Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

FDA approves Abbott's Vysis ALK FISH test for NSCLC therapy selection

Abbott today announced it has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a new molecular diagnostic test designed to detect rearrangements of the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene in non-small-cell lung cancer.

29 Aug 2011

Pfizer receives FDA approval for XALKORI capsules to treat ALK-positive NSCLC

Pfizer Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved XALKORI (crizotinib) capsules, the first-ever therapy targeting anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that is ALK-positive as detected by an FDA-approved test.

29 Aug 2011

Azithromycin can help reduce wheezing, other acute symptoms of COPD

A common antibiotic can help reduce the severe wheezing and other acute symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to a large, multicenter clinical trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and conducted at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

29 Aug 2011

Severe combined immunodeficiency treated successfully with gene therapy

Gene therapy can offer a cure for a rare condition that causes children’s immune systems to fail. In this rare condition, known as Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID), inherited genetic mutations mean that babies are unable to fight off infection, severely limiting their chances of surviving more than a few years. Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) is a rare genetic disorder estimated to affect between 1 in 200,000 and 1 in 1,000,000 live births

26 Aug 2011

Protein that allows Ebola virus to attack cells discovered

A U.S. research team has discovered a protein called Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1), which they found was responsible for allowing Ebola virus to enter and replicate within cells.

26 Aug 2011

New imaging device enables scientists to see tumor cells traveling in the brain

For the first time, scientists can see pathways to stop a deadly brain cancer in its tracks. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have imaged individual cancer cells and the routes they travel as the tumor spreads.

26 Aug 2011

Viewpoints: Drug shortages = rationing; Changing forces in health marketplace; Birth control mandate

A widespread shortage of prescription drugs is hampering the treatment of patients who have cancer, severe infections and other serious illnesses. While some Republican politicians have railed against the imaginary threat of rationing under health care reform, Congress has done nothing to alleviate the all-too-real rationing of lifesaving drugs caused by this crisis.

26 Aug 2011

Research roundup: The costs of obesity; Patients' post-hospital medicine; Women and heart failure

Association of ICU or Hospital Admission With Unintentional Discontinuation of Medications for Chronic Diseases -- Researchers examined records of older people admitted to a hospital in Ontario, Canada from 1997-2009 who were already taking medicines for chronic health problems. They measured "failure to renew the prescription within 90 days after hospital discharge," and found that patients "prescribed medications for chronic diseases were at risk for potentially unintentional discontinuation after hospital admission.

26 Aug 2011

NeoStem featured on CBS's Eye on New York City

NeoStem, Inc., an international biopharmaceutical company with a focus on cell-based therapeutic development, today announced that the Company was featured on CBS's Eye on New York City on Wednesday evening, August 24, 2011.

26 Aug 2011

Global obesity rates doubled over last 30 years, researchers say

"Obesity rates worldwide have doubled in the last three decades, even as blood pressure and cholesterol levels have dropped," according to a series of papers published Friday in the Lancet, the Associated Press/New York Times reports (8/25).

26 Aug 2011

Varian enters accelerated share repurchase agreement

Varian Medical Systems today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Bank of America, N.A. to repurchase $250 million of its common stock under an accelerated share repurchase program. Concurrently, the company amended its revolving credit facility with Bank of America, N.A. to increase its borrowing capacity from $225 million to $300 million.

26 Aug 2011

Tax on sugary drinks, limits on marketing to children may help curb global obesity epidemic

The global obesity epidemic has been escalating for decades, yet long-term prevention efforts have barely begun and are inadequate, according to a new paper from international public health experts published in the August 25, 2011 edition of the journal The Lancet.

26 Aug 2011

SuperSonic Imagine introduces UltraFast Doppler technology

SuperSonic Imagine, the ultrasound company that pioneered breakthrough ShearWave Elastography technology, today announced another major breakthrough in ultrasound imaging: UltraFast Doppler.

26 Aug 2011

Spatial light interference microscopy can measure all types of cell growth

University of Illinois researchers are giving a light answer to the heavy question of cell growth.

26 Aug 2011

Study: Aerobic training effectively reduces belly fat

Aerobic exercise is your best bet when it comes to losing that dreaded belly fat, a new study finds.

26 Aug 2011

Hospitals in Libyan capital in urgent need of supplies, medications, MSF says

"Conditions in Tripoli's hospitals could become catastrophic without a rapid improvement in security in the Libyan capital, the emergency coordinator of aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) told Reuters on Wednesday."

26 Aug 2011

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy prior to surgery can benefit women with lobular breast cancer

Researchers at the Medical University of Vienna have found that the breast of one in two women with lobular breast cancer can be preserved through chemotherapy prior to a breast operation.

26 Aug 2011

Fludrocortisone may help reduce unexplained chronic nausea in children

Heart rate and blood pressure regulation may hold the key to treating unexplained chronic nausea in children. In a new study by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, a drug commonly used to treat a condition known as orthostatic intolerance (OI), which causes dizziness and occasional fainting when patients stand for long periods, was shown to reduce debilitating chronic nausea in patients.

26 Aug 2011

Long-term effects of chemotherapy on women's reproductive health

Current estimates of the impact of chemotherapy on women's reproductive health are too low, according to a University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) study.

26 Aug 2011

Waters recognizes Head of TGen's Center for Proteomics for research excellence

Waters Corporation today recognized the Center for Proteomics at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) as a Waters Center of Innovation.

26 Aug 2011