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Cancer treatment by linear accelerator is a reality now in India

The first patient was successfully treated by the state-of-the-art technology in radiotherapy - linear accelerator, which began functioning last week at RR Cancer Institute and Research Centre, Sri Ram Murti Smarak Institute of Medical Sciences (SRMSIMS), Bareilly in India.

5 Oct 2008

Sea birds' DNA may hold keys to aging and cancer, Bucknell researcher says

Chances are, a mouse in the wild will live less than a year before stumbling upon a hungry falcon or feline.

5 Oct 2008

Exelixis files investigational new drug application for anticancer compound

Exelixis, Inc. announced today that it has submitted an investigational new drug (IND) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for XL888, a novel anticancer compound. XL888 is an orally available small molecule inhibitor of HSP90, which is a chaperone protein that promotes the activity and stability of a range of key regulatory proteins, including kinases.

2 Oct 2008

Research suggests doctors should consider kidney-sparing surgery

A study of almost 1,500 kidney cancer patients treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center suggests that surgery to spare as much kidney tissue as possible may improve overall survival in patients who also have reduced kidney function at the time their cancer is diagnosed. The finding is significant because both kidney cancer and decreased kidney function appear to be increasing.

2 Oct 2008

Discovery of genetic link between obesity and colon cancer risk

A new study reveals the first-ever genetic link between obesity and colon cancer risk, a finding that could lead to greater accuracy in testing for the disease, said a researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

30 Sep 2008

Innovative technology to improve colon cancer prevention

Researchers at NorthShore University HealthSystem (NorthShore) and Northwestern University have discovered that fiber optic technology can for the very first time effectively measure blood levels in the colonic lining (mucosa) in humans, thus having potential applications for analyzing risk of colon cancer. The study appears in the October 2008 issue of Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute.

30 Sep 2008

Immune system hurts as well as fights cancer - discovery could lead to new cancer treatments with fewer side effects

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that some proteins of the immune system can promote tumor growth.

29 Sep 2008

Existing anti-obesity drugs may be effective against flu, hepatitis and HIV

Viruses dramatically increase cellular metabolism, and existing anti-obesity drugs may represent a new way to block these metabolic changes and inhibit viral infection, according to a study published today in the journal Nature Biotechnology.

29 Sep 2008

New way to control protein activity could lead to cancer therapies

Investigators at the Stanford University School of Medicine have found a way to quickly and reversibly fine-tune the activity of individual proteins in cells and living mammals, providing a powerful new laboratory tool for identifying - more precisely than ever before - the functions of different proteins.

28 Sep 2008

Hybrid nanoparticles image and treat tumors

By combining a magnetic nanoparticle, a fluorescent quantum dot, and an anticancer drug within a lipid-based nanoparticle, a multi-institutional research team headed by members of the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer has created a single agent that can image and treat tumors. In addition, this new nanoparticle is able to avoid detection by the immune system, enabling the particle to remain in the body for extended periods of time.

28 Sep 2008

Targeted nanoparticles map tumor blood supply in 3-D, assess therapy

One of the defining characteristics of solid tumors is the development of a network of new blood vessels to nourish the rapidly reproducing malignant cells. Now, using a nanoparticle targeted to those new blood vessels, a joint academic-industrial research team, led by investigators from the Siteman Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence, has developed a way to construct a three-dimensional (3-D) map of tumor-induced angiogenesis and monitor the effects of drug therapies on those new blood vessels.

28 Sep 2008

Nanotubes detect tumors and deliver high-potency punch

Researchers at the Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence Focused on Therapy Response (CCNE-TR), based at Stanford University, have found a new way to target cancer cells while leaving healthy cells untouched.

28 Sep 2008

Multifunctional polymer nanoparticles pass critical in vivo test

In an effort to overcome the drug resistance that often occurs in cancer, a team of investigators has developed a nanoparticle made of a blend of polymers that first releases a powerful anticancer drug and then delivers an agent that tricks a drug-resistant cell into committing suicide. Now, tests in mice with human breast cancer have shown that these blended nanoparticles are effective in maintaining high levels of both drugs in the vicinity of tumors.

28 Sep 2008

Nanobubbles deliver targeted cancer drugs using ultrasound

Using a combination of polymers that respond to temperature, a research team at the University of Utah has developed a multifunctional nanoparticle that can image tumors using ultrasound and simultaneously deliver cell-damaging energy and anticancer drugs to those tumors. In addition, these nanoparticles appear to act specifically on tumors and not on healthy tissue.

28 Sep 2008

Anticancer drug triggers nanoparticle formation, improves stability in vivo

Paclitaxel is a powerful anticancer agent used to treat a variety of malignancies, but severe side effects limit its ultimate effectiveness and utility. To improve this drug's pharmacological properties, researchers have turned to nanoparticle-based delivery agents, although with marginal success; stably trapping large amounts of paclitaxel in most nanoparticles has proven difficult.

28 Sep 2008

Research provides new insights into how cells accessorize their proteins

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators have gained new insight into how the cell's vast array of proteins would instantly be reduced to a confusion of lethally malfunctioning molecules without a system for proteins to "accessorize" in order to regulate their function.

21 Sep 2008

Breast MRI scan could determine need for radiation therapy

For women whose breast cancer has spread to their lymph nodes, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan could replace exploratory surgery as the method for determining whether those women need radiation therapy to treat their disease, according to a study to be presented during the annual meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) which opens today in Boston.

21 Sep 2008

S*BIO initiates trials of oral JAK2 inhibitor for hematological malignancies

S*BIO Pte Ltd today announced the initiation of multi-center Phase I clinical trials of SB1518, a potent and orally-active JAK2 inhibitor, in patients with leukemia and certain types of lymphoma.

17 Sep 2008

Muscle stem cell identity confirmed

A single cell can repopulate damaged skeletal muscle in mice, say scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine, who devised a way to track the cell's fate in living animals. The research is the first to confirm that so-called satellite cells encircling muscle fibers harbor an elusive muscle stem cell.

17 Sep 2008

New drug might make tumor cells more sensitive to therapy

Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have shown that it might be possible to make tumor cells more sensitive to irradiation and some types of chemotherapy by treating them with a drug that cripples their ability to repair DNA damage caused by these therapies.

16 Sep 2008