Category Archives: Cancer Knowledge

Researchers identify priority targets for immunotherapy in epithelial ovarian cancer

Epithelial ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecologic cancer in women and has a relapse rate of 85%. “The MAGE family of proteins is part of a class of CTAs that may serve as a target for directed immunotherapy in ovarian cancer and other types of cancer,” said senior author Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD, FRCOG, FACOG, M. Steven Piver Professor of Gynecologic Oncology and Executive Director of the Center for Immunotherapy at RPCI. “To achieve the important goal of tumor-directed immunity for ovarian cancer immunotherapy, it is critical to determine the extent to which this family of CTA molecules is expressed in these tumor cells.” Dr…

Overweight and obesity linked to 10 common cancers, over 12,000 cases every year in UK

UK researchers at the London School of Hygiene &Tropical Medicine and the Farr Institute of Health Informatics estimate that over 12,000 cases of these 10 cancers each year are attributable to being overweight or obese, and calculate that if average BMI in the population continues to increase, there could be over 3500 extra cancers every year as a result. “The number of people who are overweight or obese is rapidly increasing both in the UK and worldwide. It is well recognised that this is likely to cause more diabetes and cardiovascular disease. …

Leukemia: Scientists make major breakthrough in understanding disease

The study was conducted amongst children with Down’s syndrome — who are 20-50 times more prone to childhood leukemias than other children — and involved analysing the DNA sequence of patients at different stages of leukemia. The researchers uncovered that two key genes (called RAS and JAK) can mutate to turn normal blood cells into cancer cells. However, these two genes never mutate together, as one seems to exclude the other. This discovery means we can begin to identify which of the two genes are mutated in patients, and therefore more effectively target their cancer in lower doses (reducing toxicity for the patient) with less side-effects…

Calcium isotope analysis used to predict myeloma progression

The researchers tested a new approach to detecting bone loss in cancer patients by using calcium isotope analysis to predict whether myeloma patients are at risk for developing bone lesions, a hallmark of the disease. They believe they have a promising technique that could be used to chart the progression of multiple myeloma, a lethal disease that eventually impacts a patient’s bones. The method could help tailor therapies to protect bone better and also act as a way to monitor for possible disease progression or recurrence. “Multiple myeloma is a blood cancer that can cause painful and debilitating bone lesions,” said Gwyneth Gordon, an Associate Research Scientist in ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration, and co-lead author of the study…

Prostate cancer diagnosis improves with MRI technology — ScienceDaily

An ultrasound machine provides an imperfect view of the prostate, resulting in an under-diagnosis of cancer, said J. Kellogg Parsons, MD, MHS, the UC San Diego Health System urologic oncologist who, along with Christopher Kane, MD, chair of the Department of Urology and Karim Kader, MD, PhD, urologic oncologist, is pioneering the new technology at Moores Cancer Center. “With an ultrasound exam, we are typically unable to see the most suspicious areas of the prostate so we end up sampling different parts of the prostate that statistically speaking are more likely to have cancer,” said Parsons, who is also an associate professor in the Department of Urology at UC San Diego School of Medicine. “The MRI is a game-changer…

Prostate cancer prevention trial identifies men mostly likely to undergo challenging study procedure — ScienceDaily

The Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial which tested the efficacy of finasteride, a drug used for prostate cancer prevention. This study was conducted by SWOG — a cancer research cooperative group that designs and conducts multidisciplinary clinical trials. …