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''.

Experimental drug dinaciclib may improve myeloid leukemia, myeloma therapies

A pre-clinical study led by Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center and Department of Internal Medicine researchers suggests that an experimental drug known as dinaciclib could improve the effectiveness of certain multiple myeloma and myeloid leukemia therapies.

19 Feb 2014

Majority of women who undergo mastectomy go on to get breast reconstruction

A new study finds that the majority of women who undergo mastectomy for breast cancer go on to get breast reconstruction, a practice that has increased dramatically over time.

19 Feb 2014

Researchers present new drug candidate that selectively kills cancer cells through starvation

In a study published in Nature Communications, researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Uppsala University in Sweden present a new drug candidate, which selectively kills dormant cells within a cancer tumour through starvation.

19 Feb 2014

Update Pharma's UPI-928 gets FDA orphan drug designation for AML treatment

Update Pharma Inc. today announced that the FDA has approved Orphan Drug Status for the use of UPI-928 for the treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).

18 Feb 2014

MacLeod's Introduction to Medicine: A collection of short medical stories

MacLeod's Introduction to Medicine: A Doctor's Memoir by Jonathan Waxman is a collection of short stories that gives the reader an insight into the humorous side of a doctor's life before the dawn of management.

18 Feb 2014

Sanford Health opens new clinic in Dickinson, ND

The new Sanford Health Dickinson Clinic, which is replacing the existing Sanford Health Dickinson Clinic, is now open. The new clinic, located at 2615 Fairway St., is more than six times the size of the current clinic at 938 Second Ave. W. and can house more than 20 physicians, providing better patient access than ever before.

18 Feb 2014

Afatinib ‘first line’ for advanced mutation-positive lung cancer

Afatinib should be given as a first-line treatment for Asian patients with advanced, epidermal growth factor receptor mutation-positive, non-small-cell lung cancer, researchers recommend.

17 Feb 2014

New research points to potential target for treating triple negative breast cancer

New research from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center and Georgia Regents University finds that a protein that fuels an inflammatory pathway does not turn off in breast cancer, resulting in an increase in cancer stem cells. This provides a potential target for treating triple negative breast cancer, the most aggressive form of the disease.

17 Feb 2014

Novartis acquires CoStim Pharmaceuticals

MPM Capital and Atlas Venture announced today that portfolio company CoStim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has been acquired by Novartis for an undisclosed amount. CoStim, founded in 2012 by MPM Managing Director Luke Evnin together with MPM Managing Director-Operations Robert Millman, is an emerging immuno-oncology company developing monoclonal antibody drugs that enable a patient's own immune system to better fight cancer.

17 Feb 2014

Horizon Discovery, Sirion Biotech ink supply and distribution agreement

Horizon Discovery, a leading provider of research tools to support translational genomics and the development of personalized medicines, today announced it has signed a supply and distribution agreement with Sirion Biotech GmbH.

17 Feb 2014

Johns Hopkins experts identify major sources of high cancer costs

In a review article published Feb. 14 in The Lancet Oncology, Johns Hopkins experts identify three major sources of high cancer costs and argue that cancer doctors can likely reduce them without harm to patients. The cost-cutting proposals call for changes in routine clinical practice involved in end-of-life care, medical imaging and drug pricing.

17 Feb 2014

BMG Pharma signs agreement with Samyang Biopharmaceutical to market GelX in South Korea

BMG Pharma S.r.l. today is pleased to announce that it has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Samyang Biopharmaceutical Corporation granting them the rights to promote, sell and market its novel mucositis management product GelX in the territory of South Korea.

17 Feb 2014

New study documents frequency of EGFR mutations in lung adenocarcinoma in Asian population

Adenocarcinoma histology, female sex, never-smoking status, and Asian ethnicity have been considered the most important factors associated with EGFR mutations in non-small cell lung cancer and response to EGFR inhibitors. A recent study has found that, within the Asian population, the frequency of EGFR mutations associated with other demographic and clinical characteristics is higher than previously reported, even in patients with a history of smoking, suggesting that mutation testing should be done on a broader basis among Asian patients with advanced adenocarcinoma of the lung.

16 Feb 2014

Study affirms new standard for detecting melanoma metastasis to the lymph nodes

Long-term research that was initiated at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center on lymphatic mapping and sentinel-node biopsy, techniques for detecting the earliest spread (metastasis) of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, has confirmed that these techniques significantly prolong patients' disease-free and melanoma-specific survival over the traditional observational "watch and wait" techniques.

14 Feb 2014

Improper handling of intravenous saline leads to rare bacteria outbreak

Improper handling of intravenous saline at a West Virginia outpatient oncology clinic was linked with the first reported outbreak of Tsukamurella spp., gram-positive bacteria that rarely cause disease in humans, in a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The report was published in the March issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

14 Feb 2014

Study shows how Bcl-2 cancer-related protein signals cancer cells to live longer

A team of researchers from Case Western Reserve School of Medicine has discovered how the cancer-related protein Bcl-2 signals cancer cells to live longer.

14 Feb 2014

FAST-MAG clinical trial finds that magnesium does not improve stroke-related disability

In the first study of its kind, a consortium led by UCLA physicians found that giving stroke patients intravenous magnesium within an hour of symptom onset does not improve stroke outcomes, according to research presented today at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference.

14 Feb 2014

FDA approves Biologics’ IMBRUVICA as oral agent for treatment of patients with CLL

Biologics, a limited distribution network partner for IMBRUVICA™ (ibrutinib), is pleased to announce the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved IMBRUVICA™ (ibrutinib) capsules as a single, oral agent for the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who have received at least one prior therapy.

14 Feb 2014

Agenus closes previously announced acquisition of 4-Antibody

Agenus Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing novel immunotherapeutics, including a portfolio of checkpoint modulators (CPMs), anti-cancer vaccines and adjuvants, today completed the previously announced acquisition of 4-Antibody AG, a private European-based biopharmaceutical company.

13 Feb 2014

FDA grants full approval of SYNRIBO for injection

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted full approval of SYNRIBO (omacetaxine mepesuccinate) for injection. This oncology portfolio product received an accelerated approval in October, 2012 with additional clinical trial data required to fulfill post marketing requirements set forth by the FDA.

13 Feb 2014