Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Pharmacogenomics, has the potential to spark a major, technology-driven restructuring of the health care and pharmaceuticals industries

Pharmacogenomics, the study of genetic variability in the way individuals respond to medicines, has the potential to spark a major, technology-driven restructuring of the health care and pharmaceuticals industries

21 Dec 2004

Customising cancer treatment

At the Norwegian Radium Hospital in Oslo, scientists are approaching methods that will improve the patients' chances of survival and reduce unnecessary treatment.

21 Dec 2004

Certain leukemia oncogenes switch on genetic programs that govern self-renewal, a unique stem cell characteristic

Researchers have discovered that specific cancer-causing genes associated with leukemias can transform mature white blood cells into leukemic cells that have all the properties of stem cells.

21 Dec 2004

Essential oils have been found to kill the deadly MRSA bacteria

Essential oils usually used in aromatherapy have been found to kill the deadly MRSA bacteria according to research carried out at The University of Manchester.

From The University of Manchester 21 Dec 2004

Gulf War report confirms link between lung cancer and combustion products

The available evidence is too sparse or of insufficient quality to determine whether the majority of health problems that may be experienced by Gulf War veterans could be associated with exposures to fuels for military vehicles, propellents in Scud missiles, or substances given off by combustion sources such as oil-well fires, exhausts, and tent heaters

21 Dec 2004

Theory that could help to cure diseases including cancer

An Open University science student has astonished the world of medicine with a theory that could help to cure diseases including cancer.

21 Dec 2004

Radon in homes and risk of lung cancer

Radon in homes and risk of lung cancer: collaborative analysis of individual data from 13 European case-control studies, BMJ Online First.

21 Dec 2004

Vitamin E supplements may reduce the risk for death from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and the American Cancer Society have found that regular use of vitamin E supplements may reduce the risk for death from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

21 Dec 2004

Study finds new method can improve chemo survival

Seeking to find a way to lessen patients’ vulnerability to deadly infections following chemotherapy, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have figured out a way to boost the immune function in animals following such treatments.

21 Dec 2004

Major step forward in using saliva to detect oral cancer

Scientists funded by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research reported taking a major step forward in using saliva to detect oral cancer.

21 Dec 2004

New way of viewing genetic variations

Human geneticists can now see which variations on the human genome are inherited together, thanks to a new way of viewing genetic variations in the latest release of the Ensembl genome browser [a joint project between EMBL's EBI and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute].

21 Dec 2004

Success of surgery for ovarian cancer

Results of the first randomized control trial conducted in the United States to help determine the success of surgery for ovarian cancer have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

21 Dec 2004

Push for mandatory health warnings on all alcohol products

Australian Medical Association President, Dr Bill Glasson, said today the AMA is calling on the Australian Federal Government to legislate for health warnings on all alcohol products.

21 Dec 2004

Eating more tomatoes and watermelons can reduce prostate cancer

A new study by researchers at Curtin University of Technology shows that eating yellow, orange and red fruits such as tomatoes, watermelon and citrus, and vegetables such as red capsicum or sweet pepper, pumpkin and spinach may reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer by up to 50 per cent.

21 Dec 2004

New advice on anti-inflammatory drugs called Cox-2 Inhibitors, including Celebrex

Patients who are taking Celebrex, Bextra and Arcoxia should make a non-urgent appointment with their GP to review their treatment. Patients who have established heart disease or who are at high risk of stroke will have their treatment changed.

21 Dec 2004

Quarter of all deaths in England and Wales in 2003 were caused by cancer

The main causes of death in 2003 were circulatory diseases (38 per cent), which include coronary heart disease and strokes, followed by cancers (26 per cent) and respiratory diseases (14 per cent), which includes pneumonia.

21 Dec 2004

The costs of caring for elderly patients hospitalized for colon surgery are not reduced by Medicare HMOs

The costs of caring for elderly Florida patients hospitalized for colon surgery are not reduced by Medicare HMOs, report University of South Florida researchers in the December issue of the Archives of Surgery.

21 Dec 2004

Dramatic changes in the way the FDA address patient safety are needed

Food and Drug Administration policies prevent pharmaceutical manufacturers from informing patients about potentially fatal toxicities that occur with some cancer drugs -- policies that should be revised immediately, according to Northwestern University researchers.

20 Dec 2004

Cancer drug paclitaxel may reduce the adverse effects of Alzheimer's disease

In a preclinical efficacy trial, the cancer drug paclitaxel (Paxceed)–which exerts its effects by binding to and stabilizing microtubules inside cells–reduced the adverse effects of Alzheimer's disease (AD)-like pathology in a mouse model.

20 Dec 2004

PAHO - Cervical cancer kills almost a quarter-million women worldwide each year

The Pan American Health Organization (A regional office of the World Health Organization), as a member of the Alliance for Cervical Cancer Prevention (ACCP), has issued a new publication and reported that cervical cancer—while largely preventable—kills almost a quarter-million women worldwide each year.

20 Dec 2004