Tag Archives: king

Discrepancies in access to new cancer drugs revealed

Researchers say the results demonstrate the need for better collaboration between doctors and health authorities on an international scale, to ensure patients have access to the best treatments. Coordinated action is needed at an international level to ensure new cancer-fighting drugs are approved in a timely manner, oncologists said at the Congress. Their call came after a survey revealed that patients in some regions sometimes wait years longer than their counterparts elsewhere for new drugs to be approved. The drug approval process is important to ensure that safe and effective therapies are made available for patients, explains study senior author Dr Sunil Verma from Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Center, Toronto, Canada. …

Discovery may lead to better treatments for autoimmune diseases, bone loss

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis redesigned a molecule that controls immune cell activity, changing the molecule’s target and altering the effects of the signal it sends. Current treatments for bone loss and autoimmune disorders block these molecules and their signals indiscriminately, which over time increases the risk of infections and cancer. …

New anti-cancer peptide vaccines and inhibitors developed — ScienceDaily

Two studies, published in the journal OncoImmunology, identify new peptide vaccines and inhibitors that target the HER-3 and IGF-1R receptors. All four agents elicited significant anti-tumor responses in human cancer cell lines and in animal models. The studies suggest that combining two peptide agents that target different cell receptors can significantly boost their effectiveness and might prevent or overcome the drug resistance that often occurs with standard single-drug treatments that target HER-2…

Directed evolution: Bioengineered decoy protein may stop cancer from spreading

This process, known as metastasis, can cause cancer to spread with deadly effect. “The majority of patients who succumb to cancer fall prey to metastatic forms of the disease,” said Jennifer Cochran, an associate professor of bioengineering who describes a new therapeutic approach in Nature Chemical Biology. Today doctors try to slow or stop metastasis with chemotherapy, but these treatments are unfortunately not very effective and have severe side effects…

E-cigarettes unhelpful in smoking cessation among cancer patients, study shows

Because of the risks of persistent smoking, all cancer patients who smoke should be advised to quit. But the rising use of e-cigarettes has raised many questions among patients and their health care providers including whether e-cigarette use helps or hinders quitting efforts. Even regulators are struggling with the complexities associated with e-cigarettes as they weigh the benefits and risks to the general population and subgroups of individuals…