News • Tumours
Preventing metastasis - an antibody with therapeutic potential
A receptor in the cell layer that lines the blood vessels from the inside stimulates both the formation of new blood vessels in tumors and metastasis.
Lung cancer
Article • New concept 'HeiMeKOM'
Involvement of patients and relatives improves cancer communication
The Heidelberg Thorax Clinic is trialling a newly structured, longitudinal communication concept to meet proactively the complex needs of stage IV lung cancer patients and their relatives. The concept is aimed at enhancing prognostic understanding and building the basis for proactive care planning, early integration of palliative care and shared decision-making, ultimately improving overall care.
News • New sensor tech
A more reliable way to early detect lung tumours
People who are at high risk of developing lung cancer, such as heavy smokers, are routinely screened with computed tomography (CT), which can detect tumors in the lungs. However, this test has an extremely high rate of false positives, as it also picks up benign nodules in the lungs. Researchers at the Massachussetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have now developed a new approach to early…
News • Early detection
Lung cancer screening: ESR welcomes release of NELSON trial results
The publication of the results of the Dutch-Belgian lung cancer screening trial (NELSON) supports recent calls to introduce lung cancer screening programmes throughout Europe. In light of the scientific evidence, lung cancer screening should be firmly embedded in any initiative launched by the European Commission and the Member States in the fight against cancer. As the leading cause of death…
News • Early detection
Support for lung cancer screening gains momentum in Scotland
The need to consider a formal recommendation on early screening for lung cancer was acknowledged by the Cross Party Group for Cancer, held at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh in January. Attended by over 40 people representing patients, the medical community, and the pharmaceutical industry as well as political advisers and Members of the Scottish Parliament, the Group agreed to write to the…
News • Personalized diagnostics
AI checks effectiveness of immunotherapy
Scientists from the Case Western Reserve University digital imaging lab use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to predict which lung-cancer patients will benefit from expensive immunotherapy. This is done by teaching a computer to find previously unseen changes in patterns in CT scans taken when the lung cancer is first diagnosed compared to scans taken after the first 2-3 cycles of immunotherapy…
News • European awareness
Call for greater EU focus on lung cancer
Under the auspices of the Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Claudia Gamon, the European Society of Radiology (ESR), the European Respiratory Society (ERS) and Lung Cancer Europe (LuCE) have joined forces to organise an event at the European Parliament and publish a factsheet that aims to raise awareness of lung cancer and the need for increased visibility of the disease in European Union…
Article • Lung cancer early diagnosis
Can we afford not to offer lung screening?
For lung cancer patients, life expectancy has hardly improved since 1970. A ten-year survival is 5%, making this the leading cause of death among all cancers. One reason is that, in most cases, the disease is diagnosed far too late. Professor Mathias Prokop is among leading advocates of low-dose CT screening for lung cancer for high risk patients.
Video • Strategic partnership
Unlocking the full potential of EarlyCDT Lung in US
Oncimmune Holdings plc, a leading global immunodiagnostics group, announces it has entered into an exclusive partnership agreement which it believes will unlock the full potential of EarlyCDT Lung in the United States, bringing this lung cancer test to more patients as a result. This agreement with Biodesix, Inc., a leading lung cancer diagnostic solutions company, encompasses both the…
News • Early detection
Lung cancer: Why screening is especially beneficial for women
Is computed tomography suitable for detecting lung cancer at a very early stage and thus still well treatable? Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center have investigated this with the LUSI study started in 2007. The results of the study, which is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Dietmar Hopp Foundation, are now available.
News • Encyclopaedia
'Fingerprint database' helps to identify new cancer culprits
Scientists from King's and Cambridge have developed a catalogue of DNA mutation ‘fingerprints’ that could help doctors pinpoint the environmental culprit responsible for a patient’s tumour – including showing some of the fingerprints left in lung tumours by specific chemicals found in tobacco smoke. Our DNA, the human genome, comprises of a string of molecules known as nucleotides. These…
News • NSCLC
Liquid biopsy as effective as tissue biopsy for non-small cell lung cancer
Test more accurately identifies four mutations for which FDA-approved drugs exist and offers faster turn-around time between initial testing and commencement of therapy.
