Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Women with a history of hypothyroidism at greater risk of developing liver cancer

Women with a history of hypothyroidism face a significantly higher risk of developing liver cancer, according to a new study in the May issue of Hepatology, a journal published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). The article is also available online at Wiley Interscience.

4 May 2009

New findings on how lithium may help radiation target cancer

Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center investigators have uncovered a mechanism that helps explain how lithium, a drug widely used to treat bipolar mood disorder, also protects the brain from damage that occurs during radiation treatments.

4 May 2009

Hospital volume an imperfect proxy for healthcare quality

A new review finds hospital volume to be a useful, albeit imperfect, predictor of short term mortality. While studies, when combined, show a quantifiable and statistically significant inverse association between case volume and mortality, the review finds that individual studies often fail to show such an association, leading the authors to conclude volume is at best an imperfect proxy for healthcare quality.

4 May 2009

Disparities in breast cancer outcomes continue to exist for African-American women

New research published in the May issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that dramatic disparities in breast cancer outcomes continue to exist for African-American women, regardless of the age at which they are diagnosed, extent of the cancer, type of treatment or socioeconomic status.

4 May 2009

Tiny gold particles home in on tumors

It has long been known that heat is an effective weapon against tumor cells. However, it's difficult to heat patients' tumors without damaging nearby tissues.

4 May 2009

New early detection studies of lung cancer in non-smokers launched

Government and private sector cancer scientists today launched a research partnership to find biomarkers for lung cancer that develops in people who have never smoked. The research studies are designed to create a better understanding of the biology of lung cancer and to develop a test to detect early-stage lung cancer in lifetime nonsmokers.

4 May 2009

New understanding on how DNA repair works

One can have a dream, two can make that dream so real, goes a popular song. Now a Weizmann Institute study has revealed that it takes two to perform an essential form of DNA repair.

4 May 2009

Late motherhood boosts family lifespan

Women who have babies naturally in their 40s or 50s tend to live longer than other women. Now, a new study shows their brothers also live longer, but the brothers' wives do not, suggesting the same genes prolong lifespan and female fertility, and may be more important than social and environmental factors.

4 May 2009

Women more vulnerable to tobacco carcinogens than men

According to researchers in Switzerland women are more vulnerable to tobacco carcinogens than men.

3 May 2009

Young people want tobacco put out of sight in shops

Young people overwhelmingly support putting tobacco products out of sight in shops according to new research released today (Monday) by Cancer Research UK.

3 May 2009

Discovery of process that controls T cell growth

Identifying one of the processes that plays a role in naïve and memory T-cells' growth and production could one day lead to better vaccines and possibly more effective cancer immunotherapy, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital in a report that appears in the current edition of Nature Immunology.

3 May 2009

Women more vulnerable to the cancer-causing effects of smoking tobacco

Women may be more vulnerable than men to the cancer-causing effects of smoking tobacco, according to new results reported this week at the European Multidisciplinary Conference in Thoracic Oncology (EMCTO), Lugano, Switzerland.

3 May 2009

Personalizing therapy the key strategy for survival in lung cancer

Cancer vaccines and targeted therapies are beginning to offer new treatment options following surgery for patients with early stages of lung cancer, experts said at the first European Multidisciplinary Conference in Thoracic Oncology (EMCTO) in Lugano, Switzerland (1-3 May 2009).

3 May 2009

RNA production revs up during cell-to-cell contact

MicroRNAs are single-stranded snippets that, not long ago, were given short shrift as genetic junk. Now that studies have shown they regulate genes involved in normal functioning as well as diseases such as cancer, everyone wants to know: What regulates microRNAs?

3 May 2009

Wealthier people choose better diets - but pay more per calorie

As people become more educated, studies have demonstrated that they tend to choose foods that are lower in calories but higher in nutrients. They also pay more. In a study published in the May 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers from the University of Washington compared the eating habits and food costs of a sample of 164 adults in the Seattle, Washington area.

3 May 2009

DNA protecting protein helps cancer drug to kill cells

Some DNA repair enzymes can become double-edged swords - If they work too slowly, they can block necessary cell maintenance and contribute to cell death.

30 Apr 2009

Imiquimod, a topical cream, may help treat skin cancer

In a case study of a type of melanoma skin cancer typically found on chronically sun-exposed skin, Saint Louis University researchers found that imiquimod, a topical cream, produced good results for patients when used together with surgery to treat the cancer, potentially helping doctors cut less.

30 Apr 2009

Study examines radiation dose estimates for pregnant women undergoing therapeutic ERCP

Pregnant women with gallstone disease may require immediate endoscopic intervention because of potentially life-threatening cholangitis (infection in the bile ducts) or gallstone pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas).

30 Apr 2009

Smoking, hypertension and BMI are the leading preventable risk factors for premature mortality in the U.S.

The researchers found that smoking is responsible for 467,000 premature deaths each year, high blood pressure for 395,000, and being overweight for 216,000. The effects of smoking work out to be about one in five deaths in American adults, while high blood pressure is responsible for one in six deaths.

30 Apr 2009

Statins can lower PSA levels in men with prostate cancer

Beyond lowering cholesterol, statin medications have been found to have numerous other health benefits, including lowering a healthy man's risk of developing advanced prostate cancer, as well as lowering his prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels.

30 Apr 2009