Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

RMC offers groundbreaking new procedure for LSS patients

More than one million people are diagnosed and treated each year in the United States for lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS), a condition that occurs from the narrowing of the spinal canal. Peter Staats, M.D., in conjunction with Riverview Medical Center, is offering LSS patients a groundbreaking new procedure, mild (minimally invasive spinal decompression) that safely and therapeutically reduces pain and improves mobility.

1 Mar 2012

HDAC2 enzyme could be a potential target for new Alzheimer's drugs

MIT neuroscientists have shown that an enzyme overproduced in the brains of Alzheimer's patients creates a blockade that shuts off genes necessary to form new memories. Furthermore, by inhibiting that enzyme in mice, the researchers were able to reverse Alzheimer's symptoms.

1 Mar 2012

HPV and smear tests offer more effective approach for cervical screening

Testing for the human papillomavirus (HPV) - a virus most women will encounter at some point in their lives - followed by a smear test if they are HPV positive, provides the most effective approach for cervical screening, new research shows today.

1 Mar 2012

NEJM publishes results from two Jakafi Phase III studies on MF

The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) today published results from two Phase III studies (COMFORT-I and COMFORT-II) of Jakafi (ruxolitinib), a JAK1 and JAK2 inhibitor recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of intermediate or high-risk myelofibrosis.

1 Mar 2012

Researchers observe how cholera decimates competing bacteria and human cells

Bacteria live in a state of perpetual warfare, with different species battling for dominion over their competitors and when pathogen, over their infected host. New research suggests that the human pathogen Vibrio cholerae, which causes the disease cholera, kills off its microbial rivals by jabbing them with a spring-loaded poison dagger.

1 Mar 2012

Ultrasound-based TE more accurate in detecting hepatic fibrosis

Researchers from the Mayo Clinic confirm that ultrasound-based transient elastography (TE) provides excellent diagnostic accuracy for detecting cirrhosis due to recurrent infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection following liver transplantation.

1 Mar 2012

Springer adds 6 new quarterly clinical review journals to medicine portfolio

Springer is adding six new quarterly clinical review journals to its existing medicine portfolio in March 2012. These new journals will expand the publisher's medical specialty coverage, focusing on dermatology, geriatrics/gerontology, nutrition, obesity, obstetrics/gynecology and respiratory care.

29 Feb 2012

New NOSH-aspirin appears more effective against cancer

Scientists have combined two new "designer" forms of aspirin into a hybrid substance that appears more effective than either of its forebears in controlling the growth of several forms of cancer in laboratory tests. Their report on the new NOSH-aspirin, so named because it releases nitric oxide (NO) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S), appears in the journal ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters.

29 Feb 2012

Bayer receives FDA approval for lower dose formulation of ANGELIQ

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a lower dose formulation of ANGELIQ (drospirenone and estradiol) tablets to treat moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms due to menopause in women who have a uterus.

29 Feb 2012

Sleeping pills may raise risk of death: Study

According to a U.S. study, people who take certain prescription sleeping pills even once in a while may be up to five times more susceptible to early death. In the U.S., an estimated six per cent to 10 per cent of adults used the drugs in 2010.

29 Feb 2012

Combination treatment for pancreatic cancer increases intratumoral gemcitabine levels

Oncologists who treat patients with pancreatic cancer may be one step closer to understanding why gemcitabine, the only currently available treatment, works in some cases but not in others, according to a paper in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

29 Feb 2012

First Edition: February 29, 2012

Today's headlines include reports on yesterday's GOP presidential primary elections and how health policy played a role in some of the rhetoric.

29 Feb 2012

Minimally invasive treatments to be showcased at SIR's 37th Annual Scientific Meeting

The Society of Interventional Radiology will feature minimally invasive scientific advances and new discoveries that may change the way dozens of diseases are treated at its 37th Annual Scientific Meeting March 24-29 at San Francisco's Moscone Center.

29 Feb 2012

UVA, Johns Hopkins receive NIH grant to develop methods against glioblastoma

The most common primary brain cancer is glioblastoma, a highly aggressive and deadly form of tumor that kills about 95 percent of its victims within five years of diagnosis. Like other brain cancers, it is extremely difficult to treat because glioblastomas are usually deeply embedded within healthy brain tissue and therefore nearly impossible to safely access. Chemotherapy drugs cannot reach these tumors because a membrane between the bloodstream and brain tissue, called the blood-brain barrier, blocks them.

29 Feb 2012

HPV vaccine recommended for boys

The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended boys - not just girls - be vaccinated against HPV, though questions about its cost-effectiveness remain.

29 Feb 2012

On-site pathology evaluations cut operating time, reduce costs of breast cancer care

Nearly one in three women who have breast cancer surgery will need to return to the operating room for additional surgery after the tumor is evaluated by a pathologist.

29 Feb 2012

Tiny molecule might help protect pancreas from cancer

A tiny molecule might help protect the pancreas from deadly disease and cancer. Tackling a mysterious process: There is a feeling that neglected cancers need more research and Pancreatic cancer is one of the least studied. Today, the survival rate is 3% for five years. Professor Petersen, at the School of Biosciences at Cardiff University, hopes his team's research can change that.

29 Feb 2012