Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

German researchers are identifying lymphoma risks

Little is known about the causes of lymphoma. A case-control study conducted by Professor Nikolaus Becker and Dr. Alexandra Nieters, Division of Clinical Epidemiology at the Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (German Cancer Research Center, DKFZ), is looking closely at possible risk factors.

14 Sep 2004

BNCT treatment has had an excellent response in a patient with head and neck cancer

A Finnish research group has been the first in the world to publish an article in which BNCT treatment has had an excellent response in a patient with head and neck cancer for whom there was no other treatment available.

14 Sep 2004

Liver cancer genes cluster into two subsets that correlate to survival

An analysis of the gene expression patterns of 91 unrelated liver tumors revealed two distinctive subclasses highly associated with patient survival, according to a new study published in the September 2004 issue of Hepatology.

14 Sep 2004

California Chamber of Commerce lends support to stem cell research

The California Chamber of Commerce has joined with a broad and growing coalition of business groups, patient advocates and medical organizations in endorsing a "YES" vote on Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative, on the November 2004 statewide ballot.

14 Sep 2004

Shade structures are not built effectively

Skin cancer causes more than 1000 deaths in Australia, and costs the health care system over $700 million each year.

14 Sep 2004

Human lives and livelihood will be cost of flaky software

Multiple human deaths may be required to force the adoption of higher standards in computer software development unless the international software engineering sector lifts its game according UTS IT expert Associate Professor John Leaney.

14 Sep 2004

New biological principle and therapeutic goal for cancer treatment

Pioneering research on leukaemia cells can have identified their vulnerable spot. This new knowledge can now be used to produce more effective medicines.

14 Sep 2004

Schering-Plough and Bayer form strategic alliance

Schering-Plough Corporation has announced that it has entered into a strategic agreement with Bayer designed to maximize the companies' pharmaceutical resources while maintaining each company's own strategic interests.

13 Sep 2004

Researchers have discovered a possible way to distinguish lethal from localized prostate cancers

If future studies show their test -- measuring the level of activity of a signaling pathway called Hedgehog -- can predict which prostate cancers will spread, the results could revolutionize decision making processes for prostate cancer patients, the researchers say.

13 Sep 2004

Health problems among timber workers exposed to industry chemical PCP are to be investigated

The project, funded by the Ministry of Health, aims to ascertain whether timber workers exposed to the PCPs (pentachlorophenols) are dying earlier, getting cancers more often and suffering more chronic health problems, including fatigue, nausea and neuropsychological dysfunction.

13 Sep 2004

CA125 blood test may be superior to standard imaging techniques like CT scans

A new study shows that the CA125 blood test, which measures the level of protein produced by ovarian cancer cells in the blood, may be superior to standard imaging techniques like CT scans in predicting survival in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer.

13 Sep 2004

Women starting mammography on time, but failing to follow up

A new study finds most women now follow the recommendation to receive their first screening mammogram at age 40, but there is widespread failure to return promptly for subsequent exams and several sub-populations of women still are not being screened by the recommended age.

12 Sep 2004

Cancer survivors' other medical problems poorly managed

People who survive cancer are less likely to receive necessary care for a wide range of other non-cancer-related medical problems according to a new study published September 13, 2004 in the online edition of CANCER, a peer- reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

12 Sep 2004

New study will examine why people live exceptionally long lives

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis will head an ambitious study of people who live exceptionally long and healthy lives to identify the factors that account for their longevity.

10 Sep 2004

PSA test is now all but useless for predicting prostate cancer risk

The PSA test, commonly used as a screening tool for detecting prostate cancer, is now all but useless for predicting prostate cancer risk, according to Stanford University School of Medicine researchers.

10 Sep 2004

Unique technology with the potential to test for hundreds of diseases, cancers and genes in one, cheap, test

Queensland, Australia PhD student Angus Johnston has invented a unique technology with the potential to test for hundreds of diseases, cancers and genes in one, cheap, test. He hopes that within five years the technology will be available in a desktop unit for less than AU$30,000.

10 Sep 2004

Cancer drug may reduce kidney disease in lupus

A drug that is already being tested as an anticancer agent, especially in lymphoma, may also reduce the kidney disease that is a result of systemic lupus, according to a researcher at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

10 Sep 2004

New view of chromatin and gene activity

A genome - the DNA instructions for an organism - does not act alone. DNA is packaged with proteins into 'chromatin', which may be more or less tightly condensed. A popular proposal is that active genes are in 'open' chromatin (to allow access to them) and inactive genes are in tightly packed 'compact' chromatin.

10 Sep 2004

Disruption of protein folding causes neurodegeneration, mental retardation

Excess accumulation in brain cells of a fat molecule called GM1-ganglioside (GM1) disrupts the folding of newly assembled proteins into their proper shapes, triggering nerve degeneration and mental retardation in children.

10 Sep 2004

Efforts to prevent school children smoking are not targeted early enough, as children experimenting with tobacco by age seven

New Zealand based research on youth tobacco use suggests that current efforts to prevent school children smoking are not targeted early enough, as it found a significant number are already experimenting with tobacco by age seven.

10 Sep 2004