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''.

Study identifies genes involved in latent asymptomatic state of breast cancer metastases

The time needed for breast cancer metastases (secondary lesions caused by cells that have escaped from the original tumor) to develop varies between patients, and little is known about the mechanisms that govern latency (the dormant state of cells that have already spread through the body).

23 Jan 2018

Researchers show association between microbiome and cancer-related blood infections

Cancer patients receive essential medicines, fluids, blood and nutrients through long, flexible tubes called central venous catheters, or central lines.

22 Jan 2018

Depressive symptoms associated with poorer survival in patients with head and neck cancer

In a study of patients with head and neck cancer, even mild depressive symptoms were associated with poorer overall survival.

22 Jan 2018

Researchers develop single blood test that screens for 8 cancer types

Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers developed a single blood test that screens for eight common cancer types and helps identify the location of the cancer.

19 Jan 2018

Study reveals key mechanism of how cancer metastasis happens

Cancer metastasis, the migration of cells from a primary tumor to form distant tumors in the body, can be triggered by a chronic leakage of DNA within tumor cells, according to a team led by Weill Cornell Medicine and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center researchers.

19 Jan 2018

$500 cancer detection blood tests may soon become reality

According to latest breakthrough in research, a blood test to detect eight common cancers, even before their symptoms begin to appear, may become a reality soon. The study report appears in the latest issue of the journal Science and gives hope for early detection of these deadly diseases when it could still be treated more effectively.

18 Jan 2018

New biomaterials-based system improves T-cell production

T cells play a key role in the body's immune response against pathogens. As a new class of therapeutic approaches, T cells are being harnessed to fight cancer, promising more precise, longer-lasting mitigation than traditional, chemical-based approaches.

18 Jan 2018

Pretreatment improves outcomes in high-risk stage 3 melanoma, study shows

A pair of targeted therapies given before and after surgery for melanoma produced at least a six-fold increase in time to progression compared to standard-of-care surgery for patients with stage 3 disease, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report in Lancet Oncology.

18 Jan 2018

Findings reveal conventional cancer therapy as double-edged sword

Researchers have discovered that killing cancer cells can actually have the unintended effect of fueling the proliferation of residual, living cancer cells, ultimately leading to aggressive tumor progression.

18 Jan 2018

The Salk Institute and Indivumed collaborate for cutting-edge cancer research

The Salk Institute, which hosts a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center and Indivumed GmbH, a world leading cancer research company today announce a multi-year strategic alliance to secure, preserve and analyze human cancer tissue and annotated clinical data from consenting patients around the world, enabling the most cutting-edge basic and translational research in cancer.

16 Jan 2018

FDA grants approval for first drug to treat inherited breast cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today expanded the approved use of Lynparza (olaparib tablets) to include the treatment of patients with certain types of breast cancer that have spread (metastasized) and whose tumors have a specific inherited (germline) genetic mutation, making it the first drug in its class (PARP inhibitor) approved to treat breast cancer, and it is the first time any drug has been approved to treat certain patients with metastatic breast cancer who have a "BRCA" gene mutation.

15 Jan 2018

Researchers use immune-mimicking biomaterial scaffolds to fast track T cell therapies

Immunologists and oncologists are harnessing the body's immune system to fight cancers and other diseases with adoptive cell transfer techniques. In a normal immune response, a type of white blood cell known as T cells are instructed by another kind of immune cell called an antigen-presenting cell (APC) to expand their numbers and stay alive.

15 Jan 2018

U.S. FDA approves first drug for patients with germline BRCA-mutated metastatic breast cancer

AstraZeneca and Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved LYNPARZA (olaparib) for use in patients with deleterious or suspected deleterious germline BRCA-mutated (gBRCAm), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative metastatic breast cancer who have been previously treated with chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant, adjuvant or metastatic setting.

12 Jan 2018

RAS dimers essential for causing cancer, study shows

Mutated RAS genes are some of the most common genetic drivers of cancer, especially in aggressive cancers like pancreatic and lung cancer, but no medicines that target RAS are available despite decades of effort.

12 Jan 2018

BRCA gene mutation does not raise the risk of death

BRCA gene mutation has been associated with cancers such as breast cancer. The BRCA gene mutation detection had resulted in a prophylactic double mastectomy for actress Angelina Jolie anticipating cancer. Now a new study has shown that having a BRCA gene mutation and being diagnosed with breast cancer does not raise the risk of death after diagnosis. The study was published in the latest issue of the journal The Lancet Oncology.

11 Jan 2018

Clinical study investigates lifestyle biomarkers in prostate cancer survivors

Advanced glycation end products, which have been linked to many chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer, build up in the body from birth due to normal metabolism but are often higher in those eating the high-fat, high-sugar, highly processed foods characteristic of the Western diet.

11 Jan 2018

Patients with desmoplastic melanoma respond well to immunotherapy

Desmoplastic melanoma is a rare subtype of melanoma that is commonly found on sun-exposed areas, such as the head and neck, and usually seen in older patients.

11 Jan 2018

Research contributes to better understanding of cancer cell regulation

A team of cancer researchers from the University of Liverpool, has made an important contribution to our understanding of cancer cell regulation which could better inform future cancer treatments.

10 Jan 2018

Chemoradiation improves overall survival in elderly stage III NSCLC patients

Elderly patients with stage III non-small cell lung cancer showed improved overall survival when treated with chemoradiation compared to definitive radiation alone.

10 Jan 2018

Biomarkers may help predict prognosis of gastric cancer patients with alcohol consumption habits

Alcohol consumption has been identified as a modifiable risk factor for cancers such as gastric cancer. A new report in the The American Journal of Pathology sheds light on how specific proteins interact with alcohol, and how that interplay impacts survival and response to platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with gastric cancer who may or may not still be drinking.

10 Jan 2018