Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Lower blood levels of vitamin D linked to increased heart problems

Individuals with lower blood levels of vitamin D appear to have an increased risk of death overall and from cardiovascular causes, according to a report in the June 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

23 Jun 2008

Study: Outreach and internal navigation program on breast cancer diagnosis in an urban cancer center with a large African-American population

A new study indicates that community education outreach and internal navigation programs lead to a significant shift in stage at diagnosis of breast cancer among African American women, with a doubling in the proportion of cases caught at the earliest stage and a nearly reciprocal drop in the proportion of cancers at most advanced stage.

23 Jun 2008

The impact of socioeconomic status on survival after cancer in the United States

Cancer patients with low socioeconomic status (SES) have more advanced cancers at diagnosis, receive less aggressive treatment, and have a higher risk of dying in the five years following cancer diagnosis, according to a new study.

23 Jun 2008

Hedgehog signaling is critical for maintenance of the adult coronary vasculature

A set of promising new anticancer agents could have unforeseen risks in individuals with heart disease, suggests research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

23 Jun 2008

Evidence for an increased cancer risk following the use of radioactive Radium-224 in the therapy for Ankylosing Spondylitis

In the course of an epidemiological study, scientists of the Institute of Radiation Biology of the Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Center for Environmental Health - have established an unfavourable benefit-risk-ratio for ankylosing spondylitis patients treated with Radium-224 therapy (Rheumatology 2008; 47: 855-59).

23 Jun 2008

Could Gleevec help stroke victims?

For over a decade, the drug called tPA has proven its worth as the most effective emergency treatment for the most common kind of stroke. But its promise is blemished by two facts: tPA can cause dangerous bleeding in the brain, and its brain-saving power fades fast after the third hour of a stroke.

23 Jun 2008

Canopus BioPharma enters phase II clinical trials with CB1400

Canopus BioPharma, Inc. has announced that the South African Medicines Control Council has granted approval for a Phase II study in 30 cancer patients evaluating the protective effect of CB1400 on the gastrointestional tract from radiation-induced mucositis. This new trial is an important step forward in the development of CB1400 as a novel, preventative, anti-mucositis agent.

23 Jun 2008

FDA lifts clinical hold on Genta's Tesetaxel

Genta Incorporated announced that the Company has received notification from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that Genta may resume clinical trials with tesetaxel, a leading oral taxane in Genta's oncology product portfolio.

23 Jun 2008

New white wine as good for you as red!

Red wine is favoured by many health conscious tipplers because it contains higher levels of polyphenols - antioxidants which lower cholesterol and are thought to help prevent cancer.

23 Jun 2008

Less invasive approach for the treatment of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

In the United States alone, approximately three-and-a-half million women have abnormal Pap smear tests each year.

23 Jun 2008

Improving understanding of cell behaviour in breast cancer

The invasion and spread of cancer cells to other parts of the body, known as metastasis, is a principal cause of death in patients diagnosed with breast cancer.

19 Jun 2008

Patient's own infection-fighting T cells put late-stage melanoma into long-term remission

Researchers describe the first successful use of a human patient's cloned infection-fighting T cells as the sole therapy to put an advanced solid-tumor cancer into long-term remission. A team led by Cassian Yee, M.D., an associate member of the Clinical Research Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, reports these findings in the June 19 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

19 Jun 2008

Top scientists say 'NHS won't survive next 20 years'

In an open letter to the Health Secretary Alan Johnson, a coalition of leading scientists, including Professor Seth Love at Bristol University, slammed the government's underinvestment in dementia research amid warnings of "catastrophic" economic consequences.

19 Jun 2008

Scientists cure advanced skin cancer with body's own cells

Scientists in the U.S. are claiming they have cured advanced skin cancer by using the patient's own cells.

19 Jun 2008

Pregnant mums on a high fat diet put daughters at risk later in life

According to new research mothers who eat a high fat diet while pregnant increase their daughters risk of obesity and breast cancer.

17 Jun 2008

New AMA public health policies on vitamin D, processed foods, flavored cigarettes, tobacco sales, disaster medicine and seniors

The American Medical Association (AMA), the nation's largest physician organization, voted today at its Annual Meeting to adopt the following new public health policies.

17 Jun 2008

Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report rounds up health news from the campaign trail

Fifty-three percent of U.S. adults trust presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) more than presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) to address the issue of health care, compared with 33% who trust McCain more than Obama to address the issue, according to a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, the Post reports.

17 Jun 2008

Seven biomarkers found that predict with 86 percent accuracy prostate cancer recurrence

A simple blood test may help doctors better predict whether prostate cancer will recur or spread in patients who have undergone surgery for the disease, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

17 Jun 2008

Melanomas "run" in families - CDKN2A gene reveals why

When people know the results of genetic tests confirming they have inherited an increased risk of developing melanoma, they follow skin cancer screening recommendations more proactively-much like those who have already been diagnosed with the potentially deadly disease, according to results of a study completed at the University of Utah's Huntsman Cancer Institute. and published in the June issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

17 Jun 2008

MIT finds alternative to common colorectal cancer drug oxaliplatin

A compound that accumulates in cells more readily than a commonly used colorectal cancer drug may be just as useful in treating colorectal tumors, but with fewer side effects, MIT researchers have found.

17 Jun 2008