Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Roundup: Iowans question Wellmark premium hikes; Fla. Medicare audit; Mich. nursing home scandals

The Wellmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield vice president faced dozens of angry customers and tried to explain why the health insurer wants to increase their premiums by 9.4 percent. ... Barbed questions flew throughout the hearing before the state insurance commissioner, who will decide whether to grant Wellmark's proposed increase for 86,000 Iowans who buy their own insurance policies.

13 Dec 2011

Plexxikon announces scientific findings from PLX3397 preclinical studies on AML

Plexxikon Inc., a member of Daiichi Sankyo Group, today announced scientific findings from preclinical studies showing that treatment with a novel oral agent, PLX3397, selectively inhibited key cancer-driving Flt3 mutations that occur in 20-30 percent of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients.

13 Dec 2011

Ect2 protein plays a crucial role in cell division

Cancer Research UK scientists have discovered how cells 'pinch in' at the middle in order to split into two new cells.

13 Dec 2011

Three-drug combination therapy appears to be effective for newly diagnosed MM patients

A three-drug combination treatment for the blood cancer multiple myeloma compares favorably to the best established therapy for newly diagnosed patients, according to a multi-center study led by Andrzej Jakubowiak, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and director of the multiple myeloma program at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

13 Dec 2011

Geron commences GRN1005 Phase 2 trial in breast cancer

Geron Corporation today announced the initiation of GRABM-B (GRN1005 Against Brain Metastases - Breast cancer), a Phase 2 clinical trial to evaluate GRN1005 in patients with brain metastases arising from breast cancer.

13 Dec 2011

Alternative cures for cancer lure people and may cause more harm than good: Study

According to doctors thousands of cancer patients are turning to alternative treatments that could harm them and ultimately claim their lives. There have been cases of alternative practitioners who have tricked vulnerable patients into fraudulent cancer therapies. This fails to deter most people shows a new study.

12 Dec 2011

Side effects and non-compliance with breast cancer therapy

Yet another study showed that more than a third of women taking a certain class of breast cancer drugs are so bothered by side effects that they stop taking the pills before their treatment is complete

12 Dec 2011

Risk of breast cancer in the genetically predisposed

A new study showed that women who have been successfully treated for cancer in one breast and who carry the BRCA1 or BRCA2 cancer gene are at increased risk for developing cancer in their other breast.

12 Dec 2011

Bone drug effective in improving breast cancer survival

In a chance finding a bone drug was found to be effective in breast cancer. While doctors were prescribing young women a medicine to keep their bones strong during breast cancer treatment they noted that after seven years it did more than that - the bone drug improved survival, as much as most chemotherapy could do.

12 Dec 2011

Gene therapy for bleeding disorder Hemophilia B

In a landmark study, researchers used gene therapy to successfully treat six patients with severe hemophilia, a blood-clotting disorder. Despite the early nature of the study, it is promising. A single infusion using the new treatment worked in some patients for more than a year, boosting their clotting ability significantly.

12 Dec 2011

PDL corrects earlier-announced adjusted conversion rates for two Notes

PDL BioPharma, Inc. (PDL) today corrected its earlier-announced adjusted conversion rate for its: 2.875% Convertible Senior Notes due February 15, 2015 (February 2015 Notes), to 155.396 shares of common stock per $1,000 principal amount, reflecting a conversion price of approximately $6.44 per share, effective December 9, 2011.

12 Dec 2011

Soligenix reports results from orBec Phase 2 trial on acute GVHD

Soligenix, Inc., a development stage biopharmaceutical company, announced the publication of results from its investigator-initiated Phase 2 "proof-of-concept" exploratory clinical trial of orBec for the prevention of acute Graft-versus-Host disease (GVHD) in patients undergoing myeloablative conditioning regimens with initiation of dosing prior to hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) and continuing through the post-transplantation period.

12 Dec 2011

Revenue Cycle named official billing/coding consultant to ACRO

Revenue Cycle Inc. has again been named the official billing/coding consultant to the American College of Radiation Oncology (ACRO), according to Ron DiGiaimo, CEO of Revenue Cycle Inc.

12 Dec 2011

Technique expands scarce resources used for cord blood transplant procedure

A new method to boost the number of immune cells in umbilical cord blood prior to cord blood transplants for cancer patients appears to lead to a quicker rebuilding of a new immune system in the patient's body than with a conventional cord blood transplant procedure, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania that will be presented today at the 53rd American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting.

12 Dec 2011

Treatment with leukemia patients' own cells may prevent infections after chemotherapy

A new treatment using leukemia patients' own infection-fighting cells appears to protect them from infections and cancer recurrence following treatment with fludarabine-based chemotherapy, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

12 Dec 2011

Celgene announces interim results of REVLIMID study on CLL

Celgene International Sàrl, a subsidiary of Celgene Corporation, announced interim results of CLL-009, a study evaluating three starting doses of REVLIMID (lenalidomide), followed by step-wise dose escalation as tolerated in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who have received at least one prior therapy.

12 Dec 2011

Scientists identify importance of novel protein-regulating mechanism

For years, science has generally considered the phosphorylation of proteins -- the insertion of a phosphorous group into a protein that turns it on or off -- as perhaps the factor regulating a range of cellular processes from cell metabolism to programmed cell death. Now, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have identified the importance of a novel protein-regulating mechanism -- called sulfenylation -- that is similar to phosphorylation and may, in fact, open up opportunities to develop new types of drugs for diseases such as cancer.

12 Dec 2011

Rainbow Biosciences signs letter of intent to form new joint venture with n3D

Rainbow Biosciences, a division of Rainbow Coral Corp. announced today that it signed a letter of intent to acquire or form a new joint venture with cutting-edge biotech firm n3D Biosciences, Inc.

12 Dec 2011

Research examines novel treatment techniques for hemophilia B, VTE

Bleeding and clotting disorders affect a large number of patients annually and, while accurate diagnosis is important, timely and effective treatment for these disorders is key, as they have the potential to quickly become life-threatening. Research examining novel treatment techniques for bleeding and clotting disorders will be presented today at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

12 Dec 2011

Onconova announces data from five rigosertib clinical trials on MDS

Onconova Therapeutics announces three presentations relating to clinical trials of its Phase III-stage anticancer agent, rigosertib sodium (Estybon or ON 01910.Na), at the 53rd American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA, December 10-13, 2011.

12 Dec 2011