Tumour

SyMRI to be studied as a technology to characterize brain tumors

SyntheticMR and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have signed a research agreement to study SyMRI to characterize brain tumors.

Real-time data for cancer therapy

In the battle against cancer, which kills nearly 8 million people worldwide each year, doctors have in their arsenal many powerful weapons, including various forms of chemotherapy and radiation. What they lack, however, is good reconnaissance — a reliable way to obtain real-time data about how well a particular therapy is working for any given patient.

Nanospheres deliver high chemotherapy doses

Scientists have designed nanoparticles that release drugs in the presence of a class of proteins that enable cancers to metastasize. That is, they have engineered a drug delivery system so that the very enzymes that make cancers dangerous could instead guide their destruction.

News • Bioreactor

Cancer treatment models get real

Researchers at Rice University and University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have developed a way to mimic the conditions under which cancer tumors grow in bones.

Article • Multimodal imaging

Imaging probe yields double insight

An organic dye that can light up cancer cells for two powerful imaging techniques providing complementary diagnostic information has been developed and successfully tested in mice by A*STAR researchers.

News • Immunotherapy

apceth and University of Cologne to Join Forces

apceth announced a broad partnership with the Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (CMMC), University of Cologne, to combine technologies and expertise, on the development of immunotherapies for solid tumors and haematological malignancies. The collaboration will start immediately and is based on combinations of Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cells, developed at the laboratory of Prof Hinrich…

News • ADAM17

Fight against cancer: Researchers map important enzyme

Danish researchers from the University of Copenhagen have discovered what controls the enzyme that aids the growth of cancer tumours. These findings could be of great value to cancer treatments and has just been published in the renowned journal, Nature Communications.

News • Gene defects

Cancer brake failure leads to brain cancer

Tumor suppressor genes protect against cancer. Until now, scientists have had to perform complex experiments to detect whether or not a mutation or loss of this gene type does, in fact, cause cancer. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have now used a new gene technology method called CRISPR/Cas9 technology for this detection.

First full genome of a living organism assembled

Researchers in Canada and the U.K. have for the first time sequenced and assembled de novo the full genome of a living organism, the bacteria Escherichia Coli, using Oxford Nanopore's MinIONTM device, a genome sequencer that can fit in the palm of your hand.

Study finds gene mutations sensitize tumors to specific cancer drugs

Mutations in ARID1a, which are common in many cancer types, disrupt DNA damage repair in cancer cells, allowing the cancer to progress. This gene may also be an Achilles' heel when treating certain tumors, according to a team of researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Article • Cancer diagnostics II

New nanoparticle could enhance MRI scanning

Scientists in the UK have designed a new self-assembling nano­particle that targets tumours and could lead to quicker diagnosis of cancer. Researchers at Imperial College London report that a new self-assembling nanoparticle can adhere to cancer cells, thus making them visible in MRI scans and possibly eliminate the need for invasive tissue biopsies. Report: Mark Nicholls

Article • Head and Neck Radiology

The Radiologist’s Fear of Spaces

Imaging the head and neck is only rarely practised in radiology training and is highly complex and particulate, which is why, during our discussion with Professor Birgit Ertl-Wagner, Head of MRI at the Institute for Clinical Radiology at Grosshadern Hospital, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, she pointed out that many radiologists are not comfortable with orientation around this area. When…

Article • Neuro Imaging

Molecular imaging brings seismic change

Molecular profiling is transforming brain cancer management and radiologists must get to grips with the upcoming paradigm that will affect the way they report findings. Renowned neuroradiologist Professor Anne G. Osborn from the University of Utah, School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, unveiled the latest advances in brain pathology during the Nikola Tesla Honorary Lecture last week at ECR…

Article • Genomics

MRI holds predictive potential in oncology

The ‘MRI of the Adnexa, Essentials and Beyond’ session from at the MR 2015 symposium held in Garmisch, Austria, presented tips and tricks in clinical routine before moving to research that combines imaging and genomic data to better evaluate ovarian cancer. Report: John Brosky

Sponsored • Tomography

Breast ultrasound within seconds

SOFIA is the new automated breast tomography system developed by iVu Imaging and presented at ECR 2015 by Hitachi. The system, beyond its charming name, offers some very charming features indeed which may make SOFIA the most comfortable scanner currently available on the market.

Article • Population Imaging

Ethical considerations arise from incidental findings

ECR 2015 evoked Shakespeare´s repertoire as delegates were asked to ponder the ethical implications of incidental findings in large population imaging studies in Vienna. Report: Mélisande Rouger

News • Head and Neck

Therapy with radioactive beads used for tumors

Researchers at University Medical Center (UMC) Utrecht are developing an innovative cancer treatment with the help of a grant from Alpe d’HuZes/Dutch Cancer Society (KWF) of nearly 300,000 euros. The treatment involves the injection of radioactive beads into tumors, thereby enabling a very precise localized radiotherapy.

Blood vessel lining cells control metastasis

Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg and from the Medical Faculty Mannheim of Heidelberg University treated mice with a combination of a low-dose metronomic chemotherapy and an antibody against Ang-2, a regulatory protein of the blood vessel lining cells. The treated animals had significantly less metastases.

Article • Oncology

Deepening knowledge of the cancer genome

The term ‘cancer’ describes more than 200 different diseases and every single one needs to be clearly understood and requires, ideally, individual treatment. To do this we need to deepen our understanding the cancer genome. Report: Anja Behringer

Article • Immune system

Outwitting cancermechanisms

The human immune system is usually very efficient in protecting the body against diseases by eliminating pathogens as well as infected, damaged or otherwise suspicious cells. However, it often fails because tumours have developed efficient strategies that hamper the system’s ability to detect and destroy the cancer cells. Report. Ludger Weß

Oral vaccination against pancreatic tumours

The world’s first gene cancer therapy study of an innovative oral vaccine is underway at the Surgical Clinic of Heidelberg University Hospital.

The UK’s National Proton Beam Therapy Service

PBT uses a high-energy beam of particles to destroy cancer cells by more accurately targeting the affected areas and is particularly suitable for complex childhood cancers. It also increases success rates and reduces side effects, such as deafness, loss of IQ and secondary cancers.

Visceral medicine in 2011

Excising the entire cancer tumour from the stomach prevents relapses. This procedure can now be performed endoscopically. Holger Zorn reports from the Visceral Medicine 2011 Congress in Leipzig.

Article • Benign tumours

Uterine fibroids: studies indicate high success rate for radiological treatment

Uterine fibroids are the most common benign tumours in women. Treatment is only necessary if the fibroids cause pain and bleeding due to their size and position. Minimally-invasive fibroid embolisation is a gentle, efficient and long-lasting treatment for their removal, leaving the uterus intact. The first evaluations of several international long-term studies have indicated a high success rate…

Article • Research, diagnostics, treatments

Focus on lung cancer

Lung cancer (pulmonary carcinoma) is one of the most common cancers worldwide and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally. The diagnostic and therapeutic options for lung cancer have expanded significantly in recent years. Keep reading for latest developments in screening, biomarker testing, treatment innovations, and ongoing research.