Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Smoking doubles risk of severe COVID-19 disease

The fatality rate among infected people increases among the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions. Now, a new study published as a pre-print on medXriv, links smoking to the progression of COVID-19 disease, suggesting that the odds of disease progression is more than double in smokers.

20 Apr 2020

Scientists estimate fatality ratio across full spectrum of COVID-19 disease

A team of researchers from Imperial College London has conducted a study aimed at calculating a reasonably accurate case fatality ratio and infection fatality ratio, which is based on Chinese data as well as international reports. The research is published on the pre-print server MedRxiv.

19 Apr 2020

Salk scientists uncover surprising role of tuft cells in pancreatitis

Persistent inflammation of the pancreas (chronic pancreatitis) is a known risk factor for developing pancreatic cancer, the third-deadliest cancer in the United States.

18 Apr 2020

Oncological care in the COVID-19 era

In Nature Medicine, the seven comprehensive cancer centres of Cancer Core Europe, including the Netherlands Cancer Institute and Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre, have shared how they rapidly reorganized their oncological healthcare systems during the COVID-19 pandemic.

18 Apr 2020

Embryonic stem cells commit to specialization surprisingly early

The point when human embryonic stem cells irreversibly commit to becoming specialised has been identified by researchers at the Francis Crick Institute.

17 Apr 2020

New study raises red flags about strategy to block cancer drug resistance

Sooner or later, most cancer patients develop resistance to the very chemotherapy drugs designed to kill their cancer, forcing oncologists to seek alternatives.

17 Apr 2020

Delayed clearance of SARS-CoV2 may explain why men fare worse than women

Researchers at Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine may have solved a mystery surrounding the novel coronavirus pandemic: Why men infected by the virus generally show more severe symptoms and are more likely than women to die from COVID-19.

17 Apr 2020

Study shows huge effect of obesity on pancreatic cancer development

Pancreatic cancer is expected to become the second-deadliest cancer in the United States by 2030, driven in part by rising obesity rates.

17 Apr 2020

Researchers discover unique structure and function of rotavirus VP3 protein

After eluding researchers for more than 30 years, the VP3 protein of rotavirus has finally revealed its unique structure and function to a team led by scientists at Baylor College of Medicine.

17 Apr 2020

Greater occurrence of infections correlates with future cancer diagnosis

Patients experienced a greater occurrence of infections in the years preceding a cancer diagnosis.

17 Apr 2020

A new approach to predict risk of radiation-induced cancer in astronauts

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, aims to send human missions to Mars in the 2030s. But scientists are still trying to learn more about the potential cancer risks for astronauts due to radiation exposure.

17 Apr 2020

Death rates from prostate cancer predicted to decline overall in EU

Death rates from prostate cancer are predicted to fall in 2020 in the EU, largely due to better diagnosis and treatment.

17 Apr 2020

Scientists discover anti-cancer compound in the humble willow

More than a century after giving the world aspirin, another potential drug has been found in the stem and leaves of willows – this time with anti-cancer properties.

17 Apr 2020

Study calls for better data framework to enhance rare disease diagnostic rates

A better framework for the reanalysis of genetic data, a game-changing process which could improve diagnostic rates by up to 32 per cent, was needed, a new study has found.

17 Apr 2020

Cancer immunotherapy can lead to inflammation of the heart muscle

Immunotherapy is a powerful weapon in the fight against cancer, but inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis) is one of its most serious side effects.

17 Apr 2020

Cancer Research UK calls for mass Covid-19 testing to prevent unnecessary cancer deaths

Thousands of cancer patients in the UK have had their treatment stopped or delayed because of COVID-19, and with pressures mounting on the health service, Cancer Research UK calls for widespread testing to prevent unnecessary cancer deaths.*

17 Apr 2020

Theoretical aspects of cancer evolution could pave way to new anti-cancer therapies

New treatments designed to prevent cancer from developing, based on changing the microenvironment in which cancer cells evolve, could be both feasible and effective.

17 Apr 2020

Gimsilumab trial starts in first US patient with ARDS and COVID-19

The first American patient with COVID-19 and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) has been put on the drug gimsilumab at Temple University Hospital, as part of the BREATHE clinical trial. The trial, sponsored by Roivant Sciences, will evaluate the effectiveness of intravenous gimsilumab in preventing death in patients with COVID-19 and ARDS.

16 Apr 2020

Are overactive immune cells causing COVID-19-related deaths?

While the COVID-19 pandemic is devastating many regions, the world over, a new paper published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine in April 2020 describes the possibility that the critical or very severe cases of COVID-19 are due to the production of neutrophil extracellular traps (NET) due to hyperactivated immune cells.

16 Apr 2020

Gold-containing drug auranofin kills 95% of SARS-CoV-2 virus in 48 hours in lab conditions

A drug called auranofin, approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, effectively inhibits severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in laboratory conditions, as described in a new study by Georgia State University researchers.

16 Apr 2020