Chemotherapy News and Research

Latest Chemotherapy News and Research

Pfizer receives FDA approval for Eraxis to treat candidemia

Pfizer said today that Eraxis (anidulafungin) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat candidemia, a potentially life-threatening bloodstream infection. Candidemia is the most deadly of the common hospital-acquired bloodstream infections, with a mortality rate of approximately 40 percent.

21 Feb 2006

Mangafodipir appears to increase the cancer-killing ability of some chemotherapy drugs

A contrast agent currently used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), called mangafodipir, may increase the cancer-killing ability of some chemotherapy drugs while protecting normal cells, according to a study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

21 Feb 2006

Effects of cancer treatment among children of survivors

Can the high doses of chemotherapy and radiation that young cancer patients receive cause inherited health problems for their children? Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center member, John Boice, Sc.D., and an international team of colleagues have just been awarded a $4 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to try to find out.

21 Feb 2006

Monoclonal antibody targets key tumor growth factor

Monoclonal antibody targets key tumor growth factor; Successfully causes brain tumor regression and improves animal survival

19 Feb 2006

Protein levels predict bone marrow transplant survival

Researchers say that protein levels can predict which bone marrow transplant patients are likely develop a deadly complication a week after the procedure and well before any symptoms occur.

19 Feb 2006

Ovarian cancer responds to aspirin and chemotherapy drug cisplatin

A new study using ovarian cancer cell lines shows promise in treating the deadly disease by combining the chemotherapy drug cisplatin with an aspirin-like compound to make recurrent cancer cells less resistant to the chemotherapy.

17 Feb 2006

Botox finds a use in cancer treatment

The cosmetic treatment Botox may have a new use as an adjuvant to cancer therapy, providing an open door for chemotherapy and radiation treatments, according to a study published in the Feb. 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.

17 Feb 2006

Adjuvant hormonal therapy reduces contralateral breast cancer risk

The risk for a new cancer in the unaffected breast substantially increases in women diagnosed with unilateral, hereditary (non-BRCA) breast cancer, according to a new study.

17 Feb 2006

Protein level predicts who will develop graft vs. host disease after marrow transplant

Researchers could determine one week after a bone marrow transplant which patients were likely to develop a serious and deadly complication, making them candidates for preventive treatment before any symptoms occur.

17 Feb 2006

FOLFOX now treatment standard for colorectal cancer in the United States

One of the newest and most potent chemotherapies for colon cancer is as safe and effective for the elderly as it is for younger patients, based on a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill-led data review.

16 Feb 2006

British woman loses Herceptin court battle

A mother of three in the UK suffering from the early-stage of an aggressive form of breast cancer, has lost her high court battle to force her health authority to pay for the potentially life-saving drug Herceptin.

16 Feb 2006

Non-BRCA1/2 hereditary breast cancer linked to new cancers

The risk for a new cancer in the unaffected breast substantially increases in women diagnosed with unilateral, hereditary (non-BRCA1/2) breast cancer, according to a new study by researchers working at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden.

14 Feb 2006

Lupus responds to stem cell transplant therapy

Transplanting patients with blood stem cells that originate from their own bone marrow can induce the remission of life-threatening, treatment-resistant lupus, according to a study that took place at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

13 Feb 2006

Protein associated with growth of tumors may prevent the spread of cancer

A protein associated with the growth of head and neck tumors may be a tumor suppressor that could prevent the spread of cancer when it is expressed above normal levels, according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI).

13 Feb 2006

Treatment method improves survival for advanced laryngeal cancer

Chemotherapy and radiation can be effective at treating cancer of the larynx, or voice box, without removing the organ that controls speech and swallowing. But it doesn't work for everyone.

13 Feb 2006

Chink in cancer's armor

Much as the famed starship Enterprise would deploy a deflector shield to evade enemy attack, tumor cells are capable of switching on a molecular force field of their own to fend off treatments aimed at killing them. Now University of Florida researchers have found a chink in their armor.

13 Feb 2006

Lamivudine helps avoid Hepatitis B relapse during chemotherapy

A new study on treating hepatitis B patients who have cancer with an antiviral drug at the same time as they undergo chemotherapy found that the treatment helped prevent relapse of hepatitis B.

12 Feb 2006

Advocacy groups unite to make lung cancer in women a top priority

Women's health and lung cancer advocacy groups, led by the Society for Women's Health Research, vowed today to make lung cancer education and advocacy, especially among women, a top priority for their organizations in 2006 and beyond.

7 Feb 2006

Oncolytics Biotech granted new patent

Oncolytics Biotech Inc. has been granted U.S. Patent 6,994,858 entitled "Reovirus Clearance of Ras-Mediated Neoplastic Cells from Mixed Cellular Compositions."

7 Feb 2006

PET imaging has the potential to improve cancer care management

A limitation of current cancer care is the difficulty of quickly assessing how well a therapy is working. However, expanding the use of existing positron emission tomography (PET) technology can provide early and accurate assessment of a tumor's response to a particular therapy allowing physicians to better tailor a patient's treatment

7 Feb 2006