Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

EpiCept, Immune Pharmaceuticals enter definitive merger agreement

Immune Pharmaceuticals Ltd., a privately held Israeli company, and EpiCept Corporation today announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement. The transaction is anticipated to close during the first quarter of 2013 and is subject to satisfaction of certain customary closing conditions, including the approval of a majority of EpiCept shareholders.

8 Nov 2012

EUROECHO 2012 reveals how imaging improves early diagnosis of atherosclerosis

"Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of cardiovascular disease and the leading killer in Europe," said Professor Patrizio Lancellotti, President-Elect of the EACVI and Chairman of the EUROECHO Scientific Programme Committee. "Many of these deaths could be averted by diagnosis at a preclinical stage or early after the onset of symptoms."

8 Nov 2012

New UTSW model can predict progression of skin cancer in patients

UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists led by Dr. Sean Morrison, director of the Children's Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern, have developed an innovative model for predicting the progression of skin cancer in patients.

8 Nov 2012

BMI may not be best measure for estimation of cancer risk

A study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University suggests that body mass index (BMI)-the most commonly used weight-for-height formula for estimating fatness-may not be the best measure for estimating disease risk, and particularly the risk of certain types of cancer. The study was published today in the online edition of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

8 Nov 2012

Researchers discover cellular pathway that causes lung-damaging inflammation in CF

Vancouver researchers have discovered the cellular pathway that causes lung-damaging inflammation in cystic fibrosis (CF), and that reducing the pathway's activity also decreases inflammation.

8 Nov 2012

Thyroid journal publishes new ATA guidelines for management of anaplastic thyroid cancer

Anaplastic thyroid cancer is a rare form of thyroid tumor, but it is also the most deadly. Newly developed evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis, treatment, and long-term monitoring and follow-up care of patients with this extremely aggressive form of thyroid cancer are published in Thyroid, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

8 Nov 2012

Duration of ibuprofen use may reduce risk of bladder cancer in northern New England patients

Dartmouth researchers have found that duration of ibuprofen use was associated with a reduced risk of bladder cancer in patients in northern New England, which has a high mortality rate of this disease. In a 2012 collaborative project with the National Cancer Institute, Margaret Karagas, PhD, co-director, Cancer Epidemiology & Chemoprevention program at Norris Cotton Cancer Center, and Professor of Community and Family Medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, and Richard Waddell, D.Sc, Research Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine, looked for connections between ibuprofen use and bladder cancer.

7 Nov 2012

WU researchers to study blood-clotting disorders

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received a $9 million grant to investigate blood-clotting disorders. From heart attacks and strokes to uncontrolled bleeding, clotting disorders cause more deaths each year in the United States than all types of cancer combined.

7 Nov 2012

Arisaph’s ARI-3037MO well tolerated in healthy male and female volunteers

Arisaph Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today during an oral presentation at the American Heart Association (AHA) meeting in Los Angeles, CA that its niacin analog, ARI-3037MO, was extremely well tolerated in a single-ascending dose (SAD) and a multiple-ascending dose (MAD) trial in healthy male and female volunteers.

7 Nov 2012

Synta announces interim results from docetaxel Phase 2b/3 trial on NSCLC

Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. announced today that interim results from the Phase 2b/3 GALAXY trial will be presented at the Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium in New York City on Friday, November 9 during the 11:45 a.m. session on new agents for lung cancer. Presenting this data at the conference will be Dr. Suresh Ramalingham, Professor, Hematology & Medical Oncology, and Director, Translational Thoracic Malignancies Program, of the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University.

7 Nov 2012

FDA EMDAC votes unanimously in support of Signifor use for treatment of Cushing's disease

The US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee (EMDAC) has voted unanimously in support of the use of Signifor (pasireotide) for the treatment of patients with Cushing's disease who require medical therapeutic intervention.

7 Nov 2012

HPV testing and cervical screening: an interview with Dr Rosa Legood

Human papillomavirus is a virus that is transmitted through sexual contact. In most cases the virus is transient and causes no harm, however in some cases it can go on to cause pre-cancer lesions and cervical cancer.

7 Nov 2012

Researchers sequence the DNA of 6,700 exomes of cystic fibrosis patients

A multi-institutional team of researchers has sequenced the DNA of 6,700 exomes, the portion of the genome that contains protein-coding genes, as part of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI)-funded Exome Sequencing Project, one of the largest medical sequencing studies ever undertaken.

7 Nov 2012

Ion AmpliSeq Community Panels from Life Technologies

Life Technologies Corporation today announced Ion AmpliSeq Community Panels, a community-driven solution to gene panel sequencing that leverages the expertise of scientific thought leaders and the Ion Community to create gene panels for conditions ranging from cancer to inherited diseases.

7 Nov 2012

Texas Biomed develops rapid, less expensive route to screen suitable tests for bioterror threats

Texas Biomedical Research Institute scientists in San Antonio have developed a faster, less expensive route to screen suitable tests for bioterror threats and accelerate the application of countermeasures.

7 Nov 2012

Scientists show how sorafenib can be dangerous to the heart

Scientists for the first time have evidence showing how a widely used type of "targeted" cancer drug can be dangerous to the heart.

7 Nov 2012

Cloud technology helps researchers collect detailed information from cancer cell samples

Storing music and photos on distant computers via "cloud" technology is nothing new. But Johns Hopkins researchers are now using this tactic to collect detailed information from thousands of cancer cell samples. The goal is to help doctors make better predictions about how a patient's illness will progress and what type of treatment will be most effective.

7 Nov 2012

IRIN examines intellectual property protection in South Africa

IRIN examines how patents and intellectual property protection in South Africa affects patients' access to medicines. "A form of intellectual property protection, patents are typically awarded to companies that can prove their product is new," IRIN writes, adding, "Not so in South Africa, say activists and researchers, who claim the country's patent system allows pharmaceutical companies to apply for new patents on existing drugs based on immaterial changes -- like adding table salt to a formulation or changing a pill's color."

7 Nov 2012

Treatment with AMG 145 reduces LDL cholesterol

Amgen today announced that results from the LAPLACE-TIMI 57 and MENDEL Phase 2 studies evaluating AMG 145 in hypercholesterolemic patients with or without statins, respectively, showed that treatment with AMG 145 resulted in a statistically significant reduction in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.

7 Nov 2012

Drug trio may reduce eliminate cardiac side effects of doxorubicin

Combining cancer medication with a drug for erectile dysfunction and one for heart transplants helped kill cancer cells and protected the heart from damage, in a study presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012.

7 Nov 2012