Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

New strategy to turn off the function of a special group of T cells to suppress immune response to tumors

A special stretch of genetic material may turn off the immune suppression that stymies attempts to fight cancer with a vaccine, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) at Houston.

26 Aug 2005

Campaign for tougher anti-smoking laws stepped up

The British Medical Association (BMA) has stepped up it's campaign for tougher anti-smoking laws with a blunt warning to the health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, that her current plans are a virtual death sentence for some bar staff.

25 Aug 2005

Teen cancer patients need specially designed wards

According to an National Health Advisory Body in the UK, most children and teenagers with cancer are treated on adult or paediatric wards.

25 Aug 2005

First clinical trial of a biologic nanoparticle designed to give back to cancer patients the tumor-busting gene they have lost

The phase I clinical study will enroll 20 patients with advanced solid cancers (including most common tumor types), and is the culmination of more than a decade of work by a team of researchers led by Professor Esther H. Chang, Ph.D. at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

25 Aug 2005

New insight into how sunlight affects DNA

Chemists at Ohio State University have gained new insight into how sunlight affects DNA. And what they found overturns ideas about genetic mutation that originated decades ago.

24 Aug 2005

Lorus identifies novel class of lead drug candidates from small molecule anticancer program

Lorus Therapeutics has announced the continued success in the development of its small molecule anticancer program with the selection of a sub-class of lead molecules from the Company's small molecule program.

24 Aug 2005

Taking aspirin longterm could reduce colorectal cancer risk

According to new report from the Nurses' Health Study (NHS), regular, long-term aspirin use can significantly reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.

24 Aug 2005

Disease modifying activity of 2ME2 demonstrated in preclinical rheumatoid arthritis studies

EntreMed a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing therapeutics primarily for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases, has announced the presentation of positive preclinical results for its lead compound, 2-methoxyestradiol (2ME2), in models of rheumatoid arthritis.

24 Aug 2005

Scientists convert human embryonic stem cells into lung cells

According to research to be published in the journal Tissue Engineering, the team from Imperial College London, took human embryonic stem cells and 'directed' them to convert into the type of cells needed for gas exchange in the lung, known as mature small airway epithelium.

24 Aug 2005

A preoperative testing strategy may help determine stage of lung cancer more accurately

A preoperative testing strategy combining two procedures may help improve the accuracy of determining the stage of lung cancer, according to an article in the August 24/31 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

23 Aug 2005

Unique blood test detects iron deficiency in infants earlier

A unique blood test detects iron deficiency in infants earlier and more accurately than the commonly used hemoglobin screening test, according to a study in the August 24/31 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

23 Aug 2005

First study to test the role of RNA chemical modifications on immunity

The investigators published their findings in the August issue of Immunity. "We think this study will open a new area of research in understanding how our immune systems protect us," says Weissman.

23 Aug 2005

Aspirin use can significantly reduce the risk of colorectal cancer

A new report from the Nurse's Health Study finds that regular, long-term aspirin use can significantly reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, as suggested by several earlier studies.

23 Aug 2005

Patients with primary biliary cirrhosis who are treated with methotrexate have an increased risk of death

In five randomized controlled trials involving 457 people, the authors report that for patients treated with methotrexate, as a single therapy or in combination with other drug treatment, pooled data showed a tendency toward an increased risk of death or liver transplantation. The brand names for methotrexate are Rheumatrex and Trexall.

23 Aug 2005

Sentinel node biopsy, when performed before chemotherapy to shrink the tumor, is very reliable

New breast cancer research shows for the first time that even women with large breast tumors can benefit from a less invasive biopsy method that has been reserved until now for women with small breast cancers.

23 Aug 2005

Appropriate tests need to be done earlier for ovarian cancer

A new study to be published in the journal CANCER in October has found that many women diagnosed with ovarian cancer actually complained of symptoms of the disease at least four months before they were diagnosed.

23 Aug 2005

State-of-the-art portable biosensing device based on micro and nanotechnologies

A state-of-the-art portable biosensing device based on micro- and nanotechnologies will empower doctors to rapidly and accurately forewarn patients of their genetic risk of developing diseases such as cancer.

23 Aug 2005

Elderly woman latest victim of swine flu in Hong Kong

The Hong Kong government has reported that an elderly woman has contracted the pig-borne bacterial disease that has killed nearly 40 people in mainland China.

22 Aug 2005

Food scares put Hong Kong's reputation on the line

With Hong Kong's reputation in many respects on the line, lawmakers there have castigated the government for failing to alert the public immediately after it found a suspected cancer-causing chemical malachite green in some fish from China.

22 Aug 2005

Study shows potential treatment for brain cancer

A compound that kills cancer can sneak past the blood brain barrier, which protects the brain from foreign substances, to do its work in fighting a particularly invasive brain cancer, according to a new Saint Louis University animal study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Online Early Edition the week of Aug. 22.

22 Aug 2005