Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

State exchanges get mixed progress reports, reviews

The health care law will disappoint many Americans if its health insurance exchanges don't deliver decent coverage at affordable rates for consumers, including those with serious illnesses like cancer.

8 Jul 2011

Merck Serono announces recipients of second Grant for Fertility Innovation

Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, today announces the recipients of its second Grant for Fertility Innovation.

8 Jul 2011

Novartis Afinitor Phase III trial on tuberous sclerosis meets primary endpoint

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation announced today Phase III trial results that showed more than one-third of patients taking Afinitor tablets experienced a 50% or greater reduction in the size of their subependymal giant cell astrocytomas, non-cancerous brain tumors associated with tuberous sclerosis complex.

8 Jul 2011

Cortisol hormone controls bile acid recycling process

Nature sees to it that we do not have "too much choler" in our body. A delicately equilibrated regulation system ensures that there is always exactly the right amount of bile in the gallbladder. When we are hungry, our body releases a hormone called cortisol, which is a glucocorticoid. Hepatic cells receive this hormone signal through their cortisol receptors and respond by filling the gallbladder with bile in preparation of the imminent food intake.

8 Jul 2011

New NCCN Clinical Practice Guideline on Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), with the support of the NCCN Foundation, announces the latest addition to the library of NCCN Guidelines for Patients, the NCCN Guidelines for Patients: Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma.

8 Jul 2011

Roche, CPRIT partner to advance cancer research projects in Texas

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) today announced a strategic partnership agreement with the Swiss-based healthcare company Roche to accelerate the development of promising oncology-related cancer research projects in Texas.

8 Jul 2011

Viewpoints: Debt talks 'opportunity'; NY Times on cancer drugs; Calif. insurance rate regs

For months, we have known that no plan will succeed if it just slashes programs such as Medicare or imposes big hikes in tax rates. We've known that we need a plan that eliminates at least $4 trillion in debt over the next decade, slows the growth in entitlement programs and raises new revenue through tax reform.

8 Jul 2011

Insight into power of cigarette packet

Women are more sensitive to tobacco packaging and more likely to be influenced by packet design than men according to new Cancer Research UK funded research published in the Australasian Marketing Journal.

8 Jul 2011

Allegro completes $5.4M Series A extension financing

Allegro Diagnostics today announced that it has closed a $5.4M Series A extension financing. The company's existing venture investors, Kodiak Venture Partners and Catalyst Health Ventures, participated in the round.

8 Jul 2011

Researchers identify cellular origin of malignant glioma

Using a mouse genetic system co-developed by researchers at the University of Oregon and Stanford University, a research team led by UO biologist Hui Zong has isolated the cellular origin for malignant glioma, a deadly human brain cancer.

8 Jul 2011

Poor diet, alcohol, drugs and smoking linked to sex problems

A new study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine reveals that several unhealthy lifestyle factors, such as weight problems, physical inactivity, high alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking, and hard drugs are associated with sexual dysfunctions in men. Additionally, an unhealthy lifestyle is more common in persons who are sexually inactive.

7 Jul 2011

Half-matched transplants widen donor pool for leukemia and lymphoma

Identifying a suitable donor for leukemia and lymphoma patients who need bone marrow transplants may be far easier now that results of two clinical trials show transplant results with half-matched bone marrow or umbilical cord blood are comparable to fully matched tissue, thanks in large part to the availability of effective antirejection drugs and special post-transplant chemotherapy. The finding means that nearly all patients in need of a transplant can find donors, according to Johns Hopkins scientists who participated in the trials.

7 Jul 2011

Solution for treating obesity-related diseases may reside in fat tissue

Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) have shown that the quality – not just the quantity – of adipose, or fat, tissue is a significant contributing factor in the development of inflammation and vascular disease in obese individuals. The study, which is a special feature on the iPAD version of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, provides compelling evidence that the answer to treating cardiovascular disease and other obesity-related disorders, such as type 2 diabetes and cancer, might be found in the adipose tissue itself.

7 Jul 2011

Study finds large state disparities in progress against colorectal cancer mortality rates

Improvements in colorectal cancer mortality rates are concentrated in the northern part of the United States, while southern states continue to fall behind, according to a report in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

7 Jul 2011

Researchers use AFM to characterize ovarian cell structure for cancer diagnosis

Using ovarian surface epithelial cells from mice, researchers from Virginia Tech have released findings from a study that they believe will help in cancer risk assessment, cancer diagnosis, and treatment efficiency in a technical journal: Nanomedicine.

7 Jul 2011

Experiment to protect astronauts from bone loss during space travel

Astronauts lose a significant amount of bone mass during space travel and with long duration flights there is concern that this bone loss could lead to an increased risk of fractures.

7 Jul 2011

Study finds link between genetic variation and cetuximab rectal cancer therapy

team of researchers led by Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) oncologist Heinz-Josef Lenz, M.D., has identified a genetic marker that may predict which patients with rectal cancer can be cured by certain chemotherapies when combined with surgery.

7 Jul 2011

Progress in reducing colorectal cancer mortality rates varies across U.S. states

Progress in reducing colorectal cancer (CRC) mortality rates varies significantly across states, with rates in the Northeast showing the most progress and those in the South showing the least progress, according to a new study.

7 Jul 2011

Medicare coverage, pricey cancer drugs and the 'rationing' issue

As health care costs play an ever-increasing role in Washington's budget drama, Medicare officials announced last week they will continue to pay for two extremely expensive cancer treatments despite lingering questions about their effectiveness. At a cost of about $88,000 per year, the cancer-fighting Avastin will still be available to eligible senior citizens for breast cancer treatment.

7 Jul 2011

Study: Cancer patients with VTE do not benefit from IVCF and fondaparinux

Cancer patients with blood clots -- which occur in one of every 200 cancer patients and are the second most common cause of death among cancer patients -- gain no benefit from the insertion of an inferior vena cava filter (IVCF) to the anticoagulant medication fondaparinux (Arixtra), according to research presented today at the 14th World Conference on Lung Cancer, hosted by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.

7 Jul 2011