Pharmacyclics, Inc, announced today that the FDA has granted an additional Breakthrough Therapy Designation for the investigational oral agent ibrutinib as monotherapy for the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma with deletion of the short arm...
The antibody-drug conjugate DMUC5754A, a novel member of a relatively new class of drugs, showed activity in women with ovarian cancer, even those with hard-to-treat, platinum-resistant disease, in a phase I trial presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013, held in Washington, DC, April 6 to 10....
The emergence of molecular diagnostic testing in lung cancer offers new hope for patients battling the number 1 cancer killer in the United States and abroad. Now, for the first time after a decade of biomarker testing in lung cancer, a uniform approach for testing for the EGFR mutation and ALK...
The NeuroBlate Thermal Therapy System provides a new, safe, and minimally invasive procedure for treating recurrent glioblastoma, according to the first-in-human study of the system. The study, published online today in the Journal of Neurosurgery, was written by lead author Andrew Sloan, MD,...
For the first time, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have isolated adult stem cells from human intestinal tissue. The accomplishment provides a much-needed resource for scientists eager to uncover the true mechanisms of human stem cell biology. It also enables them to ...
Taking a break from hormone-blocking prostate cancer treatments once the cancer seems to be stabilized is not equivalent to continuing therapy, a new large-scale international study finds. Previous smaller studies had indicated that intermittent androgen deprivation therapy might be just as good...
The antidepressant drug duloxetine (Cymbalta) helped relieve painful numbness and tingling feelings caused by chemotherapy in 59% of patients, a new study finds. This is the first clinical trial to find an effective treatment for this pain. Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy is a common...
A research team jointly led by scientists from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the University of California, Los Angeles, has enhanced a device they developed to identify and “grab” circulating tumor cells (CTCs) that break away from cancers and enter the blood, often leading to the...
Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors may be a novel treatment strategy for patients with cancer that has become resistant to the commonly used chemotherapy drug cisplatin, according to data from a preclinical study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for...
A team of international cancer researchers led by Mathieu Lupien, PhD, at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, has identified the signaling pathway that is overactivated in estrogen receptor (ER)–positive breast cancer cells that are resistant to hormone therapies...
Researchers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) have found that a new formulation of a promising anticancer agent, the small chemical molecule FL118, is even more effective in controlling two types of cancer than a version reported in PLOS ONE 6 months earlier proved to be. Additional evidence...
Researchers at Mayo Clinic Cancer Center have identified new DNA sequences associated with breast cancer and ovarian cancer. The findings, which appear in three studies in the journals PLoS Genetics and Nature Genetics, will help reveal the underlying causes of these diseases and help researchers...
Physicians who care for lung cancer patients recognize the importance of tobacco cessation but often do not provide cessation assistance to their patients, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology. Survey Details An online survey was conducted in 2012 by the...
Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues at the University of Florida studied health-care providers to determine the factors associated with disparities in human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination among girls, ages 9 to 17, from low-income families. They found that physician vaccination...
The American Society of Clinical Oncology announced yesterday that it has completed a prototype of CancerLinQ™, the Society’s groundbreaking health information technology (HIT) initiative to achieve higher quality, higher value cancer care with better outcomes for patients. The...
The American Association for Cancer Research released its second Annual Report on Cancer Survivorship in the United States in advance of the AACR Annual Meeting 2013, which will be held in Washington, DC, April 6-10. The report, published in the AACR’s journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers ...
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center have identified a humanized monoclonal antibody that targets and directly kills chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells. The findings, published in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of...
New results from a large observational follow-up study conducted in Shanghai, China, indicate that women with lung cancer who consumed more soy food prior to their cancer diagnosis lived longer than those who consumed less soy. The study, published March 25 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology,...
A drug that indirectly impairs the function of several cancer-driving proteins, including anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), may be an effective new treatment for patients with ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The drug, ganetespib, may also be effective for treating patients...
Molecular driven therapeutic targets have resulted in a paradigm shift in the treatment of advanced lung adenocarcinoma. However, in early non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), surgical resection remains the treatment of choice with adjuvant chemotherapy. In a recent study published in the...
New research from the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, published in the Journal of Surgical Research, may help clinicians determine which patients are at highest risk for postsurgical blood clots in the legs or lungs. A team led by Robert J. Canter, MD, Associate Professor of Surgery at UC...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) held the NCCN 18th Annual Conference: Advancing the Standard of Cancer Care™, March 13-17, 2013, at The Westin Diplomat in Hollywood, Florida. The latest updates in clinical practice decision-making in cancer care were presented, including, but ...
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have shown that a new imaging dye, designed and developed at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, is an effective agent in detecting and mapping cancers that have reached the lymph nodes. The radioactive dye technetium Tc-99m...
A national survey of health professionals showed that drug shortages are taking a heavy toll on cancer patients, forcing treatment changes and delays that for some patients meant worse outcomes, more therapy-related complications, and higher costs. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital...
Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues in Canada have published study results focused on black women younger than 50, a population disproportionately afflicted with and dying from early-onset breast cancer compared to their white counterparts. The research published in The...
Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center have completed a phase II clinical trial to determine the safety and efficacy of dasatinib (Sprycel) for patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, or acute myeloid leukemia resulting from MDS and have failed ...
