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''.

Zymeworks, Merck collaborate to develop novel bi-specific antibody therapeutic candidates

Zymeworks Inc. today announced a research collaboration with Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, around Zymeworks' proprietary Azymetric platform for the development of novel bi-specific antibody therapeutic candidates. Bi-specific antibodies are designed to bind to two different drug targets for broad use in clinical applications such as oncology or autoimmune disease.

29 Aug 2011

Lundbeck Canada makes landmark donation of $2.7M to support depression research

Lundbeck Canada has made a landmark donation of $2.7 million to support ground-breaking research at the University Health Network to identify biomarkers that will enhance the diagnosis and treatment of patients suffering from major depression and bipolar disorder.

29 Aug 2011

Boehringer Ingelheim initiates two afatinib phase II studies in HER2-positive breast cancer

Boehringer Ingelheim today announced the initiation of two phase II studies, 1200.89 and LUX-Breast 2, evaluating afatinib in patients with metastatic breast cancer, who have an overexpression of the erbB2 (HER2) protein, so called HER2-positive patients. Afatinib is an irreversible ErbB Family Blocker, which binds to all erbB-family kinases including erbB2.

29 Aug 2011

Pfizer's Xalkori receives FDA approval to treat late-stage NSCLC patients with abnormal ALK gene

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Xalkori (crizotinib) to treat certain patients with late-stage (locally advanced or metastatic), non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) who express the abnormal anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene.

29 Aug 2011

AAO-HNSF's 2011 Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO to convene in San Francisco

The 2011 Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO of the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF), the largest meeting of ear, nose, and throat doctors in the world, will convene September 11-14, 2011, in San Francisco, CA.

29 Aug 2011

CIRM approves stem cell research planning grants for five UC Davis teams

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the state stem cell agency, today approved research planning grants for five UC Davis Health System teams that are working to develop human clinical trials to treat illnesses such as Huntington's disease, vascular disease, osteoporosis, HIV/AIDS and airway disease in children.

29 Aug 2011

Pfizer receives FDA approval for XALKORI capsules to treat ALK-positive NSCLC

Pfizer Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved XALKORI (crizotinib) capsules, the first-ever therapy targeting anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that is ALK-positive as detected by an FDA-approved test.

29 Aug 2011

Severe combined immunodeficiency treated successfully with gene therapy

Gene therapy can offer a cure for a rare condition that causes children’s immune systems to fail. In this rare condition, known as Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID), inherited genetic mutations mean that babies are unable to fight off infection, severely limiting their chances of surviving more than a few years. Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) is a rare genetic disorder estimated to affect between 1 in 200,000 and 1 in 1,000,000 live births

26 Aug 2011

Varian enters accelerated share repurchase agreement

Varian Medical Systems today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Bank of America, N.A. to repurchase $250 million of its common stock under an accelerated share repurchase program. Concurrently, the company amended its revolving credit facility with Bank of America, N.A. to increase its borrowing capacity from $225 million to $300 million.

26 Aug 2011

LWW receives 11 Apex Awards for Publication Excellence Competition

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (LWW), part of Wolters Kluwer Health, is pleased to announce that seven LWW published journals have won 11 highly regarded awards in this year's Apex Awards for Publication Excellence Competition, recognizing publishing excellence in a variety of categories. Emergency Medicine News took home the esteemed Grand Award for Excellence in the category of 'Magapapers & Newspapers.'

26 Aug 2011

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy prior to surgery can benefit women with lobular breast cancer

Researchers at the Medical University of Vienna have found that the breast of one in two women with lobular breast cancer can be preserved through chemotherapy prior to a breast operation.

26 Aug 2011

Largest study on breast cancer disparities in African-American women

Why are African-American women more likely than those of European descent to be diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age, and with poor prognoses? It's a provocative question, and one that a multidisciplinary team from the Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University, the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and Roswell Park Cancer Institute are coming together to address, supported by a five-year, $19.3 million award from the National Cancer Institute.

26 Aug 2011

Zinc may act as tumor suppressor in commonist form of pancreatic cancer

The essential element zinc has been shown in a new study to be a likely tumor suppressor in the commonist form of pancreatic cancer, University of Maryland scientists report in the current issue of the journal Cancer Biology & Therapy.

26 Aug 2011

Emergent announces results of adjuvanted BioThrax anthrax vaccine Phase 1a trial

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. announced today that results from a Phase 1a clinical trial evaluating an investigational anthrax vaccine, Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed with CPG 7909 Adjuvant mixed at bedside, have been published in Vaccine, a leading medical journal on vaccines and immunology.

26 Aug 2011

DaTscan allows doctors to differentiate Parkinson's from other movement disorders

Thanks to a new diagnostic imaging technique, physicians now have an objective test to evaluate patients for parkinsonian syndromes, such as Parkinson's disease. Northwestern Memorial Hospital is among the first institutions in the country to offer DaTscan-, the only FDA-approved imaging agent for assessment of movement disorders.

26 Aug 2011

MDxHealth first half 2011 commercial revenues increase 19%

MDxHealth SA, a leading molecular diagnostics company in the field of personalized medicine, announced today its 2011 half-year results.

25 Aug 2011

Researchers reveal specific process by which HIV virus infects healthy T cells

A George Mason University researcher team has revealed the specific process by which the HIV virus infects healthy T cells-a process previously unknown. The principal investigator, HIV researcher Yuntao Wu, says he hopes this breakthrough will start a new line on inquiry into how researchers can use this knowledge to create drugs that could limit or halt HIV infection.

25 Aug 2011

US Oncology Research earns RTOG's Full Member status

US Oncology Research, one of the nation's largest networks of community-based researchers, and Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG), the leader in radiation oncology-focused clinical trials in the United States, announced today that US Oncology Research has earned Full Member status, an accomplishment few institutions achieve.

25 Aug 2011

Study: Bone marrow transplantation may prolong period of cancer-free survival

Bone marrow transplantation with genetically modified cells may prolong the period of cancer-free survival, suggests a study led by Dr. Vivek Rangnekar, associate director of translational research for the Markey Cancer Center at the University of Kentucky.

25 Aug 2011

Britons largely unaware of risks and symptoms of bowel cancer: Survey

The latest research reveals that many people are unaware of the signs and symptoms of bowel cancer and do not know how lifestyle factors can contribute to risk.

24 Aug 2011