Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Diffusion-weighted MRI may effectively indicate response to ovarian cancer treatment

Cancer Research UK-funded scientists have determined that a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique, which measures the movement of water molecules within the tumour, may be the best way to monitor how women with late-stage ovarian cancer are responding to treatment. The study is published in the journal Radiology today.

14 Feb 2012

Aspirin-like drugs help prevent spread of tumors in the body

Australian scientists have made a breakthrough which could help in the fight against cancer. The team from Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne has found a link between non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as aspirin, and the ability of tumours to spread in the body. They say that doctors have been aware of the benefits of NSAIDs for many years, but did not fully understand the biological processes involved.

14 Feb 2012

Postoperative radiotherapy does not really help elderly lung cancer patients

A controversial radiation treatment for patients who've had lung cancer surgery may not help elderly people live longer, U.S. researchers have found. Postoperative radiotherapy, or PORT, is thought to cut the chances that a tumor will return. But it can damage the heart and lungs, which might cancel out any potential benefits -- particularly in the elderly.

14 Feb 2012

Gene sequencing could identify genetic variants of lung cancer and colorectal cancer

Foundation Medicine Inc., a molecular information company that brings comprehensive cancer gene analysis to routine clinical care, and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have come up with the results from their collaborative next-generation sequencing (NGS) study to assay cancer-relevant genes in 24 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and 40 colorectal cancer (CRC) cases.

14 Feb 2012

Juvenile arthritis affected kids are at a high risk of cancer: Study

A new study shows that kids with juvenile idiopathic arthritis develop cancer four times more often than children without the disease, but the treatments they receive - including biologic treatments like Enbrel - may not explain their increased risk. If confirmed, researchers say the findings should ease fears that biologic treatments known as TNF inhibitors cause cancer in children and young adults.

14 Feb 2012

Epigenetic mechanisms maintain tolerance in T cells specific for self antigens

At the most basic level, the immune system must distinguish self from non-self, that is, it must discriminate between the molecular signatures of invading pathogens (non-self antigens) and cellular constituents that usually pose no risk to health (self-antigens).

14 Feb 2012

Unstructured free play, recess need to be reinstated in schools

Evaluating the Let's Move! Initiative, Dr. Melinda Sothern, Professor of Public Health and Jim Finks Chair of Health Promotion at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, calls First Lady Michelle Obama brave for taking on the challenge of childhood obesity and suggests that she now consider working to move it up to the policy level.

14 Feb 2012

'Targeted' drugs may be effective against lung and colorectal tumors driven by novel gene abnormalities

Novel gene abnormalities discovered in a subpopulation of lung and colorectal tumors could potentially identify patients with a good chance of responding to highly specific "targeted" drugs already in use for treating other cancers, scientists report.

14 Feb 2012

Machine-learning methods show that patients with severe brain injury could communicate accurately

Only by employing complex machine-learning techniques to decipher repeated advanced brain scans were researchers at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell able to provide evidence that a patient with a severe brain injury could, in her way, communicate accurately.

14 Feb 2012

Switching from calorie-laden beverages to water can help lose weight

Making a simple substitution of water or diet soft drinks for drinks with calories can help people lose 4 to 5 pounds, a new University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study shows.

14 Feb 2012

Radiation treatment transforms breast cancer stem cells into new iBCSCs

Breast cancer stem cells are thought to be the sole source of tumor recurrence and are known to be resistant to radiation therapy and don't respond well to chemotherapy.

14 Feb 2012

Bilateral nerve sparing helps retain orgasmic function after prostrate cancer surgery

The vast majority of men who have a prostate cancer operation can retain their ability to orgasm if the surgery is carried out without removing the nerves that surround the prostate gland like a hammock, according to a study in the February issue of the urology journal BJUI.

14 Feb 2012

Ensysce announces latest data on delivery platform for therapeutic siRNA

Ensysce Biosciences Inc. announced today the publication of their latest data on their delivery platform for short interfering RNA (siRNA) for therapeutic purposes in the journal Materials.

14 Feb 2012

Stress protein effectively activates replication of HBV in liver cells

People who have received a donor organ need lifelong immunosuppressant drugs to keep their immune system from attacking the foreign tissue. However, with a suppressed immune system, many infectious agents turn into a threat. Infections such as with human cytomegalovirus and a certain type of human polyomavirus frequently cause complications in transplant recipients.

14 Feb 2012

U of A professor receives $542,000 from NSERC for drinking water research

Water is something people can't live without, that's why it's important that Xing Fang Li finds out what is in our tap water that may pose a disease risk. The researcher from the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta just received $542,000 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada for drinking water research.

14 Feb 2012

Karo Bio decides to discontinue development program for eprotirome

Karo Bio AB (publ) has decided to discontinue the development program for eprotirome after an animal study has demonstrated unwanted effects following long-term exposure. The planned spin-off of the preclinical part of operations will not proceed.

14 Feb 2012

Supply of childhood leukemia drug nearly exhausted

A medicine to treat children's leukemia is in such short supply that hospitals may run out within weeks; meanwhile, families of people with Alzheimer's disease are clamoring to use a skin-cancer drug after a promising study in mice.

14 Feb 2012

Fresh insights into cell division could help scientists develop cancer drugs

Fresh insights into how our cells multiply could help scientists develop drugs to treat cancer. Researchers have gained better understanding of the workings of two key proteins that control cell division. This process must be carried out accurately to keep cells healthy, and when it goes out of control, it can lead to cancer.

14 Feb 2012

Surgery causes musculoskeletal alterations in breast cancer patients

A research study conducted at the University of Granada -and published in the prestigious American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation-has revealed that the surgery performed on breast cancer patients causes musculoskeletal alterations.

14 Feb 2012

Fair trade agreement between E.U., India could impede access to medicine for world's poor

"Current negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) between the European Union and India are causing serious concern in many quarters over future access to cheap generic medicines used to treat some of the world's great public health threats: HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, and also cancer," Philippe Douste-Blazy, U.N. special adviser on innovative financing for development and chair of UNITAID, and Denis Broun, executive director of UNITAID, write in this post in the Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog."

14 Feb 2012