Chemotherapy News and Research

Latest Chemotherapy News and Research

Cancer cells may be able to avoid destruction by anti-vascular and anti-angiogenesis agents

Cancer cells may be able to avoid destruction by anti-vascular and anti-angiogenesis agents through a cellular stress response that activates a pro-survival protein called GRP78, according to researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.

6 Jul 2005

Acetylsalicylic acid, the active ingredient in Aspirin can lower the risk of redeveloping colorectal cancer

Acetylsalicylic acid, the active ingredient in Aspirin®, can lower the risk of redeveloping colorectal cancer: Stage III colon cancer patients, who have undergone surgery and chemotherapy, experience less recurrence and fatalities when using Aspirin®.

4 Jul 2005

Preclinical data suggest CuraGen's Velafermin may protect the gastrointestinal tract and decrease associated toxicity following exposure to radiation

New preclinical data on velafermin (CG53135), CuraGen's Phase II clinical product being developed for the prevention of oral mucositis (OM), suggesting that velafermin may protect the gastrointestinal tract and decrease associated toxicity, including enteritis and diarrhea, following exposure to radiation.

1 Jul 2005

Researchers find enzyme vital for controlling the early stages of cell death

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found an enzyme vital for controlling the early stages of cell death - a beneficial and normal process when it works right, but malignant in a variety of cancers when it malfunctions.

30 Jun 2005

Old skin fungus drug has been found to be a possible cancer treatment

A drug that has been used for 40 years for the treatment of skin fungus has been found to be a possible cancer treatment, according to an international team of scientists. Leslie Wilson, professor of biochemistry and pharmacology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, said that the antifungal drug, griseofulvin, has been shown to inhibit the growth of cancer cells in his laboratory.

30 Jun 2005

New breast cancer drug not available to all who need it

Unless things change breast cancer patient Barbara Clark will probably have to sell her house to pay for an expensive drug called Herceptin.

28 Jun 2005

Reovirus-based therapy called "Reolysin" helps battle cancer

Researchers are now investigating how to make cancer cells "terminally ill" by giving a common reovirus to patients with various types of cancers.

28 Jun 2005

Brief course of chemotherapy after surgery should be the new standard of care around the world

A Canadian national clinical trial has found that chemotherapy following surgery for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer significantly improves survival for the disease over just surgery alone.

27 Jun 2005

Double whammy of chemo plus surgery extends life for lung cancer patients

Recent research which has shown that chemotherapy can significantly lengthen life in many patients with lung cancer, has meant that doctors, for the first time in decades, have begun making major changes in the treatment of the disease.

23 Jun 2005

The CMS demonstration project in oncology

The PricewaterhouseCoopers study that the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) commissioned shows that an estimated $13 billion will be saved from Medicare spending for cancer care through 2013. This is $8.8 billion more than the original intent of Congress in passing the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA).

22 Jun 2005

Some men with breast cancer may be having unnecessary radiotherapy

A study carried out at the British Columbia Cancer Agency in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, showed that men whose cancer had not spread beyond the breast were almost six times more likely to be given radiotherapy than were women with the equivalent stage of disease.

21 Jun 2005

New discoveries in treatment for patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Three scientific studies - each highlighting new discoveries in treatment for patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma - were announced at the Society of Nuclear Medicine's 52nd Annual Meeting June 18–22 in Toronto.

20 Jun 2005

PET might be a promising tool for early prediction of response to chemotherapy for ovarian can

Noninvasive positron emission tomography (PET) imaging may allow earlier prediction of a patient's response to chemotherapy for ovarian cancer, according to research reported at the Society of Nuclear Medicine's 52nd Annual Meeting June 18–22 in Toronto.

20 Jun 2005

Thalidomide may be a potent anti-cancer treatment

When people hear "thalidomide," many think "birth defects," however, evidence has come to light that this once-banned drug can be used as a potent anti-cancer treatment.

20 Jun 2005

Fine tuning drug levels in neuroblastoma patients is effective

Monitoring and fine tuning the levels of the cancer drug topotecan in children with neuroblastoma holds promise for maximizing the drug's effectiveness while reducing its toxicity, according to investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

19 Jun 2005

Transplantation of spermatogonial stem cells isolated from leukemic mice restores fertility without inducing leukemia

While more than 70% of patients survive childhood leukemia, curative chemotherapy can often irreversibly impair the formation of spermatozoa, causing infertility in males.

16 Jun 2005

Fine tuning drug levels in neuroblastoma patients is effective

16 Jun 2005

MRI measurement of breast tumor volume predicts whether a patient's cancer will return

The study, performed at the University of California-San Francisco, of 58 breast cancer patients found that the best way to predict a patient's recurrence-free survival is to review the initial MR examination (before the patient has chemotherapy) and the final MR examination (after chemotherapy has been completed).

16 Jun 2005

Doctor blames parents for return of sick girl's cancer

Thirteen year old Katie Wernecke is back in hospital after doctors confirmed the girls Hodgkin's disease had returned.

16 Jun 2005

FDA approves Xeloda (capecitabine) oral chemotherapy

Roche announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Xeloda (capecitabine) -- an innovative oral chemotherapy -- for the adjuvant (post-surgery) treatment of patients with Dukes' C colon cancer.

15 Jun 2005