Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Researchers develop simple process for synthesis of artemisinin

The most effective anti-malaria drug can now be produced inexpensively and in large quantities. This means that it will be possible to provide medication for the 225 million malaria patients in developing countries at an affordable price. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam and the Freie Universit-t Berlin have developed a very simple process for the synthesis of artemisinin, the active ingredient that pharmaceutical companies could only obtain from plants up to now.

18 Jan 2012

Voraxaze receives FDA approval for treatment of toxic methotrexate levels

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Voraxaze (glucarpidase) to treat patients with toxic levels of methotrexate in their blood due to kidney failure.

18 Jan 2012

State roundup: State lawmakers, governors planning health legislation; Some Pa. kids losing Medicaid

Iowa House and Senate Republicans could support legislation requiring lawmakers to contribute to the cost of their state-provided health-care benefits, party leaders told the Des Moines Register's editorial board this morning. The health-care packages now offered by the state - in which most employees, including legislators, are not required to make contributions from their salaries - are "out of touch" with the plans available to average Iowans, ... House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, said.

18 Jan 2012

Novelos initiates enrollment in HOT Phase 1b trial for advanced solid tumors

Novelos Therapeutics, Inc., a pharmaceutical company developing novel drugs for treatment and diagnosis of cancer, today announced that it has enrolled the first patient in a U.S. multi-center Phase 1b dose-escalation trial of its cancer-targeted molecular radiotherapeutic compound (131)I-CLR1404 (HOT) in cancer patients with advanced solid tumors.

18 Jan 2012

'Pro-survival' protein inhibitors may improve outlook for AML patients

Melbourne researchers have discovered that acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), an aggressive blood cancer with poor prognosis, may be susceptible to medications that target a protein called Mcl-1.

18 Jan 2012

Regorafenib lengthens lives of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

An investigational drug called regorafenib slowed the progression of tumors and lengthened the lives of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, an international phase III clinical trial found. The findings were presented today at the Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in San Francisco by Mayo Clinic oncologist Axel Grothey, M.D., principal investigator of the trial in the United States.

17 Jan 2012

BJALCF receives $1 million in grants for 2012 Lung Cancer Research

Just two months shy of marking its 7-year anniversary, BJALCF announced today that it has awarded over $1 million in grants for 2012 Lung Cancer Research. BJALCF has made a promise to the Lung Cancer Community to fund only immediate results-oriented projects or programs promising to catalyze progress through early detection, genetic testing, drug discovery and patient-focused outcomes.

17 Jan 2012

Actavis, Scil Proteins sign Reteplase supply agreement

Scil Proteins, a private biotech company specialized in the research, development and production of recombinant proteins, announced today that it has signed a supply agreement with Actavis, one of the world's leading generic pharmaceutical companies, for the future manufacturing of Reteplase.

17 Jan 2012

Mentor executes long-term funding agreement to receive 50% ownership in Brighter Day Health

Mentor Capital, Inc. announced that it has executed a long-term funding agreement to receive a current 50% ownership in Brighter Day Health, LLC, pending their expected shareholder approval.

17 Jan 2012

Study finds wide disparity in melanoma mortality rates by education

A new study from the American Cancer Society finds recent declines in melanoma mortality rates in non-Hispanic Whites in the U.S. mainly reflect declines in those with the highest level of education, and reveals a widening disparity in melanoma mortality rates by education.

17 Jan 2012

Traditional autopsy is still the gold standard in determining cause of death

TV crime shows like Bones and CSI are quick to explain each death by showing highly detailed scans and video images of victims' insides. Traditional autopsies, if shown at all, are at best in supporting roles to the high-tech equipment, and usually gloss over the sometimes physically grueling tasks of sawing through skin and bone.

17 Jan 2012

Animal study confirms dramatic effects of natural formula against prostate cancer

New animal study confirms the dramatic effects of a natural formula against aggressive prostate cancer tumors. Researchers at the Methodist Research Institute at Indiana University conducted the study on mice, using a human prostate cancer xenograft model.

17 Jan 2012

Combination of lapatinib and trastuzumab more effective in treating HER2-positive breast cancer

Using two drugs that inhibit the growth factor HER2 for preoperative treatment of early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer appears to have better results than treatment with a single agent. In a report in the January 17 issue of The Lancet, an international research team reports that a protocol adding lapatinib (Tykerb) to trastuzumab (Herceptin) was more effective than single-drug treatment with either drug in eliminating microscopic signs of cancer at the time the tumors were surgically removed.

17 Jan 2012

Matted lymph nodes may predict throat cancer metastasis

Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System have found a new indicator that may predict which patients with a common type of throat cancer are most likely have the cancer spread to other parts of their bodies.

17 Jan 2012

MD Anderson Orlando receives donation to fight against pancreatic cancer

MD Anderson Cancer Center Orlando has received a generous donation to help in the fight against pancreatic cancer. A $75,000 grant, funded by the Shirley E. Noland Foundation, will support the Pancreatic Cancer Translational Research Project at MD Anderson - Orlando.

17 Jan 2012

New way to block HCV infection in the liver

Researchers at the University of British Columbia have found a new way to block infection from the hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the liver that could lead to new therapies for those affected by this and other infectious diseases.

17 Jan 2012

Wiley-Blackwell launches Cancer Medicine journal

Wiley-Blackwell, the scientific, technical, medical and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons, Inc., today announced the launch of Cancer Medicine, a new Wiley Open Access journal.

16 Jan 2012

Cancer researcher identifies high levels of doctor-patient trust and confidence within NHS

A leading cancer researcher has identified very high levels of doctor-patient trust and confidence within the NHS.

16 Jan 2012

Links between deodorants and breast cancer refuted but more information needed: Study

A chemical present in cosmetics, food products and pharmaceuticals has been found in tissue samples from 40 women with breast cancer. A number of studies since 1998 have raised concerns about the potential role of these chemicals called parabens in breast cancer as they possess estrogenic properties. Estrogen is known to play a central role in the development, growth and progression of breast cancer.

16 Jan 2012

Man gets new windpipe with stem cell therapy

Christopher Lyles, 30, of Abingdon, Md, became the first American to undergo an experimental procedure, involving stem cells to treat his trachea cancer. A trachea or windpipe connects the nose and mouth to the lungs, serving a crucial function for life.

16 Jan 2012