Statement by ASCO President Sandra M. Swain, MD, FACP, American Society of Clinical Oncology: Today marks the beginning of sequestration, the unprecedented automatic budget cuts that immediately take effect across the federal government—after months of futile negotiations by the President...
In a significant advance for harnessing the immune system to treat leukemias, researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have successfully infused large numbers of donor-derived T cells specific for a key antileukemic antigen in order to prolong survival in high-risk and relapsed...
An increasing body mass index (BMI) was associated with a higher risk for colorectal cancer with a specific molecular characteristic, and inversely, physical activity was linked to a decreased risk for that same cancer, according to data published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American...
Self-identified smokers directly connected to a tobacco cessation quit line are 13 times more likely to enroll in a treatment program as compared to smokers who are handed a quit line referral card and encouraged to call on their own, according to a new study published online in JAMA Internal...
Women who have had the lymph nodes under their arm surgically removed during breast cancer treatment are warned to avoid certain practices that can cause lymphedema. Now, a new study published in the March issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons suggests that the vast majority of...
The FDA has expanded the approved use of regorafenib (Stivarga) to treat patients with metastatic or unresectable gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) that no longer respond to treatment with imatinib (Gleevec) or sunitinib (Sutent). Regorafenib, a multikinase inhibitor, blocks several enzymes...
An international research team co-led by cancer prevention researcher Ulrike Peters, PhD, MPH, and biostatistician Hsu Li, PhD, at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has identified variations in four genes that are linked to an increased risk of colorectal cancer. Dr. Peters and...
Founding sponsors Art Levinson, PhD, Sergey Brin, Anne Wojcicki, Mark Zuckerberg, Priscilla Chan, and Yuri Milner announced the launch of the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, recognizing excellence in research aimed at curing intractable diseases and extending human life. The prize will be...
A new drug combination shows promise in reducing the risk for patients with advanced oral precancerous lesions to develop squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. The results of the study, which included preclinical and clinical analyses, were published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal...
The experimental drug selumetinib may allow some patients with advanced thyroid cancer to overcome resistance to radioiodine, the most effective therapy for the disease, according to new research from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Published in the February 14 issue of the New England...
Launch of a website created to educate newly diagnosed patients, their families, and health-care providers about uveal melanoma, was announced recently by Castle Biosciences, Inc, a developer of prognostic tests for rare cancers. The website, MyUvealMelanoma.com, addresses the treatment of uveal...
Low-grade serous ovarian cancer is less common and aggressive than the high-grade variety, but the disease is exceptionally difficult to treat when front-line therapy fails. "After surgery, with or without presurgical chemotherapy, when low-grade serous ovarian cancer persists or returns,...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) hosted a briefing on February 12 for members of Congress and their legislative staffs that highlighted progress in cancer research and treatment as well as challenges created by decreased levels of funding. The briefing was held in the Rayburn...
A new, large-scale study of triple-negative breast cancer shows that small molecules called microRNA can be used to define four subtypes of this aggressive malignancy. The findings, by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and...
Laboratory experiments conducted by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center suggest that a novel combination of the investigational agent ibrutinib and bortezomib (Velcade) could potentially be an effective new therapy for several forms of blood cancer, including...
Patients with advanced, recurrent, or persistent cervical cancer that was not curable with standard treatment who received the bevacizumab (Avastin) lived 3.7 months longer than patients who did not receive the drug, according to an interim analysis of a large, randomized clinical trial. The...
In a major breakthrough for uterine serous carcinoma (USC), a chemoresistant, aggressive form of endometrial cancer, researchers at Yale Cancer Center have defined the genetic landscape of USC tumors, findings that point to new treatment opportunities. The collaborative team, which included...
A protein associated with conditions of metabolic imbalance, such as diabetes and obesity, may play a role in the development of aggressive forms of breast cancer, according to new findings by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and their...
Reporting the results of a phase I clinical trial to test the effectiveness of a new class of drugs to augment standard chemotherapy, a team led by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center scientists found that giving patients high doses of vorinostat (Zolinza) in combination with another round...
Patients with early-stage breast cancer who were treated with lumpectomy plus radiation may have a better chance of survival compared with those who underwent mastectomy, according to Duke Medicine research. The study, which appeared online January 28, 2013, in the journal Cancer, raises new...
Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have found qigong, an ancient mind-body practice, reduces depressive symptoms, and improves quality of life in women undergoing radiotherapy for breast cancer. The study, published in the journal Cancer, is the first to examine...
The FDA approved a new use of imatinib (Gleevec) to treat children newly diagnosed with Philadelphia chromosome–positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). ALL is the most common type of pediatric cancer, affecting approximately 2,900 children annually, and progresses quickly if untreated....
On January 23, 2013, the FDA approved bevacizumab (Avastin) for use in combination with fluoropyrimidine-irinotecan or fluoropyrimidine-oxaliplatin based chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer whose disease has progressed on a first-line bevacizumab-containing...
A team of researchers led by Goutham Narla, MD, PhD, at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Case Medical Center, and collaborators at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Erasmus Medical Center, have discovered a gene variant that drives the spread of...
Research led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists has identified a possible lead in treatment of two childhood leukemia subtypes known for their dramatic loss of chromosomes and poor treatment outcomes. The findings also provide the first evidence of the genetic basis for ...
Scientists may be able to better predict which patients with colorectal cancer will respond to chemotherapy using a new mathematical model that measures the amount of stress required for a cancer cell to die without harming healthy tissue. The results of this study are published in Cancer Research, ...
Patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have improved survival outcomes if they are taking beta-blockers while receiving radiotherapy, according to a study of 722 patients recently published in Annals of Oncology. Researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in...
The Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975–2009, shows that overall cancer death rates continued to decline in the United States among both men and women, among all major racial and ethnic groups, and for all of the most common cancer sites, including lung, colon and...
Dune Medical Devices, Inc, announced that the FDA has granted Premarket Approval to the MarginProbe System, the company’s breakthrough intraoperative tissue assessment tool for early-stage breast cancer surgery. The technology significantly improves surgeons’ ability to intraoperatively ...
For over a decade, the treatment landscape of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has been rapidly evolving. It now includes testing for genetic alterations and the use of targeted therapies and immunotherapies, with new targets and treatments still being discovered and approved. In this six-part...
Patients receiving high-dose methotrexate (HDMTX) are at risk of developing acute kidney injury (AKI) due to delayed methotrexate clearance. New consensus guidelines aim to help the healthcare team optimize the treatment of AKI due to HDMTX and understand at which time points glucarpidase is most...