Leukemia News and Research

RSS

Leukemia (Leukaemia) is a cancer of the blood cells. It is the most common type of blood cancer and affects 10 times as many adults as children. Most people diagnosed with leukemia are over 50 years old. No one knows why some people develop leukemia and others do not. However, scientists have identified some risk factors for the disease. Most people who have known risk factors do not get leukemia, while many who do get the disease have none of these risk factors. During the early stages of leukemia, there may be no symptoms. Many of the symptoms of leukemia don't become apparent until a large number of normal blood cells are crowded out by leukemia cells.

Tattoo ink from 15 years ago mimics lymph node cancer: Case study

A 30 year old Australian woman presented to the doctors with numerous small lumps under her arms for around two weeks. When one of the nodes were put under the microscope, the doctors found pigments from tattoo ink that she’d got 15 years back.

4 Oct 2017

Researchers identify new cancer-causing pathway behind most aggressive type of leukemia

A team led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators has identified a new cancer-causing pathway behind most cases of an aggressive type of leukemia, findings that could lead to new targeted treatment approaches.

3 Oct 2017

New gene therapy to treat cancer in children, young adults offers hopes and challenges

The first gene therapy for cancer, approved by the Food Drug Administration in August, will transform the treatment of a particular kind of cancer in children and young adults. It's transformative because it uses a patient's own immune cells to attack the cancer cells.

3 Oct 2017

UTHealth’s bioinformatician receives $5.8 CPRIT grant to sort out cancer data for finding cures

In keeping with the shift in cancer research from data generation to data analysis, bioinformatician W. Jim Zheng, Ph.D., of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston has been awarded a five-year, $5.8 million Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas grant to sort out information that could lead to cancer cures.

28 Sep 2017

Columbia University receives $9.6 million NIH grant for ME/CFS research center

The National Institutes of Health has awarded a five-year $9.6 million grant to the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health to create the Center for Solutions for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CfS for ME/CFS), an inter-disciplinary, inter-institutional research group dedicated to understanding the biology of the disease in order to develop effective means to diagnose, treat and prevent it.

27 Sep 2017

Trial identifies genetic fault that affects treatment response in leukemia patients

A genetic fault has been identified in people with an aggressive type of leukemia that can significantly affect how they respond to treatment.

27 Sep 2017

Existing drugs may be able to improve therapy for chronic myeloid leukemia, mice study shows

Two drugs, already approved for safe use in people, may be able to improve therapy for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a blood cancer that affects myeloid cells, according to results from a University of Iowa study in mice.

26 Sep 2017

Diet and exercise have potential to improve chemotherapy effectiveness in pediatric cancer patients

Diet and exercise may improve treatment outcomes in pediatric cancer patients, according to a study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Children's Cancer Hospital.

21 Sep 2017

Forgotten strands of DNA induce 'big bang' of immune cell development

Intricate human physiological features such as the immune system require exquisite formation and timing to develop properly. Genetic elements must be activated at just the right moment, across vast distances of genomic space.

21 Sep 2017

Researchers explore new combination approach to treat high-risk soft-tissue sarcomas

University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers are investigating a new approach to treat high-risk soft-tissue sarcomas by combining two immunotherapy drugs with radiation therapy to stimulate the immune system to destroy the main tumor as well as leftover microscopic cancer cells that may seed other tumors.

20 Sep 2017

Inactivation of Capicua gene leads to formation of T-ALL tumors in mice, researchers find

Researchers at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre have discovered a genetic alteration that is directly involved in at least 10% of cases of one of the most common cancers in children, T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

20 Sep 2017

As care shifts from hospital to home, guarding against infection falls to families

Angela Cooper arrived home from work to discover her daughter’s temperature had spiked to 102 degrees — a sign that the teenager, who has cancer, had a potentially deadly bloodstream infection.

19 Sep 2017

Make Sense campaign aims to promote better quality of life for head and neck cancer survivors

On the advent of the 2017 Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week, the European Cancer Patient Coalition invited patients and policy makers to gather at the European Parliament to promote better quality of life for cancer patients and survivors as part of the Make Sense Campaign.

19 Sep 2017

Research reveals sugary secrets of protein important for development and cancer progression

The proteins in human cells are extensively decorated with different types of sugars, a phenomenon called glycosylation. These modifications greatly increase the diversity of protein structure and function, affecting how proteins fold, how they behave, and where they go in cells.

15 Sep 2017

Research provides insight into how imbalance in neural precursor cells may contribute to brain diseases

Salk Institute scientists have discovered that an interaction between two key proteins helps regulate and maintain the cells that produce neurons.

15 Sep 2017

Leeds Teaching Hospitals to introduce private stem cell collection and storage option for patients

The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is continually striving to provide high quality, patient centred care to each and every patient. Smart Cells International, in association with the trust, will be introducing the option for patients to privately store stem cells from the umbilical cord across St James’s University Hospital, Leeds General Infirmary and Wharfedale Hospital.

14 Sep 2017

Modified blood thinner may be first promising method to prevent repercussions after TBI

A chemically modified version of the common blood thinner heparin may be the first promising method of preventing the harmful cascade of destruction to brain tissue that commonly follows traumatic brain injury (TBI), according to new research findings.

13 Sep 2017

Arkansas professor makes strides toward developing enhanced cancer treatment

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock professor is making strides toward developing an effective cancer treatment without the severe side effects of traditional therapies.

13 Sep 2017

Female cancer survivors have higher risks of poor pregnancy outcomes, study finds

An International Journal of Cancer study found that female survivors of certain types of cancer have higher risks of poor outcomes in pregnancies conceived after diagnosis than women without cancer.

12 Sep 2017

Epigenetic changes triggered by cigarette smoke may be earliest step in lung cancer development

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center say they have preliminary evidence in laboratory-grown, human airway cells that a condensed form of cigarette smoke triggers so-called "epigenetic" changes in the cells consistent with the earliest steps toward lung cancer development.