Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Research may provide the basis for development of a new, extensive immunotherapy for human tumors

Scientists have made significant progress towards understanding how the immune system can be more specifically and efficiently targeted against cancer cells. The research, published in the January issue of Immunity, may provide the basis for development of a new, extensive immunotherapy for human tumors.

26 Jan 2005

New method of delivery of gene therapy may lead to safer treatment for cancer

The Lankenau Institute for Medical Research (LIMR) announced that in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) they have performed preclinical proof-of- principle studies showing how nanotechnology can be used to enhance gene therapy for cancer.

25 Jan 2005

Genzyme files Glucocerebrosidase patent infringement

Genzyme announced today that it has filed a lawsuit in the District Court of Tel Aviv alleging that Transkaryotic Therapies Inc. has infringed Genzyme's Israeli patent No. 100,715, which covers certain cell culture processes involved in the manufacture of glucocerebrosidase.

25 Jan 2005

Schering and Novartis agree on joint commercialization of novel cancer drug

Schering AG, Germany announced today that, following regulatory approvals, it will co-promote the novel oral angiogenesis inhibitor PTK787/ZK 222584 (PTK/ZK) for all oncology indications together with Novartis Pharma AG in Europe, North America and Japan. This agreement will enable both Schering and Novartis to maximize the compound's full potential.

25 Jan 2005

Launch date announced for Abraxane to treat metastatic breast cancer

American Pharmaceutical Partners announced today that February 8, 2005 is the launch date of Abraxane for Injectable Suspension (paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension) (albumin-bound). Abraxane will be marketed by the national sales force of Abraxis Oncology, APP's proprietary sales and marketing division.

25 Jan 2005

Plant protein mimics hormone that mitigates diabetes and obesity

A common protein that protects plants from fungal infection mimics the activity of a hormone in mammals that is linked to weight loss and is believed to play a role in mitigating heart disease, obesity and diabetes, according to a team of researchers at Purdue University and several collaborating institutions.

25 Jan 2005

Whole-body computed tomography (CT) is not a cost-effective screening method

The use of whole-body CT as a screening tool for cancer and other diseases is the focus of an ongoing debate. Proponents of whole-body CT emphasize the potential benefit of early detection of disease, but others caution that the costs, false-positive findings and unnecessary radiation might render the procedure more harmful than beneficial.

25 Jan 2005

Younr black people experience the most pain

Adults under the age of 50 who have chronic pain may be less able to cope with their condition and more prone to associated depression than their elders, a new study suggests.

25 Jan 2005

Phenoxodiol increases the effectiveness of Docetaxel by at least 100 times

The investigational anti- cancer drug, phenoxodiol, considerably enhances the ability of the drug, docetaxel (Taxotere(R), Sanofi-Aventis), to kill human ovarian cancer cells in the laboratory. The findings are reported in the current issue of Oncology Research.

24 Jan 2005

New blood tests to soon replace painful bone marrow biopsies for leukemia and lymphoma patients

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated announced today that The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston has granted the company exclusive use of five proprietary blood testing methods, which, once available in the form of laboratory diagnostic tests, may eliminate the need for painful and expensive bone marrow and other tissue extractions.

24 Jan 2005

Nasogastric tube after abdominal surgery slows recovery

Routine use of a nasogastric tube after abdominal surgery, once thought to speed the return of normal intestinal functions, actually slows recovery, according to a new review of research.

24 Jan 2005

Call for Anastrozole (Arimidex) to be the new preferred breast cancer treatment option

An international group of breast cancer experts called for the aromatase inhibitor (AI), anastrozole ('Arimidex'), to be considered as the new 'preferred treatment option' for postmenopausal women with early breast cancer.

24 Jan 2005

Available lines of human embryonic stem cells have been contaminated

Currently available lines of human embryonic stem cells have been contaminated with a non-human molecule that compromises their potential therapeutic use in human subjects, according to research by investigators at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine and the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California.

24 Jan 2005

Activate dendritic cells turn on biological clock

A molecule specially modified by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine can reset the biological clock for cancer vaccines, potentially making them more potent.

24 Jan 2005

High blood pressure risk in African-Americans linked to genetics

National health records have shown that African-Americans are more prone to high blood pressure than Caucasians, but pinning down the roots of that difference has proven elusive. Now, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have narrowed down the search for genes that contribute to this difference in disease risk.

24 Jan 2005