Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Thirteen single-payer activists settle their cases after disrupting hearing

Thirteen people charged with "disruption of Congress" for standing and shouting pro-single-payer system slogans during a health care reform committee hearing settled their cases, The Great Falls (Mont.) Tribune reports.

8 Jul 2009

Health reformers shy from proposals that would limit treatment options

In a story headlined 'In Retooled Health-Care System, Who Will Say No?' the Washington Post reports: "Although Obama and his advisers have held up providers' spending patterns as the crux of the crisis, proposals in Washington go only so far in addressing the thorniest questions about who gets what care."

8 Jul 2009

Costliest Medicare markets in Florida, New York, California

U.S. News & World Report examines cost, frequency, and outcomes studies on Medicare patients from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice : "The Dartmouth research is particularly relevant to older Americans because it is based to a large extent on Medicare data, involving patients ages 65 and older.

8 Jul 2009

Many breast cancer patients being kept in the dark on breast reconstruction

Despite the increase of breast reconstruction procedures performed in 2008, nearly 70 percent of women who are eligible for the procedure are not informed of the reconstructive options available to them, according to a recently published report.

7 Jul 2009

Review of addiction to prescription painkillers

Chemical dependency and recovery in patients and physicians are closely examined in a series of articles and editorials in the July 2009 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. The subject is especially timely. As the immense challenges, including potential tragedies, of prescription chemical addiction and abuse are being discussed, these articles offer crucial overview, direction and optimism.

7 Jul 2009

Democrats navigate reform - opposition from unions, Liberals

"Unionized workers have fought to preserve their relatively expensive health plans through contract talks, sometimes at the expense of wage increases," CQ Politics reports. "Now, with some unions airing televised ads targeting senators who support the idea of counting some health benefits as taxable income, pressure is increasing on Capitol Hill to look elsewhere to offset the cost of a health care overhaul."

7 Jul 2009

Senator Kennedy's absence from health care reform debate looms large

Roll Call reports that lobbyists feel Senator Edward Kennedy's absence: "With the health care reform debate in full tilt, it's fair to assume that the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is the key player in producing the final version of the Senate's package.

7 Jul 2009

U.S., Russia to cooperate on health goals

The White House announced on Monday that the U.S. and Russia have signed on to a "memo of understanding" to cooperate on several public health and medical science projects, ModernHealthcare.com reports.

7 Jul 2009

Erythropoietin improves learning and other higher brain functions

Healthy young mice treated with erythropoietin show lasting improved performance in learning and other higher brain functions. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Biology tested the cognitive effects of the growth factor, finding that it improved the sequential learning and memory components of a complex long-term cognitive task.

7 Jul 2009

High-intensity-focused ultrasound in the treatment of primary prostate cancer

An experimental cancer therapy for prostate cancer may be able to treat men without surgery and offer fewer side effects according to the results of a UK study published in the British Journal of Cancer.

7 Jul 2009

Bowel cancer screening unacceptable to one in ten

At least one person in ten has a negative attitude to bowel cancer screening, particularly those from South Asian backgrounds, says research published in the British Journal of Cancer.

7 Jul 2009

Senior breast cancer patients receive ‘chemo’ if treated in private practices

In a study to determine the non-medical factors that may be associated with the decision to treat nonmetastatic breast cancer, researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health evaluated the association between oncologist characteristics and the receipt of chemotherapy in elderly women with breast cancer and found that they were more likely to receive chemotherapy if treated by oncologists employed in a private practice.

7 Jul 2009

Researchers profile genes in acutely ill idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients

The first findings from a one-of-a-kind, patient-driven effort to provide lung tissue for research might help doctors predict when patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are becoming dangerously ill and also could point the way to interventions that could sustain them until life-saving transplants can be performed.

7 Jul 2009

Specialized glycans act as tumor suppressors

Scientists at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have discovered that specialized complex sugar molecules (glycans) that anchor cells into place act as tumor suppressors in breast and prostate cancers.

6 Jul 2009

Future of organ transplantation - microscopic beads that create "designer " immune cells

The future of organ transplantation could include microscopic beads that create "designer" immune cells to help patients tolerate their new organ, Medical College of Georgia researchers say.

6 Jul 2009

Discovery of genetic key to breast cancer's ability to survive and spread

New research led by investigators at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) sheds light on a genetic function that gives breast cancer cells the ability to survive and spread to the bone years after treatment has been administered.

6 Jul 2009

A new prostate cancer "homing device" for drug delivery

A new prostate cancer "homing device" could improve detection and allow for the first targeted treatment of the disease. A team of Purdue University researchers has synthesized a molecule that finds and penetrates prostate cancer cells and has created imaging agents and therapeutic drugs that can link to the molecule and be carried with it as cargo.

6 Jul 2009

‘Roll-your-own’ cigarettes as deadly as ‘ready mades’

Roll-your-own (RYO) cigarettes expose smokers to similar levels of cancer-causing chemicals as manufactured cigarettes according to a new study by Cancer Research UK now published in Addiction Biology*.

6 Jul 2009

Potential new target for acute myeloid leukemia

Dr. John Dick, Senior Scientist at the Ontario Cancer Institute, the research arm of Princess Margaret Hospital, co-led a multinational team that has developed the first leukemia therapy that targets a protein, CD123, on the surface of cancer stem cells that drive acute myeloid leukemia (AML), which is an aggressive disease with a poor outcome.

6 Jul 2009

Discovery of genes that cause melanoma

Scientists from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) have found two new genes that together double a person's risk of developing melanoma.

6 Jul 2009