Small Cell Lung Cancer News and Research

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Small cell lung cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the lung. Small cell lung cancer is an aggressive (fast-growing) cancer that can spread to other parts of the body. The cancer cells look small and oval-shaped when looked at under a microscope.

Scientists identify new way to impair tumour growth in lung cancer

Researchers from the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore at the National University of Singapore, in collaboration with Harvard Stem Cell Institute, have discovered a new way in which the development of lung cancer can be stopped.

5 Aug 2016

Research could help develop better therapies for new subtype of adenocarcinoma patients

Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer deaths, accounting for about a third of all tumor-related deaths. Adenocarcinomas, a non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), account for about 40 percent of cancer diagnoses, but few treatments are available for the disease.

4 Aug 2016

Cell-free DNA test could help identify liver transplant patients with acute rejection

Today, researchers presented findings at the 68th AACC Annual Scientific Meeting that DNA found circulating in the bloodstream—known as cell-free DNA—can be used to identify liver transplant patients with acute rejection with greater accuracy than conventional liver function tests.

1 Aug 2016

Liquid biopsies hold potential for detecting NSCLC EGFR mutations, predicting cancer recurrence

Three manuscripts published in the recent issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, the official journal of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, explored the versatility of liquid biopsies by identifying EGFR mutations using circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in urine and plasma and examining circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in plasma to predict the risk of lung cancer recurrence after surgical resection.

26 Jul 2016

Researchers identify important therapeutic target for small cell lung cancer

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have identified a protein termed ASCL1 that is essential to the development of small cell lung cancer and that, when deleted in the lungs of mice, prevents the cancer from forming.

22 Jul 2016

UCLA researchers develop new combination therapy to activate immune response against glioblastoma

UCLA researchers have developed a new breakthrough combination treatment that utilizes a vaccine to activate an immune response against advanced brain tumors.

8 Jul 2016

Necitumumab drug shows minor added benefit in patients with metastatic NSCLC

The monoclonal antibody necitumumab has been approved since February 2016 for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expressing non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have not received prior chemotherapy for this condition.

5 Jul 2016

First-line nivolumab promising in advanced NSCLC

Phase I results published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology suggest that nivolumab, either given alone or alongside platinum-based doublet chemotherapy, could have a role in the first-line treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.

5 Jul 2016

ALK fusion variants could influence NSCLC crizotinib response

In non-small-cell lung cancer patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase rearrangement treated with crizotinib, progression-free survival varies according to the ALK fusion variant.

1 Jul 2016

Immunotherapy-treated cancer patients may develop rheumatic disorders

Oncologists need to be aware of the potential for rheumatological diseases in patients with cancer following treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors, say US investigators.

30 Jun 2016

Taking ipilimumab, nivolumab drugs may increase risk of developing rheumatologic diseases

Case reports on 13 cancer patients suggest that a small number of cancer patients taking the immunotherapy drugs ipilimumab and nivolumab may be at some higher-than-normal risk of developing autoimmune joint and tissue diseases, including inflammatory arthritis, according to a preliminary study by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers.

24 Jun 2016

Novel combination therapy slows cancer growth in patients with advanced solid tumors

A phase 1 clinical trial testing a novel combination therapy developed by scientists at VCU Massey Cancer Center slowed the growth of cancer in the majority of trial participants, which were patients with advanced solid tumors.

22 Jun 2016

Study ignores possibility that drugs, chemicals affect sexes differently

Many of the medicines we take were only ever tested on men during clinical studies. This poses a distinct danger that females are receiving suboptimal care—and that treatments specifically benefiting women are going undiscovered.

15 Jun 2016

Interdisciplinary approach to improve cancer treatments

Whether it focuses on determining why certain cancers develop drug resistance, finding a way to improve individual's immune systems or better understanding cancer cell evolution, fundamental scientific research will "stand up to cancer" with three new awards from the National Science Foundation.

15 Jun 2016

Adjuvant chemotherapy use benefits early-stage NSCLC patients

The use of adjuvant chemotherapy in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients improves overall survival (OS) and 5-year OS in patients with tumor sizes ranging from 3 - 7 cm.

14 Jun 2016

Surgery improves survival in late-stage NSCLC patients

Patients with late-stage, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have surgery have better survival rates than those who don't, but fewer of these patients are undergoing surgery, UC Davis researchers have found.

9 Jun 2016

New technology can detect KRAS gene mutations, facilitate targeted therapies for lung and colorectal cancers

A new technology suitable for practical clinical testing can detect KRAS gene mutations in lung and colorectal cancers and could thereby facilitate targeted therapies, according to a new report in The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics.

8 Jun 2016

LA-NSCLC patients treated at high-volume centers survive longer

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States and is estimated to have contributed to 221,200 new cases and 158,040 deaths in 2015 alone. A secondary analysis of NRG Oncology's clinical trial RTOG 0617, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, was initiated in an effort to evaluate the effect of institution accrual volume on clinical outcomes among patients receiving chemoradiation for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (LA-NSCLC).

8 Jun 2016

Pembrolizumab drug shows significant clinical responses in metastatic head and neck cancer patients

Treating head and neck cancer patients with recurrent or metastatic disease with the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab resulted in significant clinical responses in a fifth of the patients from a phase II clinical trial, researchers at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania and other institutions reported at the 2016 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting.

7 Jun 2016

IQWiG examines whether ramucirumab drug offers added benefit for MCRC and NSCLC patients

Ramucirumab is a monoclonal antibody, which blocks a receptor, reducing the growth of blood vessels and so reducing blood supply to the tumours.

6 Jun 2016