A protein known to play a role in transporting the molecular contents of normal cells into and out of various intracellular compartments can also turn such cells cancerous by stimulating a key growth-control pathway. By conducting a large-scale search for regulators of the signaling pathway known...
Patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors in real-world clinical practice tend to be older and sicker than the patients enrolled in pivotal clinical trials of tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Conversely, patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated...
A rare form of skin cancer known as desmoplasmic melanoma may possess the highest burden of gene mutations of any cancer, suggesting that immunotherapy may be a promising approach for treatment, according to an international team led by University of California San Francisco (UCSF) scientists. One...
Drugs that target key proteins involved in cholesterol metabolism could represent a promising new treatment strategy for a broad range of cancers, according to research by Fox Chase Cancer Center investigators. The study, published by Gabitova et al in Cell Reports, reveals that deficiency in the...
A study among patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with carboplatin-paclitaxel or carboplatin-paclitaxel-bevacizumab (Avastin) found that those receiving the bevacizumab combination were more likely to experience a toxicity event but were less likely to be...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved trifluridine/tipiracil (Lonsurf) for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who have been previously treated with chemotherapy and biologic therapy and are no longer responding to treatment. The new agent is an oral combination of...
A new retrospective analysis explored local recurrence rates for women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) treated between 1978 and 2010. In the research (Abstract 32) by Van Zee et al, to be presented September 25 at the 2015 Breast Cancer Symposium, in San Francisco, investigators evaluated a...
Women who are carriers of mutated BRCA genes are known to have a significantly higher risk for developing breast and ovarian cancers than those who do not have the mutations. A viewpoint published recently in JAMA Oncology by researchers at the University of California Los Angeles questioned...
Voriconazole, commonly used to prevent and treat fungal infections in lung transplant recipients, significantly increases the risk for cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma in this population, according to a new study by University of California San Francisco researchers. The team recommends physicians ...
A new marker already linked to other types of cancer was found to play a role in the most common childhood primary tumor inside the eye, researchers at the University of Michigan Health System have found. Their findings were published by Khan et al in Laboratory Investigation. Retinoblastoma is a...
Treating patients with metastatic melanoma with the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab (Keytruda) caused immune cells called CD8-positive T cells in the patient’s blood to express markers of reinvigoration, according to data being presented at the CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR International Cancer...
An engineered high-affinity programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) small protein that can bind to PD-L1 (PD-1 ligand) on tumors was found to be a more effective anticancer immunotherapeutic than conventional anti–PD-L1 antibodies, and this small protein was more effective in synergizing with...
Among patients with metastatic melanoma treated with the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab (Keytruda), those whose cancer responded to the treatment had a higher frequency of T cells that were positive for the proteins CD8, PD-1, and Bim (CD8+PD-1+Bim+ T cells) in blood samples taken immediately...
A small phase I/IIa study of third-generation CD19 CAR (chimeric-antigen receptor) T-cell therapy combined with chemotherapy pretreatment has resulted in complete responses in 6 of the 11 patients with relapsed or refractory lymphoma and leukemia enrolled in the study. Although CAR T-cell...
Among patients with clinically stage I or stage II melanoma, those treated with the immune system–boosting agent CpG-B were less likely to experience recurrence of their disease than those who received placebo, according to results from two randomized, placebo-controlled phase II clinical...
The social wasp Polybia paulista protects itself against predators by producing venom known to contain a powerful cancer-fighting ingredient. A Biophysical Journal study published by Bueno Leite et al revealed how the venom's toxin—called MP1 (Polybia-MP1)—may selectively kill cancer...
For children with rare, aggressive, and advanced cancer, precision medicine may help doctors determine their best treatment options, a new study found. Using information from a patient's entire genome helped to suggest personalized treatment options for nearly half of children with cancer and...
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Petersdorf et al found a greater risk of acute graft-vs-host disease among hematopoietic cell transplant recipients with the high-expression rs9277534G allele linked to mismatched HLA-DPB1 who received transplants from donors with the...
Assessing blood plasma levels of certain microRNAs (miRNAs) distinguished individuals with noninvasive pancreatic precancers from healthy individuals and discriminated between patients with high-risk and low-risk neoplasms, according to a preliminary, proof-of-principle study published by...
About 20% of patients with colorectal cancer have cancers that have metastasized beyond the colon at the time of their diagnosis, with the liver being the most common site for these metastases. The approach to treating primary tumors within the colon and metastatic tumors in the liver continues to...
A genetic test that helps predict whether some women’s breast cancer will recur might influence how chemotherapy is used, according to a study from Duke Medicine. The study found that low-risk patients who had the test appeared to opt for more treatment, and high-risk patients who were...
Gianni Bonadonna, MD, was considered the “Father of Italian Oncology,” but his scientific contributions to the field and his generous collegial spirit extended far beyond the shores of his native land. Dr. Bonadonna was at the forefront in the battle to convince the surgical...
Analysis of a large phase III trial (S0819) suggested that adding the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-targeting monoclonal antibody cetuximab (Erbitux) to chemotherapy benefits survival in patients with squamous cell non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with tumors positive...
Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations are one of the most common driver oncogenes in lung cancer, typified by high response rates when treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors and median progression-free survival of 10 months, commonly due to emergence of T790M. The genomic...
Adding the monoclonal antibody bevacizumab (Avastin) to chemotherapy for patients with surgically removed non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) did not improve overall survival, according to research (Abstract PLEN04.03) presented at the 16th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) in Denver,...
