Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Pfizer receives FDA approval for Synribo to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Synribo (omacetaxine mepesuccinate) to treat adults with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), a blood and bone marrow disease.

29 Oct 2012

Non-Hispanic black women more likely to die from breast cancer

Non-Hispanic black women diagnosed with breast cancer, specifically those with estrogen receptor-positive tumors, are at a significantly increased risk for breast cancer death compared with non-Hispanic white women.

29 Oct 2012

Rectal cancer more likely to spread to the lymph nodes in younger patients

Rectal cancer is more likely to spread to the lymph nodes in younger patients, according to new findings that Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers will be presenting on October 29 at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's 54th Annual Meeting.

29 Oct 2012

Loyola and Hines VA announce accreditation of Dermatopathology Fellowship Program by ACGME

Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine and the Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital Pathology and Dermatology Divisions have announced the accreditation of a Dermatopathology Fellowship Program by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

26 Oct 2012

Allergies and hygiene: an interview with Sally Bloomfield

Allergies occur when the body overreacts to substances in our environment, such as pollen, dust mites and so forth. What happens is that when we are exposed to these potential threats, the immune system should react, deal with it, and then shut down.

26 Oct 2012

Ancestry could simplify searches for harmful mutations

Explosive advancement in human genome sequencing opens new possibilities for identifying the genetic roots of certain diseases and finding cures. However, so many variations among individual genomes exist that identifying mutations responsible for a specific disease has in many cases proven an insurmountable challenge.

26 Oct 2012

Resveratrol does not appear to offer metabolic benefits in healthy women

Resveratrol, an ingredient in red wine thought to improve insulin sensitivity, reduce risk of heart disease and increase longevity, does not appear to offer these benefits in healthy women, new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates.

26 Oct 2012

Zebrafish model can test unique individual genetic differences in humans

The zebrafish is a potential tool for testing one class of unique individual genetic differences found in humans, and may yield information helpful for the emerging field of personalized medicine, according to a team led by Penn State College of Medicine scientists. The differences, or mutations, in question create minor changes in amino acids -- the building blocks of DNA -- from person to person.

26 Oct 2012

Human Gene Therapy articles describe two novel anti-tumor therapies

Targeted T-cells can seek out and destroy tumor cells that carry specific antigen markers. Two novel anti-tumor therapies that take advantage of this T-cell response are described in articles published in Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

26 Oct 2012

NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia participates in Symplicity system trial for hypertension

Patients with hypertension whose blood pressure cannot be brought down to safe levels despite taking three or more medications may have some relief coming their way. An innovative, first-of-its-kind clinical trial for a device representing a dramatic shift in treatment approaches for the toughest-to-treat patients is currently being conducted at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

From Medtronic 26 Oct 2012

CTCtrap can capture circulating tumour cells in cancer patients

The 7.5 millilitres of blood contained in a standard sample tube is not nearly enough to detect circulating tumour cells (CTCs) in the blood of patients with metastatic breast cancer, prostate cancer, or colorectal cancer with a high enough degree of reliability. These CTCs are the cause of metastases in cancer patients. If they can be effectively characterized, it is possible to arrive at a prognosis and to determine the most effective course of treatment.

26 Oct 2012

Study defines complexity of underlying mutations responsible for pancreatic cancers

A large-scale study that defines the complexity of underlying mutations responsible for pancreatic cancers in more than 100 patients was published in Nature today.

26 Oct 2012

Study identifies essential mechanism that regulates calcium flow into mitochondria

Most healthy cells rely on a complicated process to produce the fuel ATP. Knowing how ATP is produced by the cell's energy storehouse - the mitochondria -- is important for understanding a cell's normal state, as well as what happens when things go wrong, for example in cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurodegeneration, and many rare disorders of the mitochondria.

26 Oct 2012

UWCCC enrolls first patient in Phase 1-2 PET imaging trial of LIGHT for solid tumors

Novelos Therapeutics, Inc., a pharmaceutical company developing novel drugs for the treatment and diagnosis of cancer, today announced that the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, a leading oncology research institution, has enrolled the first patient in a Phase 1-2 positron emission tomography (PET) imaging trial of I-124-CLR1404, a cancer-targeted PET imaging agent, in patients with nine solid tumor types, including triple negative breast, soft tissue sarcoma, colorectal, gastric, esophageal, prostate, ovarian, pancreatic and head & neck cancer.

26 Oct 2012

Jefferson researchers to investigate mechanisms involved in nephrogenic systemic fibrosis

Researchers at the Jefferson Institute of Molecular Medicine were awarded almost $384,000 by the National Institutes of Health to investigate the mechanisms involved in the development of a serious and sometimes fatal disease, known as Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis, a rare skin disorder linked to Gadolinium-based contrast agents used in magnetic resonance (MRI and MRA) studies.

26 Oct 2012

Roundup: New laws on breast screening irk some doctors; Improved school meals cut obesity; More Coloradans use ER

In a sign of the improving national economy, Medicaid spending growth this year slowed to 2 percent as enrollment in the state-federal health insurance program for the poor also slowed for the third consecutive year, according to a report released Thursday. In 2011, Medicaid spending soared by nearly 10 percent, which helped put the entitlement program in the crosshairs of politicians looking to lower the federal deficit and ease pressure on state budgets.

26 Oct 2012

Population Health Management discusses latest information on shingles and PHN

Shingles, a reactivation of the herpes zoster (chickenpox) virus affects nearly 1 in 3 Americans. About 1 million cases are diagnosed each year, with some patients suffering excruciating pain and itching due to post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN), a complication of the viral infection that can last for years despite treatment.

26 Oct 2012

Antiviral therapy cuts progression to cancer in hepatitis

Antiviral therapy may prevent the most common form of liver cancer developing among patients who have hepatitis C-related fibrosis or cirrhosis, report researchers.

25 Oct 2012

Exercise at home may relieve lymphedema in breast cancer

Women who complete an at-home exercise program designed to treat breast-cancer-related lymphedema have significantly reduced excess limb volume measurements after 6 months compared with their peers who undertake standard care alone, show study results.

25 Oct 2012

Online resource for men diagnosed with low-grade prostate cancer launched

Johns Hopkins Medicine, along with the Prostate Cancer Foundation and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, have launched the National Proactive Surveillance Network, an online resource for men diagnosed with low-grade prostate cancer that can be slow-growing and non-life-threatening in up to 50 percent of diagnosed cases.

25 Oct 2012