Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Stem cell marker controls two key cancer pathways

Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have discovered that a gene associated with human breast stem cells can stimulate development of mammary cells by activating two critical cancer pathways.

15 Apr 2008

Women's colon cancer risk perception associated with screening behavior

Women's perception of their cancer risk appears to vary by race and may affect how likely they are to undergo screenings, particularly for colon cancer, according to a report in the April 14 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

15 Apr 2008

Lipitor and Celebrex combined may halt prostate cancer

Researchers at Rutgers' Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy have shown that administering a combination of the widely used drugs Celebrex (celecoxib, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug) and Lipitor (atorvastatin, a cholesterol lowering drug) stops the transition of early prostate cancer to its more aggressive and potentially fatal stage.

15 Apr 2008

Cancer prevention

Tapping into a growing body of knowledge about the origins and progression of cancer, researchers are now developing and testing new preventive therapies to stop it in its tracks.

15 Apr 2008

Restricted-calorie diets limit development of epithelial cancers

A restricted-calorie diet inhibited the development of precancerous growths in a two-step model of skin cancer, reducing the activation of two signaling pathways known to contribute to cancer growth and development, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report today at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting.

15 Apr 2008

Brain study may lead to improved epilepsy treatments

Using a rodent model of epilepsy, researchers found one of the body's own neurotransmitters released during seizures, glutamate, turns on a signaling pathway in the brain that increases production of a protein that could reduce medication entry into the brain.

15 Apr 2008

Blood pressure drugs halt pancreatic cancer cell growth

Researchers at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia are inching closer to understanding how common blood pressure medications might help prevent the spread of pancreatic cancer.

15 Apr 2008

Sydneysiders consider class action over radiation poisoning

A class action against the New South Wales (NSW) government over alleged radiation poisoning is being considered by the relatives of a number of Sydney residents who died of cancer in the 1970s.

14 Apr 2008

Trans-fats linked to breast cancer

Scientists at the national scientific research center at the University of Paris in France, discovered the link between trans-fats and breast cancer after carrying out a study of women taking part in a large European cancer trial.

14 Apr 2008

Cancer cluster at a fire station in Queensland leads to statewide investigation

The investigation into a suspected cancer cluster at a fire station in north Queensland has failed to establish a link between the building and an increased rate of cancer.

14 Apr 2008

New hope for blood disorder anaemia

A new understanding of how red blood cell production is controlled could lead to improvements in the treatment of the blood disorder anaemia, according to West Australian medical researchers.

13 Apr 2008

Stem cells and their role in malignant brain tumours

Speaking at the UK National Stem Cell Network Annual Science Meeting in Edinburgh, Professor Silvia Marino shows how the mechanisms normally involved in balancing different functions of stem cells may also contribute to cancer.

13 Apr 2008

Researchers study Rituximab's action on cancer stem cells

Preliminary data from one of the first clinical trials to test a stem cell-targeting drug in cancer patients shows that while the drug did not prolong survival, its suppressing effect on patients' stem cells was impressive enough to send investigators looking for a better drug to try.

13 Apr 2008

Targeted therapy combo overcomes treatment resistance in liver cancer

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Abramson Cancer Center reported at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research that combining two targeted therapies overcomes treatment resistance in liver cancer cell lines.

13 Apr 2008

Radiation beneficial for older breast cancer patients

A breast cancer patient's age alone should not determine whether or not she receives standard breast-conservation treatments, including a lumpectomy and radiation therapy; however, if additional health problems (comorbidities) are present, treatments should be individualized based on age and the type of comorbidities, according to a study in the April 1 edition of the International Journal for Radiation Oncology-Biology-Physics, the official journal of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.

13 Apr 2008

Targeted therapies overcome treatment resistance in liver cancer cell lines

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Abramson Cancer Center reported today at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research that combining two targeted therapies overcomes treatment resistance in liver cancer cell lines.

13 Apr 2008

West Australians above the age of 69 at risk of sun-related skin cancer death

A new Western Australian study has revealed the mortality from non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC), commonly considered less dangerous than melanoma, is affecting older Australians at a worrying rate.

13 Apr 2008

Discovery of link between protein, prognosis in breast cancer

Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researchers have found that a tumor protein present in an aggressive form of breast cancer is related to a poor prognosis.

13 Apr 2008

Newly diagnosed breast cancer patients benefit from use of USFNA of lymph nodes

Ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (USFNA) of the lymph nodes is a safe, useful, and minimally invasive procedure for diagnosing metastatic disease in patients who are undergoing preoperative staging for breast cancer, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at the Rhode Island Hospital/Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University in Providence, RI.

13 Apr 2008

Multipolar radiofrequency ablation for liver cancer proves effective

Use of multipolar radiofrequency ablation in the treatment of colorectal liver metastases is effective and has a relatively low recurrence rate, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at Charité, Campus Benjamin Franklin in Berlin, Germany.

13 Apr 2008