cancer research

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Glowing Cancer Cells Signal Surgical Leap

New technique takes much of the guesswork out of tumor removal

(Newser) - Surgery to remove tumors has always been a delicate undertaking. Surgeons must try to remove all of the cancerous cells while minimizing the loss of surrounding tissue, a task made harder by the fact that it’s difficult to tell the difference just by looking. No longer: Scientists have found...

Colon Cancer Drug Flunks Important Test

Avastin's effects on early-stage disease don't meet expectations

(Newser) - Clinical trials to determine the drug Avastin’s effects on early-stage colon cancer were a big disappointment for drug firm Genentech, the New York Times reports. The drug, which is typically used in late-stage cancer, didn’t significantly cut the recurrence rate among 2,700 subjects in the early stages,...

Trial Drug Offers Hope for Ovarian Cancer Patients

Early test on small number of women yields improved survival rate

(Newser) - A new drug being developed in Britain could someday prolong the lives of thousands of women suffering ovarian cancer, the Guardian reports. Eight of the 18 women involved in the trial, all of whom had been given less than a year to live, saw their tumors stabilize or shrink under...

Combo Treatment Halves Prostate Death Rates: Study

Researchers say using radiation plus hormones should be worldwide practice

(Newser) - Using radiation therapy in combination with hormone treatment can double the survival rate of patients with advanced prostate cancer, a new European study finds. Of those men given only standard drugs, 24% died after 10 years, compared to less than 12% of those given both treatments. Combined treatment is already...

Family History of Breast Cancer Trumps Genes

Incidence among relatives is red flag, even without mutations

(Newser) - Women with family history of breast cancer are at elevated risk even if they don’t have a proven genetic indicator, HealthDay reports. Specific mutations in the BRCA gene correlate with an 80% lifetime risk of developing breast cancer; women in a new study who had a family history of...

Cancer Genes Decoded For First Time

Breakthrough view into cancer's genetic roots promises new battle realm

(Newser) - Scientists have unlocked cancer's genetic blueprint for the first time, the New York Times reports. Working with cells from a woman who died of leukemia, they decoded her entire DNA sequence and zeroed in on ten mutations that occurred only in the cancerous cells. Researchers say the breakthrough could someday...

DNA Breakthrough IDs Genes That Boost Lung Cancer Risk

Localized variation could guide fight against disease

(Newser) - In a discovery that applies to both smokers and nonsmokers, researchers have identified two genetic variations that may increase the risk of lung cancer by some 60%, Reuters reports. A huge sample—15,000-plus subjects in 18 countries—yielded results that helped researchers locate the variations on the fifth chromosome,...

Weight Can Increase Risk of Breast Cancer

But side effects of treatment can make it harder to shed pounds

(Newser) - There may be a direct connection between weight and breast cancer in women, MSNBC reports. Overweight women “have more exposure to estrogen,” one doctor said, "which we think increases their risk of several different cancers.” Breast cancer patients across the country are now coupling their therapy...

Herpes Linked to Brain Cancer
 Herpes Linked to Brain Cancer 
Oct 6, 2008 7:40 AM CDT

Herpes Linked to Brain Cancer

Surgeon's hunch launches vaccine trials

(Newser) - Cancer researchers are finally taking seriously a young surgeon’s decade-long hunch that brain tumors are linked to a strain of herpes that lies dormant in 80% of Americans. The physician speculated that brain cancer patients—many of them affluent and educated—were more vulnerable to common viruses such as...

Experts Close In on Breast Cancer Vaccine

Link to childbearing hormones could be prevention key

(Newser) - The prevention of breast cancer has been strongly linked to hormonal changes that occur during pregnancy and breastfeeding, prompting a top cancer expert to predict that a vaccine could mimic such safeguards, reports the Guardian. The researcher called for increased efforts to prevent breast cancer in addition to treating it,...

Genome Project Is a Bust: Expert
Genome Project Is a Bust: Expert
Sep 16, 2008 11:40 AM CDT

Genome Project Is a Bust: Expert

$3B effort to pinpoint disease-causing genes too broad, Duke doc says

(Newser) - The idea behind mapping the human genome (and spending $3 billion to do so) was to uncover common gene variants that cause disease. But a Duke University geneticist says that natural selection has worked better than we thought, that there are no common variants but rather a multitude of rare...

