Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Launch of The Oxford Genetics Knowledge Park by Matt Ridley

The Oxford Genetics Knowledge Park is a partnership between Oxford University and the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, and is one of six such Parks nationally, funded by the Departments of Health and Trade and Industry. The aim of the Genetics Knowledge Parks (GKPs) is to translate advances in genetics research into clinical practice.

6 Apr 2004

Call for sexual health policy to be driven by science instead of politics

Today three leading national public health organizations – the National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD), the American Social Health Association (ASHA), and the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA) – renewed their call for sexual health policy to be driven by science instead of politics.

6 Apr 2004

Women treated with radiation therapy to cure Wilms tumor can have healthy babies if entire pelvis was not irradiated

Women who were treated with radiation therapy to cure Wilms tumor as a child can go on to have healthy babies so long as their entire pelvis was not irradiated, according to a new study in the April 2004 issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology-Biology-Physics, the official journal of ASTRO, the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.

5 Apr 2004

Newly diagnosed breast cancer patients who test positive for BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations are twice as likely as non-carriers to opt for a double mastectomy

Newly diagnosed breast cancer patients who test positive for BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations are twice as likely as non-carriers to opt for a double mastectomy to reduce the risk of cancer in the opposite breast, according to the first large-scale study evaluating the impact of genetic counseling and testing on breast cancer treatment decisions.

5 Apr 2004

Collaboration to create a series of small molecule drugs leads against a Takeda target

Array BioPharma Inc. today announced the commencement of a drug discovery collaboration with Takeda Chemical Industries, Ltd. to create a series of small molecule drug leads against a Takeda target. This collaboration is in addition to Array's existing research agreement with Takeda that began in 2001.

5 Apr 2004

The National Cancer Institute has awarded USC scientists $3.5 million for a study of the enzyme that faithfully copies our genetic information

The National Cancer Institute has awarded USC scientists $3.5 million for a study of the enzyme that faithfully copies our genetic information, enabling it to pass from one generation to the next. The grant will fund structural, biochemical and computer studies designed to reveal how the enzyme, DNA polymerase, makes so few mistakes.

5 Apr 2004

Ohio university to get major expansion cancer program

The Ohio State University Board of Trustees today has authorized the preparation of architectural and engineering plans for a possible major expansion of the university’s cancer program.

5 Apr 2004

NeoRx Corporation acquires worldwide rights to platinum-based anti-cancer agent

NeoRx Corporation today announced that it has acquired from AnorMED Inc. the worldwide exclusive rights, excluding Japan, to develop, manufacture and commercialize AMD473, a platinum-based anti-cancer agent. AMD473 has been administered to more than 500 cancer patients in phase I and phase II clinical trials, demonstrating anti-cancer activity in a wide range of tumors and a manageable safety profile. NeoRx expects to initiate clinical studies of AMD473 in one or more cancer indications in the second half of this year.

5 Apr 2004

Michigan opens new center to treat exposure to Vermiculite, Taconite, Asbestos

In response to the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) identification of major sources of public asbestos exposure in Michigan, the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and the Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine (COEM) affiliated with Wayne State University (WSU) have joined forces to establish The National Center for Vermiculite and Asbestos-Related Cancers.

5 Apr 2004

BRITONS risk dying prematurely from cancer due to ignorance

An NOP survey, released today by Cancer Research UK's Race for Life, reveals that only three per cent of those surveyed know that people who are overweight are more likely to develop cancer than people of normal weight, while 70 per cent are aware of the link with heart disease.

5 Apr 2004

New center enables genetic treatments and advances

A new state-of-the-art research facility dedicated to helping produce modified cells for treatment of cancer and other diseases recently opened at the Siteman Cancer Center.

1 Apr 2004

Fatty acid pathway, glucose produce triacetic acid lactone

Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have designed a potential roadmap to use a biosynthetic pathway taken from a common microorganism to produce compounds that could serve as precursors to explosives or components in everyday devices such as liquid crystal displays or anti-cancer agents.

1 Apr 2004

Oxford Biomedica to win Department of Health gene funding

Oxford spinout Oxford Biomedica was yesterday awarded £0.5 million by the Department of Health to conduct the first British gene therapy haemophilia trial.

31 Mar 2004

How rat's genetic blueprint stacks up against those of mice and humans

An international research team, supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), today announced it has completed a high-quality, draft sequence of the genome of the laboratory rat, and has used that data to explore how the rat's genetic blueprint stacks up against those of mice and humans.

31 Mar 2004

DakoCytomation has acquired exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize pharmacogenomic diagnostic tests in the field of oncology

Human Genome Sciences, Inc. announced today a license agreement with DakoCytomation A/S (Glostrup, Denmark), under which DakoCytomation has acquired exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize pharmacogenomic diagnostic tests in the field of oncology based on the TRAIL Receptor-1 (TRAIL-R1) and TRAIL Receptor-2 (TRAIL-R2) proteins.

31 Mar 2004

Gene-rich human Chromosome 19 sequence completed

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and Stanford University report today the completion of the sequencing of human chromosome 19, the most gene-rich of all the human chromosomes.

31 Mar 2004

First patient dosed with Tesmilifene in pivotal breast cancer study

YM BioSciences Inc., the cancer drug development company, today announced that the first patient has been dosed in its 700 patient Phase III registration trial.

31 Mar 2004

Drug, Nembutal can suppress activity in colon cancer cells

A barbiturate once commonly used to treat anxiety may play a role in controlling the spread of colon cancer, say researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

30 Mar 2004

Discovery of gender difference in cartilage cells may help spinal disc repair

When biologist Barbara Boyan discovered science’s first proof of biochemical differences between male and female cartilage cells, she began to question the approaches she and other researchers were taking to study cells. Was their thinking biologically relevant?

30 Mar 2004

Natural compound in snake venom for treatment of malignant tumours

Researchers at the University of South Australia have made a major discovery using a natural compound in snake venom that shows very promising anti-cancer effects. The compound works by activating the destruction of cells which make up the blood vessels that supply nutrients to tumours, according to Associate Professor Tony Woods from UniSA’s School of Pharmaceutical, Molecular and Biomedical Sciences.

30 Mar 2004