Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Quick formula could forecast which cancers chemo could kill

Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center have coined a simple formula that predicts how well a certain chemotherapy will work for targeting brain and other nervous system cancers. The formula, which publishes mid-July in Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology, is pegged to two important proteins that compose such hard-to-kill tumors - one of which, ironically, makes them so drug-resistant in the first place.

15 Jul 2008

Chemo pill shows promise for advanced lymphoma

A new chemotherapy pill for people with stubborn lymphomas is showing promise in early clinical studies, according to scientists at the University of Rochester's James P. Wilmot Cancer Center. Doctors reported that the drug is halting disease in nearly half of the patients with two forms of lymphoma participating in early clinical trials in Rochester and across the country.

15 Jul 2008

Apert's syndrome - new discovery

In a cruel irony, testis cells carrying the mutation that causes Apert's syndrome are fitter than normal cells, even though children born from sperm derived from those cells are weakened by fused fingers, toes and skulls, a new study has found.

14 Jul 2008

Researchers step closer to delivering cancer-killing drugs to pediatric brain tumors

An interdisciplinary team of researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, led by Karen L. Wooley, Ph.D., James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Arts & Sciences, is a step closer to delivering cancer-killing drugs to pediatric brain tumors, similar to the tumor that Senator Ted Kennedy is suffering from.

14 Jul 2008

Scientists map anatomy of a membrane protein

In an Australian first, scientists at Sydney's Centenary Institute have mapped the anatomy of a membrane protein. This exciting discovery has the potential to turn the way we discover new drugs on its head and reduce the development time for new treatments.

14 Jul 2008

Colorectal cancer screening rates still too low

Although colorectal cancer screening tests are proven to reduce colorectal cancer mortality, only about half of U.S. men and women 50 and older receive the recommended tests, according to a report in the July 2008 issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

14 Jul 2008

Heart death risk cut by early warning drugs tests

The likelihood of people dying because their medication has a side effect that affects the electrical activity of the heart is being reduced - thanks to a better understanding of why this happens and the development of tests to predict it.

From The University of Manchester 14 Jul 2008

Only 11% of children's food products provide good nutritional quality

Nine out of ten regular food items aimed specifically at children have a poor nutritional content - because of high levels of sugar, fat or sodium - according to a detailed study of 367 products published in the July issue of the UK-based journal Obesity Reviews.

14 Jul 2008

Researchers locate and image prostate cancer as it spreads to lymph nodes

Using an engineered common cold virus, UCLA researchers delivered a genetic payload to prostate cancer cells that allowed them, using Positron Emission Tomography (PET), to locate the diseased cells as they spread to the lymph nodes, the first place prostate cancer goes before invading other organs.

13 Jul 2008

Compound honokiol, from Magnolias blocks, elusive pathway for cancer growth

A natural compound from magnolia cones blocks a pathway for cancer growth that was previously considered "undruggable," researchers have found.

13 Jul 2008

Treating rare breast cancer with radiation therapy may lower recurrence rate

Patients with a rare type of breast cancer may benefit from receiving radiation therapy in addition to surgery to prevent recurrence, according to a study in the July issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.

13 Jul 2008

Potential new way to prevent graft-versus-host disease

A new University of Michigan study in mice suggests that a drug recently approved to fight cancer tumors is also able to reduce the effects of graft-versus-host disease, a common and sometimes fatal complication for people who have had bone marrow transplants.

10 Jul 2008

How alcohol impacts heart and stroke risk may differ for men and women

The volume of alcohol consumption may have a significantly different effect on heart and stroke risk in men and women, according to a study of Japanese people published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

10 Jul 2008

Scientists identify 22 genes that control embryonic stem cell fate

Scientists have identified about two dozen genes that control embryonic stem cell fate. The genes may either prod or restrain stem cells from drifting into a kind of limbo, they suspect. The limbo lies between the embryonic stage and fully differentiated, or specialized, cells, such as bone, muscle or fat.

10 Jul 2008

UGA discovery could lead to new ways to attack cancers by blocking their ability to grow

Human cancer cells divide and conquer. Unless physicians can control that division with surgery, chemotherapy or radiation, the wildly dividing cells will eventually destroy a person's life.

10 Jul 2008

Novel approach shows potential to become an emergency treatment for heart attack patients

Researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have manipulated cell activity that occurs during the interruption of blood flow to strongly protect heart tissue in animal studies. The finding has the potential to become an emergency treatment for heart attack patients, particularly since already existing drugs might be pressed into service to produce the protective effects.

10 Jul 2008

46 percent of Americans show biologic exposure to the deadly toxins found in cigarettes

A new report issued today by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) exemplifies the need for nonsmoking Americans to be better protected against exposure to secondhand smoke. The report finds that 46 percent of Americans show biologic exposure to the deadly toxins found in cigarettes. Even more startling are the millions of children this statistic includes.

10 Jul 2008

Researchers crack final part of the immune system code

A group of researchers at the Technical University of Denmark and the University of Copenhagen have developed models of neural networks that make it possible to simulate how the body protects itself from disease and predict the immune system's access codes.

10 Jul 2008

Researcher develops method for early detection of leukemia relapse

Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have developed a method that allows for the early detection of a common mechanism of resistance on drug treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia.

10 Jul 2008

Teen movie makers help create cutting edge anti-smoking films

Three hard hitting films - designed by teenagers for teenagers - were launched today after a national competition helped uncover the next generation of British film makers.

10 Jul 2008