Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Some smokers may be genetically predisposed to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

In her study, Ohar looked at more than 500 men and women age 40 and older who had smoked 20 years or more. She found that a variation of the macrophage scavenger receptor gene (MSR-1) is related to the development of airways obstruction in some patients who smoke cigarettes.

25 May 2004

People in Michigan with low incomes may be more likely to develop brain cancer

The study, which looked at more than 1,000 cases of people with brain cancer during a two-year period (1996-1997), was published in the recent edition of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

25 May 2004

50 percent of British men admit they would delay seeing a doctor if they had warning signs of cancer

Younger men were most likely to cite embarrassment as a reason to delay getting their symptoms checked, whereas those in the 45+ age group were concerned about what the doctor might find as the result of an examination. Lack of time was a factor across all groups.

25 May 2004

Baby born from 21 year old cryopreserved sperm

"We believe this is the longest period of sperm cryopreservation resulting in a live birth so far reported in the scientific literature," according to one of the authors, Dr Elizabeth Pease, Consultant in Reproductive Medicine at the Department of Reproductive Medicine at St Mary's Hospital, Manchester.

25 May 2004

X-ray beams could kick start genes into fighting cancer

X-ray beams could kick start genes into fighting cancer as an exciting new way of targeting therapy against the disease, according to new research in the Journal of Gene Medicine.

25 May 2004

Women who are overweight or obese are more likely to receive a false-positive result on mammography screenings

Women who are overweight or obese are more likely to receive a false-positive result on mammography screenings than normal weight and underweight women, according to an article in the May 24 issue of The Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

24 May 2004

People with low incomes are more likely to develop brain cancer

People with low incomes are more likely to develop brain cancer, according to a study published in the May 25 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

24 May 2004

Trial shows Daclizumab therapy improves multiple sclerosis outcome

A small clinical trial of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) who did not respond to interferon alone found that adding the human antibody daclizumab improved patient outcome. Patients who received the combined therapy had a 78 percent reduction in new brain lesions and a 70 percent reduction in total lesions, along with other significant clinical improvements.

24 May 2004

Largest study ever finds male breast cancer on the rise

The rate of male breast cancer is on the rise and the disease in men is usually detected when the tumors are bigger, have spread and may be more aggressive, compared to diagnosis of the disease in women, concludes the largest study ever conducted of male breast cancer.

24 May 2004

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics awards $21 million to Vertex

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has announced that it has expanded its drug discovery and development collaboration with Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics, Inc. (CFFT), the nonprofit drug discovery and development affiliate of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

24 May 2004

Innovative new cancer drug enters the first phase of clinical trials

An innovative drug with a new mechanism of action that may be effective against a range of cancers will enter the first phase of clinical trials, it was announced today (Monday) at Cancer Research UK's Senior Researchers Meeting.

24 May 2004

Diet is responsible for up to 80,000 cases of cancer each year in the UK

Dr Tim Key, a principal scientist on the European diet study EPIC, says that around a third of these can be put down to alcohol and obesity alone. However, Dr Key says that the exact causes of the remaining two thirds are largely unknown.

24 May 2004

Call to bring cancer genomics from the lab bench into large-scale clinical trials

Professor Patrick Johnston is one of a number of pioneering scientists exploring how intimate genetic knowledge from individual tumours could help doctors predict which treatments will benefit their patients best. Major trials of this approach – which has shown considerable success in the lab – are needed to test its full predictive potential.

24 May 2004

Cancer Research UK's views on national bowel screening programme

The Government needs to resolve a number of issues to ensure the health service can cope with a national bowel screening programme, a leading Cancer Research UK scientist will tell conference delegates today (Tuesday).

24 May 2004

Some people more at risk of obesity due to genetic makeup

Some people may have a higher risk of obesity because they are genetically predisposed to overeat or lead a sedentary lifestyle, a leading Cancer Research UK scientist will told conference delegates last week.

24 May 2004

Scientists have genetically engineered a mouse with extraordinary resistance to bowel cancer

Scientists have genetically engineered a mouse with extraordinary resistance to bowel cancer, delegates at the Cancer Research UK senior researchers' conference in Harrogate will hear today.

24 May 2004

African-Americans more likely to die of colon cancer

African-Americans with colon cancer are more than 50 percent more likely to die of their cancer within five and ten years after surgery than Caucasians. According to a new study published May 24, 2004 in the online edition of CANCER.

24 May 2004

Fifteen Australian lives were saved in one month as a result of pharmacists intervening in medicine management

The study, published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, also revealed that 88 pharmacist interventions reduced the length of patient stays in hospital and 156 interventions reduced the potential for the patient to be readmitted to hospital.

24 May 2004

Study finds breast cancer in men is increasing though the disease remains rare

The largest study to date of male breast cancer finds, contrary to previous reports, breast cancer rates in men are increasing though the disease remains rare.

23 May 2004

Researchers have developed technology to precisely measure the sensitivity of nerve fibers that wire up the brain during development

Through use of this technology, they discovered that these fibers, or axons, possess an incredible sensitivity to molecular guidance cues that direct the axon's route to its desired destination in the brain. Their findings are described in the June issue of Nature Neuroscience.

23 May 2004