Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Tongue reconstruction at University of Michigan

The night before her surgery for tongue cancer, 30-year-old Lisa Bourdon-Krause realized she might never be able to speak to her toddler son again. So she sat up half the night recording messages to him: "Hi, how was your day?," "You're so handsome," "You have a stinky butt. I need to change you." She read two of his favorite books.

15 Dec 2008

Prostate cancer screening programme shows high compliance and consistent results in more than 38,000 men

Just under five per cent of the men who took part in the prostate cancer element of the USA's largest ever cancer screening trial were diagnosed with the disease and the majority of those were picked up by screening programmes, according to research published in the December issue of the UK-based urology journal BJU International.

15 Dec 2008

Lung cancer screening feasibility study funded

A study to assess the feasibility of undertaking a UK-based screening trial for lung cancer has been commissioned by the National institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) programme. Lung cancer kills more people worldwide than any other malignancy accounting for around 1.4 million deaths each year, and around 38,000 individuals are diagnosed with the disease in the UK each year.

15 Dec 2008

Computer-aided detection (CAD) mammography for breast cancer screening

Computer programs designed to help radiologists could identify more cases of breast cancer, but they might also increase the number of false-positive results, which can lead to biopsies in healthy women, according to a recent systematic review.

15 Dec 2008

New research moves us one step closer to personalised breast cancer treatment

Cancer Research UK scientists have found that a test, already used in breast cancer diagnosis, can also predict who will and who won't benefit from commonly used chemotherapy drugs.

15 Dec 2008

How tamoxifen prevents breast cancer in some women but not others

The power of the drug tamoxifen to reduce breast density is key in preventing breast cancer - according to a presentation in America by Cancer Research UK scientists.

15 Dec 2008

Still wide racial disparities in colorectal cancer rates

An American Cancer Society reports says despite unprecedented progress in reducing incidence and death rates from colorectal cancer, the gap between blacks and whites continues to grow.

15 Dec 2008

GUMC researchers find gene inactivated in two aggressive cancers

Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have found a gene they say is inactivated in two aggressive cancers - malignant melanoma, a form of skin cancer, and glioblastoma multiforme, a lethal brain tumor.

15 Dec 2008

New understanding of mechanism that regulates DNA methylation

Researchers in a University of Oregon lab have shed more light on the mechanism that regulates DNA methylation, a fundamental biological process in which a methyl group is attached to DNA, the genetic material in cells of living organisms.

14 Dec 2008

Three studies of bioTheranostics molecular breast cancer diagnostics presented at symposium

bioTheranostics, a bioMerieux company that discovers, develops and commercializes new molecular diagnostic tests in oncology, reported today findings from three studies using the company's molecular breast cancer assay to predict risk of disease recurrence in individual patients.

14 Dec 2008

Tau protein expression predicts breast cancer survival in an unexpected way

Expression of the microtubule-binding protein Tau is not a reliable means of selecting breast cancer patients for adjuvant paclitaxel chemotherapy, according to research led by The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

14 Dec 2008

Doxil and docetaxel combination treatment delays disease progression in metastatic breast cancer

Results from a Phase 3 study show that patients with metastatic breast cancer who were treated previously with an anthracycline in the adjuvant setting experienced a significant improvement in time to disease progression (TTP) and overall response rates after receiving a combination of DOXIL (doxorubicin HCl liposome injection) and docetaxel as compared to docetaxel alone.

14 Dec 2008

Planned safety analysis of a breast cancer prevention study reveals encouraging news for Exemestane

An interim analysis of a breast cancer prevention study using exemestane (Aromasin) finds an "acceptable" level of bone loss.

14 Dec 2008

Zometa (zoledronic acid) shown to enhance chemotherapy in reducing breast tumor size

New data released demonstrates that the addition of Zometa (zoledronic acid) injection to standard chemotherapy before breast cancer surgery reduces the size of breast tumors more effectively than chemotherapy alone in women with early-stage disease.

14 Dec 2008

Carbon nanotube sensors for cancer drugs

MIT engineers have developed carbon nanotubes into sensors for cancer drugs and other DNA-damaging agents inside living cells.

14 Dec 2008

Having dense breasts increases breast cancer risk

Having dense breasts - areas that show up light on a mammogram - is strongly associated with increased breast cancer risk, but "why" remains to be answered.

14 Dec 2008

Postmenopausal patients being considered for tamoxifen therapy should be tested for CYP2D6 gene deficiency

Findings from a new study have prompted Mayo Clinic researchers to recommend CYP2D6 gene testing for postmenopausal women about to begin tamoxifen therapy.

14 Dec 2008

Discovery of seven new sites in the human genome found to influence obesity

In one of the largest studies of its kind, a multinational team led by scientists from deCODE genetics has reported the discovery of common variations at seven new sites in the human genome found to influence obesity.

14 Dec 2008

Promising clinical trial for Progeria "premature aging" disease

One of the fastest translations of a basic research discovery into a promising clinical trial for an "untreatable" and fatal disorder will be discussed publicly for the first time by the key players in this remarkable research story, on Sunday, Dec. 14, at the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB)'s annual meeting in San Francisco.

14 Dec 2008