Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Revolutionary drug could be new hope for adrenal cancer patients

TGen Clinical Research Services at Scottsdale Healthcare today announced the start of a clinical trial for a drug designed to combat adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC), a rare but deadly cancer that attacks the adrenal glands.
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Obesity hinders chemotherapy treatment in children with leukemia

Obesity is an important factor contributing to chemotherapy resistance and increasing relapse rates among children with leukemia, according to recent findings published online first in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
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Expert calls for new cancer research priorities

Cancer research is too focused on new drug development, while not enough money and effort is being devoted to pursuing important advances in knowledge likely to have the biggest impact on combating the disease in the next few decades, a leading research policy expert says, adding that a major shift in research priorities will be crucial to the ability to cope with the coming wave of cancer cases.
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Friday, September 11, 2009

New Protein Partnership That Leads To Pediatric Tumor Regression

Scientists have discovered that the cell receptor TrkA may be involved in the spontaneous regression of some pediatric cancers. Further research towards a better understanding of the mechanism of action might hopefully lead, in the future, to the development of drugs that will be able to induce regression of certain tumors.
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Replication At DNA Damage Sites Highlights Fanconi Anemia And Breast Cancer Proteins

While Fanconi anemia is a rare and dangerous disease, new laboratory research shows it may lead researchers toward clues in more common diseases, including highly hereditary types of breast cancer.
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Major Clinical Study Rejects Cancer Safety Fears Of Most Common Heartburn Treatment

Fears about the cancer-causing effects of the second most prescribed group of drugs in the Western world have been put to rest, following the largest ever study into their use.
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Genes identified may help breast cancer diagnosis

Researchers at Keele University, Germany, have identified two genes which may help improve the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer patients.
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Novel 'On-Off Switch' Mechanism Stops Cancer in Its Tracks

(PhysOrg.com) -- A tiny bit of genetic material with no previously known function may hold the key to stopping the spread of cancer, researchers at Yale School of Medicine and Sichuan University in Chengdu, China report in two papers in the September 7-11 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Sunday, August 9, 2009

Colon Cancer May Yield To Cellular Sugar Starvation

Scientists have discovered how two cancer-promoting genes enhance a tumor's capacity to grow and survive under conditions where normal cells die. The knowledge, they say, may offer new treatments that starve cancer cells of a key nutrient -- sugar. However, the scientists caution that research does not suggest that altering dietary sugar will make any difference in the growth and development of cancer.
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Unraveling How Cells Respond To Low Oxygen

Scientists have elucidated how the stability of the REDD1 protein is regulated. The REDD1 protein is a critical inhibitor of the mTOR signaling pathway, which controls cell growth and proliferation.
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Scientists Find Cells Responsible For Bladder Cancer's Spread

Scientists have tracked down a powerful set of cells in bladder tumors that seem to be primarily responsible for the cancer's growth and spread using a technique that takes advantage of similarities between tumor and organ growth. The findings could help scientists develop new ways of finding and attacking similar cells in other types of cancer.
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Saturday, August 8, 2009

Older Cancer Patients Have More Frailty Than Other Seniors

Older people with a history of cancer are more likely to have disabilities and be frail and vulnerable than older adults who have not had cancer, according to a new study.
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Antibody Linked To Chemotherapy Drug Inhibits Ovarian Cancer In Lab

A novel anticancer agent, consisting of a monoclonal antibody linked to a chemotherapy drug, showed substantial anti-tumor activity in ovarian cancer cell lines and in mice, according to a new study.
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Tumor Mutations Can Predict Chemo Success

Cancer biologists show that the interplay between two key genes that are often defective in tumors determines how cancer cells respond to chemotherapy. The findings should have an immediate impact on cancer treatment, according to researchers. The work could help doctors predict what types of chemotherapy will be effective in a particular tumor, which would help tailor treatments to each patient.
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Crystal Ball For Brain Cancer? New Method Predicts Which Brain Tumors Will Respond To Drug

Researchers have uncovered a new way to scan brain tumors and predict which ones will be shrunk by the drug Avastin -- before the patient ever starts treatment. By linking high water movement in tumors to positive drug response, the scientists predicted with 70 percent accuracy which patients' tumors were the least likely to grow six months after therapy.
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Cost-effectiveness of cetuximab in metastatic colorectal cancer

From a health-care system perspective, it may be more efficient to use the drug cetuximab only in colorectal cancer patients whose tumors have a wild-type KRAS gene, according to a study published online August 7 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
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Friday, August 7, 2009

Key To Strengthening Immune Response To Chronic Infection Found

A team of researchers has identified a protein that could serve as a target for reprogramming immune system cells exhausted by exposure to chronic viral infection into more effective "soldiers" against certain viruses like HIV, hepatitis C and hepatitis B, as well as some cancers, such as melanoma.
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Finding Key To Cancer Drug Gleevec's Limitations

Researchers have learned why imatinib, marketed as Gleevec, helps patients with chronic myeloid leukemia survive longer, but does not keep the disease from returning if treatment ends. The team is now combining imatinib with other drugs in mouse studies to find ways to sensitize resistant leukemia-initiating cells to imatinib and enhance its power.
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Moving To The US Increases Cancer Risk For Hispanics

Results of a new study confirm trends that different Hispanic population groups have higher incidence rates of certain cancers and worse cancer outcomes if they live in the United States, than they do if they live in their homelands.
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Women Often Opt To Surgically Remove Their Breasts, Ovaries To Reduce Cancer Risk

Many women at high risk for breast or ovarian cancer are choosing to undergo surgery as a precautionary measure to decrease their cancer risk, according to a new report.
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