Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Reprogrammed stem cells cure sickle cell anaemia

Scientists in the U.S. have made a breakthrough in the fight against sickle cell anaemia, a blood disease caused by a defect in a single gene.

9 Dec 2007

Topical treatment for age spots

Sun-induced skin damage can cause brown age spots, especially on oft-exposed areas like the hands and face.

5 Dec 2007

Many cancers caused by infections

Cancer -- popularly understood as a result of mutations or mistakes within the genetic code in cells -- is also caused by infections from viruses, bacteria and parasites.

5 Dec 2007

Court approves Biomira's move to U.S. and name change to Oncothyreon

Biomira Inc. has announced that the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench issued a Final Order approving the plan of arrangement under which the Company will move to the United States and change its name to Oncothyreon Inc.

5 Dec 2007

Breast MRI spots other cancers, may alter treatment plan

In about 20 percent of women with breast cancer who plan to undergo a lumpectomy, breast magnetic resonance imaging reveals important diagnostic information that alters their treatment plan, University of Florida surgeons reported today (Dec. 5).

5 Dec 2007

60 year mark reached in long-term radiation study

For the past 60 years, the National Academies have studied the health effects of radiation exposure in Japanese survivors of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.

5 Dec 2007

New way to detect neuropathy

Scientists have demonstrated a new technique for detecting a painful nerve condition known as neuropathy, which affects millions of people with diabetes and many other patients as well.

5 Dec 2007

Immtech and BioAlliance sign agreement on Pafuramidine for African sleeping sickness

Immtech Pharmaceuticals has announced that the Company has granted an exclusive license to BioAlliance Pharma SA to commercialize Immtech's oral drug, pafuramidine maleate (pafuramidine), in Europe for the treatment of pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) in AIDS patients and for the treatment of Human African trypanosomiasis, also known as African sleeping sickness.

5 Dec 2007

Honey a cheaper and more effective treatment for children's coughs than cough medicine

Experts in the United States say when it comes to children's coughs, natural honey offers a cheaper and more effective alternative to expensive over-the-counter cough medicines.

5 Dec 2007

Being fit more important than being fat when it comes to a longer life

The latest research is saying that fitness may be more important when it comes to living longer, than being overweight.

5 Dec 2007

Chips and crisps on a daily basis raise a woman's cancer risk

Dutch scientists say by eating crisps or chips on a daily basis a woman could be doubling her risk of ovarian or womb cancer.

4 Dec 2007

Discovery of new marker to identify cancer stem cells

Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have found a marker that can be used to identify stem cells in breast tumors, suggesting a potential simple test that could help determine the best treatment for breast cancer.

4 Dec 2007

Re-engineered Gleevec reduces heart risks

Using a new bottom-up approach for rational drug design, researchers at Rice University and the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have reengineered the powerful anticancer drug imatinib - best known by its brand name Gleevec - to more specifically target one type of cancer while potentially curbing a rare life-threatening cardiotoxic side effect.

4 Dec 2007

sLRP1-alpha provides relief from neuropathic pain

Injury to peripheral nerves (the causes of which include shingles, HIV-AIDS, toxins, alcoholism, repetitive motion disorders, surgery, and cancer) causes neuropathic pain, which differs from ordinary pain and is usually perceived as a steady burning, pins and needles, electric shock sensations, and/or tickling.

4 Dec 2007

New marker to identify cancer stem cells

4 Dec 2007

Purified bacterial extract sprayed into lungs ramps up innate immune system

A purified extract prepared from a common microbe and delivered to the lungs of laboratory mice in a spray set off a healthy immune response and provided powerful protection against all four major classes of pathogens including those responsible for anthrax and bubonic plague, according to a presentation at the American Society for Cell Biology's 47th Annual Meeting.

4 Dec 2007

Research may lead to more effective sunscreens

Chronic exposure to the sun increases the risk of an individual developing skin cancer because UV light from the sun can cause genetic mutations that enable cells in the skin to grow in an uncontrolled manner.

4 Dec 2007

Mini transplant patients' outcomes similar using related and unrelated donor cells

People who undergo nonmyeloablative stem-cell transplants, or "mini transplants," for leukemia, lymphoma and other blood cancers have comparable outcomes regardless of whether they receive tissue-matched stem cells from a related or unrelated donor, according to new findings by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

4 Dec 2007

Modified form of imatinib becomes more specific

Imatinib (marketed as Gleevec in the US and Glivec in Europe and Australia) is used to treat various cancers, including chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs).

4 Dec 2007

Lymphatic vessel and lymph node function are restored with growth factor treatment

The frequent spread of certain cancers to lymph nodes often necessitates surgery or radiation therapy that damages the lymphatic system and can cause lymphedema, a condition of localized fluid retention that often increases susceptibility to infections.

4 Dec 2007