Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Developing cancer treatments directed at critical developmental pathway

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and colleagues discovered that the Notch signaling pathway, which determines the development of many cell types, and is also implicated in some cancers, is not universally essential for the maintenance of stem cells.

11 Apr 2008

Discovery of gene involved in blood stem cell replication, movement

Researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center have identified a gene that is responsible for the division and movement of marrow-derived, blood-forming stem cells, a finding that could have major implications for the future of bone marrow and blood cell transplantation.

10 Apr 2008

New understanding of cancer stem cells

By revealing the inner workings of a common cell-to-cell signaling system, University of Michigan biologists have uncovered new clues about mysterious and contentious creatures called cancer stem cells.

10 Apr 2008

Prevention of osteoporosis might lie in vitamin D levels

Sixty-year-old Darlene Yates has had two hip replacements, a knee replacement and this past year shattered her left femur while she was walking in her neighborhood.

10 Apr 2008

Module map links embryonic stem cells and cancer stem cells

A new study suggests that a genetic fingerprint associated with normal embryonic stem cells may be important for the development and function of cancer stem cells.

10 Apr 2008

Looping genes may hold a key to understanding breast cancer

Another piece of the puzzle that is breast cancer has been found by University of Queensland researchers.

10 Apr 2008

Kidney cancer deaths show overall decrease in Europe

Overall deaths from kidney cancer have now fallen across Europe after peaking in the early 1990s, according to a detailed analysis of mortality rates for 32 countries published in the urology journal BJU International.

10 Apr 2008

The impact of health problems on seniors' finances

A new study underscores the need for seniors to maintain their health -- in order to maintain their wealth.

10 Apr 2008

Soy appears to protect against development of breast cancer

Evidence is growing from animal and human studies that genistein, a potent chemical found in soy, protects against development of breast cancer - but only if consumed during puberty, says a Georgetown University Medical Center researcher in the British Journal of Cancer published online today.

10 Apr 2008

Cancer widows are often emotionally isolated

Many Swedish men have no one to turn to for emotional support other than their partners, not even in particularly traumatic situations, such as when suffering from cancer.

10 Apr 2008

Scientists turn normal skin cells into cancer stem cells

With a bit of genetic trickery, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have turned normal skin cells into cancer stem cells, a step that will make these naturally rare cells easier to study.

10 Apr 2008

More Canadian children are surviving cancer

This year's report includes a special section on childhood cancer and reveals that the five-year survival rate for all childhood cancers is 82 per cent - an 11 per cent increase during the past 15 years.

10 Apr 2008

Drug used for aggressive breast cancer on PBS from May 1st

The addition of the breast cancer drug Lapatinib (Tykerb) to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) means will mean cheaper access for Australian women with an advanced stage of breast cancer.

9 Apr 2008

Using sunbeds under 35 could prove fatal

Eight out of ten sunbed users have increased their risk of a life-threatening form of skin cancer by around 75 per cent according to Cancer Research UK.

9 Apr 2008

Too many gene copies stimulate tumor cell growth

New data, generated by Peter Lichter and colleagues, at the German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, have characterized a molecular pathway underlying low-grade forms of a type of brain tumor known as an astrocytoma.

9 Apr 2008

Post-traumatic stress treatment in children

Post traumatic stress disorder is commonly thought to effect victims of major trauma and those who witness violence, but a new University of Georgia study finds that it also can affect children who have lost a parent expectedly to diseases such as cancer.

9 Apr 2008

Stopping a cancer trial early: is it for the benefit of patients or industry?

New research has identified a growing trend for trials of new cancer treatments to be stopped prematurely before the therapies' risks and benefits have been properly evaluated.

9 Apr 2008

Special filter quickly and effectively removes deadly vCJD protein from blood

Amid concern that recipients of certain blood transfusions may risk infection with a deadly protein responsible for the human form of mad cow disease, researchers in Canada now report development of a special filter that quickly and effectively removes the protein from blood.

9 Apr 2008

High-dose chemo does not improve survival in small cell lung cancer

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients treated with high-dose chemotherapy did not have better survival rates than those treated with standard doses, according to a randomized controlled trial published online April 8 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute .

9 Apr 2008

Hepatitis B virus triggers cell 'suicide' in patients with chronic infection

Scientists from UCL (University College London) have identified a key difference between people who can fight the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) off successfully and those who fail to do so - that a group of cells important in controlling the disease are triggered to 'commit suicide' in patients who are chronically infected.

9 Apr 2008