Oncology News and Research

RSS

Oncology, meaning bulk, mass, or tumor, and the suffix ''-logy'', meaning "study of") is a branch of medicine that deals with tumors (cancer). A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''.

Multi-targeted anticancer drug shows promise as treatment for metastatic renal cell cancer

A new multi-targeted anticancer drug called SU11248 has shown very promising results in the treatment for metastatic renal cell cancer, one of the most chemotherapy resistant of all cancers.

6 Jun 2004

Velcade major improvement over standard therapy for relapsed multiple myeloma

Early results from a major, international Phase III clinical trial decisively show that recurrent multiple myeloma is more effectively treated with the drug bortezomib (trade name: Velcade TM) than with dexamethasone, a drug that for decades has been the standard therapy for relapsed disease, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute report.

6 Jun 2004

Drug Tarceva improves survival chance for patients with advanced lung cancer

Roche OSI Pharmaceuticals and Genentech today announced that their investigational drug Tarceva(TM) (erlotinib) achieved a significant 42.5% improvement in median survival compared to placebo in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

5 Jun 2004

Drug helps patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

A drug designed to cut off a tumor’s blood supply, when paired with a chemotherapy combination, resulted in significant improvement in survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, the first time in decades that survival times have been extended in patients with this devastating form of advanced cancer.

3 Jun 2004

Uterine cancer, also called endometrial cancer, will strike more than 40,000 U.S. women annually

A Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) study, headed by Cornelia Trimble, M.D. of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, has revealed that pathologists who evaluate uterine biopsies disagree 60 percent of the time on whether the specimens contain cancerous cells.

3 Jun 2004

Cigarettes damage women’s lungs more than men’s lungs

Noting that lung cancer is women’s number one cancer killer, Loyola medical oncologist Dr. Kathy S. Albain will speak on the molecular differences in lung cancer between men and women, June 4, at the annual meeting of Women Against Lung Cancer.

3 Jun 2004

Drug to extend lives of colorectal cancer patients

A drug designed to cut off a tumor's blood supply, when paired with a chemotherapy combination, resulted in significant improvement in survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, the first time in decades that survival times have been extended in patients with this devastating form of advanced cancer.

2 Jun 2004

Avastin study shows significant improvement in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

Genentech, Inc. and Roche have announced that the New England Journal of Medicine published the first Phase III study of an anti-angiogenesis cancer therapy, showing that the addition of Avastin™ (bevacizumab) to the IFL chemotherapy regimen (5-FU/Leucovorin/ CPT-11) significantly extended survival in patients with first-line (previously untreated) metastatic colorectal cancer.

2 Jun 2004

Bone marrow stem cells exposed to damaged liver tissue quickly convert into healthy liver cells

Bone marrow stem cells, when exposed to damaged liver tissue, can quickly convert into healthy liver cells and help repair the damaged organ, according to new research from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.

2 Jun 2004

Study may help oncologists tailor chemotherapy to patients based on their genetic make-up

Genetic variations in an individual’s ability to repair DNA damage may help predict survival in lung cancer patients treated with the common chemotherapy drugs cisplatin or carboplatin, a new study shows.

2 Jun 2004

Acne drug may help treat multiple sclerosis

Dr. Luanne Metz, an associate professor of neurosciences and physician-scientist in the Neuroscience Research Group at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Medicine, has found that minocycline, a drug currently used to treat such conditions as acne, decreases the activity of lesions in the brains of people suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS).

2 Jun 2004

Students win awards for research into liver disease, cancer and insomnia

Targeting a range of diseases and disorders, three University of Houston students won awards at a recent symposium for research in liver disease, cancer and insomnia.

2 Jun 2004

20 cancer survivors, loved ones and experts to join Lance Armstrong in raising cance awareness

Twenty cyclists have been selected by cancer Community leaders to join cancer survivor and five-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong in the Bristol-Myers Squibb Tour of Hope.

2 Jun 2004

Discovery of a key marker in breast cancer tumors

Cancer researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have discovered a key marker in breast cancer tumors that may help determine which women with early stage breast cancer have a better chance of survival. The research appears in the June 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

31 May 2004

Clinical trial of 5 day treatment for earliest form of breast cancer

Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Massey Cancer Center have begun a clinical trial testing the effectiveness of an established balloon catheter radiation delivery device on the earliest form of breast cancer, ductal carcinoma in situ.

27 May 2004

Cigarette smoking linked to leukemia

Cigarette smoking has been linked to acute myelogenous leukemia, according to The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General, released today.

27 May 2004

Radiation therapy after surgery for men with prostate cancer lessens the chance of the cancer returning

Radiation therapy after surgery for men with prostate cancer lessens the chance of the cancer coming back, regardless of whether the radiation was administered immediately after surgery or after the cancer recurred, according to a new study in the June 2004 issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of ASTRO, the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.

27 May 2004

Evidence that abnormally short telomeres play a role in the early development of cancer

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center say they have evidence that abnormally short telomeres - the end-caps on chromosomes that normally preserve genetic integrity -appear to play a role in the early development of many types of cancer.

27 May 2004

Men with low prostate specific antigen levels on screening tests can still have prostate cancer

Men with low PSA (prostate specific antigen) levels on screening tests can still have prostate cancer, according to a study* released today by scientists from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

27 May 2004

Combination of two types of radiation therapy is better for treating brain cancer

Adding stereotactic radiosurgery – which entails delivering radiation to specific points in the brain while sparing normal tissue – after whole brain radiation therapy helps certain patients with cancer that has spread to the brain live longer, says a new study by researchers at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia.

25 May 2004

Oncology News and Research

Further Reading

Multi-targeted anticancer drug shows promise as treatment for metastatic renal cell cancer

Velcade major improvement over standard therapy for relapsed multiple myeloma

Drug Tarceva improves survival chance for patients with advanced lung cancer

Drug helps patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

Uterine cancer, also called endometrial cancer, will strike more than 40,000 U.S. women annually

Cigarettes damage women’s lungs more than men’s lungs

Drug to extend lives of colorectal cancer patients

Avastin study shows significant improvement in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

Bone marrow stem cells exposed to damaged liver tissue quickly convert into healthy liver cells

Study may help oncologists tailor chemotherapy to patients based on their genetic make-up

Acne drug may help treat multiple sclerosis

Students win awards for research into liver disease, cancer and insomnia

20 cancer survivors, loved ones and experts to join Lance Armstrong in raising cance awareness

Discovery of a key marker in breast cancer tumors

Clinical trial of 5 day treatment for earliest form of breast cancer

Cigarette smoking linked to leukemia

Radiation therapy after surgery for men with prostate cancer lessens the chance of the cancer returning

Evidence that abnormally short telomeres play a role in the early development of cancer

Men with low prostate specific antigen levels on screening tests can still have prostate cancer

Combination of two types of radiation therapy is better for treating brain cancer

Cancer Research - Second Edition eBook

How can microdialysis benefit drug development

Global and Local Efforts to Take Action Against Hepatitis

Addressing Important Cardiac Biology Questions with Shotgun Top-Down Proteomics

Latest News