The overexpression or underexpression of a newly identified set of genes related to lipid metabolism may help physicians identify whether or not a woman is at risk for hormone receptor–positive or hormone receptor–negative breast cancer and to subsequently tailor prevention strategies...
Amgen has announced results from a phase III trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of talimogene laherparepvec for the treatment of unresected stage IIIB, IIIC, or IV melanoma compared to treatment with subcutaneous granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). Talimogene...
Humans have between 20,000 and 25,000 genes that carry instructions for assembling the proteins that do the work of cells. Work led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital found that children who inherit certain variations in four particular genes are at much higher risk of developing acute...
New research published online in Clinical Chemistry, the journal of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry, shows that decreased levels of vitamin D may predispose smokers to developing tobacco-related cancer. This study illustrates that simple vitamin D blood tests and supplements have...
The United States Patent and Trademark Office today awarded St. Jude Children's Research Hospital U.S. patent number 8,399,645 for its invention of compositions for genetically modifying human immune cells so they can destroy some of the most common forms of cancer in children and adults. "This...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) announced today the addition of two new NCCN Member Institutions: UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center in La Jolla, California, and the University of Colorado Cancer Center in Aurora, Colorado. "We are extremely pleased that UC San Diego Moores Cancer...
A population-based case control study of major coronary events in 2,168 women who underwent radiotherapy for breast cancer between 1958 and 2001 in Sweden and Denmark found a direct link between radiation dose and the occurrence of ischemic heart disease years later. Study Details The study,...
Samuel M. Silver, MD, PhD, of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been elected Chairman of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Board of Directors. Dr. Silver was previously Vice Chairman of the Board and succeeds Thomas A. D'Amico, MD, of the Duke Cancer...
Patients who consume high-fat dairy products following breast cancer diagnosis increase their chances of dying from the disease years later, according to a study by Kaiser Permanente researchers. The study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, is the first to examine the...
Women are 30% less likely to die of ovarian cancer if they have guideline-recommended treatment, yet nearly two-thirds of those with the disease do not receive it, often because they are cared for at hospitals that treat a small number of ovarian cancer patients. These are the findings of a study...
Patients with advanced ovarian cancer who undergo intensive treatment with chemotherapy that bathes the abdomen are significantly more likely to live longer than those who receive standard intravenous (IV) chemotherapy, according to a study that analyzed long-term follow-up from two landmark...
The FDA has approved technetium Tc 99m tilmanocept (Lymphoseek Injection), a radioactive diagnostic imaging agent that helps doctors locate lymph nodes in patients with breast cancer or melanoma who are undergoing surgery to remove tumor-draining lymph nodes. Technetium Tc 99m tilmanocept is an...
A team of Canadian and international cancer researchers led by Brenda Gallie, MD,at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network (UHN), has discovered a new type of retinoblastoma, a rapidly developing eye cancer that affects very young children—a finding that may...
The National Cancer Policy Forum of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), in conjunction with ASCO, held a workshop in February to discuss a collaborative approach to making the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded clinical trials system more viable and productive. This was a follow-up meeting to...
A study from the Regenstrief Institute and the Indiana University Center for Aging Research has found that many older adults are hesitant to halt cancer screenings even when the screenings may no longer be beneficial or may even be potentially harmful. The study is among the first to explore older...
For patients with kidney tumors, a new study shows the health and economic advantages to removing just the tumor as opposed to the entire kidney. Robotic surgery, including the daVinci Surgical System and Firefly fluorescence imaging that lights up kidney tumors, are among the latest techniques to...
New research from The Cancer Institute of New Jersey suggests that more stringent criteria may be needed for African American men with prostate cancer when considering active surveillance of the disease. The findings, published in the latest online version of Urology found that the prevalence ...
A new immunoassay that tests for the presence of three biomarkers appears to be a valid screening method for the early detection of malignant kidney cancer, according to data published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research....
Endometrial cancer survivors are more likely to complete physical activity, and for longer durations, when their daily self-efficacy is higher, according to a study published online in the journal Health Psychology, a publication of the American Psychology Association. “Sedentary behavior is ...
Men with low-risk prostate cancer who previously had to choose between aggressive treatment, with the potential for significant side effects, and active surveillance, with the risk of disease progression, may have a new option. Focal laser ablation uses precisely targeted heat, delivered through a...
A series of microRNA expression signatures that may help to define progression of the precancerous condition Barrett’s esophagus into esophageal adenocarcinoma was reported recently in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. “Once a rare...
A new study led by a researcher at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania adds support to current medical recommendations stating that colonoscopy screening substantially reduces an average-risk adult’s likelihood of being diagnosed with advanced colorectal...
New results from a prospective clinical trial conducted in France show that children with low-risk retinoblastoma do not need adjuvant chemotherapy to prevent disease recurrence or metastasis; the results also suggest that certain patients with intermediate-risk disease can receive less aggressive...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) reported with sadness the loss of Zora Brown, a trustee for the AACR Foundation for the Prevention and Cure of Cancer, a breast and ovarian cancer survivor, and a pioneering advocate for cancer research and breast cancer awareness among...