Chemotherapy News and Research

Latest Chemotherapy News and Research

Discovery points to more effective ways of regulating cell signalling

A discovery made at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute provides new insights into enhancing the function of the protein SOCS3, which regulates the response of cells to external stimuli.

20 Apr 2006

St. Jude develop strategy to speed future development of more effective and less toxic treatments for medulloblastoma

Investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have developed a strategy to speed future development of more effective and less toxic treatments for medulloblastoma, a type of brain cancer. Medulloblastomas arise in the back of the brain and account for about 20 percent of childhood brain tumors.

18 Apr 2006

Prostate cancer research may be faster with prostate-specific antigen endpoints

A new study from Columbia University Medical Center researchers at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia, who are members of the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG), suggests that certain changes in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels may serve as surrogate endpoints for prostate cancer survival.

18 Apr 2006

Ginger shown to zap ovarian cancer cells

Researchers from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have found in a study that ginger kills cancer cells and has the added benefit of stopping the cells from becoming resistant to treatment.

18 Apr 2006

Single-dose Carboplatin comparable to prophylactic radiotherapy for stage I seminoma

The risk of relapse for patients with stage I seminoma has traditionally ranged between 10 and 15%, depending on the local pathological characteristics of the tumor.

17 Apr 2006

Imaging of breast cancer diagnosed and treated with chemotherapy during pregnancy

Ultrasound provides a safe and accurate method of detecting breast cancers in pregnant women, as well as assessing response to chemotherapy, according to a study appearing in the April issue of Radiology.

13 Apr 2006

Advances in chemotherapy significantly reduce risk of disease recurrence in breast cancer patients

Recent advances in chemotherapy have significantly reduced the risk of disease recurrence and death in breast cancer patients whose tumors are not hormone sensitive, according to a study by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and 10 other institutions.

13 Apr 2006

Benefit of chemotherapy in breast cancer depends on estrogen status of tumors

When it comes to chemotherapy treatment for women whose breast cancer has spread to their lymph nodes, the estrogen status of their tumors matters, says a team of researchers in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

11 Apr 2006

Scientists identify a new gene that causes the spread of cancer

Professor Philip Rudland, Dr Guozheng Wang and Dr Roger Barraclough from Liverpool University's Cancer and Polio Research Fund Laboratories have discovered an additional member of the S100 family of protein genes - S100P - that causes the spread of cancerous cells from an original tumour to other parts of the body.

11 Apr 2006

New discovery could help improve some forms of chemotherapy

The research looked at XPB helicase from an archaea, a single cell organism similar to bacteria. Helicases are enzymes that unwind or separate the strands of the nucleic acid double helix, an action that is critical to transcription and nucleotide excision repair (NER), as well as other cell processes.

11 Apr 2006

Fullerene shows promise in reducing radiation side effects

Using transparent zebrafish embryos, researchers at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia have shown that a microscopic nanoparticle can help fend off damage to normal tissue from radiation.

11 Apr 2006

MIT look at how cells make life-or-death decisions

The biological processes underlying diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and cancer are fundamentally linked, and should be linked in how they are treated with drugs, a series of MIT studies indicates.

6 Apr 2006

Ginger causes ovarian cancer cells to die

Ginger is known to ease nausea and control inflammation. But researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center are investigating a new use for this age-old remedy: treating ovarian cancer.

6 Apr 2006

High glucose-uptake tumors can be identified with PET scans

Cervical cancers that take up a lot of blood sugar, or glucose, are more resistant to treatment than those that are less glucose-hungry, according to research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

4 Apr 2006

Panitumumab shows promise for patients with colorectal cancer

Results from a Phase III study of a new drug show promise for patients with colorectal cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, according to a study presented during the 97th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

4 Apr 2006

Moderate alcohol intake stimulates tumor angiogenesis and expression of vascular endothelial growth factor in a mouse model

University of Mississippi researchers say they have created the first-ever mammalian model of how alcohol consumption spurs tumor growth, showing that even moderate drinking resulted in larger and more robust tumors.

4 Apr 2006

Skin cancer facts

Up to two-thirds of all cancers may be prevented through dietary and lifestyle changes. In the case of skin cancer, this could not be more true.

4 Apr 2006

Life or death can depend on teenage cancer patients taking their treatments properly

Teenagers and young adults with cancer need to understand the implications of not taking their treatments regularly, at the right time, and for the whole course. Those who don't are seriously compromising their future health - and for some it will be the difference between life and death.

4 Apr 2006

New biomarkers could help detect ovarian cancer much earlier

The search for a specific protein that could help diagnose ovarian cancer in its early stages has for years eluded researchers who are seeking a reliable and accurate test for the disease.

4 Apr 2006

Nicotine and chemotherapy not a good mix

Researchers in the U.S. say that preliminary research has suggested that nicotine can prevent chemotherapy drugs such as taxol from killing lung cancer cells.

3 Apr 2006