Omega-3 fatty acids, contained in oily fish such as salmon and trout, selectively inhibit growth and induce cell death in early- and late-stage oral and skin squamous cell carcinomas, according to new research from scientists at Queen Mary, University of London. The findings were published online...
A more precise method for determining bone marrow involvement in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma—a key factor in tailoring patient management plans—has been identified by researchers in a study published in the August issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Imaging with...
A multidisciplinary team at UT Southwestern Medical Center has found that measuring the oxygenation of tumors can be a valuable tool in guiding radiation therapy, opening the door for personalized therapies that keep tumors in check with oxygen enhancement. In a study examining tissue oxygenation...
Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, and Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital in China have discovered a gene-expression signature that may lead to new immune therapies for patients with lung cancer. Their findings, published in The Journal of Clinical...
The American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS) has announced recommendations to support a new criterion for cancer center accreditation. In 2015, the American College of Surgeons (ACoS) Commission on Cancer (CoC) will require cancer centers to implement screening programs for...
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...
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...
A team of scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies has identified why disruption of a vital pathway in cell cycle control leads to the proliferation of cancer cells. Their findings on telomeres, published today in Molecular Cell, suggest a potential target for preventive measures...
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) issued a newly updated clinical practice guideline today on pharmacologic prevention interventions for premenopausal and postmenopausal women who are at increased risk for breast cancer. Compared to the previous version of the guideline, this third...
Timothy Henrich, MD, Associate Physician in the Division of Infectious Disease at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, reported that two patients with long-standing HIV infections have no detectable levels of the disease in their blood cells, even though they stopped taking their...
A jointly signed letter by ASCO and more than 50 other cancer and health-care organizations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius and Acting Secretary of the Department of Labor (DOL) Seth D. Harris asks that they provide clear federal regulations and guidance on...
Genomic heterogeneity within tumors and among lesions varies widely, and “discordance among lesions could lead to the selection of the ‘incorrect’ targeted inhibitor,” according to David B. Solit, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, who spoke at the ASCO/American...
In a phase III trial, treatment with the investigational agent trebananib plus paclitaxel resulted in a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer, according to Amgen. Trebananib is an investigational peptibody designed to inhibit...
Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in or near the genes ZNF423 and CTSO were associated with breast cancer risk among women who underwent prevention therapy with tamoxifen and raloxifene, according to data published in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. ...
Surveillance appears to be sufficient for men with stage I seminoma treated with orchiectomy, sparing patients from side effects of adjuvant radiation or chemotherapy. In a long-term study presented at the 2013 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 4502), 99.5% of men followed by surveillance alone...
Novel abnormalities in the FGFR gene, called FGFR fusions, were identified in a spectrum of cancers, and preliminary results with cancer cells harboring FGFR fusions suggested that some patients with these cancers may benefit from treatment with FGFR inhibitor drugs, according to data published in...
First-line cetuximab (Erbitux) plus FOLFIRI chemotherapy (leucovorin, fluorouracil [5-FU], irinotecan) offered a roughly 4-month survival advantage over bevacizumab (Avastin) plus FOLFIRI for patients with KRAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer in the German phase III clinical trial FIRE-3. A ...
Progression-free survival was significantly improved for patients with metastatic melanoma of the eye (uveal melanoma) treated with selumetinib, according to the final analysis of data from a phase II crossover study presented at the 2013 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract CRA9003). Progression-free...
The addition of everolimus (Afinitor), an mTOR inhibitor, to trastuzumab (Herceptin) and vinorelbine significantly extended progression-free survival in women with HER2-positive advanced breast cancer, compared to treatment with placebo plus trastuzumab and vinorelbine, in the phase III BOLERO-3...
A lack of clinical trials aimed specifically at younger patients with breast cancer could be partly to blame for their poor survival rates, according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Study Details The study analyzed 2,956 women diagnosed with breast cancer...
A new study on prostate cancer describes a novel class of drugs developed by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers that interrupts critical signaling needed for prostate cancer cells to grow. In men with advanced prostate cancer, growth of cancer cells depends on androgen receptor signaling,...
Under conditions of oxygen starvation often encountered by tumors, the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) sends signals that thwart the development of tumor-suppressing microRNAs, an international team led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center discovered. The...
Physicians have more information to share with their patients about the benefits and risks of low-dose computed tomography (CT) lung cancer screening following the publication in the New England Journal of Medicine of the results of the first (of three planned) annual screening examinations from...
A long-term study of men with stage I seminoma, a common form of testicular cancer, suggests that surveillance for cancer recurrence, rather than additional chemotherapy or radiation therapy, is sufficient for the vast majority of men who have undergone successful surgery for their cancer....
A study has identified microRNA-155 as a new independent prognostic marker and treatment target in patients with cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The study was led by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital...
A comprehensive genomic analysis of nearly 400 endometrial tumors suggests that certain molecular characteristics, such as the frequency of mutations, could complement current pathology methods and help distinguish between principal types of endometrial tumors, as well as provide insights into...
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have identified a gene that, when repressed in tumor cells, puts a halt to cell growth and a range of processes needed for tumors to enlarge and spread to distant sites. The researchers hope that this so-called “master regulator” gene may be the key to...
Nearly two-thirds of children receiving stem cell transplants returned to the hospital within 6 months for treatment of unexplained fevers, infections, or other problems, according to a study performed at Dana-Farber/Children’s Hospital Cancer Center in Boston. Children who received donor...
A new study led by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) suggests that an unusual experimental drug can reduce breast cancer aggressiveness, reverse resistance to...
A new study on how the progression of acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) is influenced by the bone marrow environment has demonstrated for the first time that targeting a specialized protein known as osteopontin may be an effective strategy to increase the efficacy of chemotherapy in patients with...
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...
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 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 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Survivorship Program and its directors, K. Scott Baker, MD, and Karen Syrjala, PhD, have been selected to lead a nationwide study that aims to improve long-term health outcomes for cancer survivors between the ages of 18 and 39. Underway this spring, the...
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 ...
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...
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...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has issued its first ever NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) for Survivorship. The new NCCN Guidelines were presented at the NCCN 18th Annual Conference: Advancing the Standard of Cancer Care by Panel Chair, Crystal S....
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...
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...
Combatting the tobacco industry’s tactics in the world’s poorest countries as well as ensuring the best cancer vaccines are available to those most in need are key in order to reduce the number of cancer deaths worldwide, according to a new report published in the journal Science...
Royal Philips Electronics today announced that it has received 510(k) clearance from the FDA for its MicroDose SI system, a full-field digital mammography system that has the capability to enable future single-shot spectral imaging applications. High Breast Density High breast density is a known...
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 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...
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...
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...
Celgene International Sàrl announced on Tuesday that its phase III clinical trial of paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension, albumin-bound (nab-paclitaxel, Abaraxane) in combination with gemcitabine in treatment-naive patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer...
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, ...