Brain Tumor News and Research

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A Brain Tumor is the growth of abnormal cells in the tissues of the brain. Brain tumors can be benign (not cancer) or malignant (cancer).

GUMC researchers find gene inactivated in two aggressive cancers

Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have found a gene they say is inactivated in two aggressive cancers - malignant melanoma, a form of skin cancer, and glioblastoma multiforme, a lethal brain tumor.

15 Dec 2008

Best treatments found for long-term survival in low-grade gliomas

A new Mayo Clinic study found that patients with low-grade gliomas survived longest when they underwent aggressive surgeries to successfully remove the entire tumor.

3 Dec 2008

Scientists develop 'barcode chip' to revolutionize diagnostic medical testing

In less than 10 minutes, and using just a pinprick's worth of blood, the chip can measure the concentrations of dozens of proteins, including those that herald the presence of diseases like cancer and heart disease.

25 Nov 2008

New imaging technique tracks cancer-killing cells over prolonged period

Coaxing a patient's own cells to hunt down and tackle infected or diseased cells is a promising therapeutic approach for many disorders.

18 Nov 2008

Microvesicles released from glioblastoma cells carry information that may guide treatment

Microvesicles - tiny membrane-covered sacs - released from glioblastoma cells contain molecules that may provide data that can guide treatment of the deadly brain tumor.

16 Nov 2008

Anti-brain tumor agent derived from herpes virus passes next hurdle

An anti-brain tumor agent developed from a genetically engineered herpes simplex virus has been shown to be safe when given in two doses and injected directly into the brain of patients with malignant glioma.

6 Nov 2008

10 symptoms that should never be ignored

Not every ache and pain merits a quick trip to the doctor -- but some do.

6 Nov 2008

Genentech submits application to FDA for Avastin in the most aggressive form of brain cancer

Genentech has announced that the company submitted a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Avastin (bevacizumab) as a therapy for people with previously treated glioblastoma. If accepted by the FDA, the application would be considered for an accelerated approval that allows provisional approval of medicines for cancer or other life-threatening diseases based on preliminary evidence suggesting clinical benefit.

3 Nov 2008

Gene study sheds new light on lung cancer

A multi-institution team, funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), today reported results of the largest effort to date to chart the genetic changes involved in the most common form of lung cancer, lung adenocarcinoma. The findings should help pave the way for more individualized approaches for detecting and treating the nation's leading cause of cancer deaths.

22 Oct 2008

Congressional Democrats will not vote on SCHIP expansion legislation this session amid veto threats, increased cost estimates

Congressional Democrats said they will not hold a vote on legislation to renew and expand SCHIP this year, citing an inability to override a promised veto by President Bush, among other issues, the New York Times reports.

9 Sep 2008

Finding cancer's original cell key to treatments

Cancer biologists are turning their attention to the normal cells that give rise to cancers, to learn more about how tumor growth might be stopped at the earliest opportunity.

11 Aug 2008

Medulloblastoma originates in normal brain "stem" cells that turn malignant

An aggressive childhood brain tumor known as medulloblastoma originates in normal brain "stem" cells that turn malignant when acted on by a known mutant, cancer-causing oncogene, say researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

11 Aug 2008

Viagra and Levitra ED drugs shown to allow more chemo to reach brain tumors

In a study using laboratory animals, researchers found that medications commonly prescribed for erectile dysfunction opened a mechanism called the blood-brain tumor barrier and increased delivery of cancer-fighting drugs to malignant brain tumors.

28 Jul 2008

UAB joins elite brain cancer research group

Brain cancer experts at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) have been selected for membership in the Ivy Genomics-Based Medicine Project. The project is a national consortium of cutting-edge hospitals and academic centers working to improve treatment and survival for patients with a kind of malignant brain tumor called a glioma.

8 Jul 2008

Democratic lawmakers call Bush administration's efforts to temporarily hold Medicare physician payment rates at current levels 'misleading'

Democratic Sens. Jay Rockefeller (W.Va.) and Charles Schumer (N.Y.) in a letter to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt wrote that there "have been several misleading -- and possibly incorrect -- reports from the [Bush] administration regarding actions on physician claims filed beginning July 1," The Hill reports (Young, The Hill, 6/30).

2 Jul 2008

Children's Brain Tumor Foundation's tissue bank consortium may solve dire problem in pediatric cancer research

In a major effort to speed treatment and cures for pediatric brain tumors and cancer, the Children's Brain Tumor Foundation (CBTF) today launched the initial phase of a tissue bank consortium designed to jump-start meaningful analyses that could lead to treatment and cures for these types of cancer, where survival rates are unacceptably low and neurocognitive and other damage is posed by today's treatment options.

1 Jul 2008

More government in health care is not a prescription for reform

The Center for Medicine in the Public Interest (CMPI) today launched BigGovHealth.org, a new initiative to expose the consequences of greater government control in health care.

24 Jun 2008

Hedgehog signaling is critical for maintenance of the adult coronary vasculature

A set of promising new anticancer agents could have unforeseen risks in individuals with heart disease, suggests research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

23 Jun 2008

Cancer-detecting nanoparticles

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be a doctor's best friend for detecting a tumor in the body without resorting to surgery. MRI scans use pulses of magnetic waves and gauge the return signals to identify different types of tissue in the body, distinguishing bone from muscle, fluids from solids, and so on.

15 Jun 2008

Celldex Therapeutics vaccine may double survival in patients with deadly brain tumors

A vaccine aimed at inducing immunity to the most common and deadly type of brain tumor may stave off recurrence and more than double survival in patients, according to a new study led by researchers in Duke's Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center.

2 Jun 2008