Pancreatic Cancer News and Research

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Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of all cancer deaths in the United States and the third leading cause of cancer deaths in individuals ages 40 to 60. Approximately 37,000 Americans are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year, and, each year, approximately the same number die from it. Often, pancreatic cancer is found too late for surgical intervention, and chemotherapy and radiation treatments have little effect.

Microchip blood test detects cancers earlier

A new blood test which uses microchip technology may offer doctors the opportunity to detect cancers earlier and also monitor cancer treatment.

20 Dec 2007

Study finds outcomes of high-risk cancer operations in 80-year-olds worse than reported

New research published in the December issue of The Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that outcomes of high-risk cancer operations in 80-year-olds are considerably worse than reported in case studies and published survival statistics, which may lead to unrealistic expectations about the safety of these operations in the elderly.

20 Dec 2007

Guideline for management of postmeal glucose

Christmas time is full of food when most of us simply have to worry about our expanding waist lines but new research led by the University of Warwick’s Medical School says that people with diabetes need to pay attention to the dangers of a neglected post meal peak in blood glucose.

10 Dec 2007

Scientists observe gene activity outside the body

Researchers at Jefferson Medical College and Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia have used PET imaging to see hyperactive cancer genes inside breast tumors in laboratory animals, marking the first time such gene activity has been observed from outside the body.

29 Nov 2007

Zinc transporters regulate pancreatic cancer

Zinc, an important trace element for healthy growth and development, can be related to pancreatic cancer. Too much ZIP4, a molecule that enables the transport of zinc into cells, promotes the growth and spread of pancreatic tumors cells, said a group of researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Florida in Gainesville, in a report which appears online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

13 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

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

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

The slimmer the better when it comes to avoiding cancer

A new study which has analysed 40 years of international research has revealed that maintaining a healthy weight is essential to preventing cancer.

4 Nov 2007

Non-invasive radio waves heat up nanotubes to destroy cancer

Cancer cells treated with carbon nanotubes can be destroyed by non-invasive radio waves that heat up the nanotubes while sparing untreated tissue, a research team led by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and Rice University has shown in preclinical experiments.

2 Nov 2007

Study may aid pancreatic cancer patients' response to chemo drugs

Pancreatic cancer patients face the worst survival rates compared to all other forms of human cancer as the disease is nearly impossible to diagnose at an early stage when successful treatments might be possible.

1 Nov 2007

Advancement in radiation oncology treatment called IMRT improves care, avoids healthy tissue

New advancements in a radiation oncology treatment called IMRT (intensity modulated radiation therapy) are proving far superior to standard radiation procedures used today in safeguarding the healthy tissues surrounding cancerous tumors, and thus improving patient care.

28 Oct 2007

Emerging cancer therapies and novel targets

What are the cancer drugs of tomorrow and how will they be developed? At the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, researchers will present some answers to these and other pressing questions regarding emerging cancer therapeutics.

25 Oct 2007

A tumor marker Ca 19-9 in diabetics can lead to misdiagnosis of pancreatic cancer

Diabetes is increasing all over the world along with the increase of obesity and associated diseases and is a well-known risk factor for pancreatic cancer. The incidence of pancreatic cancer is also increasing and has one of the lowest survival rates of all cancers.

16 Oct 2007

A tumor-blocking protein may be key in developing deadly form of pancreatic cancer

A tumor-blocking protein previously implicated in prostate and breast cancer development may also be behind the most aggressive type of pancreatic cancer. Researchers at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson in Philadelphia have discovered that the protein pp32 – which normally applies the brakes on a cancer-causing gene – is missing in an aggressive form of pancreatic cancer.

12 Oct 2007

New guide on pancreatic cancer

A new guide on pancreatic cancer, co-authored by the chair of Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, offers a better understanding to patients and caregivers of the unique challenges associated with a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

8 Oct 2007

Flavonol-rich foods may help reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer

Eating flavonol-rich foods like apples may help reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer, says a team of international researchers.

4 Oct 2007

Chemotherapy drug gemcitabine delays progression of operable pancreatic cancer

Barcelona, Spain: Giving pancreatic cancer patients the chemotherapy drug gemcitabine after surgery delays progression of the disease by about six months, according to new research by Japanese scientists.

27 Sep 2007

New technology for cancer screening listens for the signs of cancer

Cancer-sensing devices built as cheaply and efficiently as wristwatches - using many of the same operating principles - could change the way clinicians detect, treat and monitor cancer in patients.

18 Sep 2007

First fully robotic Whipple surgery in Midwest performed at University of Illinois Medical Center

A surgical team led by Dr. Pier Cristoforo Giulianotti, chief of the division of minimally invasive, general and robotic surgery at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago, has performed the first fully robotic Whipple procedure in the Midwest.

17 Sep 2007