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''.

Newly published manuscripts enhance understanding of the immune system

MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, today announced that it has achieved a significant scientific milestone by publishing three manuscripts in Nature Immunology that advance the understanding of the immune system and highlight underlying mechanisms in two little-understood disease areas -- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

26 Apr 2016

Study identifies risk factors for asparaginase-induced pancreatitis in ALL patients

Researchers have identified a rare genetic variation associated with a dramatically increased risk of severe acute pancreatitis in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients treated with the chemotherapy agent asparaginase. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital led the study, which appears today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

26 Apr 2016

High doses of commonly-used chemotherapy drug may increase survival rate of ALL patients

With a cure rate approaching 90 percent, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) - the most common type of childhood cancer - is often hailed as one of the "success stories" of modern cancer treatment. But up to 20 percent of patients with a high risk of relapse are not cured. That could change with the results from a clinical trial co-led by investigators from NYU Langone Medical Center, which shows giving high doses of a commonly-used chemotherapy drug increases the survival rate for these patients.

26 Apr 2016

Changes in chromatin structure may promote cancer

Cancer development is a complex process involving both genetic and epigenetic changes. Genetic changes in oncogenes and tumor-suppressor genes are generally considered as primary causes, since these genes may directly regulate cellular growth. In addition, it has been found that changes in epigenetic factors, through mutation or altered gene expression, may contribute to cancer development.

26 Apr 2016

E-cigarette use can potentially reduce deaths from cigarette smoking

Seven top international tobacco control experts are prompting regulators at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to have a broad "open-minded" perspective when it comes to regulating vaporized nicotine products, especially e-cigarettes.

25 Apr 2016

Targeted therapy for triple-negative breast cancer may prove beneficial

A targeted therapy for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), the most aggressive form of breast cancer, has shown potential promise in a recently published study. TNBC is the only type of breast cancer for which there are no currently approved targeted therapies.

22 Apr 2016

Rab inhibition may be a promising antimyeloma strategy

Roswell Park Cancer Institute researchers are investigating agents that target and disrupt the trafficking of monoclonal antibodies in multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow. The results will be presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2016, to be held April 16-20 in New Orleans.

22 Apr 2016

BCR-ABL halving time indicates CML prognosis during front-line TKI

Calculating halving time of the BCR-ABL transcript after 3 months may help determine prognosis in chronic myeloid leukaemia patients undergoing first-line tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy, say researchers.

21 Apr 2016

Bosutinib shows 'low' vascular, cardiac event risk profile

Third-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor study findings suggest that bosutinib is associated with a low risk of vascular and cardiac events in patients undergoing first-line or subsequent treatment for chronic myeloid leukaemia.

21 Apr 2016

Drugs that block NOTCH signaling in many cancers could be effective against ACC

Using a novel cell culture approach, Yale Cancer Center researchers have discovered critical vulnerabilities in adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC), a rare and lethal glandular cancer with a high recurrence rate and few treatment options.

21 Apr 2016

Scientists aim to identify marker that could indicate aggressive basal cell skin cancer

Most basal cell skin cancers are easily removed -- those on the arm, leg or back. But when the cancer is on the eyelid or when it starts to invade surrounding tissue, it's no longer straightforward.

21 Apr 2016

Imatinib-related symptom burden linked to adherence in Indian CML patients

Research shows low adherence to imatinib in Indian patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia, with an association between nonadherence and worse symptom burden related to treatment.

21 Apr 2016

Frontline nilotinib supported for newly diagnosed CP-CML

Long-term results from the ENESTnd trial indicate a favourable risk-benefit profile for frontline use of nilotinib in patients within 6 months of chronic phase-chronic myeloid leukaemia diagnosis.

21 Apr 2016

KEYNOTE-001 findings add support to pembrolizumab for advanced melanoma

A third of patients with advanced or metastatic melanoma will achieve an objective response to treatment with the programmed cell death protein inhibitor pembrolizumab, suggest KEYNOTE-001 findings, regardless of whether they have previously been treated with ipilimumab.

21 Apr 2016

Pre-TKI cytokine profiling predicts CP-CML outcome

Measuring levels of transforming growth factor-α and interleukin-6 may help identify patients with newly diagnosed chronic phase-chronic myeloid leukaemia at risk of a poor outcome from tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy, research suggests.

20 Apr 2016

Additional chromosomal abnormalities prognostic for CML

Additional chromosomal abnormalities can be used to create two prognostic groups of patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia, suggests research published in Blood.

20 Apr 2016

Proteins can be used as targets to deliver drugs into stressed cancer cells

Targeted missiles that can enter cancer cells and deliver lethal cell toxins without harming surrounding healthy tissue. This has been a long-standing vision in cancer research, but it has proved difficult to accomplish. A research group at Lund University in Sweden has now taken some crucial steps in this direction.

20 Apr 2016

Experimental treatment shrinks rare pediatric tumor by 90%

When a baby's life was threatened by a rare pediatric cancer that would not respond to surgery or chemotherapy, doctors at Nemours Children's Hospital rapidly, successfully shrank the tumor by 90 percent using an experimental treatment, according to a new study published online in Pediatric Blood and Cancer.

20 Apr 2016

Genetic markers may influence how breast cancer patients respond to treatment

Two previously unrecognized genetic markers may predict whether breast cancer patients would benefit from chemotherapy followed by tamoxifen, according to preclinical research from Roswell Park Cancer Institute, in collaboration with the cooperative research group SWOG and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The results of this research will be presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2016, to be held April 16-20 in New Orleans.

20 Apr 2016