Chemotherapy News and Research

Latest Chemotherapy News and Research

Researchers determine structure of concentrative nucleoside transporter

A team of researchers at Duke University has determined the structure of a key molecule that can carry chemotherapy and anti-viral drugs into cells, which could help to create more effective drugs with fewer effects to healthy tissue.

12 Mar 2012

Cancer rates to fall among men but slightly rise among women by 2020: Report

The report says that due to the growing and ageing population the actual number of new cases will rise by almost 40 per cent on 2007 levels. But when that's converted to the number of cases per 100,000 people the results are surprising. Cancer rates in men will fall from 595 to 568 cases per 100,000 by 2020. That equates to about 85,000 cases. When it comes to women the rate is projected to rise from 394 to 408 cases per 100,000. That's equivalent to 65,000 new cases in 2020.

11 Mar 2012

Maxygen reports net loss of $2.2 million for fourth quarter 2011

Maxygen, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, today announced financial and business results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2011.

9 Mar 2012

New hybrid aspirin shrinks tumors, curbs cancer cell growth

The humble aspirin may soon have a new role. Scientists from The City College of New York have developed a new aspirin compound that has great promise to be, not only an extremely potent cancer-fighter, but even safer than the classic medicine cabinet staple.

9 Mar 2012

Some bone marrow cells could prevent rejection of transplanted kidney in recipients: Study

Researchers transplanted certain cells from the kidney donor’s bone marrow along with the new organ. Five of eight transplant recipients who tried the method so far were off immune-suppressing medication up to 2½ years later, the researchers reported Wednesday. The preliminary results were considered important enough to be published in the journal Science Translational Medicine even though the study still is under way, because the technique worked for patients who didn’t have well-matched or related donors.

8 Mar 2012

Appendix cancer different from colon cancer

Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have demonstrated that cancer of the appendix is different than colon cancer, a distinction that could lead to more effective treatments for both diseases.

8 Mar 2012

Sosei initiates SO-1105 Phase I trial in oropharyngeal candidiasis

Sosei Group Corporation, the biopharmaceutical company, today announces that its wholly owned Japanese subsidiary, Sosei Co., Ltd., has initiated a Japanese Phase I trial for SO-1105 for the treatment of oropharyngeal candidiasis.

8 Mar 2012

Women with breast cancer can benefit from web-based programme

Every day 18 Swedish women are diagnosed with breast cancer. Although there is a real need for support and information, many women struggle and get lost in the deluge of information. In a study of 227 women, researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have developed a web-based programme to guide patients all the way from diagnosis to rehabilitation.

6 Mar 2012

Researchers identify mechanism with which cancer cells protect themselves against damage

Although many cancer drugs have already been in use for decades, their mode of action is still unknown. The new research results now challenge a mechanism of action that was previously proposed for a group of drugs and supported with experiments: the Topoisomerase I-inhibitor Camptothecin (Top1 inhibitor for short) and its derivatives used in chemotherapy, Topotecan and Irinotecan.

5 Mar 2012

Exelixis initiates cabozantinib and abiraterone phase 1 combination trial in CRPC

Exelixis Inc. today announced the initiation of a phase 1 dose-finding trial of cabozantinib in combination with abiraterone in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) who have disease progression following treatment with up to two prior chemotherapy regimens.

5 Mar 2012

Scientists determine chemical features of DHPS enzyme's active site

More than 70 years after the first sulfa drugs helped to revolutionize medical care and save millions of lives, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have determined at an atomic level the mechanism these medications use to kill bacteria. The discovery provides the basis for a new generation of antibiotics that would likely be harder for bacteria to resist and cause fewer side effects.

2 Mar 2012

Combining two common cancer-fighting strategies may have 'tremendous synergy'

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have found that a molecule found at elevated levels in cancer cells seems to protect them from the "cell-suicide" that is usually triggered by chemotherapy or radiation.

2 Mar 2012

F-DOPA PET/CT imaging alters management plans for patients with brain cancer

Imaging amino acid transporters with positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) has been shown to significantly alter intended management plans for patients with brain tumors, according to research in the March issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

2 Mar 2012

UCSD first to treat glioma with investigational viral vector

UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center researchers and surgeons are among the first in the nation to treat patients with recurrent brain cancer by directly injecting an investigational viral vector into their tumor. The treatment is being developed by a local San Diego Company, Tocagen Inc.

2 Mar 2012

SuperFAK protein decreases damage from heart attack by 50%

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill reduced damage from a heart attack by 50 percent by enhancing a protective protein found in mice and humans.

2 Mar 2012

Cancer cons preying on hope, SBS Dateline

Mexico’s border with America is clustered with clinics providing unusual treatments for cancer - alternatives to conventional medicine that claim to offer a complete cure, even for the terminally ill, in return for tens of thousands of dollars.

1 Mar 2012

Minimally invasive treatments to be showcased at SIR's 37th Annual Scientific Meeting

The Society of Interventional Radiology will feature minimally invasive scientific advances and new discoveries that may change the way dozens of diseases are treated at its 37th Annual Scientific Meeting March 24-29 at San Francisco's Moscone Center.

29 Feb 2012

UVA, Johns Hopkins receive NIH grant to develop methods against glioblastoma

The most common primary brain cancer is glioblastoma, a highly aggressive and deadly form of tumor that kills about 95 percent of its victims within five years of diagnosis. Like other brain cancers, it is extremely difficult to treat because glioblastomas are usually deeply embedded within healthy brain tissue and therefore nearly impossible to safely access. Chemotherapy drugs cannot reach these tumors because a membrane between the bloodstream and brain tissue, called the blood-brain barrier, blocks them.

29 Feb 2012

Study identifies how chemo drug combination kills pancreatic cancer cells

Cancer Research UK scientists have discovered how a combination of two chemotherapy drugs - already showing promise in clinical trials - destroys pancreatic cancer cells, according to research published in Cancer Discovery.

29 Feb 2012

KCC's geriatric oncology symposium to take place on March 9

Approaches to treating elderly cancer patients are evolving as more of the population ages and the need for specialized care becomes more evident. To address these issues and others, national thought leaders in geriatric oncology will gather at a unique symposium at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson (KCC) in Philadelphia on Friday, March 9, 2012, where they will present an overview of the latest advances in the understanding and treatment of cancer in older adults in an effort to impact patient care.

29 Feb 2012