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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: cancer drug

cancer drug stories: 9 news summaries

 Scientists Disarm 
 Cancer Protein 

New technique neutralizes 'undruggable' factor

(Newser) - Scientists believe they have found a way to neutralize a protein involved in cancer formation that was previously considered "undruggable." The researchers, experimenting on mice, created chemical "staples" to mold snippets of protein into shapes capable of disrupting the protein's function. The protein is linked to runaway... More »

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 Drug Giants Target Cancer 

Scientific advances, potentially huge profits attract Big Pharma to cancer fight

(Newser) - Major drug companies are tying their fortunes to cancer like never before, the New York Times reports. The firms—inspired by advancements in science as well as the high prices cancer drugs command—are pouring unprecedented resources into the search for new cancer drugs. The drug giants hope cancer treatments... More »

Dearth of Patient Volunteers Cripples Cancer Research

Just 3% of adult patients take part in studies

(Newser) - Cancer death rates have changed little in the past 40 years, and one big reason often goes unremarked on, experts say: only 3% of adult cancer patients participate in studies of treatments, the New York Times reports. More than a fifth of trials sponsored by the National Cancer Institute couldn’... More »

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Why Cancer Researchers Are Playing it Safe

Long-shots are risky to fund, so grants go to less ambitious studies

(Newser) - If you're a cancer researcher, it's harder to get money to investigate a potentially field-changing question than to find out whether a food's tastiness affects dieting. The reason is simple but problematic: With limited funding available and lots of research to do, grant-givers don't want to lose money on a... More »

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OPINION

 New Class of Drugs Could 
 Revolutionize Cancer Treatment 


PARP inhibitors show potential to transform understanding of cancer

(Newser) - A new class of drugs in development represents the biggest cancer breakthrough in a decade, Robert Bazell writes at NBC. In a study causing much excitement in the medical world, breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer patients treated with Olaparib, one of a group of drugs known as PARP inhibitors, had... More »

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(Newser) - More promising news has emerged from this weekend’s international cancer conference in Florida: Researchers unveiled a drug that shows early promise in fighting the most deadly form of skin cancer. The experimental PLX4032 targets tumor cells that carry a mutation found in 60% of malignant melanomas, and in the... More »

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Drug Offers Hope for Genetic Breast Cancer Sufferers

First-of-its-kind drug slows, stops tumor growth

(Newser) - A first-of-its-kind drug has been developed to fight genetic breast cancer, with an initial round of human trials showing “very promising” results, reports the Times of London. The drug Olaparib works by blocking a protein that makes cancer cells containing the genetic default unable to repair themselves. The drug... More »

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 Man Without 
 Prints Stumps 
 Airport Security 

1 in 50 lack matchable fingerprints worldwide

(Newser) - The side effects of a drug to treat cancer led to a Singapore man being detained for hours by airport security officials who couldn’t find his fingerprints, USA Today reports. The drug capecitabine causes hand-foot syndrome, in which the skin peels off; the man was finally allowed through after... More »

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'Happyhour' Gene Decides How Fast You Get Drunk

Cancer drug could be used to lower humans' alcohol tolerance

(Newser) - What if your genes determined how much of a tolerance you had to alcohol—and you could take a drug that would turn those genes on or off? That scenario may not be far from reality: researchers studying fruit flies have discovered a gene called "happyhour" that renders... More »

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9 Stories