Article • Radiomics
A boost for thoracic radiology
A new radiomics study could help unlock one of the more challenging issues facing thoracic radiologists. Distinguishing non-small cell lung cancer from benign nodules is a major challenge due to their similar appearance on CT images. Now, however, researchers from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, have used radiomic features extracted from CT images to differentiate between…
News • Precancerous lesions
Lung cancer: early detection with molecular profiling
Before lung cancer develops, precancerous lesions are found in the airway, but only half of these will actually become lung cancer, while others will disappear or remain benign without becoming harmful. Under the microscope, the lesions look the same, making it difficult to know which lesions to treat. In this study, published in Nature Medicine, researchers have for the first time, discovered…
News • Research
Non-small cell lung cancer: women live longer than men
Women diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) live longer than their male counterparts, according to results of a SWOG study presented by Loyola Medicine researcher Kathy Albain, MD, at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer's 19th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Toronto.
News • Promising research
First steps towards a new, targeted lung cancer treatment
Scientists have identified a key molecular player in a subtype of lung cancer which could lead to a new way to tackle the disease, according to research published in Nature Communications. They found lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) cells contained high amounts of a protein called BCL11A. The study showed that manipulating the gene responsible for the protein stopped the development of LUSC in…
News • Analyzing free-floating DNA
Blood test shows potential for early detection of lung cancer
A test that analyzes free-floating DNA in the blood may be able to detect early-stage lung cancer, a preliminary report from the ongoing Circulating Cell-Free Genome Atlas (CCGA) study suggests. Lead study author Geoffrey R. Oxnard, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: “There is an unmet need globally for early-detection tests for lung cancer that can be easily implemented by health-care…
News • PET-scan
Imaging agent helps predicting lung cancer therapy success
With the help of a new radioactive tracer, doctors can predict with more than 80 percent accuracy how well a widely-used lung cancer drug will combat tumors, according to researchers at Stanford. The researchers developed a PET scan-compatible imaging agent engineered to seek out a specific mutation found in nonsmall cell lung cancer (which accounts for about 80 percent of lung cancers), bind to…
News • CancerSEEK
Single blood test screens for 8 cancer types
Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers developed a single blood test that screens for eight common cancer types and helps identify the location of the cancer. The test, called CancerSEEK, is a unique noninvasive, multianalyte test that simultaneously evaluates levels of eight cancer proteins and the presence of cancer gene mutations from circulating DNA in the blood. The test is aimed at…
News • Delivery options
Radiosurgery vs. whole-brain radiation in lung cancer patients with multiple brain metastases
Although targeted therapies have produced dramatic advances in our ability to control some types of advanced lung cancer, growth of the disease in the brain remains a major problem. Radiation is often used to treat deposits in the brain, but the best technique to deliver radiation can be controversial. Whole-brain radiation therapy, as its name suggest, treats the entire brain but can be…
News • Combination approach
Radiation treatment extends life expectancy for patients with inoperable lung cancer
Patients with unresectable, or inoperable, lung cancer are often given a dismal prognosis, with low rates of survival beyond a few years. Researchers exploring combination therapies have recently discovered improved survival rates by up to one year when patients treated with a newly formulated chemotherapy regimen are also given radiation therapy.
Article • Lung cancer screening controversy
High costs prevent programmed scans
Lung cancer is the cancer that causes the highest mortality worldwide, claiming an estimated 1.7 million patients annually, with 270,000 of those deaths in Europe.
News • Breath Biopsy platform
Owlstone Medical CEO Billy Boyle wins Royal Academy of Engineering’s Silver Medal
Billy Boyle, Founder and CEO of Owlstone Medical, a diagnostics company developing a breathalyzer for disease, is to be awarded the Royal Academy of Engineering’s prestigious Silver Medal. The award recognizes engineer Billy’s work in spearheading the development of the company’s Breath Biopsy platform and driving a vision to save 100,000 lives and $1.5 billion in healthcare costs.
Article • Xenon MRT
A revolution in lung function diagnostics
Since lung diseases tend to be complex, imaging is a crucial diagnostic tool. While computed tomography has become the standard modality, which is frequently used outside hospital settings, specialised MRI diagnostics remains the preserve of large university medical centres.
News • Single-Cell Isolation Technology
Predicting a response to treatment in patients with lung cancer
Menarini-Silicon Biosystems announced the company’s DEPArray single-cell isolation technology played a key role in a study conducted by researchers from The University of Manchester to develop a model for predicting whether small-cell lung cancer patients will be sensitive or resistant to initial chemotherapy treatment.
