Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Rise in primary liver cancer cases attributed to increased alcohol consumption

Cases of primary liver cancer have tripled in the last 30 years according to statistics published today by Cancer Research UK.

7 Sep 2009

Iterative in situ click chemistry creates antibody-like protein-capture agents

Chemists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and The Scripps Research Institute (SRI) have developed an innovative technique to create cheap but highly stable chemicals that have the potential to take the place of the antibodies used in many standard medical diagnostic tests. James R. Heath, Ph.D., principal investigator of the Nanosystems Biology Cancer Center at Caltech, one of eight Centers of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence, and K. Barry Sharpless, Ph.D., SRI, and their colleagues describe the new technique in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

7 Sep 2009

Specific targeting of brain tumors with an optical/magnetic resonance imaging nanoprobe across the blood-brain barrier

Earlier this year, researchers at the University of Washington reported that they had developed a toxin-nanoparticle combination that inhibits brain cancer invasion when added to tumor cells growing in culture.

7 Sep 2009

Nanotags pinpoint multiple cancer markers in live animals

Using nanoparticles designed specifically to produce a bright Raman spectroscopic signal, a team of investigators at the Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence Focused on Therapy Response (Stanford University Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence [CCNE]) has shown that it can simultaneously track as many as 10 different optical tags in a living animal.

7 Sep 2009

Aptamer nanoflares for molecular detection in living cells

By combining a gold nanoparticle with a unique family of nucleic acids, researchers at Northwestern University have created a new type of intracellular reporting system that with a flash of light reveals the presence and quantity of a wide variety of biologically important molecules. These so-called nanoflares could provide cancer biologists with a highly sensitive method of tracking complex biochemical processes in real time without interfering with those processes.

7 Sep 2009

Nanotubes destroy kidney tumors

By injecting multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) into tumors and heating them with a quick, 30-second zap of a laser, a multi-institutional team of researchers from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine (WFUSOM), Wake Forest University Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials, Rice University, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University has developed a new type of therapy that effectively kills kidney tumors in nearly 80% of treated mice. Researchers say that the findings, which were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, suggest a potential future cancer treatment for humans.

7 Sep 2009

Nanoparticle-delivered suicide gene therapy effectively reduces ovarian tumor burden in mice

Nanoparticle delivery of diphtheria toxin-encoding DNA that expresses selectively in ovarian cancer cells reduced the burden of ovarian tumors in mice, and researchers expect that this therapy could be tested in humans with advanced ovarian cancer within 18 to 24 months, according to a report in Cancer Research. If additional tests are successful, these finding could lead to a new treatment for ovarian cancer, which now causes more than 15,000 deaths each year in the United States. Because it is usually diagnosed at a relatively late stage, ovarian cancer is one of the most deadly forms of the disease.

7 Sep 2009

Rapid detection and profiling of cancer cells in fine-needle aspirates

Using a new type of paramagnetic nanoparticle and a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) system built into a microfluidic device, a team of investigators at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School has created an assay system capable of detecting as few as two cancer cells in 1 microliter of biological fluid. In addition, the new assay requires little sample processing and produces results in less than 15 minutes.

7 Sep 2009

Reversible cell-specific drug delivery with aptamer-functionalized liposomes

For cancer drug developers, finding an agent that kills tumor cells is only part of the equation. The drug also must spare healthy cells, and ideally its effects will be reversible to cut short any potentially dangerous side effects. Investigators from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign report that they have assembled a new cancer drug delivery system that, in cell culture, achieves all of the above.

7 Sep 2009

Molecularly targeted nanocarriers deliver the cytolytic peptide melittin specifically to tumor cells in mice, reducing tumor growth

When bees sting, they pump into their victims a peptide toxin called melittin that destroys cell membranes. Now, by encapsulating this extremely potent molecule within a nanoparticle, researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have created a potential new type of anticancer therapy with the potential to target a wide range of tumors. This work was reported in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

7 Sep 2009

Regurin XL capsule for the treatment of OAB launched in UK

Regurin(R) XL (trospium chloride), a once-daily, prolonged-release capsule to treat patients with overactive bladder (OAB) has been launched in the UK. Regurin(R) XL provides rapid, significant and consistent improvements in the symptoms of OAB1 and has a reduced potential for central nervous system (CNS) side effects(2-7).

7 Sep 2009

Five Clinical Research Units established

With the establishment of five new Clinical Research Units the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) hopes to give a further boost to clinical research in Germany and drive progress in the scientific investigation and possibilities for the treatment of disease.

7 Sep 2009

Identifying a specific molecular signature can help customize cancer treatment

A molecular signature that helps account for the aggressive behavior of a variety of cancers such as pancreatic, breast and melanoma may also predict the likelihood of successful treatment with a particular anti-cancer drug. The finding, which could lead to a personalized approach to treatment for a variety of solid tumors that are currently resistant to therapies, will be published September 6 in the advance online edition of Nature Medicine.

7 Sep 2009

People with genetic risk of bowel cancer decline genetic testing

An Australian study of families with genetic risk of bowel cancer has found that 50 percent of participants declined genetic testing when informed of insurance implications.

7 Sep 2009

Ipsen grants license to Debiopharm for developing and commercialising cancer treatment

Ipsen (Euronext:IPN), an innovation-driven global specialty pharmaceutical Group and Debiopharm Group (Debiopharm), a Swiss-based global biopharmaceutical group of companies with a focus on the development of prescription drugs that target unmet medical needs, announced today the signature of an agreement under which Debiopharm is granted an exclusive worldwide license to develop and commercialise Ipsen's first-in-class inhibitor of the CDC25 phosphatase enzyme (now Debio 0931), for the treatment of various human cancers.

7 Sep 2009

Debiopharm granted license to develop and commercialise CDC25

Ipsen, an innovation-driven global specialty pharmaceutical Group and Debiopharm Group (Debiopharm), a Swiss-based global biopharmaceutical group of companies with a focus on the development of prescription drugs that target unmet medical needs, announced today the signature of an agreement under which Debiopharm is granted an exclusive worldwide license to develop and commercialise Ipsen’s first-in-class inhibitor of the CDC25 phosphatase enzyme (now Debio 0931), for the treatment of various human cancers.

7 Sep 2009

Bacterium's S-layer secretes many therapeutic proteins

By adapting a single protein on the surface of the bacterium Caulobacter crescentus, researchers at the University of British Columbia have turned it into a protein production factory, making useful proteins that can act as vaccines and drugs. Dr. John Smit presented the findings at the Society for General Microbiology's meeting at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, today (7 September).

7 Sep 2009

Cancer drug could restore memory deficits in Alzheimer's patients

A drug now used to treat cancer may also be able to restore memory deficits in patients with Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study conducted by scientists at Columbia University Medical Center, which appeared in the September issue of The Journal of Alzheimer's Disease: Volume 18:1.

7 Sep 2009

Health insurance reform forum in Spanish

As Members of Congress get ready to head back to Washington, Organizing for America (OFA), a grassroots project of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) dedicated to supporting the President's agenda for change, will hold a first of its kind forum on health insurance reform in Spanish TOMORROW Saturday, September 5 in Tucson, Arizona, highlighting the strong support for health insurance reform throughout Arizona.

5 Sep 2009

Gawande on "rationing": Provokes fear, but won't happen in U.S. health care

Atul Gawande, the New Yorker staff writer and cancer surgeon, spoke with NPR's Morning Edition about the how the word "rationing" has been used - and misused - in the health care debate.

5 Sep 2009