Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Honest communication of cancer prognostic information can help parents feel more hopeful

Physicians who inform parents of children with cancer about the likely course of the disease can provide hope, even when the child's prognosis is poor, according to a Dana-Farber Cancer Institute study presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting on Sunday.

5 Jun 2007

Percutaneous ethanol injection helps manage bone metastasis in thyroid cancer patients

Percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI), an injection of ethanol (alcohol) through the skin directly into a bone tumor to kill cancer cells, may be a valuable ancillary treatment for thyroid cancer patients whose cancer has spread to the bone.

5 Jun 2007

E/Tablet technology may improve healthcare

The old wooden clipboard and pen that patients typically encounter when providing information in a doctor's office may soon be replaced by wireless, handheld notebook-and-pen-style computers called E/Tablets.

5 Jun 2007

Drug lapatinib shows activity against brain metastases

The drug lapatinib shrank tumors and slowed progression of brain metastases in some patients with advanced breast cancer, according to results of a clinical trial presented by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

5 Jun 2007

Diet may influence survival after treatment for stage III colon cancer

Patients with stage III colon cancer who have undergone surgery and chemotherapy with the goal of cure may have a higher risk of relapsing and dying early if they follow a predominantly Western diet of red meat, fatty foods, refined grains, and desserts, according to research led by investigators at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

5 Jun 2007

Diagnosing skin cancers with laser-based system

In an early step toward nonsurgical screening for malignant skin cancers, Duke University chemists have demonstrated a laser-based system that can capture three-dimensional images of the chemical and structural changes under way beneath the surface of human skin.

5 Jun 2007

Dasatinib shows promise as first treatment for chronic myelogenous leukemia

An established second-line drug for chronic myelogenous leukemia has high response rates when given to newly diagnosed patients as their first therapy for the disease, according to early results from a Phase II clinical trial at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

5 Jun 2007

Chemotherapy may enhance the effectiveness of the vaccines

Chemotherapy temporarily hinders the body's immune response, creating a concern that it may interfere with the promising new cancer vaccines being used against brain tumors.

5 Jun 2007

Modafinil (Provigil) alleviates post-chemotherapy fogginess

A drug described by some people as a genius pill for enhancing cognitive function provided relief to a small group of Rochester breast cancer survivors who were coping with a side effect known as chemo-brain, according to a University of Rochester Medical Center study.

5 Jun 2007

Black Americans' beliefs may hamper lung cancer prevention and care

Blacks in the United States are less certain than whites about recommendations to prevent lung cancer and are more fearful of having symptoms evaluated, beliefs that may keep them from seeking timely treatment for the disease, researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute reported at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting in Chicago.

5 Jun 2007

Benefits of Herceptin are lasting

An updated analysis of two large randomized clinical trials has found that breast cancer patients who received the monoclonal antibody trastuzumab (Herceptin) along with chemotherapy are living longer and with less risk of recurrent disease, compared to patients treated with chemotherapy alone.

5 Jun 2007

Sertraline does not improve symptoms in some cancer patients without major depression

The established antidepressant sertraline does not improve symptoms, wellbeing or survival in patients with advanced cancer who do not have major depression.

5 Jun 2007

AMPAKINE drugs may provide protection from drug-induced respiratory depression

Drug-induced respiratory depression is a life-threatening condition caused by analgesic, hypnotic, and anesthesia medications.

5 Jun 2007

Adding radioimmunotherapy to chemo may help patients with lymphoma

Patients treated for follicular lymphoma, a slow-growing type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, may benefit from chemotherapy followed by radioimmunotherapy, according to a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago and published as Abstract 8005 in the ASCO proceedings.

5 Jun 2007

World's first PET/MR images of the human brain

The world's first PET/MR images of the human brain, taken simultaneously by positron emission tomography (PET) imaging and magnetic resonance (MR), debuted during the 54th Annual Meeting of SNM, the world's largest society for molecular imaging and nuclear medicine professionals, June 2-6 in Washington, D.C.

From Siemens Healthineers 5 Jun 2007

CRT and Manchester University announce biomarker alliance with AstraZeneca

Cancer Research Technology Limited (CRT), the cancer-focused development and commercialisation company, and The University of Manchester today announce the establishment of an alliance with AstraZeneca to develop serological pharmacodynamic (PD) biomarkers.

4 Jun 2007