Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Discovery of potential candidate protein for cancer vaccines

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have learned that some healthy people naturally developed an immune response against a protein that is made in excess levels in many cancers, including breast, lung, and head and neck cancers. The finding suggests that a vaccine against the protein might prevent malignancies in high-risk individuals.

4 Aug 2009

Jefferson names endowed Professorship in transplant surgery

Cataldo Doria, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.S., director, Division of Transplant Surgery, in the Department of Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, has been named the Nicoletti Family Professor of Transplant Surgery. This endowed professorship is a generous gift of Robert and Beatrice Nicoletti and their family. The family cited the care they received at Jefferson when Robert received a new kidney donated by his own daughter, as the reason for their donation.

4 Aug 2009

Regional nerve block anesthesia improve recovery, outcomes

When planning for surgery, patients too often don't consider the kind of anesthesia they will receive. In fact, the choice of anesthesia can improve recovery, even outcomes.

4 Aug 2009

University of Illinois at Chicago awarded $7.2 million to eliminate health disparities

The University of Illinois at Chicago has been awarded a $7.2 million federal grant to establish the UIC Center of Excellence in Eliminating Health Disparities.

4 Aug 2009

Workplace meditation and yoga lowers stress

Twenty minutes per day of guided workplace meditation and yoga combined with six weekly group sessions can lower feelings of stress by more than 10 percent and improve sleep quality in sedentary office employees, a pilot study suggests.

4 Aug 2009

Silenced genes provide warning sign of blood cancer

In many types of cancer, parts of the genetic material of tumor cells are switched off by chemical labels called methyl groups. This kind of methyl labeling ranges among the epigenetic changes that do not change the sequence of DNA building blocks. Such labels are found particularly often in genes which act as important inhibitors of pathogenic cell growth.

4 Aug 2009

For doctors and even patients, rationing health care is an everday occurrence

In an essay in The Washington Post, an infectious disease specialist writes that "the unspoken truth among doctors is that we objectively or subjectively ration care, and often don't tell patients or their families."

4 Aug 2009

Accelerating the development of new cancer drugs

A phase I clinical trial enrolled its first patient only two days after U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance of the experimental drug for a first-in-human cancer trial, a milestone that normally takes three to six months. Investigators from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca have reported their work in the Journal of Clinical Oncology published online on August 3rd.

4 Aug 2009

New method selectively kills metastatic melanoma

An international team of researchers has identified a new method for selectively killing metastatic melanoma cells, which may lead to new areas for drug development in melanoma – a cancer that is highly resistant to current treatment strategies.

4 Aug 2009

Carbon nanosensor sniffs out kidney disease

A carbon nanosensor “electronic nose” - first developed by Technion-Israel Institute of Technology researchers to detect cancer from breath samples - has been modified to identify chronic renal failure (CRF).

4 Aug 2009

Heavy drinkers have much higher risk of developing cancer

Heavy drinkers of beer and spirits face a much higher risk of developing cancer than the population at large, says a group of Montreal epidemiologists and cancer researchers.

4 Aug 2009

Tuberculosis drugs under development could have large impact on the disease

The latest drug regimens, vaccines and diagnostic tools under development to combat tuberculosis could have a potentially large impact on the disease once they become available, according to research findings published in the Aug. 3 early edition online of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

4 Aug 2009

Discovery of novel tumor suppressor

La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology researchers studying an enzyme believed to play a role in allergy onset, instead have discovered its previously unknown role as a tumor suppressor that may be important in myeloproliferative diseases and some types of lymphoma and leukemia.

4 Aug 2009

Stem cell technology innovation could reduce the number of animal experiments

Researchers from the University of Bath are embarking on a project to use stem cell technology that could reduce the number of animal experiments used to study conditions such as motor neurone disease.

4 Aug 2009

The extremes of BMI a cause for concern in liver transplantation

A recent study by doctors at the University of Washington explained that patients who are significantly underweight or very severely obese prior to liver transplantation are at increased risk of death following transplantation surgery.

4 Aug 2009

New findings on role of diet on breast cancer risk

How you eat may be just as important as how much you eat, if mice studies are any clue. Cancer researchers have long studied the role of diet on breast cancer risk, but results to date have been mixed.

4 Aug 2009

Will emphasis on prevention bring health costs down?

If there is one thing that both parties can agree on in the health overhaul debate, it’s the need to build a health system that promotes prevention rather than just manages disease.

4 Aug 2009

Seed implants suitable prostate cancer treatment for men of all ages

Men diagnosed with prostate cancer have a number of treatments to choose from, but it's a daunting task to figure out the right mix of therapies for an individual patient.

3 Aug 2009

Scientists illuminate brain tumors with fluorescent nanoparticles

Brain cancer is among the deadliest of cancers. It's also one of the hardest to treat. Imaging results are often imprecise because brain cancers are extremely invasive. Surgeons must saw through the skull and safely remove as much of the tumor as they can. Then doctors use radiation or chemotherapy to destroy cancerous cells in the surrounding tissue.

3 Aug 2009

Regular yoga practice associated with mindful eating

Regular yoga practice is associated with mindful eating, and people who eat mindfully are less likely to be obese, according to a study led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

3 Aug 2009