Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Swedish Medical Center/First Hill named among Leapfrog Group's 2012 Top Hospitals

The Leapfrog Group's annual class of 'Top Hospitals' – just 89 from a field of nearly 1,200 – will be announced today in Baltimore, Md., and includes Swedish Medical Center/First Hill for the third year in a row. The announcement will take place at Leapfrog's Annual Meeting.

4 Dec 2012

New screening tool to help reduce workplace accidents and illnesses

An international team of sleep researchers has developed the world's first screening tool to help reduce workplace accidents and illnesses, including cardiovascular disease and cancer, caused by shift work.

4 Dec 2012

Study describes 68 cases of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in athletes, military veterans

A study done by investigators at the Boston University Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy (CSTE) and the Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, in collaboration with the Sports Legacy Institute (SLI), describes 68 cases of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) among deceased athletes and military veterans whose brain and spinal cords were donated to the VA CSTE Brain Bank.

4 Dec 2012

Combined oral contraceptives increase risk of blood clots in women with PCOS

Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) who are taking combined oral contraceptives have a 2-fold risk of blood clots compared with women without the disorder who take contraceptives, states a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

4 Dec 2012

Study examines effectiveness of German mammography screening program

How effective is the German mammography screening program? This is the question examined by Oliver Heidinger of the Epidemiological Cancer Registry North Rhine-Westphalia and his co-authors in the first study on this subject in Germany, in Deutsches -rzteblatt International.

4 Dec 2012

Certain patients with prostate cancer may benefit from Provenge clinical trial

Select patients with advanced prostate cancer may benefit from a Georgia Health Sciences University Cancer Center clinical trial that looks to improve survival rates of the FDA-approved prostate cancer drug Provenge.

4 Dec 2012

Enzalutamide shows promise in treating triple-negative and estrogen-positive breast cancer

Breast cancers are defined by their drivers - estrogen and progesterone receptors (ER and PR) and HER2 are the most common, and there are drugs targeting each. When breast cancer has an unknown driver, it also has fewer treatment options - this aggressive form of breast cancer without ER, PR or HER2, which was thought not to be driven by hormones, is known as triple negative.

3 Dec 2012

Prrx1 component prevents cancer cells from lodging in other organs

Researchers discover that the cellular component Prrx1 prevents cancer cells from lodging in other organs and, therefore, generating new focuses of cancer.

3 Dec 2012

Reductions in fine particulate matter may improve life expectancy in the U.S.

A new study led by researchers at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) has found an association between reductions in fine particulate matter and improved life expectancy in 545 counties in the U.S. from 2000 to 2007. It is the largest study to date to find beneficial effects to public health of continuing to reduce air pollution levels in the U.S.

3 Dec 2012

Roundup: Iowa Gov. proposes insurance premium hike for state workers; Mental health care fund questioned in Calif.

Proposition 63, which voters approved in 2004, was touted as a way to address serious mental illnesses in California, but in the years since, critics -- including some of the original supporters -- have argued that it has gone off the rails in its implementation.

3 Dec 2012

microRNAs play an important role during embryonic development

Sanford-Burnham researchers discover that microRNAs play an important role in germ layer formation-the process that determines which cells become which organs during embryonic development

3 Dec 2012

Selumetinib plus docetaxel shows KRAS-mutant NSCLC potential

The addition of selumetinib to docetaxel therapy may boost the survival of patients with KRAS-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer, suggest study findings published in The Lancet Oncology.

3 Dec 2012

Single-dose radiotherapy best for painful spine metastases

Research supports the use of single-fraction radiotherapy for the treatment of painful vertebral bone metastases.

3 Dec 2012

Specific transporters could be exploited to deliver toxic substances into cancer cells

Whitehead Institute scientists report that certain molecules present in high concentrations on the surfaces of many cancer cells could be exploited to funnel lethal toxic molecules into the malignant cells. In such an approach, the overexpression of specific transporters could be exploited to deliver toxic substances into cancer cells.

3 Dec 2012

Metformin improves survival in diabetic patients with ovarian cancer

Diabetic patients with ovarian cancer who took the drug metformin for their diabetes had a better survival rate than patients who did not take it, a study headed by Mayo Clinic shows. The findings, published early online in the journal Cancer, may play an important role for researchers as they study the use of existing medications to treat different or new diseases.

3 Dec 2012

Children with changes in bully genes have poor survival

In a genome sequencing study of 74 neuroblastoma tumors in children, scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) found that patients with changes in two genes, ARID1A and ARID1B, survive only a quarter as long as patients without the changes. The discovery could eventually lead to early identification of patients with aggressive neuroblastomas who may need additional treatments.

3 Dec 2012

TINCR molecule plays a master role in epidermal differentiation

The surface of your skin, called the epidermis, is a complex mixture of many different cell types - each with a very specific job. The production, or differentiation, of such a sophisticated tissue requires an immense amount of coordination at the cellular level, and glitches in the process can have disastrous consequences. Now, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a master regulator of this differentiation process.

2 Dec 2012

Scientists determine how two proteins help create organelles

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have determined how two proteins help create organelles, or specialized subunits within a cell, that play a vital role in maintaining cell health. This discovery opens the door for research on substances that could interfere with the formation of these organelles and lead to new therapies for cancer.

2 Dec 2012

Scientists sequence DNA of biopsied tissue from colon polyps

The causes underlying the development of certain types of common cancers have not yet been elucidated. In order to better determine the origin and the sequence of events responsible for the onset of colon cancer, the teams led by Thanos Halazonetis and Stylianos Antonarakis, professors at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, have sequenced the DNA of biopsied tissue from colon polyps.

2 Dec 2012

Men should see a doctor and be proactive about their health, say UAB experts

Experts at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) say a man's tendency to wait until the onset of sickness to see his doctor is a major detriment to health because key screenings are missed.

1 Dec 2012