Leukemia News and Research

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Leukemia (Leukaemia) is a cancer of the blood cells. It is the most common type of blood cancer and affects 10 times as many adults as children. Most people diagnosed with leukemia are over 50 years old. No one knows why some people develop leukemia and others do not. However, scientists have identified some risk factors for the disease. Most people who have known risk factors do not get leukemia, while many who do get the disease have none of these risk factors. During the early stages of leukemia, there may be no symptoms. Many of the symptoms of leukemia don't become apparent until a large number of normal blood cells are crowded out by leukemia cells.

Re-engineered Gleevec reduces heart risks

Using a new bottom-up approach for rational drug design, researchers at Rice University and the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have reengineered the powerful anticancer drug imatinib - best known by its brand name Gleevec - to more specifically target one type of cancer while potentially curbing a rare life-threatening cardiotoxic side effect.

4 Dec 2007

Mini transplant patients' outcomes similar using related and unrelated donor cells

People who undergo nonmyeloablative stem-cell transplants, or "mini transplants," for leukemia, lymphoma and other blood cancers have comparable outcomes regardless of whether they receive tissue-matched stem cells from a related or unrelated donor, according to new findings by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

4 Dec 2007

Modified form of imatinib becomes more specific

Imatinib (marketed as Gleevec in the US and Glivec in Europe and Australia) is used to treat various cancers, including chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs).

4 Dec 2007

Genes discovered that protect against heart damage from chemotherapy

A series of genes that protect cells from the powerful, common chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin has been identified by researchers working to understand how the drug also can destroy the heart.

4 Dec 2007

Inhaled immune system stimulant launches immune response in lungs to wipe out lethal infections

An inhaled immune system stimulant protects mice against lethal pneumococcal pneumonia and other deadly bacterial, viral and fungal infections of the lungs, a research team led by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports at a major scientific meeting.

4 Dec 2007

DNA methylation shown to promote development of colon tumors

Damaged or defective genes have long been known to be the cause of some cancers.

2 Dec 2007

Discovery of key acute myeloid leukemia gene

A gene called N-Myc leads a double life in certain white blood cells, helping to trigger a cancer called acute myeloid leukemia (AML) under some conditions while triggering apoptosis, or cell suicide, under other conditions, according to results of a mouse study done by investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

27 Nov 2007

Oral drug sets a new survival standard for bone marrow cancer

Findings from two large, international clinical trials show "unprecedented" survival for patients with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that occurs in the blood-making cells of bone marrow.

21 Nov 2007

Research shows how embryonic cells may regulate levels of retinoic acid

Human embryos that get too much or too little retinoic acid, a derivative of Vitamin A, can develop into babies with birth defects.

21 Nov 2007

Regulation of the retinoic acid gradient in zebrafish embryos

Human embryos that get too much or too little retinoic acid, a derivative of Vitamin A, can develop into babies with birth defects.

21 Nov 2007

UK study looks at obesity in women

The study shows that overweight and obese women in the UK are at a higher risk of developing and dying from cancer.

6 Nov 2007

Community computer grid squeezes speeds cancer research

Canadian researchers expect to accelerate the war on cancer by tapping into a global network of hundreds of thousands of people who volunteer their idle computer time to tackle some of the world's most complex problems.

6 Nov 2007

Cancer risks for overweight women

Half of all cases of womb cancer and a type of oesophageal cancer in women are caused by being overweight or obese, according to a new report published online in the British Medical Journal.

6 Nov 2007

British experts promise to double lung cancer survival rates

Lung cancer is one of the developed world's biggest cancer killers; it causes 33,000 deaths each year in Britain, claims the lives of 7,000 Australians each year and in 2007 it is estimated that 160,390 Americans will die from the disease.

6 Nov 2007

Cancer victim comes up with a possible alternative to chemo

A cancer victim has invented a machine that could well replace traditional chemotherapy for the treatment of the disease.

5 Nov 2007

Scientists challenge the underlying scientific premise behind folic acid fortification

Scientists at the Institute of Food Research have highlighted possible consequences of fortifying flour with folic acid due to new evidence of how it is absorbed by the body.

5 Nov 2007

Anti-leukemia drug dexamethasone increases patient fatigue

The anti-leukemia drug dexamethasone contributes to a relentless fatigue and poor quality of sleep in children undergoing treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), according to a new study from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

2 Nov 2007

Vitamin D protects against colorectal cancer

According to a new study by researchers at the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) there is no link between vitamin D levels and the overall risk of dying from cancer.

31 Oct 2007

Tasigna gets the green light in the U.S. to treat Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S. has given approval for a new drug to treat chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).

30 Oct 2007

Test gives insight into prognosis in patients with plasma cell malignancies

A new Mayo Clinic study due to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics in San Diego this week shows that a chromosome test called “FISH” is better than conventional methods in identifying chromosomal genetic abnormalities associated with plasma cell malignancies.

24 Oct 2007