Top Cancer Stories

NCKU Faculty Found Citrus Extract As A Potent Antineoplastic Agent
TAINAN, Taiwan -- NCKU Associate Professor Ying-Jan Wang from the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health of Medical College has led a research team to conduct a series of experiments on mice for ascertaining that 5-OH-HxMF (5-hydroxy-3,6,7,8,3',4'- hexamethoxyflavone), a kind of polymethoxyflavones extracted from Citrus genus, has been efficacious in inflammation and neoplasia. This research achievement has been warranted for its publication in "Carcinogenesis," a prestigious academic journal with foci on cancer biology, molecular epidemiology, cancer prevention and carcinogenesis. The research team, led by Professor Wang, has experimented on small mice model to screen anti-cancer components in food as well...

Using Alternative Medicine To Treat Common Ailments
It is the rare workplace, classroom or home that has not yet experienced at least a touch of the sniffles, upset stomachs and congestion that tend to arrive at this time of the year. For many, the discomfort results in a search for a remedy, which can lead sufferers to nontraditional and alternative sources. Laura Futterman, a naturopathic physician at the Stamford Center for Natural Health, says recently there has been an uptick in the number of people visiting the center seeking relief for sinus congestion. "Our goal is to get the body to heal itself," she says, adding that the treatment is individualized to the patient. That may mean changes to diet, or "food as medicine"; herbal medicines; homeopathic remedies; and physical adjust...

Studies From Erasmus University Reveal New Findings On Bladder Cancer
According to a study from Netherlands, "Patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer are treated by transurethral resection. About 60-70% of these patients will develop recurrences and in 11% of these cases progression to a muscle-invasive turnout occurs." "Surveillance of patients by cystoscopy is therefore carried out every 3-4 months in the first 2 years and yearly thereafter. Several biomarkers have been developed that potentially can detect recurrent bladder cancer in voided urine samples and may present an alternative for the invasive cystoscopy procedure. Recently, van Rhijn reviewed the performance of several of these biomarkers regarding detection of recurrent disease in patients under surveillance. In general, sensitivities...

New Cancer Screening First Of Its Kind In Area
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- A new technology meant to give those with advanced cancers a fighting chance has come to a private oncology practice in the region. Measures cells The CellSearch Circulating Tumor Cell Test measures the number of cancer cells in a patient's bloodstream. This test can give cancer patients and doctors a much faster and less invasive way to determine if a course of treatment is working. Berkshire Hematology Oncology, based in Pittsfield, is the first private practice in a six-state region to offer patients this advanced diagnostic test. It is currently approved for use with patients with breast, prostate and colorectal cancers that have spread from the original site. CellSearch "is the first commercially avail...

Studies From Research Center For Cancer Prevention And Screening Provide New Data On Colon Cancer Risk Factors
Investigators publish new data in the report 'Dietary calcium, vitamin D, and the risk of colorectal cancer.' According to recent research from Tokyo, Japan, "Calcium and vitamin D have a potential protective effect against colorectal cancer. We investigated the association of dietary intake of calcium and vitamin D with the risk of colorectal cancer in a large prospective cohort study of middle-aged Japanese men and women." "A total of 74 639 subjects (35 194 men and 39 445 women) who participated in the Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study were followed from 1995-1999 to the end of 2004, during which time 761 cases of colorectal cancer (464 men, 297 women) were newly identified. Dietary intake of nutrients was calculated...

State Mandates For Stool-Based DNA Screening For Colon Cancer Now In Twelve States And The District Of Columbia-
MARLBOROUGH, Mass. -- EXACT Sciences Corporation today reported that as of January 1, 2009, twelve states and the District of Columbia have legislative mandates requiring that available colorectal cancer (CRC) screening options offered by certain categories of insurers in these states must include all tests identified in the current American Cancer Society (ACS) screening guidelines, which include stool-based DNA (sDNA) screening. The state of Maine, which enacted a legislative mandate covering colorectal cancer screening effective on January 1, 2009, has become the latest state to explicitly reference CRC screening guidelines, which include sDNA testing. The list now includes Alaska, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky,...

Major American Study Firmly Ties Hormone Use To Breast Cancer
SAN ANTONIO -- Taking menopause hormones for five years doubles the risk for breast cancer, according to a new analysis of a big federal study that reveals the most dramatic evidence yet of the dangers of these still-popular pills. Even women who took estrogen and progestin pills for as little as a couple of years had a greater chance of getting cancer. And when they stopped taking them, their odds quickly improved, returning to a normal risk level roughly two years after quitting. Collectively, these new findings are likely to end any doubt that the risks outweigh the benefits for most women. It is clear that breast cancer rates plunged in recent years mainly because millions of women quit hormone therapy and fewer newly menopausa...

