A team of researchers from UC Davis, UC San Diego, and other institutions has identified a key mechanism behind aggressive prostate cancer. Published online today in Nature, the study shows that two long noncoding RNAs, PRNCR1 and PCGEM1, activate androgen receptors, circumventing...
In a study of ovarian cancer cells taken from patients, scientists from Georgia Institute of Technology have confirmed that metastasizing cancer cells have a different molecular structure from primary tumor cells and display genetic signatures consistent with epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition....
Off-label prescribing of drugs remains common in oncology, but about two-thirds of off-label prescribing is consistent with the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Drugs & Biologics Compendium, according to a study reviewed at Best of ASCO Chicago by Monika K. Krzyzanowska, MD, MPH, of ...
Parents and siblings of children with cancer have between a two- and four-times increased risk of developing cancer than first-degree relatives with no childhood cancer patients, according to a study published in the International Journal of Cancer. The study, led by Joshua Schiffman, MD, Medical...
According to a study published online today in Cancer Cell, the molecule interleukin-11 may be a potential new target for anticancer therapies. Until now, interleukin-11’s role in cancer development has been underestimated, but researchers have recently identified this molecule as a "dark...
A multistate study led by researchers at the University of Utah has revealed that the risk for childhood cancer is moderately increased among children and young adolescents with certain types of major birth defects. Children born with nonchromosomal birth defects have a two-fold higher risk of...
A new analysis has found that a type of radiation therapy called carbon ion radiotherapy can control cancer growth and prolong survival in patients with spinal tumors. The study, published online in Cancer, indicates that the treatment is a promising alternative for patients whose spinal tumors...
In a study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kelly-Anne Phillips, MD, of Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and University of Melbourne, and colleagues analyzed the association of adjuvant tamoxifen use and risk of contralateral breast cancer among women carrying BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in the ...
According to a new study published in the journal Cancer, the survival outcome of patients with Burkitt lymphoma has improved substantially over the past decade, with notable exceptions. To help doctors and researchers better understand who responds well to treatment and who does not, the study...
Minimal data are available on outcomes of second allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from unrelated donors after first hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in patients with hematologic relapse of acute leukemia. In a study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Maximilian...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved the first rapid human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) test for the simultaneous detection of HIV-1 p24 antigen as well as antibodies to both HIV-1 and HIV-2 in human serum, plasma, and venous or fingerstick whole blood specimens. Approved for...
Researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida have revealed the process by which pancreatitis—chronic inflammation of the pancreas—morphs into pancreatic cancer. They say their findings point to ways to identify pancreatitis patients at risk of pancreatic cancer and to potential drug therapies...
In a phase II study (BREAK-2) reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Paolo A. Ascierto, MD, of Istituto Nazionale Tumori Fondazione G. Pascale, and colleagues assessed the activity of the mutated BRAF kinase inhibitor dabrafenib (Tafinlar) in patients with BRAF-V600E/K mutant metastatic...
Long-term use of a calcium-channel blocker to treat hypertension is associated with higher breast cancer risk, according to a report published by JAMA Internal Medicine. The study assessed the relationships between the major classes of hypertensive agents and risk of the two most common histologic...
Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have discovered a way to target the immune system to shrink or eliminate tumors in mice without causing autoimmune problems. Researchers also found evidence that the same mechanism may operate in humans. The study was published online today...
The contribution of purging of peripheral blood stem cells to outcome of autologous stem cell transplantation in high-risk neuroblastoma has not been defined. In a trial (COG A3973) reported in Lancet Oncology by Susan G. Kreissman, MD, of Duke University Medical Center, and colleagues, children...
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, María-Victoria Mateos, MD, PhD, of the Universidad de Salamanca, and colleagues compared induction lenalidomide (Revlimid) plus dexamethasone followed by maintenance lenalidomide with observation in patients with high-risk...
Scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center who identified a protein’s dual role in cancer promotion have discovered a way to shut it down, opening a potential new avenue for cancer treatment. Reporting their findings in the journal Cell, the researchers describe the first ...
Blocking dietary sugar and its activity in tumor cells may reduce cancer risk and progression, according to researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. The study, conducted in fruit flies and published in the August issue of Cell, provides insight as to why...
In a report in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sonali M. Smith, MD, of University of Chicago Hospitals, and colleagues analyzed outcomes in a large cohort of autologous or allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation recipients with the most common T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma histologies. Their ...
The addition of tomosynthesis to standard digital mammography resulted in a 30% reduction in overall recall rates among women being screened for breast cancer, according to a new study published online in Radiology. The results demonstrate that digital tomosynthesis is an effective tool in reducing ...
Surgery is not always necessary for women with a type of breast tissue abnormality associated with a higher risk of cancer, according to a new study published online in Radiology. Researchers said that periodic imaging and clinical exam are effective in these patients when radiology and pathology...
Men who decide to be screened for prostate cancer and those who forgo PSA screening stick with their decisions after receiving materials explaining the risks and benefits of the test, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. The study examined both Web-based and printed tools aimed ...
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force posted its final evidence report and draft recommendation statement on screening for lung cancer. The Task Force is providing an opportunity for public comment on this draft recommendation statement; comments can be submitted from July 30 to August ...
The National Lung Screening Trial found that 3 years of annual screening with low-dose helical computed tomography (CT) reduced lung cancer mortality compared with chest radiography in older persons who were heavy smokers. The Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial also...
