Tag Archives: united

Searching for magic bullet against cancer caused by asbestos: One step closer?

In December, the research team of Antonio Giordano, a pathologist, Director and Founder of the Sbarro Health Research Organization in Philadelphia, PA, and Professor of Pathology and Oncology at the University of Siena, Italy, published two separate studies aiming to address the urgent need to identify possible new methods for mesothelioma treatment. In the first study, published in the scientific journal Cell Cycle, Giordano’s researchers tested on mesothelioma cells the effect of two drugs designed to reactivate the p53 protein, one of the most important ‘tumor suppressors’, which is turned off in most human cancers. "In mesothelioma, although p53 is rarely mutated, it is inactivated by alterations in its pathway," says Francesca Pentimalli of the National Cancer Institute of Naples, Italy, lead author of the study. …

Eight million lives saved since Surgeon General’s tobacco warning 50 years ago

The study used mathematical models to calculate the long-term effect of the seminal report, and subsequent anti-smoking measures, over the past half-century. These cumulative efforts have significantly reshaped public attitudes and behaviors concerning cigarettes and other forms of tobacco, note the researchers. First author Theodore R…

Costs for complications from cancer surgical care extremely high

The authors’ findings come against the backdrop of rising cancer care costs in the United States, which were estimated at $124.6 billion in 2010 and could rise by 66 percent to $207 billion by 2020. "It is widely known that outcomes after cancer surgery vary widely, depending on interactions between patient, tumor, neoadjuvant therapy and provider factors," said Marah Short, a senior research analyst for the Baker Institute’s Health Policy Forum. "An area of cancer care that has received little attention is the influence of complications on medical outcomes and costs of care…

Diet rich in tomatoes may lower breast cancer risk

Breast cancer risk rises in postmenopausal women as their body mass index climbs. The study found eating a diet high in tomatoes had a positive effect on the level of hormones that play a role in regulating fat and sugar metabolism. "The advantages of eating plenty of tomatoes and tomato-based products, even for a short period, were clearly evident in our findings," said the study’s first author, Adana Llanos, PhD, MPH, who is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at Rutgers University. Llanos completed the research while she was a postdoctoral fellow with Electra Paskett, PhD, at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center — Arthur G. …

Increased survival for metastatic prostate cancer with chemotherapy, hormone therapy together

The independent Data and Safety Monitoring Committee overseeing the trial recommended to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of NIH, that the study results be made public because a recent planned interim analysis showed prolongation in overall survival. Full details from this early analysis will be presented at a scientific meeting in 2014 and in a peer-reviewed publication. The study enrolled 790 men with metastatic prostate cancer between July 2006 and November 2012 in a trial known as E3805. …

Game-changing shift occurring in cancer discovery, treatment

Clinical Cancer Advances 2013: ASCO’s Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer reveals how marked expansion in our knowledge and understanding of cancer is already improving treatment while also pointing the way towards even more effective approaches in the future. Published today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the ASCO report covers a broad range of cancer types and highlights a selection of the most recent achievements across the entire continuum of cancer care, from prevention and screening to treatment and survivorship. "For patients today, these results can be critical. Scientifically, they demonstrate how our long term investment in science and technology can yield practical advances now and in the near future," said ASCO President Clifford A…

Increased attention needed for cancer risk from silica

For centuries, silica has been known to cause lung disease (silicosis). Evidence that silica causes lung cancer has been more recent, accumulating over the last several decades. Writing in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, Kyle Steenland, PhD, at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta, and Elizabeth Ward, PhD, of the American Cancer Society highlight three important developments that hold potential to prevent illness and death from silica exposure at work…

Protein in prostate biopsies signals increased cancer risk

Their findings, reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, are the first to quantify, in the setting of a clinical trial, the increased risk of prostate cancer development from the protein ERG. Traditional means of determining risk of prostate cancer — blood tests for the protein prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and biopsies — do not always correlate well with the chances of dying from the disease. Decisions on what to do with the results of these tests can be unclear, leaving doctors and patients frustrated and unsure of how to proceed. …

Mammography screening intervals may affect breast cancer prognosis

In its earliest stages, breast cancer is confined to the breast and can be treated by surgically removing the cancer cells. As the disease progresses, breast cancer cells may spread to the lymph nodes and then to other areas of the body. "On its pathway to other places in the body, the first place breast cancer typically drains into before metastasizing is the lymph nodes," said Lilian Wang, M.D., assistant professor of radiology at Northwestern University/Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Ill. "When breast cancer has spread into the lymph nodes, the patient is often treated both locally and systemically, with either hormone therapy, chemotherapy, trastuzumab or some combination of these therapies." Historically, healthcare organizations, such as RSNA and the American Cancer Society (ACS), have recommended annual screening with mammography for women beginning at age 40. …