Metastasis News and Research

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Metastasis is the spread of cancer from one part of the body to another. A tumor formed by cells that have spread is called a “metastatic tumor” or a “metastasis.” The metastatic tumor contains cells that are like those in the original (primary) tumor. The plural form of metastasis is metastases

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is an effective, longlasting treatment for small kidney tumors in selected patients

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers have shown that radiofrequency ablation (RFA) - a minimally invasive way of destroying tissue - is an effective, longlasting treatment for small kidney tumors in selected patients.

20 Jun 2005

Claudin-1 regulates cellular transformation and metastatic behavior in colon cancer

Disruption of proteins expressed at the junctures between cells (known as tight junctions) is a hallmark of cancer cell invasion and spread (metastasis).

16 Jun 2005

Chemokine Therapeutics granted new U.S patent

Chemokine Therapeutics has announced that it has been granted U.S. Patent No. 6,875,738 relating to the use of its anti-cancer compound, CTCE-9908, in the treatment of cancer and inhibition of angiogenesis. CTCE-9908 is designed to block CXCR4, a receptor found on the surface of cancer cells.

14 Jun 2005

Bio-engineered skin provides clues to melanoma development

When it comes to the deadly skin cancer melanoma, studying functional tissue rather than cell lines may better provide insight into the disease's development, according to new research from a Howard Hughes Medical Institute predoctoral fellow at Stanford University School of Medicine.

12 Jun 2005

Finding could provide targets for diagnosis, prognosis, therapy of prostate cancer

Researchers led by Dr. Shiv Srivastava from the Center for Prostate Disease Research (CPDR), Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU), report the groundbreaking discovery of the ETS-Related Gene (ERG) as one of the frequent proto-oncogene overexpressions in prostate cancer cells.

10 Jun 2005

Omega-3 combined with propofol may lead to new drugs to treat breast cancer

Omega-3, the fatty acid found in oily fish, could be combined with a commonly used anesthetic to develop drugs to treat breast cancer, according to research published in the journal Breast Cancer Research.

8 Jun 2005

New type of inhalation chemotherapy

Pediatric cancer specialists at The Children's Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) are investigating a new type of inhalation chemotherapy with the potential to treat children with a deadly bone cancer that has spread to their lungs.

26 May 2005

Discovery may lead to new drugs to treat cancer, control fertility

A recent discovery in cellular biology may allow scientists to enhance organ regeneration by stem cells, prevent the progression of cancer, and control fertility.

22 May 2005

Cetuximab (Erbitux) can battle cancer and prolong life in many patients with advanced colorectal cancer

"Even in people who have gone through six or more previous courses of chemotherapy, cetuximab, may fight the growth of cancer, giving patients additional months of life," says study presenter Heinz-Josef Lenz, M.D., associate professor of medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.

20 May 2005

Patients with suspicious axillary lymph nodes in their breasts should first undergo ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration to avoid unnecessary surgery

Currently, breast cancer patients undergo axillary lymph node dissection for accurate staging and control of the cancer. In many cases, this major procedure can be replaced by sentinel lymph node biopsy, which is a more simple and less invasive surgical procedure, but many still have to undergo axillary dissection after the sentinel lymph node biopsy.

17 May 2005

Whole-body MRI takes less than twenty minutes to accurately scan a patient’s entire body for cancer spread to the bone

Whole-body MRI with an automatic moving table is effective for evaluating the entire skeleton in patients with suspected bone metastasis (cancer that has spread to the bone from other parts of the body) in a single imaging scan-and it only takes between 15 and 18 minutes, say two different European studies.

17 May 2005

Tarvacin equivalent plus Docetaxel inhibits breast tumor growth by 93%

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc., today announced that a research article titled "A Monoclonal Antibody that Binds Anionic Phospholipids on Tumor Blood Vessels Enhances the Antitumor Effect of Docetaxel on Human Breast Tumors in Mice" was published in the May 15 issue of Cancer Research.

16 May 2005

Herceptin could be used safely for bladder cancer

A targeted drug shown to improve the outcome of certain breast cancer patients may be of use in the treatment of advanced cases of bladder cancer, according to new research led by the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

15 May 2005

New strategy to identify differences between non-metastatic and highly metastatic breast cancer cells

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego have used a new strategy to identify differences between non-metastatic and highly metastatic breast cancer cells. The article by Valerie Montel et al., "Expression profiling of primary tumors and matched lymphatic and lung metastases in a xenogeneic breast cancer model," appears in the May 2005 issue of The American Journal of Pathology and is accompanied by a commentary.

22 Apr 2005

RNA interference permanently silences key breast cancer gene

In laboratory mouse experiments, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have developed a way to use RNA interference (RNAi) so that it permanently hampers breast cancer development. The technique permanently silences activated STAT3, a crucial gene found in some human breast tumors, thus reducing the cancer's ability to become invasive.

20 Apr 2005

New test for cancer, more sensitive than any existing techniques

Speaking at the Institute of Physics conference Physics 2005 in Warwick, scientists will reveal a new test for cancer, more sensitive than any existing technique and capable of predicting for the first time whether a tumour has spread.

12 Apr 2005

Genomic DNA provides clues to new advances in cancer diagnostics

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have identified a method of assessing the malignant potential of cells based on the sensitivity of cellular DNA to enzyme digestion.

22 Mar 2005

Investigational drug may help prevent recurrence of ovarian cancer

A drug that may help prevent recurrence of ovarian cancer by inhibiting development of new blood vessels essential to cancer growth is under study at the Medical College of Georgia.

9 Mar 2005

New cancer drug Avastin keeps cancer under control

Data published for the first time today in the leading Journal of Clinical Oncology showed that the unique new cancer drug Avastin keeps cancer under control for a significantly longer duration, even when used in a group of elderly patients with advanced colorectal cancer who are too sick to tolerate traditional aggressive chemotherapy.

1 Mar 2005

Origins of skin cancer melanoma

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have found an important clue about the origins of the deadly skin cancer melanoma.

7 Feb 2005