Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

FDA approves Victoza to treat type 2 diabetes in some adults

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Victoza (liraglutide), a once-daily injection to treat type 2 diabetes in some adults.

27 Jan 2010

ERYtech Pharma receives ODD for its GRASPA from FDA

ERYtech Pharma announces that FDA has granted an Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) for GRASPA®, the company’s lead product in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia.

27 Jan 2010

Radiation therapy safe and effective for cancer treatment

In response to the issues raised by the Jan. 24 New York Times article, "Radiation Offers New Cures and Ways to Do Harm," US Oncology, Inc. wants to ensure that cancer patients and the general public understand that the benefits received from radiation therapy in cancer care far outweigh the risks, and that cancer patients fighting their disease with help from the US Oncology physician network, and their loved ones, can rest assured that extensive quality control measures are put in place to minimize risks.

27 Jan 2010

Texas to invest $4.5 mn in cancer research at UT Health Science Center

Texas plans to invest $3 billion in cancer research over the next 10 years and six scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston are among the first to receive grants.The researchers, whose grants total $4.5 million, are working to protect girls from cervical cancer, to interrupt tumor growth at the molecular level and to develop a new approach for the treatment of colon cancer, among other cutting-edge projects.

27 Jan 2010

Promising results in mice could prevent fatal iron buildup in humans

A new study shows that a protein found in blood alleviates anemia, a condition in which the body's tissues don't get enough oxygen from the blood. In this animal study, injections of the protein, known as transferrin, also protected against potentially fatal iron overload in mice with thalassemia, a type of inherited anemia that affects millions of people worldwide.

27 Jan 2010

YM BioSciences' nimotuzumab Phase II trials: FDA advises patient enrollment

YM BioSciences Inc., announced that the FDA has advised the Company that it may now enroll patients at US clinical sites into two ongoing randomized, double-blind Phase II trials of its lead product, nimotuzumab. One of the two trials is in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who are ineligible for curative treatment and being treated palliatively and the other in patients with brain metastases from NSCLC. Current NSCLC palliative treatment and treatment for brain metastases is radiation alone.

27 Jan 2010

ZIOPHARM receives Notice of Allowance for palifosfamide from U.S. patent office

ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc. announced today that it has received a Notice of Allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for Application Serial No. 11/257,766 entitled “Salts of Isophosphoramide mustard and analogs thereof as anti-tumor agents” with claims directed to compounds, pharmaceutical compositions, and lyophilisates. These claims cover the Company’s proprietary palifosfamide composition (ZIO-201 or ZymafosTM). The Company has recently reported positive randomized Phase II sarcoma interim data for intravenous palifosfamide at the Annual Meeting of the Connective Tissue Oncology Society (CTOS) on November 6, 2009 and expects, following U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review, to initiate a registration trial the first half of 2010.

27 Jan 2010

Doctors delay talking about end-of-life care

A study published this month finds doctors delay talking about end-of-life care, which often proves very costly. The Los Angeles Times reports: "Most doctors don't talk about end-of-life issues with their cancer patients when those patients are feeling well, a new survey has found." Physicians also tended to delay these conversations "until treatments have been exhausted. Those delays mean patients might not be able to make truly informed choices early in their treatment.

27 Jan 2010

Findings may yield novel therapeutic strategies for late-stage breast cancer

Researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have determined how the TGFβ-Smad signaling pathway, which is over activated in late-stage cancers, is responsible for the "epigenetic memory" that maintains unique patterns of regulatory DNA hypermethylation causing silencing of critical genes that facilitate breast cancer progression.

25 Jan 2010

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals to submit additional data for FUSILEV sNDA

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, a commercial-stage biotechnology company with a primary focus in oncology, today announced that it has met with the FDA regarding it’s supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for FUSILEV® (levoleucovorin) for injection for the treatment of patients with advanced metastatic colorectal cancer. In October 2009, the FDA issued a Complete Response letter regarding its sNDA for FUSILEV.

25 Jan 2010

Long-term graft retention is improved through supplementation of fat grafts with ADRCs

Results from Cytori Therapeutics’ preclinical fat grafting study have been published in the February issue of the Annals of Plastic Surgery. This article, entitled “Supplementation of Fat Grafts with Adipose-Derived Regenerative Cells (ADRCs) Improves Long-Term Graft Retention,” examines the science behind cell-enriched autologous fat grafting and its application to cosmetic and reconstructive surgery. The results demonstrate a doubling in graft retention in cell-enriched grafts and provide insight into the mechanisms behind this improvement.

25 Jan 2010

Quest Diagnostics announces 2.8% increase in revenues for full-year 2009

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, the world's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services, announced that for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2009, income from continuing operations increased to $182 million, or $0.97 per diluted share, compared to $170 million, or $0.87 per diluted share, in 2008. The quarter included a $0.04 per share charge associated with the early extinguishment of debt, which was offset by certain non-recurring tax benefits totaling $0.04 per share.

From Quest Diagnostics 25 Jan 2010

CEO Cancer Gold Standard: Four organizations receive accreditation

The American Cancer Society’s Mid-South Division, LiDestri Foods, MDU Resources Group, Inc. and WCA Hospital have received CEO Cancer Gold Standard™ accreditation, recognizing the commitment of these organizations to taking concrete actions to reduce the cancer risk of employees and their families through screenings, early detection, and healthy changes in lifestyle.

25 Jan 2010

Blood donors extend their life-saving gifts to help Haiti's earthquake victims

New York Blood Center (NYBC), serving New York City, Long Island, the Hudson Valley, and New Jersey, will donate one dollar to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF for each blood donation made from January 25-31.

25 Jan 2010

New online resource to help people with Oral Mucositis launched

From today, a new resource is available to help people with Oral Mucositis: http://www.mouthsmadegood.com. Oral Mucositis (OM) is a side effect of cancer therapy and is characterised by a red, swollen and ulcerated mouth and tongue.

25 Jan 2010

Research paves way for future vaccine against gastric adenocarcinoma

Despite a strong response from our immune defence, the body is unable to rid itself of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. One reason for this is that this bacterium encourages elements of the immune response to remain in tissue, activating the wrong immune cells. Research results that pave the way for a future vaccine are now being published by the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

25 Jan 2010

Prostate cancer: Surgery in county hospitals, radiation or hormone therapy in private facilities

Researchers at Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego and colleagues have found that prostate cancer treatments varied significantly between county hospitals and private providers. Patients treated in county hospitals are more likely to undergo surgery while patients treated in private facilities tend to receive radiation or hormone therapy. These findings were published online by the journal Cancer on January 25.

25 Jan 2010

Labeled menus may lead to reduced calorie intake in children

In a new study, the amount of calories selected by parents for their child's hypothetical meal at McDonald's restaurants were reduced by an average of 102 calories when the menus clearly showed the calories for each item. This is the first study to suggest that labeled menus may lead to significantly reduced calorie intake in fast food restaurant meals purchased for children.

25 Jan 2010

Erbitux improves survival of mCRC patients with KRAS wild-type tumors

Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, today announced that Erbitux® (cetuximab) provided an improvement in overall survival (OS) when added to the standard 1st-line FOLFIRI chemotherapy regimen for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients with KRAS wild-type tumors in the CRYSTAL study.

24 Jan 2010

Random lasers may prove useful for diagnosing cancer, say Utah researchers

When University of Utah scientists discovered a new kind of laser that was generated by an electrically conducting plastic or polymer, no one could explain how it worked and some doubted it was real.

24 Jan 2010