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Autologous HSPPC-96 vaccine clinically beneficial for GBM patients

Study results from a Phase II multicenter clinical trial tracking the impact that autologous heat shock protein-peptide vaccine (HSPPC-96) has on recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) patients showed that such a vaccine may be clinically beneficial.

18 Apr 2012

IMRT better than CRT for treatment of localized prostate cancer

A treatment for localized prostate cancer known as Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) is better than conventional conformal radiation therapy (CRT) for reducing certain side effects and preventing cancer recurrence, according to a study published in the April 18, 2012 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

18 Apr 2012

Surgery to remove only the tumor preferable to removing entire kidney

Kidney cancer patients who had only their tumor removed had better survival than patients who had their entire kidney removed, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

18 Apr 2012

Tumor size helps predict survival in node-negative breast cancer patients

Research from investigators at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ), UMDNJ-School of Public Health (SPH) and UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, indicates that tumor size stratified by age, race and hormone receptor status helps predict survival in node-negative breast cancer patients.

18 Apr 2012

New brain cancer vaccine with material from own tumors proves effective in clinical trial

A new brain cancer vaccine tailored to individual patients by using material from their own tumors has proven effective in a multicenter phase 2 clinical trial at extending their lives by several months or longer. The patients suffered from recurrent glioblastoma multiforme-which kills thousands of Americans every year.

18 Apr 2012

High intensity focused ultrasound to treat prostate cancer shows initial success

A new tumor treatment that involves heating it with highly focused ultrasound, may mean men with prostate tumors can be treated without an overnight stay in hospital and avoiding the distressing side effects associated with current therapies.

17 Apr 2012

Tumor microenvironment contributes critically to drug response

It should be possible to significantly improve the response of common cancers to existing "classical" chemotherapy drugs, say scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), by introducing agents that alter the interaction of cancer cells with their immediate surroundings, called the tumor microenvironment.

17 Apr 2012

Novel system for 3D reconstruction and examination of tissues at microscopic resolution

Researchers have developed a novel, easy-to-use system for three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction and examination of tissues at microscopic resolution, with the potential to significantly enhance the study of normal and disease processes, particularly those involving structural changes. The new approach, using conventional histopathological methods, is described in the May issue of The American Journal of Pathology.

17 Apr 2012

New study describes therapeutic approach to halt cancer progression

A new study describes a therapeutic approach to halting cancer progression by exploiting a previously unrecognized "addiction" of leukemia cells to specific signaling molecules. The research, published by Cell Press online on April 16th in the journal Cancer Cell, identifies non-classical oncogenes critical for tumor development and survival, and describes a potentially less toxic strategy that selectively targets these molecules.

17 Apr 2012

Study: Kidney cancer growth depends on autophagy

New research at the University of Cincinnati (UC) suggests that kidney cancer growth depends on autophagy, a complex process that can provide cells with nutrients from intracellular sources. Researchers say in certain circumstances autophagy can protect tumor cells from chemotherapy, allowing them to survive for long periods of time in a hidden, dormant, metastatic state.

17 Apr 2012

Brainlab announces first patient procedures with Curve Image Guided Surgery at UCSF

Brainlab, a leader in software-driven medical technology, announced today the first patient procedures with Curve Image Guided Surgery at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center's Neuro-Oncology Clinic.

17 Apr 2012

Hydrophilic carbon cluster HADES can selectively kill brain cancer cells

Nanomedicine researchers at the Methodist Neurological Institute and Rice University have developed a way to selectively kill brain cancer cells by using a tiny syringe to deliver a combination of chemotherapy drugs directly into the cells. These findings will be published in the April 24 issue of the American Chemical Society journal ACS Nano.

17 Apr 2012

Steroids still work better for patients with sciatica

Despite the great promise that injecting a new type of anti-inflammatory pain medicine into the spine could relieve the severe leg and lower back pain of sciatica, a Johns Hopkins-led study has found that the current standard of care with steroid injections still does better.

17 Apr 2012

Morphotek commences MORAb-004 Phase II study in metastatic colorectal cancer

Morphotek, Inc., a subsidiary of Eisai Inc., announced today that it has commenced a multi-center, Phase II study evaluating the safety and efficacy of MORAb-004 in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer that is refractory to all standard therapy.

17 Apr 2012

Study pinpoints compounds that repress cancer gene’s activity

A research team pursuing one of the most commonly altered genes in cancer has laid a critical foundation for understanding this gene that could point the way toward developing drugs against it. A recent study of cancer genetics pointed to the gene MCL1, which encodes a protein that helps keep cells alive

17 Apr 2012

Merck, Endocyte enter vintafolide development and commercialization agreement

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, and Endocyte Inc., today announced that they have entered into an agreement to develop and commercialize Endocyte's novel investigational therapeutic candidate vintafolide (EC145).

16 Apr 2012

Tool predicts response to platinum-based chemotherapy in ovarian cancer

A DNA repair pathway-focused score has the potential to help determine if first-line platinum based chemotherapy can benefit advanced-stage ovarian cancer patients, according to a study published April 13 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

16 Apr 2012

TGF-β molecule ramps up the immune system in some cases and suppress it in others

Loyola researchers are reporting surprising findings about a molecule that helps ramp up the immune system in some cases and suppress it in others.

16 Apr 2012

Neurosurgeons from NYU Langone to present at AANS annual meeting

Neurosurgeons from NYU Langone Medical Center will present research and discuss surgical approaches and use of new technologies to treat neurosurgical conditions at the annual meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), held April 14-18, 2012 in Miami Beach, FL.

16 Apr 2012

Researchers identify new mechanism by which colon cancer develops

A team of researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have identified a new mechanism by which colon cancer develops. By focusing on segments of DNA located between genes, or so-called "junk DNA," the team has discovered a set of master switches, i.e., gene enhancer elements, that turn "on and off" key genes whose altered expression is defining for colon cancers.

16 Apr 2012