Child Cancer Survivors Risk Heart Trouble Years Later

Will this time undergo chemotherapy

(NEWSER) - Hugo Chavez is returning to Cuba today for further cancer treatment, which this time will include chemotherapy in order to, as he says, "armor the body against new malignant cells." Chavez made the surprise announcement yesterday, reports the AP, asking lawmakers' permission to return to the country where he had a baseball-sized cancerous tumor removed in June. It's not clear how long he plans on staying this time around. More»

New research shows the particles make drugs more effective

(NEWSER) - Cancer treatment could get a boost thanks to nanodiamonds, small carbon-based particles whose shape is similar to diamonds. Chemotherapy drugs often become ineffective, because cancer cells spit them out of cells too quickly. But by attaching anticancer drugs to nanodiamonds, the cancer cells are thwarted because they're unable to pump out the nanodiamonds. Extra bonus: Nanodiamonds are non-toxic, cheap, and don’t cause inflammation, Nature reports. More»

Together with licorice, peonies ease nausea, cramps

(NEWSER) - A new drug could help ease the suffering of chemo patients, and it’s made up of some pretty humble ingredients: Peony flowers, licorice, and the extracts of dates and skullcap plants. If that sounds more like a home remedy than a drug, that’s because it is. Researchers at Yale created the new drug, dubbed PHY906, based on ancient Chinese traditional medicine, the Daily Mail reports. More»

(NEWSER) - A breakthrough with cancer stem cells may lead to more potent drugs—ones that pair with chemotherapy in the sort of drug cocktail used against AIDS, reports the New York Times. If borne out, the development—in which researchers figured out how to screen for chemicals that attack only cancerous stem cells—could eventually lead to lower doses of chemo and thus less distress for patients. More»

Experts say tumors could be treated as chronic diseases

(NEWSER) - Instead of waiting for cancer to return, some doctors are keeping up patients’ chemotherapy even when the threat has lessened, the New York Times reports. With maintenance therapy, some in the medical and drug industries say, it may be possible to treat cancer as a chronic disease, with tumors kept under control longer. But others say it’s not proven and could do more harm than good. More»