb 2009

Presence of a biomarker in regional lymph nodes predicts disease recurrence in colorectal cancer

Findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Association by researchers at Thomas Jefferson University show that the presence of a biomarker in regional lymph nodes is an independent predictor of disease recurrence in patients with colorectal cancer.

18 Feb 2009

New guidelines emphasize use of breast MRI to supplement standard imaging

Updated guidelines for physicians that represent best practices for using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to newly diagnose breast cancer and to make treatment decisions for breast cancer were published today in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.

17 Feb 2009

Women's cancer outcome improved by surgical evaluation

Many women scheduled to undergo hysterectomy for pre-cancerous cell changes actually need a more comprehensive surgery, something they should discuss with a gynecologic oncologist, say researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

16 Feb 2009

New genomic test can personalize breast cancer treatment

A set of 50 genes can be used to reliably identify the four known types of breast cancer, according to research conducted at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and collaborating institutions.

9 Feb 2009

Black women with uterine cancers more likely to die than white patients

Black women with cancers of the uterus are less likely to survive the disease than white women, and relatively little progress has been made over the past two decades to narrow this racial difference.

9 Feb 2009

Chemical mediator in blood found to also control breakdown of bone

A new study demonstrates that a chemical mediator in the blood that influences immune cell migration also plays a key role in maintaining the balance between the build-up and breakdown of bones in the body.

8 Feb 2009

19 percent of breast cancer patients don't receive recommended radiation after mastectomy

One-fifth of women who should receive radiation after a mastectomy are not getting this potentially lifesaving treatment, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

3 Feb 2009

PET/CT may improve prognosis for patients with inflammatory breast cancer

In the largest study to date to evaluate fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography combined with computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) in the initial staging of inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), researchers were able to identify the precise location and extent of metastasis (spread of disease), offering the potential for a better prognosis for patients with this rare, but aggressive form of breast cancer.

2 Feb 2009