Chemotherapy News and Research

Latest Chemotherapy News and Research

"Frank is Dead" in 9-year-old cancer patient

Much to the relief of well-wishers across the globe, internationally renowned skull base surgeon Hrayr Shahinian, M.D., of the Skull Base Institute in Los Angeles, has announced that "Frank is Dead."

16 Feb 2005

Antigens produced by the Epstein Barr virus may provide an ideal target for cancer therapy

A typically innocuous virus found in 90 percent of people worldwide is the key to a new treatment for a cancer particularly common in North Africa and Southeast Asia.

16 Feb 2005

Two-step approach to transform HIV into a cancer-seeking machine

Camouflaging an impotent AIDS virus in new clothes enables it to hunt down metastasized melanoma cells in living mice, reports a UCLA AIDS Institute study in the Feb. 13 online edition of Nature Medicine.

13 Feb 2005

Level of immune cell DNA in the blood might help predict success of stem cell transplantation

Measuring the quantity of a certain type of immune cell DNA in the blood could help physicians predict whether a bone marrow stem cell transplant will successfully restore a population of infection-fighting cells called T lymphocytes in a child.

7 Feb 2005

Nano-sized particles enable researchers to visualize a tumor using only infrared light

Nano-sized particles embedded with bright, light-emitting molecules have enabled researchers to visualize a tumor more than one centimeter below the skin surface using only infrared light.

7 Feb 2005

New brochure helps explain treatment for gynecologic cancers

The American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology has published a new patient information brochure Radiation Therapy for Gynecologic Cancers: Facts to Help People Understand Their Treatment Options to help educate patients and their families about the treatments available for gynecologic cancers.

7 Feb 2005

Potential treatments for neurofibromatosis

Scientists at the Indiana University School of Medicine are closing in on potential treatments for neurofibromatosis, a genetic disease that afflicts 100,000 Americans with nerve tissue tumors, some of which become cancerous.

3 Feb 2005

New study details trends in diagnosis, treatment of brain tumours

A two year study involving over 560 patients with the newly-diagnosed malignant brain tumors shows that patterns of care are varied and there is a need for new, detailed clinical guidelines for management of brain tumors. The study is published in the Feb. 2, 2005 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

3 Feb 2005

Superbowl molecule shows promise for precision drug delivery

In a development that could one day score a touchdown for better health, chemists in Australia have created a "superbowl" molecule that shows promise for precision drug delivery, according to a recent study in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

31 Jan 2005

"Frank Must Die" boy to undergo revolutionary surgery

A 9-year-old boy with brain cancer, who gained international attention when his mother launched an online auction to pay for his biopsy, will undergo the surgery at no cost thanks to internationally renowned surgeon Hrayr Shahinian, M.D. of the Skull Base Institute.

31 Jan 2005

Study focuses on best treatment for older women with receptor negative early breast cancer

Older women with hormone receptor negative early breast cancer who may currently be missing out on effective post-operative anticancer drugs will be able to participate in a new clinical trial specifically aimed at this group of women.

27 Jan 2005

$Phenoxodiol gets fast track status for its intended use in patients with hormone-refractory prostate cancer$

Phenoxodiol gets fast track status for its intended use in patients with hormone-refractory prostate cancer

Marshall Edwards today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted the investigational anti-cancer drug, phenoxodiol, fast track status for its intended use in patients with hormone- refractory prostate cancer (HRPC).

26 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

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

Chinese medicines may be helpful in treating side effects of chemotherapy and symptoms of flu

New research reviews hint that traditional Chinese medicines may be helpful in treating side effects of chemotherapy and symptoms of flu. For now, however, the findings remain more tantalizing than conclusive.

24 Jan 2005

FDA knocks back anticancer drug Marqibo

Inex Pharmaceuticals announced today that United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) provided an action letter detailing that the anticancer drug Marqibo (vincristine sulfate liposomes injection) is "not approvable" under the FDA's accelerated approval regulations based on the phase 2 clinical trial data submitted.

19 Jan 2005

Adding radiation therapy to chemotherapy improves survival in patients with high-risk breast cancer

For patients with high-risk breast cancer treated with radical mastectomy and adjuvant chemotherapy, the addition of radiation therapy leads to better survival outcomes with few long-term toxic effects, according to a 20-year follow-up of a randomized trial, which appears in the January 19 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

19 Jan 2005

New insight into how tumor cells can become resistant to anti-cancer therapy

The scientists observed that a protein called P-glycoprotein (P-gp), which causes resistance to chemotherapy in many tumor types, is able to physically “jump” or transfer between tumor cells and retain its functional properties, protecting otherwise sensitive cells from the effects of anti-cancer treatment in vivo and in vitro.

18 Jan 2005

GenoMed files patent application on two genes linked to common cancers

GenoMed announced today that it has filed a patent application on two genes linked to common cancers. These are the first new disease genes the company has filed on since its multiple patent applications about ACE, a "master" disease gene.

17 Jan 2005

Avastin available across Europe within the next few weeks

Roche has announced that the European Commission has approved Avastin (bevacizumab, rhuMAb-VEGF), the new innovative anti-angiogenesis drug, for the treatment of patients with previously untreated metastatic colorectal cancer.

16 Jan 2005