Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Four-point plan to improve palliative care discussions

In an editorial appearing in the October 25 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, medical oncologists at Johns Hopkins and Brigham and Women's hospitals provide a four-point plan for integrating palliative care discussions throughout the treatment of patients with terminal illnesses.

25 Oct 2012

CINJ makes experts available during National Lung Cancer Awareness Month

According to the American Cancer Society, nearly 6,000 new cases of lung cancer are expected to be diagnosed in New Jersey this year, and 4,200 people will die from the disease.

25 Oct 2012

New findings on how OX40 activation affects T helper cells that target melanoma

Cancers arise in the body all the time. Most are nipped in the bud by the immune response, not least by its T cells, which detect telltale molecular markers-or antigens-on cancer cells and destroy them before they grow into tumors. Cancer cells, for their part, evolve constantly to evade such assassination. Those that succeed become full-blown malignancies. Yet, given the right sort of help, the immune system can destroy even these entrenched tumors.

25 Oct 2012

Vascular endothelial cells play a larger role in pulmonary hypertension

It turns out the muscle cells on the outside of blood vessels have been wrongly accused for instigating lung disease. New research shows that while these muscle cells are responsible for constricting or dilating the blood vessels, they are not responsible for sensing the amount of oxygen that gets to the lungs. That message comes from the endothelial cells - special cells that line the blood vessels - along a "signalling pathway."

25 Oct 2012

Aspirin can block tumor growth in certain patients with colorectal cancer

Aspirin has the potential to block tumor growth in certain patients with colorectal cancer, according to an editorial in the Oct. 25, 2012 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine by a University of Alabama at Birmingham oncologist.

25 Oct 2012

12-chemokine gene signature can predict presence of lymph node-like structures in MM

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center have discovered a unique immune gene signature that can predict the presence of microscopic lymph node-like structures in metastatic melanoma. The presence of these immune structures, the researchers said, appears to be associated with better survival and may indicate the possibility of selecting patients for immunotherapy based solely on the immune-related makeup of their tumors as an approach to personalized medicine.

25 Oct 2012

Study: Notch 1 signaling activated in abdominal aortic aneurysmal tissue

A gene known to be involved in cancer and cardiovascular development may be the cause of inflammation in the most common form of aortic aneurysm and may be a key to treatment, according to research from Nationwide Children's Hospital.

25 Oct 2012

FDA accepts ARIAD’s ponatinib NDA for filing

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for filing the New Drug Application (NDA) for accelerated review of ARIAD's investigational BCR-ABL inhibitor, ponatinib, in patients with resistant or intolerant chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) or Philadelphia-chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL).

25 Oct 2012

Hot flashes and night sweats can return after SSRI treatment in women

Hot flashes and night sweats can return after women stop using escitalopram-an antidepressant-to treat these menopause symptoms, according to a study published online this month in Menopause, the journal of the North American Menopause Society.

25 Oct 2012

Azaya Therapeutics commences ATI-0918 bioequivalence study in ovarian cancer

Azaya Therapeutics, Inc. today announced the initiation of a bioequivalence study of ATI-0918 in patients with ovarian cancer.

25 Oct 2012

Paper details new target for anti-cancer drug development

In a new paper released today in Nature, BioFrontiers Institute scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder, Tom Cech and Leslie Leinwand, detailed a new target for anti-cancer drug development that is sitting at the ends of our DNA.

25 Oct 2012

Blistering sunburns and working outdoors associated with two nonmelanoma skin cancers

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center, the University of South Florida and the International Agency for Research on Cancer in France have studied the patterns and timing of sunlight exposure and how each is related to two nonmelanoma skin cancers - basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.

25 Oct 2012

Focused ultrasound technology safe, effective in treating patients with tremor-dominant Parkinson's

The Focused Ultrasound Foundation today announced a new clinical trial investigating the use of focused ultrasound technology in treating patients with tremor-dominant Parkinson's disease.

25 Oct 2012

Scientists develop new breast cancer screening method with less radiation

Scientists have developed a way to produce three-dimensional X-ray images of the breast at a radiation dose that is lower than the 2D radiography methods used in clinics today. The new method enables the production of 3D diagnostic computed tomography (CT) images with a spatial resolution 2-3 times higher than present hospital scanners, but with a radiation dose that is about 25 times lower.

25 Oct 2012

Mini-laparotomy effective in rectal cancer surgery

Mini-laparotomy for rectal cancer results in similar outcomes to that of traditional laparotomy, show results from a Chinese center.

24 Oct 2012

Medication at end of life indicates care quality

Medication given to patients at the end of life varies according to whether they are being cared for in a hospice or hospital, and has the potential to indicate the quality of their care, suggest researchers.

24 Oct 2012

Pleiotrophin protein may be long-sought growth factor for blood stem cells

Duke Medicine researchers studying the interaction of blood stem cells and the niche where they reside have identified a protein that may be a long-sought growth factor for blood stem cells.

24 Oct 2012

UNM Cancer Center scientist to continue histone modification study

While every one of our cells contains all of our genetic information, each type of cell uses only specific parts of that information to make its proteins. Uncovering more about the mechanism that directs which particular pieces of genetic information the cell uses is the research focus of Mary Ann Osley, PhD, University of New Mexico Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology and Co-Leader of the Cancer Biology and Biotechnology Program at the UNM Cancer Center.

24 Oct 2012

Meningitis outbreak linked to pharmaceutical compounding has long history

News outlets report that the FDA released a list of customers - including some major hospitals - of the New England Compounding Center. But the FDA later "found technical problems" and withdrew the list, promising to repost it as soon as the data are corrected.

24 Oct 2012

New biomarker measures aggressiveness of primary prostate tumors

Research out of Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) supports the adoption of a new biomarker to measure the aggressiveness of primary prostate tumors.

24 Oct 2012