Tumor News and Research

RSS

Breakthrough could help protect against the use of smallpox by terrorists

Researchers at the ANU John Curtin School of Medical Research have identified proteins that determine which mice succumb to mousepox and which do not. The new insights into the immune response of mice to the mousepox virus could enable scientists to improve treatment for poxvirus infections, including smallpox.

9 Jun 2004

SU11248 proves effective in the treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumors

A drug originally developed to block the formation of blood vessels in tumors has been shown to overcome resistance to treatment with Gleevec in patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST).

9 Jun 2004

Lovastatin and Simvastatin have a significantly reduced risk of prostate cancer

Men who take even small amounts of common cholesterol-lowering drugs such as Lovastatin and Simvastatin have a significantly reduced risk of prostate cancer, according to a new study by Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researchers.

9 Jun 2004

Elderly leukemia patients benefit from intensive treatment

Contrary to popular belief, patients over the age of 75 with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) do just as well as younger patients with similar chemotherapy regimens. A new study published June 7, 2004 in the online edition of CANCER

7 Jun 2004

Chemotherapy regimen more effective and more toxic in Japanese patients than in American patients

A chemotherapy regimen commonly used to treat non-small cell lung cancer is both more effective and more toxic in Japanese patients than in American patients, researchers reported Saturday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncologists.

7 Jun 2004

Herceptin shows real promise in treatment of HER-2 positive breast disease

According to a study conducted at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, more than twice as many women with early stage, HER-2 positive breast disease who received Herceptin as part of their pre-surgery chemotherapy had their tumors completely disappear compared to like patients who received only chemotherapy.

7 Jun 2004

Gemcitabine may help breast cancer patients with advanced disease live longer

Breast cancer patients with advanced disease live longer when treated with a new drug, gemcitabine, in combination with paclitaxel, a traditional drug, according to results of a landmark global phase III study presented today at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting.

6 Jun 2004

Multi-targeted anticancer drug shows promise as treatment for metastatic renal cell cancer

A new multi-targeted anticancer drug called SU11248 has shown very promising results in the treatment for metastatic renal cell cancer, one of the most chemotherapy resistant of all cancers.

6 Jun 2004

Velcade major improvement over standard therapy for relapsed multiple myeloma

Early results from a major, international Phase III clinical trial decisively show that recurrent multiple myeloma is more effectively treated with the drug bortezomib (trade name: Velcade TM) than with dexamethasone, a drug that for decades has been the standard therapy for relapsed disease, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute report.

6 Jun 2004

High school student makes significant contribution to breast cancer research

A high school student from Albany, New York, has made a significant contribution toward understanding how mutations to a gene called BRCA-1 contributes to hereditary breast cancer.

5 Jun 2004

Drug Tarceva improves survival chance for patients with advanced lung cancer

Roche OSI Pharmaceuticals and Genentech today announced that their investigational drug Tarceva(TM) (erlotinib) achieved a significant 42.5% improvement in median survival compared to placebo in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

5 Jun 2004

Drug helps patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

A drug designed to cut off a tumor’s blood supply, when paired with a chemotherapy combination, resulted in significant improvement in survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, the first time in decades that survival times have been extended in patients with this devastating form of advanced cancer.

3 Jun 2004

Drug to extend lives of colorectal cancer patients

A drug designed to cut off a tumor's blood supply, when paired with a chemotherapy combination, resulted in significant improvement in survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, the first time in decades that survival times have been extended in patients with this devastating form of advanced cancer.

2 Jun 2004

Avastin study shows significant improvement in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

Genentech, Inc. and Roche have announced that the New England Journal of Medicine published the first Phase III study of an anti-angiogenesis cancer therapy, showing that the addition of Avastin™ (bevacizumab) to the IFL chemotherapy regimen (5-FU/Leucovorin/ CPT-11) significantly extended survival in patients with first-line (previously untreated) metastatic colorectal cancer.

2 Jun 2004

Innovative type of brain scan can determine where blockages of blood to the brain lie

It's a no-brainer that the brain needs a constant supply of blood to keep it going. But some medical conditions can block or reduce that life-giving flow. Whether it's a stroke, a clogged artery or a brain tumor, any situation where blood can't get to the whole brain can lead to death or permanent disability.

2 Jun 2004

Understanding focal adhesion kinase (FAK) may lead to new cancer treatments

Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have found an unexpected way to turn off a cellular enzyme involved in the progression of several types of human cancers.

2 Jun 2004

Double-punch approach to vaccine design more effective

A study revealing new information about how viral proteins move between cells and alert the immune system suggests that a double-punch approach to vaccine design would make them more effective.

1 Jun 2004

Novel molecular targeting technologies to deliver gene-silencing therapy

Researchers have combined novel molecular targeting technologies to deliver gene-silencing therapy specifically to tumor cells shielded by a normally impermeable obstacle, the blood brain barrier.

1 Jun 2004

Discovery of a key marker in breast cancer tumors

Cancer researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have discovered a key marker in breast cancer tumors that may help determine which women with early stage breast cancer have a better chance of survival. The research appears in the June 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

31 May 2004

Physicians need to understand comorbidities to better help cancer patients

Findings from a new cancer study may seem obvious — a patient’s overall health is a critical factor in assessing prognosis. But the study’s authors say data about patients’ non-cancer ailments, called comorbidities, are not currently incorporated into cancer statistics.

27 May 2004