Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Scientists use non-invasive approach to watch chemo drug working inside the living body in real time

For many cancer patients, chemotherapy can be worse than cancer itself.

2 Feb 2009

Peptide loaded gold nanospheres find, penetrate, then fuel burning of melanoma

Hollow gold nanospheres equipped with a targeting peptide find melanoma cells, penetrate them deeply, and then cook the tumor when bathed with near-infrared light, a research team led by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reported in the Feb. 1 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.

2 Feb 2009

Stat3 signaling tips the balance of immunity in favor of cancer

New research reveals how a cancer-associated protein enables tumor cells to evade the immune system by both suppressing antitumor influences and promoting tumor-enhancing conditions, in essence turning the immune system to the dark side of the force.

2 Feb 2009

New technology rapidly detects tumor response to chemotherapy

New technology developed by Duke University bioengineers can help clinicians more precisely detect whether specific cancer drugs are working, and should give basic researchers a powerful new tool to better understand the underlying mechanisms of cancer development.

2 Feb 2009

Risk of malpractice lawsuits in breast imaging overestimate by radiologists

Radiologists who work in breast imaging tend to overestimate their actual risk of medical malpractice lawsuits, according to a study performed at the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine in Seattle, WA.

2 Feb 2009

PET/CT may improve prognosis for patients with inflammatory breast cancer

In the largest study to date to evaluate fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography combined with computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) in the initial staging of inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), researchers were able to identify the precise location and extent of metastasis (spread of disease), offering the potential for a better prognosis for patients with this rare, but aggressive form of breast cancer.

2 Feb 2009

People without heart disease symptoms should use caution in obtaining cardiac imaging exams

At the radiation dose levels used in cardiac imaging exams, such as cardiac CT or nuclear medicine scans, the risk of potentially harmful effects from ionizing radiation are low.

2 Feb 2009

New technique images tumor vessel leakiness to predict breast cancer chemotherapy outcome

Chemotherapy is an integral part of modern cancer treatment, but it's not always effective.

2 Feb 2009

Use of mammography in U.S. decreases

Nearly two thirds of the states in the US saw a small decrease in mammography utilization between the years 2000 and 2006, according to a study performed at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, GA.

2 Feb 2009

Gene expression signature associated with survival in advanced ovarian cancer

A new study published this week in the open-access journal PLoS Medicine identifies molecular pathways associated with outcomes in ovarian cancer.

2 Feb 2009

Fibroblasts invade at a snail's pace

A transcription factor known to drive the formation of fibroblasts during development also promotes their ability to invade and remodel surrounding tissues, report Rowe et al. in the February 9, 2009 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology.

2 Feb 2009

Shortened gene region linked to breast cancer

Reza Zarnegar and colleagues, at the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, have determined that genetic variation in a piece of DNA that regulates activity of the HGF gene might be a useful marker to identify individuals with an increased risk of developing breast cancer.

2 Feb 2009

Stereotactic vacuum-assisted breast needle biopsy better than 14-gauge in breast biopsy

Stereotactic vacuum-assisted breast needle biopsy, a common minimally invasive biopsy method used in the US, is more effective with an 11-gauge needle than the 14-gauge needle decreasing a physician's chances of false-negative diagnoses, according to a study performed at the Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, CA.

2 Feb 2009

New potential targets for colitis-associated cancer

Recent research from the laboratory of Michael Karin, PhD, at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine - the first researcher to demonstrate a molecular link between inflammation and cancer - has identified two potential targets for the prevention and treatment of colitis-associated cancer (CAC), the most serious complication of inflammatory bowel disease.

2 Feb 2009

Study identifies potential 'safe period' for hormone replacement use

A new study makes important new findings on the role of hormone use on the risk of breast cancer, confirming that the use of estrogen plus progesterone increases the risk of both ductal and lobular breast cancer far more than estrogen-only; suggesting a two-year 'safe' period for the use of estrogen and progesterone; and finding that the increased risk for ductal cancers observed in long-term past users of hormone replacement therapy drops off substantially two years after hormone use is stopped.

2 Feb 2009