Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Viewpoints: Entrenchment on Capitol Hill; Medicaid's woes; Presidential mistake on Berwick

Last week's failure of the budget super committee, despite its super powers, is only the latest breakdown in an attempt at compromise in Washington. Politicians keep trying to fashion failsafe solutions to the capital's uncompromising mind-set, without understanding that there is no external escape from an environment that rewards those who stand tenaciously on their principles and demonize their opponents. Members of Congress need to change their minds about compromise, or voters will need to change the members of Congress.

1 Dec 2011

Harvard SEAS, BASF to co-host symposium on pharmaceutical nanoformulations

From targeted cancer chemotherapy to the guarantee of successful organ transplants, the 21st century may prove to be the age of big ideas in medicine. The drugs themselves, though, will be miniscule. Experts in chemistry, applied physics, materials science, and pharmaceutical science are gathering this week for the BASF Advanced Research Initiative at Harvard University's symposium on pharmaceutical nanoformulations.

1 Dec 2011

Idera regains global rights to IMO-2055 from Merck KGaA for treatment of cancer

Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it has regained global rights to IMO-2055, an agonist of Toll-like Receptor (TLR) 9, as part of an agreed-upon termination of its oncology collaboration with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.

1 Dec 2011

Hospice family caregivers require unique care needs

A study led by the University of Kentucky researcher Elaine Wittenberg-Lyles found that hospice family caregivers are "second order patients" themselves and require their own unique care needs.

1 Dec 2011

Potential test to diagnose membranous nephropathy in early stages

Research conducted by a pair of physicians at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) has led to the development of a test that can help diagnose membranous nephropathy in its early stages.

1 Dec 2011

Neuropharmacology to publish Nutra Pharma's Alpha-Cobratoxin mechanism study on chronic pain

Nutra Pharma Corporation, a biotechnology company that is developing treatments for Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Adrenomyeloneuropathy (AMN) and Pain, announced today that the journal Neuropharmacology will be publishing a mechanism study on the use of Alpha-Cobratoxin, a component of cobra venom, as a treatment for pain.

1 Dec 2011

Oral ingestion of apple polyphenols can prevent colitis in mice

Here's another reason why "an apple a day keeps the doctor away"-according to new research findings published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, oral ingestion of apple polyphenols can suppress T cell activation to prevent colitis in mice.

1 Dec 2011

Joslin study uncovers potential targets for soft-tissue sarcomas

Scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston have uncovered important molecular and genetic keys to the development of soft-tissue sarcomas in skeletal muscle, giving researchers and clinicians additional targets to stop the growth of these often deadly tumors.

30 Nov 2011

Annual mammograms may be necessary beyond 40: Study

According to a latest study, women, even without family history of breast cancer, should undergo cancer screening or a mammography every year after reaching the age of 40.

30 Nov 2011

Morning snacking harms diet and affects weight loss efforts: Study

According to a new study snacking between breakfast and lunch might damage the diet more than snacking at other times of the day. Women taking part in a weight loss study who ate a midmorning snack lost an average of 7 percent of their body weight over the course of a year, whereas women who did not snack before lunch lost 11 percent of their body weight the study revealed.

30 Nov 2011

Obama administration appeals to bring in cigarette pack graphic images

Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled that the cigarette makers are likely to succeed in a lawsuit to stop a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirement that they put graphic images across the top half of all their packs.

30 Nov 2011

Combination treatment improves progression-free survival in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors

Combination treatment with everolimus, an inhibitor of the mammalian target rapamycin (mTOR), and octreotide has shown to improve progression-free survival for patients with advanced neuroendocrine tumors and a history of carcinoid syndrome, according to researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

30 Nov 2011

Dramatic nationwide rise in opioid use for chronic abdominal pain

Across U.S. outpatient clinics between 1997 and 2008, opioid prescriptions for chronic abdominal pain more than doubled, according to a new study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association.

30 Nov 2011

Novel breast cancer surgical technique now available in New England

Jennifer Gass, MD, chief of surgery at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island and a breast surgeon with the Breast Health Center in the hospital's Program in Women's Oncology, recently completed a one-month sabbatical in Paris with the world-renowned breast surgeon Krishna B. Clough, MD, medical director of the Paris Breast Center.

30 Nov 2011

Neogenix novel antibody selected as one of Windhover's 2011 Top 10 Projects to Watch

Neogenix Oncology, Inc. has announced that the company's novel antibody NEO-101, which targets pancreatic and colorectal cancer cells, has been selected as one of Windhover's 2011 Top 10 Projects to Watch.

30 Nov 2011

Elevated blood sugar levels linked with increased risk of colorectal cancer

Elevated blood sugar levels are associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer, according to a study led by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.

30 Nov 2011

Genentech announces results from pertuzumab studies on HER2-positive breast cancer

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, today announced the company will present results from studies of its investigational medicine pertuzumab in HER2-positive breast cancer at the 2011 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium December 6-10.

30 Nov 2011

Polarized filter may improve ability to detect precancerous changes, reduce unnecessary biopsies

The same filtered light that enables sunglasses to reduce glare may improve a physician's ability to detect early signs of cervical cancer, reducing unnecessary biopsies and surgery.

30 Nov 2011

Mayo Clinic becomes FUS Foundation's new Research Award recipient

The Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation has announced that its Research Awards Program is funding a Mayo Clinic study that will be the first to use U.S. commercial database information to compare the costs of three minimally-invasive treatments for symptomatic uterine fibroids, a benign and often debilitating condition that affects more than one in four American women.

30 Nov 2011

State roundup: No Mass. insurance mandate referendum

If you chafe against the Massachusetts requirement that you have health insurance, sorry but you won't have a chance to vote against it - not in the next election, anyway. Backers of a ballot measure to repeal the state's insurance mandate sent out an email last week saying they had failed to gather the needed signatures.

30 Nov 2011