Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Can-Fite receives FDA Orphan Drug Status for CF102 to treat hepatocellular carcinoma

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd, a biotechnology company developing small molecule drugs for the treatment of inflammatory, and liver diseases, traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug Status for its drug candidate, CF102, for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.

23 Feb 2012

Colonoscopy reduces mortality from colorectal cancer

For the first time, a new study has shown that removing polyps by colonoscopy not only prevents colorectal cancer from developing, but also prevents deaths from the disease. Patients in the study were evaluated for up to 23 years after having the procedure, providing the longest follow-up results to date.

23 Feb 2012

Viewpoints: A missing contraception question, Obama's budget blind spot, NEJM on Medicare Advantage

David Brooks and Gail Collins discuss the surprising role debates over contraception, abortion and unwed mothers have played so far in the campaign.

23 Feb 2012

Colonoscopy prevents cancer deaths: Study

A new study shows that colonoscopy actually prevents cancer deaths. Although many people have assumed that colonoscopy must save lives because it is so often recommended, strong evidence has been lacking until now.

23 Feb 2012

Videotaped encounter evaluates medical students conveying bad news to 'standardized patients'

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., and the University of South Florida (USF) College of Medicine evaluated the experience of medical students who participated in videotaped sessions where they practiced conveying difficult news to "standardized patients" (SPs). The SPs role-played patients with a variety of cancers and who were receiving bad medical news.

23 Feb 2012

FDA, pharmaceutical companies announce solution to cancer drug shortage

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and several pharmaceutical companies said Tuesday they have reached agreements to alleviate shortages for the drugs methotrexate and Doxil. Methotrexate is used to treat children with a form of leukemia and others with tumors of the breast and lungs. Doxil is used to treat ovarian cancer and multiple myeloma.

23 Feb 2012

Porter surgeon first in the U.S. to perform single-incision cholecystectomy

Taking advantage of another breakthrough in robotic surgery, a surgeon at Porter Adventist Hospital is among the first in the country and is the first in the Rocky Mountain Region to perform a robotically-assisted removal of the gallbladder through a single small incision.

23 Feb 2012

Environmental health risks low in the United Arab Emirates

By global standards, health risks caused by environmental factors are low in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), new studies by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers show.

23 Feb 2012

Women over 40 have better prognosis after mammography screening

Based on a study of nearly 2,000 breast cancer patients, researchers at the Swedish Cancer Institute in Seattle say that, in women between the ages of 40 and 49, breast cancers detected by mammography have a better prognosis. The study appears in the March issue of Radiology.

23 Feb 2012

USPTO rejects MonoSol's patent infringement claims against BDSI

The United States Patent & Trademark Office has informed BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc. that it has rejected all claims by MonoSol Rx, LLC (MonoSol) in its US Patent No. 7,425,292 (the '292 Patent) which is currently being asserted against BDSI and its commercial partners for ONSOLIS.

23 Feb 2012

Elevated levels of two TLRs can trigger heart disease and diabetes

UC Davis scientists have uncovered a key suspect in the destructive inflammation that underlies heart disease and diabetes. The new research shows elevated levels of a receptor present on leucocytes of the innate immune response in people at risk for these chronic diseases.

23 Feb 2012

Pediatricians should screen all children for vitamin D deficiency

As study after study shows the fundamental role vitamin D plays in disease and health, vitamin D deficiency — which often develops insidiously in childhood — should be on every parent's and pediatrician's radar, say physicians from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

23 Feb 2012

Accelitech announces new CyberKnife Cancer Institute of Chicago

Accelitech LLC, a leading developer of stereotactic radiosurgery and cancer treatment programs, is pleased to announce its newest CyberKnife cancer center, which will begin treating patients in Chicago in the summer of 2012.

23 Feb 2012

Micronutrients affect methylation, linked to changes in the immune system

The offspring of women who were given micronutrient supplements (minerals needed in small quantities, such as iron, iodine and vitamin A) before they became pregnant had gene modifications at birth as well as when they were tested at 9 months.

23 Feb 2012

Inven2, OGT enter license agreement for 12 colorectal cancer biomarkers

Oxford Gene Technology (OGT), provider of innovative clinical genetics and diagnostic solutions to advance molecular medicine, announced today that it has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Inven2, the technology transfer office at Oslo University Hospital (OUS) and University of Oslo (UiO), for 12 highly promising colorectal cancer tissue biomarkers.

From Oxford Gene Technology 23 Feb 2012

New Herman & Walter Samuelson Children's Hospital at Sinai to be dedicated on March 1

The new Herman & Walter Samuelson Children's Hospital at Sinai will be dedicated on Thursday, March 1. The 23,200-square-foot facility features 26 all-private rooms that support the very heart of the family-centered care philosophy. This method of care embraces the family as an integral part of the child's treatment and recovery. The family works alongside the clinical team to ensure the best outcomes for their sick child.

23 Feb 2012

Vemurafenib nearly doubles survival for patients with metastatic melanoma

Investigators from Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) and 12 other centers in the United States and Australia have found that a new drug for patients with metastatic melanoma nearly doubled median overall survival.

23 Feb 2012

New kind of on-off switch for cortisol release in the brain discovered

After we sense a threat, our brain center responsible for responding goes into gear, setting off a chain of biochemical reactions leading to the release of cortisol from the adrenal glands.

23 Feb 2012

Researchers discover how mTOR protein leads to cancer metastasis

Uncovering the network of genes regulated by a crucial molecule involved in cancer called mTOR, which controls protein production inside cells, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) have discovered how a protein "master regulator" goes awry, leading to metastasis, the fatal step of cancer.

23 Feb 2012

Enrollment complete in Onyx Phase 3 ASPIRE trial for relapsed multiple myeloma

Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it has reached the target enrollment in the ASPIRE trial, a Phase 3 international clinical trial evaluating carfilzomib in combination with lenalidomide (Revlimid) and low dose dexamethasone in patients with relapsed multiple myeloma.

23 Feb 2012