ASGE Urges Patients To Seek A Qualified Endoscopist Before Undergoing A Colonoscopy For Colorectal Cancer
OAK BROOK, Ill. -- Canadian study finds that colonoscopy is associated with lower death rates, but raises concerns about detection of colorectal cancer on the right side of the colon A study released today in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that colonoscopy is associated with lower death rates from colorectal cancer, however, the procedure missed lesions more often on the right side of the colon versus the left side. The study highlights the importance of seeking a qualified gastrointestinal endoscopist to perform a thorough colonoscopy and that patients must take the bowel prep as directed by their physician allowing for a clear view of the colon to detect lesions. The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endosc...

Phase II Trial Showing Improved Survival With ASA404 In Lung Cancer
LONDON and CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Cancer drug developer Antisoma plc announces that the British Journal of Cancer has today published the results of a randomised phase II trial of ASA404 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Positive data from this trial supported the progress of ASA404 into phase III development. ASA404 is a Tumour-Vascular Disrupting Agent (Tumour-VDA) that attacks tumours by selectively destroying the tumour blood vessels on which they depend to survive and grow. In the trial published today, 73 patients receiving their first treatment for NSCLC were randomly assigned to receive either ASA404 plus standard chemotherapy or standard chemotherapy alone. Patients in the ASA404 group had a median survival of...

Newly Discovered Esophagus Stem Cells Grow Into Transplantable Tissue, Penn Study Finds: Implications For GERD, Esophageal Cancer
PHILADELPHIA -- Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered stem cells in the esophagus of mice that were able to grow into tissue-like structures and when placed into immune-deficient mice were able to form parts of an esophagus lining. The investigators report their findings online this month in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. "The immediate implication is that we'll have a better understanding of the role of these stem cells in normal biology, as well as in regenerative and cancer biology," says senior author Anil K. Rustgi, MD, the T. Grier Miller Professor of Medicine and Genetics and Chief of Gastroenterology. "Down the road, we will develop a panel of markers that will...

Unique Surgery Creates Fully Usable Tongue Following Tongue Cancer
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The night before her surgery for tongue cancer, 30-year-old Lisa Bourdon-Krause realized she might never be able to speak to her toddler son again. So she sat up half the night recording messages to him: "Hi, how was your day?," "You're so handsome," "You have a stinky butt. I need to change you." She read two of his favorite books. "It took me about three times to get through the one story, but I did it and I'm glad I did it. It made me feel safer going into surgery knowing that if something happened to me or if I couldn't speak when I woke up, he would be able to hear my voice and know how much I loved him," Bourdon-Krause says. The surgery was to remove a cancerous tumor growing near the back of...

Mistletoe May Kill Off Cancer Cells
Mistletoe is renowned for inspiring Christmas-time kisses, and Australian scientists are now probing its power to kill off cancer cells. Work is underway at the University of Canberra to improve understanding of the parasitic plant, which is used extensively in cancer treatment programs in Germany. Senior research fellow at the university's Cancer Immunotherapy Group, Dr Ljubov Simson, said Australian laboratory tests had confirmed mistletoe's ability to stimulate the body's immune system while killing off cancer cells. Most importantly, Dr Simson says, it does so without harming healthy cells nearby. "In the laboratory, we're finding that it is killing the tumour cells but we're actually not getting any killing in terms of the...

New B Cell Lymphoma Therapy Is Presented
HOUSTON -- U.S. medical scientists say they've found indolent B cell lymphoma patients respond well to a new three-drug combination therapy. The researchers from the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas said the drug combo also spares patents prolonged and potentially lethal suppression of blood production in the bone marrow. The drugs -- pentostatin, cyclophosphamide and rituximab -- together provide the same remission rate as other combinations, but with minimal long-term bone marrow suppression, said Dr. Felipe Samaniego, an associate professor in M. D. Anderson's department of lymphoma and melanoma. The researchers said bone marrow suppression, or myelosuppression, leads to production of fewer...

Study Sees Higher Risks In Small Breast Tumors
SAN ANTONIO -- Some women with small breast tumors may have a greater risk of the cancer recurring after treatment than has been believed, and might benefit from taking the drug Herceptin, a new study suggests. Treatments like chemotherapy or Herceptin aren't usually recommended for women whose tumors are smaller than 1 centimeter -- just under half an inch -- and have not spread beyond the breast. However, Texas researchers who looked at records on 1,315 such patients found that the 10 percent who had high levels of a protein called HER-2 had three times the risk of suffering a recurrence than did women with less HER-2. Only 77 percent of those with high HER-2 levels were alive and cancer-free five years after tr...

Study Finds DOXIL Combination Therapy Delays Disease Progression For Patients With Metastatic Breast Cancer
SAN ANTONIO, Dec 14, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Results from a Phase 3 study show that patients with metastatic breast cancer who were treated previously with an anthracycline in the adjuvant setting experienced a significant improvement in time to disease progression (TTP) and overall response rates after receiving a combination of DOXIL(R) (doxorubicin HCl liposome injection) and docetaxel as compared to docetaxel alone. Results from this randomized, parallel-group, open-label, multi-center study were presented today at the 31st Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS). The study included only patients previously treated with anthracyclines who had a disease-free interval of at least one year. The stud...