Pancreatic Cancer News and Research

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Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of all cancer deaths in the United States and the third leading cause of cancer deaths in individuals ages 40 to 60. Approximately 37,000 Americans are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year, and, each year, approximately the same number die from it. Often, pancreatic cancer is found too late for surgical intervention, and chemotherapy and radiation treatments have little effect.

Cancer death rates declining but obesity still needs to be tackled

According to a new report from four major national cancer tracking groups there has been a steady decline in cancer death rates for men, women and children from 2004 to 2008. The declines in death and new cases of cancer reflect progress against the disease in terms of prevention, diagnosis and treatment, but experts say rising obesity may present a new challenge in the fight against cancer.

29 Mar 2012

ImaginAb completes Series A financing

ImaginAb, Inc. a clinical-stage company developing in vivo imaging agents for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) based on antibody fragment technology, today announced the completion of a Series A financing – led by Novartis Venture Funds.

27 Mar 2012

Novel interventional radiology procedure zaps around complicated pancreatic tumors

Results of a study presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 37th Annual Scientific Meeting in San Francisco, Calif., signal a light at the end of the tunnel for individuals with inoperable locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC). A new procedure called irreversible electroporation or IRE uses microsecond electrical pulses to force open and destroy tumor cells around a vast and delicate network of blood vessels of the pancreas.

27 Mar 2012

Enrollment complete in Clovis' CO-101 pivotal study for metastatic pancreatic cancer

Clovis Oncology, Inc. announced today that it has reached the target enrollment in its pivotal LEAP (Low hENT1 and Adenocarcinoma of the Pancreas) study of CO-101 in metastatic pancreatic cancer.

26 Mar 2012

Cathepsin Z protein regulates metastasis of pancreatic cancer

Researchers at Queen Mary, University of London have identified a new protein that makes pancreatic cancer cells less 'sticky' and therefore less able to attach to and invade other tissue.

26 Mar 2012

Study shows how to defeat chemotherapy barrier in pancreatic cancer

Scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) have discovered a literal 'break through' in pancreatic cancer.

21 Mar 2012

PEGPH20 enzyme re-expands insides of blood vessels to allow more drugs to reach tumours

Cancer Research UK scientists have shown that an enzyme can re-expand the insides of blood vessels allowing more drugs and large antibody molecules to reach pancreatic tumours, according to research published in GUT today.

21 Mar 2012

OSU, NCKU sign MOU to improve clinical research on pancreatic cancer

National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Tainan, southern Taiwan, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Ohio State University (OSU) College of Pharmacy on March 20 at the NCKU College of Medicine as part of its effort to enhance its international academic cooperation and most importantly to improve the clinical research on pancreatic cancer.

21 Mar 2012

Two awards to advance pancreatic cancer research

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and the American Association for Cancer Research have awarded Stephanie K. Dougan, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, and Oliver G. McDonald, M.D., Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University, the 2012 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network-AACR Pathway to Leadership Grants.

16 Mar 2012

Nuvilex discusses Cell-in-a-Box technology used for pancreatic cancer clinical trial

Nuvilex, Inc., an emerging biotechnology provider of cell and gene therapy solutions, discussed today the proprietary Cell-in-a-Box technology, being acquired from SG Austria, that was used for the pancreatic cancer clinical trial and may have an effect on downstream micro metastatic disease.

14 Mar 2012

Researchers discover over 500 genes that may contribute to pancreatic cancer

A global team led by scientists from The Methodist Hospital Research Institute has identified more than 500 genes that may cause or contribute to the development of pancreatic cancer.

13 Mar 2012

Altogen launches new pancreas-targeted in vivo RNAi transfection system

Altogen Biosystems announced the launch of its new pancreas-targeted in vivo RNAi transfection system in the company's popular in vivo delivery product line for use in laboratories and research facilities for development of new medicines and testing in cells and animals.

7 Mar 2012

Rigosertib drug shows promise against advanced pancreatic cancer

The American Cancer Society estimates that 44,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer will be diagnosed this year and that 37,000 people will die from the disease. These are not strong odds. A new drug, rigosertib, allows pancreatic cancer cells to rush through replication - and then stops them cold, killing them in in the middle of a step called M phase. Healthy cells that don't rush are unharmed.

3 Mar 2012

Northern Ireland has higher survival rates for pancreatic cancer, leukaemia

The first audit of leukaemia treatment and survival in Northern Ireland by the Cancer Registry (NICR) at Queen's University Belfast has shown that survival rates for the disease here are at the highest levels since data collection began in 1993.

2 Mar 2012

1.3 million cancer deaths in 2012 in the EU: Report

New research released this Wednesday shows that almost 1.3 million people will die of cancer in the European Union this year, but death rates from the disease are on a steady decline.

1 Mar 2012

Combination treatment for pancreatic cancer increases intratumoral gemcitabine levels

Oncologists who treat patients with pancreatic cancer may be one step closer to understanding why gemcitabine, the only currently available treatment, works in some cases but not in others, according to a paper in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

29 Feb 2012

Tiny molecule might help protect pancreas from cancer

A tiny molecule might help protect the pancreas from deadly disease and cancer. Tackling a mysterious process: There is a feeling that neglected cancers need more research and Pancreatic cancer is one of the least studied. Today, the survival rate is 3% for five years. Professor Petersen, at the School of Biosciences at Cardiff University, hopes his team's research can change that.

29 Feb 2012

Study identifies how chemo drug combination kills pancreatic cancer cells

Cancer Research UK scientists have discovered how a combination of two chemotherapy drugs - already showing promise in clinical trials - destroys pancreatic cancer cells, according to research published in Cancer Discovery.

29 Feb 2012

Aurora-A protein blocks proper functioning of tumor-suppressor p73

A protein abundantly found in treatment-resistant cancers holds an important tumor-suppressor out of the cell nucleus, where it would normally detect DNA damage and force defective cells to kill themselves, a team of scientists reports in the current Cancer Cell.

28 Feb 2012

Two-target approach may effectively stop pancreatic cancer metastasis

Simultaneous targeting of two different molecules in cancer is an effective way to shrink tumors, block invasion, and stop metastasis, scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) have found—work that may improve the effectiveness of combination treatments that include drugs like Avastin.

27 Feb 2012