The discovery has led to human trials for pancreatic cancer, even in advance of its publication today in the journal Cell. By attacking a wound repair mechanism called fibrosis, the findings may also have implications for other tough-to-treat tumors, such as lung, kidney and liver cancer…
The National Lung Cancer Screening Trial (NLST) has previously shown that LDCT screening of people at high-risk for lung cancer reduces lung cancer mortality by 20%, thus many organizations including the United States Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) have recommend LDCT screening for these individuals. It is thought that if lung cancer is detected at an early stage with screening that it can be cured and the consequences of this are a significant reduction in lung cancer mortality, as the 5-year survival rate for early-stage disease is 54%, and a reduction in the need for expensive and toxic treatments for advanced late-stage lung cancer, which seldom results in a cure as reflected by a 5-year survival rate of 4%. However, in the US 8.6 million people meet the high-risk criteria, which could equate to a significant screening cost…
It is estimated that 2,700 Canadian women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2014 and that 1,750 Canadian women will die from the disease, according to Ovarian Cancer Canada. This cancer is often diagnosed late and develops a resistance to chemotherapy. “What we’ve discovered will help clinicians to better treat women with ovarian cancer,” says Dr. Ben Tsang, senior scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and professor at the University of Ottawa…
The study is published online the week of September 22, 2014 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The tool, known as DESI mass spectrometry imaging (or Desorption ElectroSpray Ionization mass spectrometry imaging), works by turning molecules into electrically charged versions of themselves, called ions, so that they can be identified by their mass. By analyzing the mass of the ions, the contents of a tissue sample can then be identified. The tool sprays a microscopic stream of charged solvent onto the tissue surface to gather information about its molecular makeup and produces a color-coded image revealing the nature and concentration of tumor cells…
Led by Associate Professor Chng Wee Joo, Deputy Director and Senior Principal Investigator at CSI Singapore and Director of the National University Cancer Institute, Singapore, the scientists discovered that inhibition of Leo1 and Leo1 downstream signalling pathways provide an avenue for targeted treatment of AML. The findings were recently published in Cancer Research, the official journal of the American Association of Cancer Research. …
“For the first time, we have established that the genes controlling the length of these telomeres play a part in the risk of developing melanoma,” said lead author of the study Mark Iles, PhD, School of Medicine at the University of Leeds (UK). Telomeres are a part of the genome that function like the plastic caps of your shoelaces, which prevent the laces from fraying…
During early vertebrate development, Nodal, an embryonic growth factor that governs the growth, pattern and position of tissues, is critical for normal maturation. Nodal plays a significant role in maintaining the pluripotency of embryonic stem cells, meaning the ability of stem cells to differentiate into any of the three germ layers that comprise the body. The recent discovery of Nodal’s re-expression in several aggressive and metastatic cancers has highlighted its critical role in self-renewal and maintenance of the stem cell-like characteristics of tumor cells such as melanoma. However, the signaling pathway receptors utilized by melanoma cells to propagate Nodal’s effect remain(s) mostly anecdotal and unexplored…
The cancer-fighting cocktail, which combines the chemotherapy drug cisplatin with pemetrexed — an agent that stops cancer cells from dividing — showed promising results for advanced, persistent, or recurrent cervical cancer. “We found that pemetrexed combined with cisplatin is less toxic, well tolerated, and should be developed for further treatment of cervical cancer,” said gynecologic oncology specialist Dr. …
A study of nearly 4000 Taiwanese, led by Emeritus Professor Mark Wahlqvist from Monash University’s Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine and the Monash Asia Institute, considered the role increased consumption of dairy foods had played in the country’s gains in health and longevity. “In a dominantly Chinese food culture, unaccustomed to dairy foods, consuming them up to seven times � a week does not increase mortality and may have favourable effects on stroke,” Professor Wahlqvist said. Cancer and cardiovascular disease are the leading causes of death among Taiwanese. When Professor Wahlqvist’s study began in 1993, there was little apparent concern about dairy foods, in contrast to a current belief that they may be harmful to health and in particular raise the risk of cancer…
• Don’t recommend radiation following hysterectomy for endometrial cancer patients with low-risk disease. Patients with low-risk endometrial cancer, including no residual disease in hysterectomy despite positive biopsy, grade 1 or 2 with <50 percent myometrial invasion and no additional high-risk features such as age >60, lymphovascular space invasion or cervical involvement have a very low risk of recurrence following surgery. Meta-analysis studies of radiation therapy for low-risk endometrial cancer demonstrate increased side effects with no benefit in overall survival compared with surgery alone. • Don’t routinely offer radiation therapy for patients who have resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), negative margins, N0-1 disease…