Ambient air pollution has been associated with lung cancer risk. In a study reported in Lancet Oncology by Ole Raaschou-Nielsen, PhD, of the Danish Cancer Society Research Center, and colleagues, lung cancer incidence in European countries was prospectively assessed according to several measures of ...
The endothelin pathway has a role in bone metastases, which are characteristic of advanced prostate cancer, and the investigational endothelin receptor antagonist atrasentan has shown activity in prostate cancer. In the SWOG S0421 trial reported in Lancet Oncology by David I. Quinn, FRACP, of...
Intratumoral injections of plasmid DNA encoding interleukin-12 (IL-12), facilitated in its delivery by electroporation, results in tumor regression in patients with both metastatic melanoma and Merkel cell carcinoma, according to findings reported at the 2013 World Cutaneous Malignancies Congress...
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital have used digital versions of a standard molecular biology tool to detect a common tumor-associated mutation in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with brain tumors. In a report published in Molecular Therapy – Nucleic Acids, the...
In a study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sebastien Gouy, MD, of Institut Gustave Roussy, and colleagues evaluated survival outcomes in locally advanced cervical cancer patients with negative PET-CT imaging results who underwent laparoscopic para-aortic staging surgery before...
A number of different strategies for combining chemotherapy and radiation therapy have been evaluated in the effort to improve survival in patients with high-risk medulloblastoma. In a trial (POG 9031) reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Nancy J. Tarbell, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital ...
The differential diagnosis of the most common peripheral T-cell lymphoma subtypes is difficult. In a phase III diagnostic accuracy study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Pier Paolo Piccaluga, MD, PhD, of the University of Bologna, and colleagues in the European T-cell Lymphoma Study Group...
A set of proteins involved in the body’s natural defenses produces a large number of mutations in human DNA, according to a study led by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. The findings, published in Nature Genetics, suggest that these naturally produced mutations are just as...
In a collaborative phase III trial of the North Central Cancer Treatment Group and Mayo Clinic reported in Journal of the National Cancer Institute by Debra L. Barton, RN, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic, and colleagues, patients with cancer-related fatigue were treated with Wisconsin ginseng (a common...
The protein TAp73 shares extensive common gene sequences with the tumor-suppressor protein p53, and previous studies have suggested that it may function similarly to p53 to prevent tumor formation. However, unlike p53, the most commonly mutated gene in human tumors, TAp73 is rarely mutated and is...
Researchers from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center recently discovered that the most frequently used cancer cell lines in ovarian cancer research are not suitable models of ovarian cancer. Their findings are the result of a detailed review of genomic data that recently became publicly...
In the phase III PARAMOUNT trial, pemetrexed (Alimta) continuation maintenance therapy significantly reduced the risk of disease progression by 38% compared with placebo after pemetrexed/cisplatin induction in patients with advanced nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Final...
Obinutuzumab is a type II, glycoengineered, humanized anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody. In the phase II GAUGUIN studies reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology by Franck Andre Morschhauser, MD, PhD of Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Lille and Gilles A. Salles, MD, PhD, of Hospices ...
According to a new study, colorectal cancer survivors face an increased risk of developing subsequent primary cancers, particularly second colorectal cancers and small intestinal cancers. These findings, published online in Cancer, may help in the development of screening guidelines for patients...
The NCI-60 cell lines, which represent cancers of lung, colon, brain, ovary, breast, prostate, and kidney as well as leukemia and melanoma, are the most frequently studied human tumor cell lines in cancer research and have generated the most extensive cancer pharmacology database worldwide. As...
Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found that nerves play a critical role in both the development and spread of prostate tumors. Their findings, using both a mouse model and human prostate tissue, may lead to new ways to predict the aggressiveness of...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved the tyrosine kinase inhibitor afatinib (Gilotrif) for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors express epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 19 deletions or exon 21...
A second large, prospective study by scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has confirmed the link between high blood concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids and an increased risk of prostate cancer. Study Details Published online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the...
Different factors influence delay between diagnosis and first course of treatment for breast cancer for African American and white women, according to a recently published study in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. The study used data from the Carolina Breast Cancer Study (CBCS)...
Pharmacyclics, Inc, today announced that it has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the investigational oral Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor ibrutinib, for two relapsed/refractory B-cell malignancy indications: mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) and...
Among men who had undergone radical prostatectomy, daily consumption of a beverage powder supplement containing soy protein isolate for 2 years did not reduce or delay development of biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer compared to men who received placebo, according to a study in the July 10...
Nearly half the surgical procedures for sarcoma done at 85 academic medical centers were performed by surgeons untrained in oncology, according to national data analyzed by researchers from the University of California Davis Medical Center, Sacramento. Orthopedic oncologists and surgical...
Afatinib is an oral selective ErbB family inhibitor that irreversibly blocks signaling from EGFR/ErbB1, HER2/ErbB2, and ErbB4 and has exhibited broad-spectrum activity against EGFR mutations in preclinical studies. A phase II study of afatinib in EGFR-mutation positive lung adenocarcinoma showed...
Although aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been shown to reduce cancer mortality by 20%, exactly why these drugs reduce the number of cancer incidences and deaths is not known. Now, a small longitudinal study of 13 patients with Barrett’s esophagus is...
The growth rates and clinical importance of small colorectal polyps have not been well established. In a study reported in Lancet Oncology, Perry J. Pickhardt, MD, of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and colleagues found that volumetric growth rate on computed...