Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Obesity more prevalent among Maryland and Virginia residents

Experts at My Weight Doctor, one of the Washington area's most prestigious weight loss clinics, expressed alarm over reports that obesity rates had surged in Maryland and Virginia residents.

2 Aug 2011

Blocking IGF-1 receptor cripples cancer growth in T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Blocking a growth factor receptor cripples cancer growth in a form of T cell leukemia, according to a study published online on August 1 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

2 Aug 2011

Taxoxifen combined with dasatinib reverses chemo-resistance in breast cancer cells

Taking a leukemia chemotherapy drug may help breast cancer patients who don't respond to tamoxifen overcome resistance to the widely-used drug, new research from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson suggests.

2 Aug 2011

Merrimack receives FDA orphan drug status for MM-398 to treat pancreatic cancer

Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted MM-398 orphan drug status for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

2 Aug 2011

Scientists design octapeptides to fight drug resistant ovarian cancer cells

Italian and German scientists have designed peptides to target the protein-protein interface of a key enzyme in DNA synthesis crucial for cancer growth. The peptides act by a novel inhibitory mechanism and curb cancer cell growth in drug resistant ovarian cancer cells.

2 Aug 2011

New endoscopic OCT system enables 3-D imaging of esophagus, colon cancers

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a new imaging system that enables high-speed, three-dimensional (3-D) imaging of microscopic pre-cancerous changes in the esophagus or colon.

2 Aug 2011

Can-Fite commences CF101 phase 2/3 trial for treatment of Psoriasis

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd, a biotechnology company developing small molecule drugs for the treatment of inflammatory, ophthalmic, and liver diseases, traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange announced today that it has commenced patient enrolment in a phase 2/3 clinical trial of CF101 for the treatment of Psoriasis.

2 Aug 2011

Alnylam second quarter revenue decreases to $20.6 million

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, today reported its consolidated financial results for the second quarter 2011, and company highlights.

From Precision NanoSystems Inc. 2 Aug 2011

More opinions: Berwick, Deparle, Rep. Pitts and others on health costs; public health transparency guidelines

Unfortunately, there are too many examples that show how our system can fail to meet patients' needs. These problems are not a reflection on the many doctors, nurses and other professionals who work tirelessly to deliver the highest quality care they can.

2 Aug 2011

A little exercise better than none for heart health

According to a new study getting even a little exercise is better than getting none at all, and this may hold especially true for women.

1 Aug 2011

Dangers of colon cleansing: More harm than good

According to a new study released today in the Journal of Family Practice colon cleaning may be harmful. Researchers from Georgetown University Medical School looked at 20 studies published in the last decade and found little evidence of benefit to colon cleansing. But they did find dozens of cases of problems: cramping, bloating, vomiting, electrolyte imbalance, renal failure, and even death.

1 Aug 2011

New birth control guidelines in U.S.

Planned parenting groups are cheering while some religious organizations are unhappy with the move that would require health insurance companies to provide women free birth control, in keeping with new Obama administration guidelines. The Department of Health and Human Services call it “historic” and also say that insurance companies must provide women with other preventive services free of charge.

1 Aug 2011

Mathematical model predicts progress of tumors from early stages to metastasis

Researchers from the University of Miami (UM) and the University of Heidelberg in Germany have developed a mathematical model to understand and predict the progress of a tumor, from its early stages to metastasis, in hopes of creating highly personalized treatment strategies for patients who have cancer. The findings are published in Nature's new online journal Scientific Reports.

1 Aug 2011

Disparities persist despite insurance

A pair of studies highlights how health disparities continue to take shape and unravels some of the factors that are involved in differences in health outcomes.

1 Aug 2011

Prohibitive costs prevent elders from sticking to prescribed medication

As many as one in ten elderly people in the US, registered with Medicare, do not stick to their prescribed medication because it is too expensive, according to Dr. Larissa Nekhlyudov and colleagues from Harvard Medical School.

1 Aug 2011

Bipartisan support for NIH funding eroding

Voting to boost funding for the National Institutes Health has long been a source of pride for Democrats and Republicans alike. But the drive to shrink the federal government is now eroding bipartisan backing for an agency that supports scientific research to prevent illnesses such as strokes, heart attacks and cancer.

1 Aug 2011

Positive results from Alnylam's ALN-VSP Phase I trial for liver cancer

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that it has completed its Phase I study with ALN-VSP, a systemically delivered RNAi therapeutic for the treatment of advanced solid tumors with liver involvement.

1 Aug 2011

Merck submits ridaforolimus MAA with EMA for treatment of metastatic soft-tissue, bone sarcomas

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that its ridaforolimus partner, Merck, has submitted a marketing authorization application (MAA) for ridaforolimus with the European Medicines Agency.

1 Aug 2011

Stealth presents Bendavia at AHA's Cardiovascular Scientific Sessions

Stealth Peptides Inc. (Stealth), a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing innovative mitochondrial therapies for diseases with unmet medical needs, presented its lead clinical candidate, Bendavia, during the 2011 American Heart Association's (AHA) Cardiovascular Scientific Sessions.

1 Aug 2011

Affymetrix to commercialize four Axiom genotyping arrays for the major populations

Affymetrix, Inc. today announced plans to commercialize four Axiom population-optimized arrays used to analyze 100,000 samples collected from volunteers in one of the nation's largest and most diverse genomics projects funded by the National Institutes of Health.

1 Aug 2011