Category Archives: Cancer Treatment

Men with life expectancies of less than 10 years still receive aggressive treatment for prostate cancer despite guidelines — ScienceDaily

In the first study to rigorously address prostate cancer treatment trends by life expectancy in a large, nationally representative sample, UCLA researchers found that more than half of prostate cancer patients 66 years and older have life expectancies of less than10 years, but half of those still were over-treated for their prostate cancer with surgery, radiation or brachytherapy, the implantation of radioactive seeds in the prostate. Randomized controlled studies have suggested that significant differences in survival between watchful waiting — monitoring the cancer closely but not treating it — and aggressive therapies don’t develop until 10 years after treatment. It only makes sense to not treat men expected to die of something else within 10 years…

Scientists deliver a promising one-two punch for lung cancer

Lung cancer, which affects nonsmokers as well as smokers, is the most common cancer worldwide, causing 1.6 million deaths a year, far more than pancreatic, breast and colon cancer combined. About 30 percent of the most common type of lung cancer (non-small) contains a mutation in a gene called KRAS. …

Immune checkpoint inhibitors may work in brain cancers

The novel research shows that brain metastases have dense concentrations of tumour infiltrating lymphocytes, providing an immunoactive environment. Moreover, both primary and secondary brain cancers often exhibit high expression of the immunosuppressive factor programmed cell death ligand 1 (PDL1), which can be inhibited by new treatments, thus activating the immune system. …

Prostate cancer researchers develop personalized genetic test to accurately predict recurrence risk — ScienceDaily

The findings are published online in Lancet Oncology. Study co-leads Dr. Robert Bristow, a clinician-scientist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and Dr. Paul Boutros, an investigator at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, report that the gene test provides a much-needed quick and accurate tool to determine with greater precision the men who will do well with local treatment only (surgery or radiation), and those who will need extra treatment (chemotherapy and hormone therapy) to ensure the cancer is completely eradicated. …

New ways to drain cancer’s ‘fuel tank’ discovered — ScienceDaily

Cancer stem cells are particularly difficult to eradicate and are at the heart of why it is so hard to more effectively treat cancer patients, as the post-treatment survival of cancer stem cells drives tumor recurrence, the systemic spread of cancer and, ultimately, treatment failure. The researchers, based at the University’s Institute of Cancer Sciences and the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute — both part of the Manchester Cancer Research Centre — investigated the role of mitochondria which produce and release energy within cells…

Treatment breakthrough for advanced bladder cancer — ScienceDaily

Published today in Nature, the study examined an antibody (MPDL3280A) which blocks a protein (PD-L1) thought to help cancer cells evade immune detection. In a phase one, multi-centre international clinical trial, 68 patients with advanced bladder cancer (who had failed all other standard treatments such as chemotherapy) received MPDL3280A, a cancer immunotherapy medicine being developed by Roche. In addition, patients were all tested for the protein PD-L1 and around 30 were identified as having PD-L1 positive tumours. After six weeks of treatment, 43 per cent of PD-L1-positive patients found their tumour had shrunk…

Vaccines may make war on cancer personal

Like flu vaccines, cancer vaccines in development are designed to alert the immune system to be on the lookout for dangerous invaders. But instead of preparing the immune system for potential pathogen attacks, the vaccines will help key immune cells recognize the unique features of cancer cells already present in the body. …

Treatment breakthrough for advanced bladder cancer

Published today in Nature, the study examined an antibody (MPDL3280A) which blocks a protein (PD-L1) thought to help cancer cells evade immune detection. In a phase one, multi-centre international clinical trial, 68 patients with advanced bladder cancer (who had failed all other standard treatments such as chemotherapy) received MPDL3280A, a cancer immunotherapy medicine being developed by Roche. In addition, patients were all tested for the protein PD-L1 and around 30 were identified as having PD-L1 positive tumours. After six weeks of treatment, 43 per cent of PD-L1-positive patients found their tumour had shrunk…

Cheap malaria drug could treat colorectal cancer effectively too, say experts

A pilot study by researchers at St George’s, University of London, has found the drug artesunate, which is a widely used anti-malaria medicine, had a promising effect on reducing the multiplication of tumour cells in colorectal cancer patients who were already going to have their cancer surgically removed. Colorectal cancer (CRC) makes up about 10 percent of the annual 746,000 global cancer cases in men and 614,000 cases in women. …