Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Drug delivery system that consists of nanocrystals of a hydrophobic drug

The problem of efficiently delivering drugs, especially those that are hydrophobic or water-repellant, to tumors or other disease sites has long challenged scientists to develop innovative delivery systems that keep these drugs intact until reaching their targets.

8 Mar 2007

Researchers discover a new mechanism that regulates stem cell division

Errors in stem cell division can give rise to tumours. By studying stem cells in the fruit fly, scientists at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) have identified one of the mechanisms that govern how these cells divide.

7 Mar 2007

Pregnant women should supplement vitamin D

Pregnant women should take steps to ensure they have adequate vitamin D in their diet, or they and especially their unborn children may run the risk of developing autoimmune diseases such as diabetes and thyroid diseases.

7 Mar 2007

Women from poor backgrounds fare worse with breast cancer

Women from more deprived backgrounds have worse treatment and a lower breast cancer survival rate than their more affluent counterparts - according to a new study published by Cancer Research UK in the British Journal of Cancer.

7 Mar 2007

FDA chief speaks out against regulating nicotine content of cigarettes

The head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S., Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, says plans by the government to regulate the amount of tobacco in cigarettes runs the risk of backfiring.

6 Mar 2007

Inhaled Celecoxib shows new promise for lung cancer treatment

In recent years, Cycloxygenase (COX)-2 has emerged as a therapeutic target for the prevention and treatment of various types of cancers.

6 Mar 2007

For healthier patients, create happier doctors

Rochester doctors are putting to the test the idea that less stressed, more fulfilled physicians offer improved care to their patients.

6 Mar 2007

Digital network links cardiovascular research globally

With $8.5 million in federal support, leading researchers at three universities, including Johns Hopkins, are creating an ambitious digital network that will allow cardiovascular researchers worldwide to easily exchange data and expertise on heart-related illnesses.

6 Mar 2007

FDA accepts two Roche diagnostics HPV tests for review

Roche has announced today that the United States (U.S.) Food & Drug Administration has accepted for review its applications for two human papillomavirus (HPV) tests.

From Roche Sequencing and Life Science 6 Mar 2007

Debate over mandatory HPV vaccination

The Washington Post on Sunday examined the "widespread backlash" toward proposals to mandate human papillomavirus vaccination for school attendance after dozens of states "enthusiastic[ally] embraced" HPV vaccines.

5 Mar 2007

Safety of Merck's HPV vaccine Gardasil 'lost' in debate

The effectiveness and safety of Merck's human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil has "been lost" because of Merck's lobbying campaign for mandating vaccination for school attendance, and the "real losers" might be "girls and women who need access" to the vaccine, Boston Globe columnist Ellen Goodman writes in an opinion piece .

5 Mar 2007

Mayo Clinic tests engineered measles virus against multiple myeloma

Mayo Clinic Cancer Center has opened a new Phase I clinical trial testing an engineered measles virus against multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow that currently has no cure. This is the third of a series of molecular medicine studies in patients testing the potential of measles to kill cancer.

5 Mar 2007

The model for end-stage liver disease

A review of the studies on the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) found that it is an accurate predictor of survival of patients with a variety of liver diseases, is particularly useful in allocating organs for liver transplants, and can also be used to help determine the course of treatment in certain cases. However, it is possible to improve the accuracy of the model and efforts at refining will continue.

5 Mar 2007

Effect of depression in mothers with breast cancer on their children's concerns

A woman's breast cancer diagnosis can wreak as much havoc on her emotions as it does on her physical health. Mothers who experience bouts of depression during their battles with breast cancer may find that the effects reach beyond their own psyches to those of their children.

5 Mar 2007

New drug delivery method incorporates drug molecules in fat

Devastating blood-borne fungal infections that can be lethal for HIV/AIDS, cancer, and organ transplant patients may be treated more successfully, thanks to a new drug delivery method developed by researchers at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

5 Mar 2007

Biomarker for lung cancer identified

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have identified a gene expression marker that distinguishes smokers with lung cancer from smokers without the disease. The findings, reported in the March 1, 2007 advanced on-line edition of Nature Medicine, may have immediate clinical relevance and public health impact.

5 Mar 2007

Life-saving cancer genetic testing vastly underutilized

A study released today at the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists 38th Annual Meeting on Women's Cancer found few patients were aware of genetic cancer syndromes and the high risk of developing cancer if genetic mutations were found. Fewer still were motivated to follow up on this information with their own healthcare provider or genetic counseling/testing services.

5 Mar 2007

Improvement of cancer-targeting therapy, using nanocarriers for intractable solid tumors by inhibition of TGF-beta signaling

Administering a small amount of a potent but potentially toxic anticancer agent along with nanoparticles loaded with a second anticancer agent produced a dramatic inhibition of tumor growth in normally intractable cancers. These findings suggest a new approach to treating malignancies such as pancreatic cancer and diffuse gastric cancer.

5 Mar 2007

Magnetic nanocrystals used to carry tumor-killing drugs

Imagine using a focused magnetic field to concentrate anticancer drugs in and around tumors, and then turning off the magnetic field so that the drugs then leave the body.

5 Mar 2007

Targeted nanoparticles image early tumors

A well-established fact in cancer therapy is that early tumor detection improves the odds that a patient will survive the disease. Now, using nanoparticles targeted to the tiny blood vessels that surround even the smallest tumors, researchers at the Siteman Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (CCNE) have developed a radioactive imaging agent that was able to identify human tumors in rabbits.

5 Mar 2007