Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Online infusion calculator and a computerized drug ordering system reduces medication errors in children

Two new studies from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center show that computerizing ordering of chemotherapy and other types of intravenous drug infusions for children greatly reduces the risk of potentially dangerous medical errors.

8 May 2006

Significant changes in tumor growth can be detected through short interval follow-up

These growths may have important clinical implications in the management of patients, enabling early discontinuation of potentially toxic chemotherapy drugs.

4 May 2006

Patients have high expectations about breast cancer screening mammography

A substantial proportion of women have beliefs about their personal risk of breast cancer, and expectations about the performance of mammography that are abnormally high or unrealistic, according to a survey conducted at University of Michigan Health Systems in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

4 May 2006

Cancer cure worth $50 trillion

A new study, to be published in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Political Economy, calculates the prospective gains that could be obtained from further progress against major diseases.

3 May 2006

Image-guided kidney biopsy can diagnose benign kidney tumors and has a low rate of complications

For the study, 407 image-guided kidney lesion biopsies were performed in 377 patients using either CT, ultrasound, or a combination of both to guide a small needle through the skin of the patient to take a sample of the lesion.

3 May 2006

Researchers pinpoint autism's genetic roots

By deleting a gene in certain parts of the brain, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have created mice that show deficits in social interaction that are reminiscent of humans with autism spectrum disorders.

3 May 2006

Combination of genetic mutation and viral infection may cause prostate cancer

Significant recent interest in the literature (JAMA 2006;295:1503, Lancet, epub) and by patients has arisen in response to a presentation given by Dr. Eric Klein of the Cleveland Clinic at the 2006 Prostate Cancer Symposium in San Francisco, February 24, 2006.

3 May 2006

Cancer survivors in Norway have normal living conditions

In the context of sociological research, cancer patients' quality of life and living conditions constitute their welfare.

3 May 2006

Inhibiting cell process may give cancer drug a boost

A molecule that interferes with the internal scaffolding that shapes the cell may kill cancer cells, retard the growth of tumors and give a boost to a common chemotherapy drug, according to findings appearing in the May 3 issue of the European Journal of Cancer.

3 May 2006

Hormone therapy still the most effective for menopause symptoms

A new study has found that estrogen therapy is the best treatment for menopause-related hot flashes.

3 May 2006

Advocacy group has win in terminally ill fight for access to experimental drugs

The Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) and the advocacy group Abigail Alliance, have been successful in the U.S. Court of Appeals.

3 May 2006

Underage and abusive drinkers very profitable for the alcohol industry

According to new research in the U.S. the underage drinking market is making the alcohol industry a neat $23 billion a year and that figure represents 17.5 percent of all money spent on alcohol in the U.S. annually.

3 May 2006

Therapeutic gene suspected to cause cancer

One of the few gene therapy studies that had ever been successful was terminated in 2003, because several of the treated children had developed leukemia.

3 May 2006

Differential effects of HOXB4 on nonhuman primate short and long-term repopulating cells

Transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs, the cells that can give rise to all blood and most immune cell types) can save patients whose own hematopoietic system is defective or has been destroyed (often through radiation or chemotherapy of cancer).

3 May 2006

MDCT urography shows potential for detecting bladder cancer without surgery

MDCT urography is a promising technique for detecting bladder tumors both with and without contrast material, helping patients avoid an invasive test, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor, MI.

3 May 2006

Importance of relative measures in policy on health inequalities

The British public supports the use of personal medical data, without consent, for public health research, finds a study published on bmj.com. Most people also think that cancer registration should be required by law.

3 May 2006

Researchers test secret herb to stop hot flushes associated with breast cancer

Researchers at the University of Manchester are testing a secret herb in a bid to stop the severe hot flushes that besiege breast cancer patients on hormone treatment.

From The University of Manchester 3 May 2006

Inflammation markers identify fatigue in breast cancer survivors

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles have defined conditions associated with disabling fatigue that persists for years in almost a third of breast cancer survivors, according to a study in the May 1 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.

3 May 2006

New technique reduces radiation exposure by 60 percent in abdominal CT of children

By lowering the tube current to account for both the weight and body symmetry of a child, an abdominal CT radiation dose can be reduced by 60% without compromising the image quality, says a new study by researchers from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania.

3 May 2006

Compensation by tumor suppressor genes during retinal development in mice and humans

Humans are more susceptible to developing the eye cancer retinoblastoma than mice because, unlike humans, mice can compensate for the loss of activity of a gene critical to normal retinal development, according to results of a study by investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

3 May 2006