News • Gene-based testing
Skewing the aim of targeted cancer therapies
Headlines, of late, have touted the successes of targeted gene-based cancer therapies, such as immunotherapies, but, unfortunately, also their failures.
Cancer
News • Sugar molecules
Sweet help for cancer detection
Scientists from the University of Würzburg have synthesized a complex sugar molecule which specifically binds to the tumor protein Galectin-1. This could help to recognize tumors at an early stage and to combat them in a targeted manner.
Article • Missing guidelines
Demand to regulate oncologic hyperthermia
Unlike the USA, Italy, Germany or the Netherlands, Spain does not include hyperthermia in its national health catalogue. Worse, many non-medical centres are increasingly offering hyperthermia as an alternative treatment, a situation that infuriates Spanish oncologic radiotherapists.
News • Combo therapy
How DNA damage calls immune cells to fight cancer
Findings suggest that modifying the cell replication cycle could make combined therapies more successful.
Sponsored • Diagnostic device
Clinical data shows increased detection of cervical cancer
A pioneering diagnostic device identifies more abnormal cells on the cervix than standard colposcopy, according to data published in two European clinical papers.
News • Biomarker validation
Plodding toward a pancreatic cancer screening test
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly types of malignancies, with a 5-year survival rate after late diagnosis of only about 5%. The majority of patients—about 80%—receive their diagnosis too late for surgery. The disease spreads quickly and resists chemotherapy. In short, there is an urgent need for diagnostic tools to identify this cancer in its earliest stages.
News • Clinical trials
How treating dogs might help human cancer patients
The UC Davis Comparative Oncology Program joins oncologists at both the vet school and cancer center to test novel treatments on companion dogs with spontaneous tumors that could be effective in human patients with cancer. Human clinical trials could be started this year.
News • Chemotherapy
Hair loss: FDA clears expanded use of cooling cap
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared the expanded use of a cooling cap, DigniCap Cooling System, to reduce hair loss (alopecia) during chemotherapy. This is the first cooling cap cleared by the agency for use in cancer patients with solid tumors.
News • Multimodal optical spectroscopy
An infallible hand-held probe to aid cancer surgery
Canadian researchers have invented an intraoperative probe that reliably detects multiple types of tumour cells.
News • Melatonin deprivation
Working night shifts may diminish ability to repair DNA damage
A Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center study, led by epidemiologist Dr. Parveen Bhatti, found that night shift work is associated with reduced ability to repair DNA lesions. Over time, DNA damage that is not repaired will cause mutations that can lead to cancer.
News • Integrated quality assurance
IBA releases the newest version of myQA global platform
IBA (Ion Beam Applications S.A.), the world’s leading provider of proton therapy solutions and radiation therapy integrated quality assurance (QA) for the treatment of cancer, announces the release of myQA version 2017-001. This new version further enhances the integration of quality assurance across all QA applications, departments and people.
News • Cancer-related hair loss
Paxman helps launch global scalp cooling collaboration
Led by six globally-recognised experts in cancer care, the organisation known as CHILL, Cancer-related Hair Loss, International Leadership and Linkage, announced today an initiative to collect and track evidence-based patient information and clinical guidance. Data will be used to establish clinical best practices to ensure maximum effectiveness of scalp cooling to minimise chemotherapy-induced…
News • Structural insights
Cancer cells may streamline their genomes to proliferate more easily
Research from the Stowers Institute provides evidence suggesting that cancer cells might streamline their genomes in order to proliferate more easily. The study, conducted in both human and mouse cells, shows that cancer genomes lose copies of repetitive sequences known as ribosomal DNA. While downsizing might enable these cells to replicate faster, it also seems to render them less able to…
News • Understanding procedures
Researchers create ‘Rosetta Stone’ to decode immune recognition
Scientists from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have developed an algorithm that functions like a Rosetta Stone to help decipher how the immune system recognizes and binds antigens. The research should aid development of more personalized cancer immunotherapy and advance diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases.
News • DNA manipulation
Chaos in cancer cells: Mysterious gene transcripts after therapy
Drugs that are used in cancer therapy to erase epigenetic alterations in cancer cells simultaneously promote the production of countless mysterious gene transcripts, scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) now report in Nature Genetics. The substances activate hidden regulatory elements in DNA. The unusual gene activity has the potential to stimulate the immune system – a…
Article • Mass spectometry
Strategies to advance cancer biomarkers
Cancer biomarker testing represents an important element of the clinical biochemistry service, yet progress in this area in the last two decades has been slow.
News • Dangerous journey
Cosmic rays increase cancer risks for Mars astronauts
The cancer risk for a human mission to Mars has effectively doubled following a UNLV study predicting a dramatic increase in the disease for astronauts traveling to the red planet or on long-term missions outside the protection of Earth’s magnetic field.
News • Neuro-oncology
Study provides better understanding of how brain tumors ‘feed’
All cancer tumors have one thing in common – they must feed themselves to grow and spread, a difficult feat since they are usually in a tumor microenvironment with limited nutrients and oxygen. A study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has revealed new details about how an enzyme called acetyl-CoA synthetase 2 (ACSS2) allows brain tumors to grow despite their harsh…
News • Colorectal cancer
Raising age limit for Lynch syndrome testing may save lives
Raising the age limit for routine genetic testing in colorectal cancer could identify more cases of families affected by Lynch syndrome, a condition that accounts for around 5% of all colon cancers, according to new research to be presented at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics.
News • Support recognition
Specialist cancer nurses: the key to best care for cancer patients
Nurses make a central contribution to cancer care and are integral to effective multidisciplinary team working. A new position statement by the European CanCer Organisation (ECCO) ahead of the 1st European Cancer Nursing Day on 18th May 2017 reveals that specialised cancer nursing continues to be frustrated by a continuing lack of uniform regulation and recognition across Europe. Yet, despite…
News • Pediatrics
Watching movies can replace anaesthesia for children in radiotherapy
Children with cancer could be spared dozens of doses of general anaesthesia by projecting a video directly on to the inside of a radiotherapy machine during treatment, according to research presented at the ESTRO 36 conference.
News • Oncology
Radiotherapy could extend lives of pancreatic cancer patients
Patients with early stage pancreatic cancer could be given longer to live if they receive radiotherapy at a high enough dose, according to research presented at the ESTRO 36 conference.
News • Oncology
A clue to where cancer metastases are born
Even in remission, cancer looms. Former cancer patients and their doctors are always on alert for metastatic tumors. Now scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have discovered why some cancers may reoccur after years in remission.
News • Study
Link between blood sugar and brain cancer found
New research further illuminates the surprising relationship between blood sugar and brain tumors and could begin to shed light on how certain cancers develop. While many cancers are more common among those with diabetes, cancerous brain tumors called gliomas are less common among those with elevated blood sugar and diabetes, a study from The Ohio State University has found. The discovery builds…
News • Going Viral
An unusual 'friend' to help fight ovarian cancer
In some cases, the Lassa virus starts with a fever and general weakness, moving toward headache, muscle pain, possible facial swelling, deafness, and worse. About 15 percent of patients hospitalized with severe cases die. Lassa fever is contagious, endemic in West Africa, and Dr. Anthony van den Pol thinks he can use it to cure ovarian cancer.
