Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Smoking ban planned for many public areas in the UK

The British Government is all set to implement smoking bans in many public areas.

20 Jun 2005

Doing the Moonwalk for fun and money

In a major effort to raise awareness as well as cash for research, thousands of women wearing elaborately decorated bras walked a marathon-length route through the night in UK capital, London.

20 Jun 2005

FDA severely limits access to cancer drug Iressa

After Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials agreed with studies showing lung cancer drug, Iressa, did not help patients live longer, drug company AstraZeneca said it would severely limit access to its drug.

20 Jun 2005

Scientists prove that human embryonic stem cells can develop in the laboratory into the early forms of cells that eventually become eggs or sperm

Their work opens up the possibility that eggs and sperm could be grown from stem cells and used for assisted reproduction, therapeutic cloning and the creation of more stem cells for further research and for the improved treatments for patients suffering from a range of diseases.

19 Jun 2005

Fine tuning drug levels in neuroblastoma patients is effective

Monitoring and fine tuning the levels of the cancer drug topotecan in children with neuroblastoma holds promise for maximizing the drug's effectiveness while reducing its toxicity, according to investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

19 Jun 2005

AstraZeneca announces U.S. labeling change to Iressa (gefitinib tablets)

AstraZeneca has announced that after discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the company is making a labeling change to Iressa (gefitinib tablets).

19 Jun 2005

Melbourne researchers take head lice treatment to the world

A new Victorian biotechnology company, Hatchtech, announced at BIO 2005 that its technology is the first in the world to kill 100% of head lice eggs. International clinical trials are expected to begin within a year and the product may be on market shelves within three years.

19 Jun 2005

High-volume medical centers better at treating cancer

Patients with certain complex cancers fare better under the care of doctors and hospitals that do the most of that kind of surgery, a new review of studies finds.

19 Jun 2005

Consumer group says potato chips should carry cancer warning

A consumer group in California is campaigning for warning labels to be placed on potato chips.

19 Jun 2005

Most common form of lung cancer may begin in a group of newly isolated lung stem cells

Working in a mouse model, the researchers isolated a novel type of lung cell that can divide into fresh copies of itself and into the two more specialized kinds of cells deep in the lung.

16 Jun 2005

New techniques use mitochondrial DNA as an early indicator for certain types of cancer

A pilot study at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in support of the National Cancer Institute's Early Detection Research Network (EDRN), has validated the measurement accuracy of new techniques that use mitochondrial DNA as an early indicator for certain types of cancer.

16 Jun 2005

Claudin-1 regulates cellular transformation and metastatic behavior in colon cancer

Disruption of proteins expressed at the junctures between cells (known as tight junctions) is a hallmark of cancer cell invasion and spread (metastasis).

16 Jun 2005

Fine tuning drug levels in neuroblastoma patients is effective

16 Jun 2005

MRI measurement of breast tumor volume predicts whether a patient's cancer will return

The study, performed at the University of California-San Francisco, of 58 breast cancer patients found that the best way to predict a patient's recurrence-free survival is to review the initial MR examination (before the patient has chemotherapy) and the final MR examination (after chemotherapy has been completed).

16 Jun 2005

Inactive gene may explain higher incidence of prostate cancer in African-Americans compared to Caucasians

Among African-Americans with prostate cancer, a tumor-suppressing gene called GSTP1 is inactivated at a rate 3.5 times higher than among Caucasians, according to a study conducted at the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC).

16 Jun 2005

Should everyone over 50 be taking aspirin?

Experts go head to head in this week’s BMJ over whether everyone over 50 should take a daily aspirin to reduce their risk of heart attacks and strokes.

16 Jun 2005

Immune system discovery could help in the treatment of bowel cancer

Scientists investigating whipworms, parasites that infect one-fifth of the world's population as well as livestock and domestic animals, have discovered a new way that the body effectively eliminates the parasites.

From The University of Manchester 16 Jun 2005

Indigenous health gap wider in New Zealand

The health gap between Maori and European New Zealanders is wider than that between American Indians and the US majority white population in the United States, a researcher from The University of Auckland has found.

16 Jun 2005

Columbia University launches multi-year campaign to support stem cell researc

Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) has announced that it is halfway toward realizing the first phase of a multi-year campaign to build upon the university’s groundbreaking stem cell research and lead the effort to fully realize the therapeutic potential of stem cells.

16 Jun 2005

Immunomedics awarded U.S. and Australian patents

Immunomedics announced that it has received notices that the U.S. and Australian patent offices have allowed claims in respective patent applications covering methods for treating a wide range of autoimmune diseases using monoclonal antibodies that bind to the CD22 antigen present on B-lymphocytes.

16 Jun 2005