Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Vitamin E supplements speed up the development of latent cancers

Taking high-dose vitamin E supplements for an extended period doesn't protect against cancer; in fact, it may even speed up the development of latent cancers, according to a study by researchers from Hotel-Dieu de Quebec Research Centre and Universite Laval. Their results are published in the April issue of the prestigious Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

5 Apr 2005

Important trial in the fight against lung cancer

Two University of Kentucky researchers continue their work with a vaccine to prevent lung cancer recurrences in patients following primary treatment of the disease.

5 Apr 2005

Sildenafil prevents anti-cancer drug induced heart damage

Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have found that the popular impotence drug Viagra prevents damage to the heart from a potent chemotherapeutic agent frequently used in the treatment of breast cancer, leukemia and sarcomas.

5 Apr 2005

Method of gene therapy accurately corrects mutations in disease-causing genes

Harnessing the strength of a natural process that repairs damage to the human genome, a researcher from UT Southwestern Medical Center has helped establish a method of gene therapy that can accurately and permanently correct mutations in disease-causing genes.

5 Apr 2005

Promising new therapy that prompts the immune system to aid in the fight against melanoma tumors

Melanoma is a particularly deadly form of skin cancer very resistant to treatment. Researchers at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute and the University of South Florida are testing a promising new therapy that prompts the immune system to aid in the fight against melanoma tumors.

5 Apr 2005

Weight loss surgery is the most effective treatment available for obesity say experts

A panel of experts charged with reviewing all the available evidence on morbid obesity and weight loss surgery today concluded weight loss surgery is the most effective treatment available and can result in the improvement or complete resolution of diseases associated with obesity, according to a consensus statement published in the April edition of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons (JACS).

5 Apr 2005

Pair of cancer genes found to drive both cell migration and division

Johns Hopkins researchers have found that two genes already known to control cell movement are also needed for proper cell division. They report their findings in the April issue of Developmental Cell.

5 Apr 2005

Gene mutation protecting against malaria linked to prostate cancer incidence in African-American men

Research from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine suggests that the 60 percent greater incidence of prostate cancer among African-American men is related to a gene mutation developed generations ago in West Africa as nature's way of providing protection from the malaria infection endemic in that part of the world.

4 Apr 2005

Certain combinations of genes increase the risk of developing cervical cancer

Certain combinations of genes that encode receptors on innate immune cells increase the risk of developing cervical cancer, according to a study by Mary Carrington and colleagues in the April 4 issue of The Journal of Experimental Medicine.

4 Apr 2005

EvoGenix expands capabilities through US acquisition

EvoGenix and Absalus own complementary technologies which, when combined, are capable of streamlining the identification of new antibody drug candidates and improving the development of safe and effective human therapeutic antibodies.

4 Apr 2005

Method of gene therapy that can accurately and permanently correct mutations in disease-causing genes

4 Apr 2005

More exhaust inhaled by kids inside school buses than by others in the area

Children on school buses collectively inhale as much or more exhaust emitted from those buses as does the rest of the city's population, according to a new analysis by researchers at the University of California.

4 Apr 2005

Chronic inflammation caused by too little stomach acid leads to gastric cancer

When it comes to gastric cancer, too little stomach acid can be just as dangerous as too much, according to scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School. Both extremes create inflammatory changes in the stomach lining and a condition called chronic atrophic gastritis, which over time often leads to cancer.

4 Apr 2005

Peanuts back in fashion!

The peanut, has made a comeback and consumption has soared to its highest level in nearly two decades with more and more doctors recommending the nuts as part of a heart-healthy diet.

4 Apr 2005

Rabies, HIV, cancer and malaria could all be prevented with pills in the future

Rabies, HIV, cancer and malaria could all be prevented with pills in the future, if a new technique using specially modified viruses to deliver vaccines is adopted, according to scientists speaking today (Tuesday, 05 April 2005) at the Society for General Microbiology's 156th Meeting at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh.

4 Apr 2005

You might as well smoke

Information on the internet about the health risks associated with the consumption of smokeless tobacco usually overstates the risk. This is the conclusion of research published today in the Open Access journal BMC Public Health, entitled "You might as well smoke; the misleading and harmful public message about smokeless tobacco".

4 Apr 2005

Mutations in the HFE gene directly associated with chronic joint disease

Mutations in the HFE gene, which is involved in iron regulation, seem to be directly associated with chronic joint disease (or haemophilic arthropathy) among haemophilic patients, claim a team of Portuguese scientists in the April issue of the journal Blood.

4 Apr 2005

Glaxo's CEO must answer questions in AIDS drug patent piracy case

A California federal court has ruled that GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) Chief Executive Officer, Jean-Pierre Garnier, must answer further questions in a deposition in a patent piracy lawsuit brought against the British drug giant over GSK's patent for AZT (Retrovir), the first AIDS drug.

4 Apr 2005

Chemoembolization, first-line treatment for liver cancer

New research by Jeff Geschwind, M.D., director of interventional radiology and associate professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, has shown that liver cancer patients, most of whom have inoperable tumours, could benefit from chemoembolization, a nonsurgical treatment option that delivers a high-dose of chemotherapy to the tumour while decreasing blood flow through the arteries feeding the tumour, known as embolization.

4 Apr 2005

Tarvacin shows significant anti-viral activity

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals today announced that there will be two presentations, April 4 and 6, at the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) annual meeting in San Diego, California, indicating the anti-viral potential of its Tarvacin antibody. Dr. Melina Soares of The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas will present pre-clinical data titled "Targeting inside-out phospholipids on viruses in a guinea pig model of Lassa fever."

4 Apr 2005