Colon Cancer Gene Discovered
 Colon Cancer Gene Discovered 
Sep 15, 2008 6:00 AM CDT

Colon Cancer Gene Discovered

Cancer growth gene identified

(Newser) - Researchers have discovered a key gene that may contribute to the growth of colon cancer and could provide a target for new therapies, Bloomberg reports. The gene, CDK8, controls a cell growth switch that researchers think might spur the development of many tumors. The discovery may help up to 50%...

Swayze Joins Cancer Telethon
 Swayze Joins Cancer Telethon 
Sep 6, 2008 6:48 AM CDT

Swayze Joins Cancer Telethon

Celebrities touched by cancer join historic 3-network telethon

(Newser) - Dozens of Hollywood's finest got together for a historic hour-long, three-network telethon in support of cancer research last night, reports AP. They included cancer survivors Elizabeth Edwards, Christina Applegate and Lance Armstrong, among several others, who made passionate pleas for funding to fight the disease. Cancer kills 550,000 Americans...

Moisturizers Increase Skin Cancer in Mice

More research needed to judge effect on humans, dermatologists say

(Newser) - Moisturizers used by millions around the world each day may increase skin cancer in mice, the Daily Mail reports. But many more tests are needed before researchers can draw conclusions about humans. In mouse experiments, animals primed to develop skin cancer were exposed to UV light. The moisturized mice developed...

Tobacco May Help Cure Cancer
 Tobacco May Help Cure Cancer 
Jul 22, 2008 5:39 PM CDT

Tobacco May Help Cure Cancer

Plant's robust immune system makes it a viable vaccine factory

(Newser) - Scientists are trying to use the tobacco plant to produce a cancer vaccine, Newsweek reports. Ironic though it may be, the plant could someday offer fast and cheap production of antibodies personalized for individual’s tumor cells. In the first study of its kind, scientists found that the plant-based vaccine...

Snow's Death Puts Politics in Perspective
Snow's Death Puts Politics
in Perspective
OPINION
Jul 15, 2008 4:16 AM CDT

Snow's Death Puts Politics in Perspective

Elizabeth Edwards salutes cancer victim from across aisle

(Newser) - The death of Tony Snow serves as a tragic reminder that some things are far more important in life than party politics, Elizabeth Edwards writes in Newsweek. The Democratic health adviser pays warm tribute to her fellow cancer sufferer, and expresses hope that the words "common cause" will gain...

Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise
 Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise 
Jun 24, 2008 5:11 PM CDT

Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise

Colorectal disease spreads more slowly in immunized mice

(Newser) - Encouraging results in experiments on mice are raising hopes of an effective colon cancer vaccine, Reuters reports. Capitalizing on the fact that the intestines have their own immune system, researchers isolated a protein that occurs only in the gut to create a vaccine. In treated mice, an average of three...

Lance's Romances Haven't Hurt His Cause—Yet

Cyclist's fight against cancer may be overshadowed by gossip pages

(Newser) - Will the real Lance Armstrong please stand up? The seven-time Tour de France champ and cancer research advocate is also a serial dater whose affairs light up gossip pages. But so far, trysts with Ashley Olsen and Kate Hudson have not hurt the cancer survivor's higher cause—which includes testifying...

Melanoma Cured by Cloning Patient's Own Immune Cells

Immune system boost wipes out tumors

(Newser) - Scientists eliminated a man's late-stage melanoma by giving the body's own defenses a massive boost, Scientific American reports. They removed infection-fighting white blood cells from the patient's body, cloned them in the lab until they numbered in the billions, and injected them back into the patient. He was tumor-free 2...

HPV Triggers Throat Cancer Rise, Docs Say

Virus that causes cervical cancer may be spread via oral sex

(Newser) - Researchers believe the virus behind cervical cancer is also responsible for a rash of throat cancers, the Chicago Tribune reports. With baby boomers mainly falling victim to the disease, experts believe the rise in oral sex since the 1960s and '70s could be behind the small-scale epidemic—which could be...

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