Two phase III studies of anamorelin found that the medication effectively combats wasting and increases body weight and lean body mass in certain patients with lung cancer. Results (Abstract ORAL29.01) from the ROMANA 1 and ROMANA 2 phase III trials of anamorelin were presented at the 16th...
The standard of care for malignant pleural mesothelioma may be poised for change, judging by results from a study (Abstract ORAL11.01) by the French Cooperative Thoracic Intergroup. The addition of bevacizumab (Avastin) in the first-line setting to the current standard of care, pemetrexed...
Many clinical trials use genome sequencing to learn which genetic mutations are present in a patient’s tumor cells. The question is important, because targeting the right mutations with the right drugs can stop cancer in its tracks. But it can be difficult to determine which particular...
Women who are obese have a higher risk and a worse prognosis for breast cancer, but the reasons why remain unclear. A Cornell study published by Seo et al in Science Translational Medicine suggests that obesity changes the consistency of breast tissue in ways that predispose an individual to tumor...
Recent evidence suggests that survivors of childhood cancer have a high risk of suffering a stroke at a surprisingly young age. A new study from the UC San Francisco Pediatric Brain Center shows that childhood cancer survivors suffering one stroke have double the risk of suffering a second stroke...
Scientists have developed a blood test for breast cancer that may be able to identify which patients will suffer a relapse after treatment, months before tumors are visible on hospital scans. The test may uncover small numbers of residual cancer cells that have resisted therapy by detecting cancer...
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) issued an updated policy statement on genetic and genomic testing for cancer susceptibility. Published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the statement reviews the ways in which new technologies are transforming the assessment and identification of ...
Alternative medicines are widely thought to be at least harmless, and very often helpful, for a wide range of discomforts and illnesses. However, although they’re marketed as “natural,” they often contain active ingredients that can react chemically and biologically with other...
Concerns about fertility kept one-third of young women with breast cancer surveyed in a recent study from taking tamoxifen, despite its known benefit in reducing the risk of breast cancer recurrence. In addition, the study found fertility concerns led one-quarter of women who started...
A study by researchers at Sweden's Karolinska Institutet is reportedly the first to suggest that cells in the tumor blood vessels contribute to a local environment that protects the cancer cells from tumor-killing immune cells. The results, published by Hong et al in the Journal of the...
In cancer clinical trials, doctors typically report side effects that patients experience—not patients themselves. Previous research has shown that doctors underreport these symptoms. Ethan Basch, MD, MSc, Director of the UNC Lineberger Cancer Outcomes Research Program and Associate...
Women who have inherited mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene are more likely to develop breast cancer or ovarian cancer, especially at a younger age. Approximately 5% of women with breast cancer in the United States have mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2, based on estimates in non-Hispanic white women. ...
Research by a Veterans Affairs team has confirmed that longer-lasting colonoscopies are associated with lower cancer rates. Their findings were published by Shaukat et al in Gastroenterology, and were based on nearly 77,000 screening colonoscopies. Experts already know about the link between...
In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers demonstrated a benefit in overall survival among patients with epithelial ovarian cancer receiving generic beta-blocker heart medications. Survival was shown to be greatest among those prescribed first-generation nonselective beta-blockers. According to...
People with more than 50 moles have an increased risk of developing melanoma, but those with fewer than 50 moles should still be alert for this disease. In fact, according to new research presented at the American Academy of Dermatology’s 2015 Summer Academy Meeting in New York, those with...
An endovaginal magnetic resonance imaging technique is more accurate at detecting early-stage cervical cancer than the best available external detection technique, a new study reported. Researchers at The Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden Hospital found that using an...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Narod et al found that the risk of breast cancer mortality was elevated in some patients with ductal carcinoma in situ compared with the general population, with the risk being higher in younger vs older women and black vs white women. Approximately half of...
New software could speed up breast cancer diagnosis with 90% accuracy without the need for a specialist, according to research published by Dobbs et al in Breast Cancer Research. This method could improve breast cancer management, particularly in developing countries, where pathologists are not...
Non-Hispanic black women with endometrial cancer had worse outcomes than women of other racial/ethnic groups diagnosed with the same subtype of endometrial cancer and at the same stage of disease, according to a study published by Cote et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention....
In women with breast cancer, taxane-based chemotherapy—docetaxel and paclitaxel—did not appear to increase the incidence of lymphedema, according to a study by Swaroop et al in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. However, the investigators did note that adjuvant chemotherapy with...
For children with aggressive brain cancers called high-grade gliomas, the chances of survival are improved when surgery is successful in eliminating all visible cancer, according to a report published by McCrea et al in Neurosurgery. In addition to showing better survival with gross total...
Organ transplant recipients are twice as likely to develop melanoma as people who do not undergo a transplant and three times more likely to die of the skin cancer, suggested new research by a multi-institutional team. The findings, reported by Robbins et al in the Journal of Investigative...
A first-of-its-kind study published by Bradley Palmer et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology found that music therapy lessened anxiety for women undergoing surgical breast biopsies for cancer diagnosis and treatment. The 2-year study, conducted at University Hospitals (UH) Seidman Cancer Center, ...
A study from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center researchers—the first to examine the effects of combined radiation and chemotherapy on the healthy brain tissue of glioblastoma patients—revealed not only specific structural changes within patients’ brains, but also...
Researchers have shown that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can detect the earliest signs of breast cancer recurrence and fast-growing tumors through detecting micrometastases, breakaway tumor cells with the potential to develop into dangerous secondary breast cancer tumors elsewhere in the body....