Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Scientists create new molecule that holds promise in fighting disease via gene therapy

Inherited diseases, as well as many cancers and cardiovascular diseases, may eventually be helped by this approach, which delivers therapeutic genes directly to cells. These genes can correct genetic defects, for example, or help the body's immune system fight cancer cells.

23 Mar 2006

Delayed prostate cancer intervention in low risk patients may not decrease ultimate chance for cure

A contemporary discussion exists whether patients with low-risk prostate cancer (CaP) are being overtreated with local treatment modalities. This is due to a combination of the older population affected and the slow doubling time of CaP.

23 Mar 2006

Do older people quit smoking for the wrong reasons?

Research published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that elderly women are more likely to quit smoking than elderly men, while results are just the opposite for studies among younger populations.

23 Mar 2006

Crucial breakthrough in pectin biosynthesis

Most people know pectin as a common household gelling agent in making jams and jellies, but its uses are vast. It has anticancer properties, for instance, and may have a role in important biological functions including plant growth and development and defense against disease.

22 Mar 2006

Positron emission tomography identifies esophageal cancer patients who will respond well to treatment

New research at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center shows that Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is more accurate than conventional imaging in identifying patients who have good responses to chemotherapy and radiation treatment - a finding that could one day help some patients avoid surgery.

22 Mar 2006

Breast symmetry can be early indicator of breast cancer

Healthy Women who go on to develop breast cancer tend to have less symmetrical breasts than those women who do not develop the disease, researchers at the University of Liverpool have found.

21 Mar 2006

Environmental chemicals implicated in cancer

New research at the University of Liverpool suggests that environmental contaminants, such as pesticides, are more influential in causing cancer than previously thought.

21 Mar 2006

Swedish scientists move closer to a cancer vaccine

Scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have helped to identify a molecule that can be used as a vaccination agent against growing cancer tumours. Although the results are so far based on animal experiments, they point to new methods of treating metastases.

21 Mar 2006

New discovery explains how a common gene variant may increase cancer risks

Roughly 15 percent of the population carries a gene variant that may increase the risk of developing cancer. The cause of this increased risk has been unknown until now. But now a research team at Stockholm University in Sweden can explain why.

21 Mar 2006

Mammography rates better with shared care

If follow-up mammography is an indicator of quality breast cancer care, then older survivors who receive shared care--provided by both a primary care physician and a cancer specialist--are better cared for than those who don't.

21 Mar 2006

Breasts that are uneven appearance could be a predictor of breast cancer

Women who go on to develop breast cancer tend to have breasts that are less symmetrical than women who don't develop the cancer.

21 Mar 2006

New technology - desorption electrospray ionization detects the boundaries of cancerous tumors

Researchers at Purdue University have shown how a new ultra-fast chemical-analysis tool has numerous promising uses for detecting everything from cancer in the liver to explosives residues on luggage and "biomarkers" in urine that provide an early warning for diseases.

21 Mar 2006

Scientists identify microRNAs that appear to play a role in the development of platelets

Scientists have identified a handful of microRNAs (miRNAs) that appear to play a significant role in the development of platelets - blood cells critical to the body's ability to form clots following an injury.

21 Mar 2006

New research suggests it may be possible to separate the anticancer properties of vitamin D

At the right dose, vitamin D is important for bone development and may help protect against the development of several cancers, particularly colorectal cancer.

21 Mar 2006

Novel vaccine approach to listeria - potential protection against other intracellular bacterial pathogens

When bacterial pathogens attack the surface of a cell, vaccine-induced antibodies can mount a formidable defense and fend off the bad bugs.

21 Mar 2006

Volcanic mineral called erionite linked to mesothelioma

High exposure to a fibrous volcanic mineral called erionite was associated with a high incidence of a type of cancer called mesothelioma, according to a study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

21 Mar 2006

Mastectomy does not necessarily affect quality of life

Most women with cancer in one breast who decide to have the unaffected breast removed along with the diseased breast don't regret the decision and have a quality of life equal to patients who didn't have a preventive mastectomy, according to a survey of breast cancer survivors.

21 Mar 2006

Atorvastatin could prove an effective therapy for multiple sclerosis

Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco and Stanford University Medical Center are reporting compelling new evidence that the cholesterol-lowering drug atorvastatin could prove an effective therapy for preventing the progression of, and reversing the severity of, multiple sclerosis (MS).

20 Mar 2006

Human papillomavirus may be a risk factor in developing squamous cell carcinoma

The study, published in the March 15 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, used new technology to detect antibodies from a strain of HPV on skin cancer samples.

20 Mar 2006

Pesticides more influential in causing cancer than previously thought

New research at the University of Liverpool suggests that environmental contaminants, such as pesticides, are more influential in causing cancer than previously thought.

20 Mar 2006