Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Researchers discover that DNA fragments destroy melanoma cells

Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine have discovered that small DNA fragments or oligonucleotides that resemble the telomere (chromosome end), also called T-oligos, can cause human melanoma cells to undergo extensive apoptosis (cell death), while surviving melanoma cells become more differentiated and therefore less aggressive.

1 Sep 2004

Women over 70 are safe to not have radiation treatment after heaving a lumpectomy

Two new studies reported in The New England Journal of Medicine suggest that older women with breast cancer are safe to not have radiation treatment after heaving a lumpectomy.

1 Sep 2004

Mammography screening reduces risk of distant tumor recurrence

Women who have breast cancer detected by mammography screening have a reduced risk of distant tumor recurrence than women with breast cancer detected outside of screening, according to a study in the September 1 issue of JAMA.

1 Sep 2004

MGI PHARMA acquires Aesgen for $32 million

MGI PHARMA today announced that they have signed a definitive merger agreement under which MGI PHARMA will acquire all outstanding equity of Aesgen for $32 million in cash.

1 Sep 2004

Broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage effective in disrupting late stages of cell growth in breast cancer

A well known anti-cancer agent in certain vegetables has just had its reputation enhanced. The compound, in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables, has been found to be effective in disrupting late stages of cell growth in breast cancer.

1 Sep 2004

Study is the first comprehensive risk analysis to examine both the risk of death from breast cancer and other causes following diagnosis

Women who are diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age, or at an advanced stage at any age, are more likely to die from the disease than from all other causes of death combined, according to a new study by scientists at the National Cancer Institute.

1 Sep 2004

Researchers accurately pinpoint the types of lymphoma, Hodgkins or non-Hodgkins

“There are many types and subtypes of lymphoma, some of which are easy to detect, but many that are very difficult to identify,” says Antonio Giordano, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Sbarro Institute at Temple and one of the study’s principal investigators.

1 Sep 2004

Surgery plus radiation therapy an effective way to treat early breast cancer in women aged 70 and older

For early breast cancer, the standard of care is surgery to remove the cancerous lump followed by radiation therapy, thereby allowing the patient to keep her breast. However, older women are not always offered this option.

1 Sep 2004

Are Latin America and the Caribbean ready to meet the health challenges of the coming senior boom?

Advances in medicine and public health have dramatically increased life expectancy in Latin America and the Caribbean.But is the region ready to meet the challenges of the coming "senior boom"?

31 Aug 2004

ANSTO challenges doctors’ claims on reactor-produced nuclear medicines

“Such claims are raised regularly by certain groups but have not been found to be justified on either technical or commercial grounds.”

31 Aug 2004

Young adults ate and smoked more in the 1990s

Young adults, apparently believing they are immune from risk, had large increases in smoking and obesity and had continued poor eating habits during the 1990s, according to surveys of more than 120,000 people.

31 Aug 2004

Research provides definitive evidence that radiation risk is associated with full-body CT scans

The risk of cancer mortality from a single full-body computed tomography (CT) scan is modest, but not negligible, and the risks resulting from elective annual scans are much higher, according to a study published in the September issue of the journal Radiology.

31 Aug 2004

Researchers explain dual effects of ginseng

In work that emphasizes the need for stronger regulations of herbal drugs, an international team of MIT scientists and colleagues has unraveled the yin and the yang of ginseng, or why the popular alternative medicine can have two entirely different, opposing effects on the body.

30 Aug 2004

Flaw in DNA helps explain cancers and aging

Their finding explains how oxidative DNA damage - a process long believed to underlie cancers and aging - can create permanent genetic damage.

30 Aug 2004

Gene - beta1-integrin, could be key to breast cancer therapies

Canadian researchers at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre and McMaster University have identified a new player in breast cancer. This gene, beta1-integrin, has been shown to be critical in the initiation of tumour growth and development in a mouse model of cancer.

30 Aug 2004

Cinical trial to evaluate breakthrough breast cancer treatment

Virginia Commonwealth University’s Massey Cancer Center will host 20 medical experts from around the United States on Sept. 9 to prepare for a 3,000-patient phase III clinical trial that will evaluate a breakthrough breast cancer treatment.

30 Aug 2004

New guidelines today to diagnose and treat acromegaly

The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) released new guidelines today to diagnose and treat acromegaly, a rare and debilitating endocrine disorder. The guidelines are published in the May/June 2004 issue of AACE's peer-reviewed journal Endocrine Practice.

29 Aug 2004

Black women may not be getting mammograms as often as white women

Black women may not be getting mammograms as often as white women, despite a widespread belief that this particular racial disparity has been overcome, a University of Rochester Medical Center study shows.

27 Aug 2004

High tech implants to aid facial reconstruction

Loughborough University researchers have been awarded more than £200,000 to develop state-of-the-art tailor made implants for people requiring facial reconstructive surgery.

27 Aug 2004

More women are surviving advanced breast cancer

Writing in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, (Vol. 22, No. 16: 3302-3308), doctors from 3 French hospitals reported on 724 women whose first diagnosis was breast cancer that had spread to other parts of the body (stage 4). It is rare for women to be diagnosed with such late stage disease.

27 Aug 2004