Leukemia News and Research

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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.

Cepheid launches new Xpert BCR-ABL Monitor test

Cepheid today announced the release of an updated Xpert BCR-ABL Monitor test, now incorporating lot-specific standardization using the WHO (World Health Organization) BCR-ABL standards.

25 Jul 2012

Karyopharm commences two KPT-330 phase 1 studies in cancers

Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc., a leader in the new field of nuclear transport modulators, announced dosing of patients in the first-in-human clinical trials with KPT-330.

25 Jul 2012

EntreMed commences ENMD-2076 Phase 2 study in triple-negative breast cancer

EntreMed, Inc., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, announced today the initiation of a dual-institutional Phase 2 study of ENMD-2076 in triple-negative breast cancer. Jennifer R. Diamond, MD at the University of Colorado serves as the principal investigator for the study.

25 Jul 2012

Giving patients a new immune system can cure Crohn's disease

Researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have opened a clinical trial to test the theory that giving a patient a new immune system can cure severe cases of Crohn's disease, a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract.

25 Jul 2012

Study represents new use of bone marrow transplantation

24 Jul 2012

Genetic underpinnings of Wiedemann-Steiner syndrome identified

Researchers have identified a genetic underpinning of Wiedemann-Steiner syndrome.

23 Jul 2012

Researchers identify several gene mutations responsible for medulloblastoma

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital have identified several gene mutations responsible for the most common childhood brain tumor, called medulloblastoma, adding evidence to the theory that the diagnosis is a group of genetically distinct cancers with different prognoses. These and accompanying findings are likely to lead to less-toxic, better-targeted treatment approaches over the next two years, the researchers said.

23 Jul 2012

Janssen-Cilag receives positive opinion from EMA CHMP for DACOGEN

Janssen-Cilag International NV announced today that the Committee for Medical Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has granted a positive opinion recommending approval of DACOGEN (decitabine) for Injection.

21 Jul 2012

Allergy to deamidated gluten a separate phenotype to wheat allergy

Severe allergic reactions to deamidated gluten in individuals tolerant to wheat are linked to a separate phenotype of wheat allergy, suggest study findings.

20 Jul 2012

Study helps explain why leukemia occurs more frequently as people age

Hundreds of mutations exist in leukemia cells at the time of diagnosis, but nearly all occur randomly as a part of normal aging and are not related to cancer, new research shows.

20 Jul 2012

Actinium completes Actimab-A Phase I/II study on Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. a biotechnology company focused on developing innovative, alpha particle radiotherapy targeted cancer treatments addressing major unmet medical needs, today announced that it has successfully treated the first cohort of patients in a Phase I/II study of Actimab-A in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) clinical trial. Patients were treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

20 Jul 2012

NCCN Guidelines for Patients: Lung Cancer Screening now available free of charge

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), with the support of the NCCN Foundation and Lung Cancer Alliance, announces the latest addition to the library of NCCN Guidelines for Patients, patient-friendly translations of the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology.

19 Jul 2012

Three outstanding young scientists named July 2012 Damon Runyon-Sohn Fellows

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation and the Sohn Conference Foundation have named three outstanding young scientists as the first-ever Damon Runyon-Sohn Pediatric Cancer Research Fellows, committing more than half a million dollars to help address a critical shortage of funding for pediatric cancer research.

18 Jul 2012

Targeting CDK1 pathway may be efficacious for acute myeloid leukemias with FLT3 mutation

Acute myeloid leukemia, a common leukemia in adults, is characterized by aberrant proliferation of cancerous bone marrow cells. Activating mutations in a protein receptor known as FLT3 receptor are among the most prevalent mutations observed in acute myeloid leukemias. FLT3 mutants are thought to activate several signaling pathways that contribute to cancer development.

17 Jul 2012

IDH mutation drives aggressive form of acute myeloid leukemia

Many patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) share a mutation in a gene called IDH. A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published this week in the journal Leukemia & Lymphoma shows that this IDH mutation may be the first domino in a chain that leads to a more aggressive form of the disease.

16 Jul 2012

Maraviroc reduces incidence of GvHD in blood cancer patients after bone marrow transplantation

An HIV drug that redirects immune cell traffic significantly reduces the incidence of a dangerous complication that often follows bone marrow transplants for blood cancer patients, according to research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania that will be published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

12 Jul 2012