Oncology News and Research

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Oncology, meaning bulk, mass, or tumor, and the suffix ''-logy'', meaning "study of") is a branch of medicine that deals with tumors (cancer). A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''.

New leukemia drug gives renewed hope to those battling drug resistance to the disease

New research offers hope for victims of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) battling drug resistance to the disease.

18 Jun 2006

Dasatinib offers new options for leukemia patients

Dasatinib, an experimental drug under development by Bristol-Myers Squibb, reverses the signs and symptoms of patients whose chronic myeloid leukemia has failed to respond to Gleevec, which is considered the standard of treatment for the disorder.

14 Jun 2006

New test identifies patients who benefit from targeted cancer drugs

New lab test accurately identified patients who would benefit from treatment with the molecularly-targeted anti-cancer therapies gefitinib (Iressa, AstraZeneca) and erlotinib (Tarceva, Genentech).

13 Jun 2006

PATH to pave the way for cervical cancer vaccines in the developing world

The global health nonprofit PATH has launched a five-year effort to make sure that new cervical cancer vaccines - the first vaccines developed and approved just for women's health - reach women in the developing world.

9 Jun 2006

New era in cancer prevention

Nearly two decades ago, researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and other institutions began searching for the underlying causes of cervical cancer.

9 Jun 2006

Terminally ill cancer patients continue to receive aggressive treatment at end of life

The increasing use of chemotherapy and intensive hospital treatment for cancer patients in their last two weeks of life continued at least into the late 1990s despite the growth of the hospice movement that emphasizes comforting personal bonds and controlling pain and discomfort

9 Jun 2006

Bortezomib extends lung cancer survival

Adding the new molecularly targeted agent bortezomib to a standard chemotherapy regimen of gemcitabine and carboplatin prolongs survival in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer, according to results from a phase II trial.

9 Jun 2006

Reovirus could be used to treat many forms of advanced cancer

An experimental drug called Reolysin may give hope to patients suffering from advanced cancers, according to research presented at this year's meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

8 Jun 2006

Physicians validate reclassification of breast cancer stages

Breast cancer is diagnosed as having progressed to any of four stages, Stage IV being the most advanced. The stages are classified by the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) on the basis of how much the cancer has spread.

7 Jun 2006

Glivec the best news yet for cancer victims

In what is great news for those suffering from chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), the drug Glivec looks like being one of the biggest breakthroughs in cancer therapy for a years.

7 Jun 2006

Black women have fewer breast cancers than white women, but their mortality is worse

For decades, researchers have tried to understand why breast cancer in younger black women is such a significant public health problem.

7 Jun 2006

Trastuzumab results promising for HER-2 positive breast cancer patients

Researchers have shown that patients who receive trastuzumab at the same time as post-chemotherapy radiation treatments for HER-2 positive breast cancer have no more risk for major side effects or complications than those who do not receive the drug.

7 Jun 2006

Prophylactic surgery reduces the incidence of ovarian and related cancers

A new multicenter study is the first to suggest that the prophylactic removal of the ovaries and fallopian tubes may provide a different benefit for women who carry a genetic mutation in the BRCA2 gene than for those who have a BRCA1 genetic mutation.

7 Jun 2006

Exercise is emerging as a new therapeutic weapon to tackle cancer

When individuals with breast or prostate cancer followed a moderate, home-based exercise program using resistance bands and walking, the patients had less fatigue during radiation treatments, greater strength and could walk farther and faster in only four weeks, researchers discovered in a pilot study.

7 Jun 2006

Long-term benefits of imatinib for patients newly diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia

The overall survival of most people with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) treated with imatinib (Gleevec, STI-571) is extremely high and the relapse rate is quite low, according to new data from a study out of the Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute.

6 Jun 2006

Hormonal treatments reduce risk of cancer returning

Women diagnosed with breast cancer who carry a certain genetic mutation can have breast-sparing surgery but should consider hormonal treatments to reduce their risk of cancer returning.

6 Jun 2006

Drug adverts aimed at cancer patients difficult to read

Oncology drug advertisements that ran in patient-focused cancer magazines presented the drugs' benefits differently -- earlier in the advertisement text and in larger type size -- than their side effects or risks, according to an analysis by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

6 Jun 2006