Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

In Colorado, Obama focuses on women's health issues

Campaigning in the western swing state, President Barack Obama said his opponent, GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, would take women's health care back to the 1950s.

10 Aug 2012

New life for forgotten technique in detecting resistant tuberculosis

Scientists of the Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine have breathed new life into a forgotten technique and so succeeded in detecting resistant tuberculosis in circumstances where so far this was hardly feasible. Tuberculosis bacilli that have become resistant against our major antibiotics are a serious threat to world health.

10 Aug 2012

FDA approved drug to treat Ph- acute lymphoblastic leukemia

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Marqibo (vincristine sulfate liposome injection) to treat adults with a rare type of leukemia called Philadelphia chromosome negative (Ph-) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). ALL is a rapidly progressing form of blood and bone marrow cancer that is more commonly diagnosed in children than adults.

10 Aug 2012

As flap continues over pro-Obama PAC's ad, Romney aide praises Mass. health law

The ad, which highlights the death of a steelworker's wife after Bain closed his plant, triggered criticism from Republicans. But a Romney aide's comments about how that family would have benefited from the Massachusetts health reforms signed into law by then-Gov. Mitt Romney was not well received in conservative circles.

10 Aug 2012

First Edition: August 10, 2012

Reporting for Kaiser Health News, in collaboration with The Washington Post, Susan Jaffe writes: "Concerned that a growing number of seniors have been unexpectedly forced to pay thousands of dollars for nursing home care after a stay in a hospital, Medicare has launched a pilot project to test whether relaxing its hospital payment rules could help beneficiaries".

10 Aug 2012

Nematode worms help identify potential cancer targets

Through novel experiments involving small nematode worms, scientists from Wyoming have discovered several genes that may be potential targets for drug development in the ongoing war against cancer. Specifically, researchers hypothesize that inhibiting these genes could reverse certain key traits associated with cancer cells.

10 Aug 2012

Longer looks: Waking up to the need for sleep

Among the more than 11,000 dearly departed inhabitants of Southeast Portland's Multnomah Park Cemetery, friends Eric Cordingley and David Anderson have their favorites: a reputed French madam, a young Norwegian institutionalized for being gay, and Louis Napoleon Lepley -- or, as they call him, "Louis the cannibal." Intriguing as their individual stories may be, together they help tell a bigger, darker tale

10 Aug 2012

Accurate vaccination needed to protect children

This year the U.S. has seen the worst outbreak of whooping cough in more than 50 years. In fact, it has reached epidemic levels in many states and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the numbers of cases reported is already twice as many as last year. With kids getting ready to head back-to-school, the numbers of children impacted or killed by this disease could continue to rise if children aren't accurately vaccinated.

10 Aug 2012

Combination therapy delays progression for metastatic breast cancer patients

Phase III trial results show that a combination of the aromatase inhibitor anastrozole and fulvestrant, an analog of estradiol that downgrades the estrogen receptor, is superior to anastrozole alone in prolonging progression-free survival in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

10 Aug 2012

Pay more than lip service to sun-screen advice for antihypertensive users

Users of common antihypertensive drugs, such as hydrochlorothiazide and nifedipine, may be at increased risk for developing lip cancer.

9 Aug 2012

Salvage surgery for oropharyngeal cancer needs due consideration

Japanese study results indicate a 5-year overall survival rate of 49% for oropharyngeal cancer patients treated with salvage surgery after initial treatment with chemoradiotherapy has failed.

9 Aug 2012

Patient cognition may affect EOL care intensity

Mild cognitive impairment in patients with advanced cancer may affect the intensity of end-of-life treatment and promote decision-making by caregivers, rather than patients, show US study results.

9 Aug 2012

Loyola to offer new radiotherapy system for cancer patients

A new radiotherapy system at Loyola University Medical Center will offer cancer patients shorter radiation treatments, with pinpoint accuracy and precision.

9 Aug 2012

Recurrences of ovarian cancer can be detected earlier and more accurately with PET/CT

Due to the lack of studies, there is currently no proof that patients with ovarian cancer can benefit from positron emission tomography (PET) alone or in combination with computed tomography (CT). As regards diagnostic accuracy, in certain cases, recurrences can be detected earlier and more accurately with PET or PET/CT than with conventional imaging techniques.

9 Aug 2012

Female voters are hot commodity for presidential candidates

On the campaign trail, President Barack Obama continues his efforts to shore up support among women voters, as GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney vies for working-class voters.

9 Aug 2012

Herceptin® could potentially be delivered via a standard injection

A new method of delivering a commonly used breast cancer drug could result in considerably less time spent in hospital for some women undergoing breast cancer treatment, according to the results of a Phase 3 trial published Online First in The Lancet Oncology.

9 Aug 2012

Syrians in urgent need of life-saving medicines as fighting escalates, WHO warns

"Syrians are in urgent need of life-saving medicines following an escalation in fighting, which also threatens further food shortages, U.N. agencies warned on Tuesday," Agence France-Presse reports.

9 Aug 2012

Study identifies a switch in cells that may help to kill tumors with heat

Research at Bangor University has identified a switch in cells that may help to kill tumors with heat. Prostate cancer and other localized tumors can be effectively treated by a combination of heat and an anti-cancer drug that damages the genes. Behind this novel therapy is the enigmatic ability of heat to switch off essential survival mechanisms in human cells. Although thermotherapy is now more widely used, the underlying principles are still unclear.

9 Aug 2012

Data from IMUC’s ICT-107 Phase I trial on glioblastoma multiforme accepted for publication

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics announced today that clinical data from its Phase I trial of ICT-107 was accepted for publication, and is currently in the online edition of the prestigious medical journal Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy.

9 Aug 2012

Theranostic imaging targets and tracks potent drug therapies to prostate cancer cells

Experimenting with human prostate cancer cells and mice, cancer imaging experts at Johns Hopkins say they have developed a method for finding and killing malignant cells while sparing healthy ones.

9 Aug 2012