Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

$Primary reason to diagnose and treat osteoporosis is to prevent bone fractures$

Primary reason to diagnose and treat osteoporosis is to prevent bone fractures

In an editorial in the February 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, Alan L. Buchman, M.D., M.P.H., of the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, Chicago, writes that the primary reason to diagnose and treat osteoporosis is to prevent bone fractures.

28 Feb 2005

Men are more likely than women to take up invitations for bowel screening

The report found that men were less likely than women to worry about embarrassment or discomfort associated with this method. The screening test, called Flexible Sigmoidoscopy (FS), involves inserting a long thin tube fitted with a camera into the lower part of the bowel.

28 Feb 2005

Hormone therapy for prostate cancer can affect men's thinking

Androgen-deprivation therapy (AD), an effective therapy in the treatment of prostate cancer reduces levels of testosterone (a tumor stimulant), and estradiol, a form of estrogen, in men. These are known to be important in neurological development and play a particularly important role in the cognitive areas of learning and memory.

28 Feb 2005

Finasteride prevents prostate cancer

Recent finding show lives could be saved if men are given the drug Finasteride to prevent prostate cancer. New analysis of data from the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial in the current issue of CANCER confirms this view. These results represent a milestone in cancer research, showing that prostate cancer could be prevented through drugs.

28 Feb 2005

PET/CT imaging technology for cancer patients

Cancer patients at Mercy & Unity Hospitals have access to the latest in diagnostic imaging to assess the presence and extent of most types of cancer.

28 Feb 2005

Marked improvement in the number of cancers detected by breast screening

The breast screening programme...is making a real difference to over a million women by giving them peace of mind that they are being checked for this disease every three years."

28 Feb 2005

Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) entered into force today

The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) entered into force today. This represents an historical moment in public health, as the Treaty gives countries more tools to control tobacco use and save lives.

27 Feb 2005

New statistics show a big increase in the number of cancers detected by breast screening

New statistics show a big increase in the number of cancers detected by breast screening. In 2003/04 over 14% more cancers were detected compared to the previous year with over 11,000 women having breast cancer detected and treated following screening for the disease. Since 2001 the total number of cancers detected through breast screening has risen by nearly a third.

27 Feb 2005

Targeting the Hedgehog pathway could be used in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases

Aberrant activation of the Hedgehog (Hh) pathway has been associated with numerous malignancies including basal cell carcinoma, medulloblastoma, and pancreatic cancer. Several reports also suggest that positive regulators of the Hh pathway could be used in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

27 Feb 2005

Promising new strategy for Swedish medical research

Research scientists at Karolinska Institutet are planning an international initiative to map out the relationships between health, genes and lifestyle. Discussion partners include world-leading researchers from the USA, Britain, Singapore and Norway.

27 Feb 2005

Methylphenidate linked to chromosomal changes

In a small but startling preliminary new study, Texas researchers have found that after just three months, every one of a dozen children treated for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with the drug methylphenidate experienced a threefold increase in levels of chromosome abnormalities—occurrences associated with increased risks of cancer and other adverse health effects.

27 Feb 2005

Measuring hyaluronan in joints and fluid that lubricates cartilage might enable doctors to diagnose osteoarthritis more accurately

Measuring a biological chemical called hyaluronan found naturally in joints and the fluid that lubricates cartilage might enable doctors to diagnose osteoarthritis of the knee and hip earlier or more accurately, a new study concludes.

27 Feb 2005

Self-reporting of symptoms by patients with ulcerative colitis better than assessing patients with endoscopy

People living with fatigue, abdominal discomfort and bloody diarrhea caused by the chronic inflammation of ulcerative colitis may no longer need to undergo frequent and uncomfortable endoscopies, a new study shows.

27 Feb 2005

Importance of Fbw7 as an emerging tumor suppressor

The DNA tumor virus simian virus 40 produces the Large T antigen which inactivates two of the cell's most important cancer-preventing proteins, p53 and pRb.

27 Feb 2005

Scientists identify immune-system mutation

A team of Fox Chase Cancer Center scientists led by immunologist Dietmar J. Kappes, Ph.D., has identified the genetic mutation that keeps a mouse strain from developing white blood cells, or lymphocytes, called helper T cells. The report by Kappes and his colleagues appears in the Feb. 24 issue of Nature.

27 Feb 2005

NIH awards grant to explore causal relationship between epoetin dose and survival of hemodialysis patients

The National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) has awarded a two-year grant to the Medical Technology and Practice Patterns Institute (MTPPI) in collaboration with Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) to explore the causal relationship between epoetin dose and survival of hemodialysis patients receiving this therapy.

27 Feb 2005

Common epigenetic problem doubles cancer risk

In experiments with mice, a team of scientists from the United States, Sweden and Japan has discovered that having a double dose of one protein is sufficient to change the normal balance of cells within the lining of the colon, thereby doubling the risk that a cancer-causing genetic mutation will trigger a tumor there.

27 Feb 2005

Pfizer acquires Idun Pharmaceuticals

Pfizer today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Idun Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of therapies to control apoptosis, a process of cell death that occurs in a broad range of diseases.

24 Feb 2005

New imaging method that may provide a clearer diagnosis of breast cancer

"This technique involves a new method for interpreting information gathered through MRI," explained Springer. "The technique involves recognizing that certain properties of MRI signals can change during the examination, much like the changing of a camera's shutter speed.

24 Feb 2005

Experts on chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) review current scientific knowledge

When the most common adult leukemia in the United States was last reviewed by the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) in 1995, it was seen through the eyes of theories that dated back to the 1960s.

24 Feb 2005