Tag Archives: united

Trastuzumab should remain as standard of care for HER2-positive breast cancer, trial suggests — ScienceDaily

This study, being presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2014 Congress in Madrid, reveals that when used as a single HER2-targeted therapy in addition to standard chemotherapy, trastuzumab offers a better outcome than does lapatinib (Tykerb), says Edith A. Perez, M.D., deputy director at large, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center and director of the Breast Cancer Translational Genomics Program at Mayo Clinic in Florida. Dr. Perez is co-chair of ALTTO (Adjuvant Lapatinib and/or Trastuzumab Treatment Optimization study). …

Biochemists solve ‘address problem’ in cells that leads to lethal kidney disease

Led by Carla Koehler, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry in the UCLA College, the researchers identified a compound called dequalinium chloride, or DECA, that can prevent a metabolic enzyme from going to the wrong location within a cell. Ensuring that the enzyme — called alanine: glyoxylate aminotransferase, or AGT — goes to the proper “address” in the cell prevents PH1. The findings were published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and will appear later in the journal’s print edition. …

Study questions accuracy of lung cancer screens with FDG-PET technology in some geographic regions

Histoplasmosis and other fungal diseases are linked to fungi that are often concentrated in bird droppings and are found in soils. The study by investigators at Vanderbilt University and the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System-Veterans Affairs was led by Vanderbilt first author Stephen Deppen, Ph.D., and principal investigator Eric Grogan, M.D., MPH, and appeared in the Sept. 24 issue of JAMA. …

Study questions accuracy of lung cancer screens in some geographic regions

Histoplasmosis and other fungal diseases are linked to fungi that are often concentrated in bird droppings and are found in soils. The study by investigators at Vanderbilt University and the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System-Veterans Affairs was led by Vanderbilt first author Stephen Deppen, Ph.D., and principal investigator Eric Grogan, M.D., MPH, and appeared in the Sept. 24 issue of JAMA. Positron emission tomography (PET) combined with fludeoxyglucose F18 (FDG) is currently recommended for the noninvasive diagnosis of lung nodules suspicious for lung cancer…

Melanoma risk found to have genetic determinant

“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…

Mobility in cancer patients with malignant spinal cord compression

Malignant spinal cord compression (MSCC) is a complication of metastatic cancer mostly with bone involvement that occurs when a tumor’s secondary deposit presses on the spinal cord and nerves. This pressure exposes patients to neurological damage that can result in pain, loss of muscle strength and function of one or more of the senses. In some cases, the neurological damage can lead to paralysis of the entire body below the neck or paralysis of one or more limbs. …

Radiation therapy does not increase risk of lymphedema in node-negative breast cancer patients, study suggests — ScienceDaily

The original NSABP B-32 study was a randomized trial of sentinel node biopsy (SNB) versus SNB + axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) in 5,611 women with clinically node-negative breast cancer. The study was initiated to determine if SNB was as effective as ALND with fewer side effects. Although designed to assess the impact of type of axillary surgery specifically on lymphedema risk, the NSABP B-32 trial also provided the opportunity to evaluate the impact of radiation therapy (RT) on lymphedema risk. …

Cancer-fighting cocktail demonstrates promising results as treatment for advanced cervical cancer

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. …

Study estimates number of U.S. women potentially impacted by breast density notification legislation — ScienceDaily

Now for the first time, a new study published in the September 2014 Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI) and led by Brian Sprague, Ph.D., a University of Vermont assistant professor of surgery and member of the Vermont Cancer Center, estimates the number of women in the United States for whom breast density notification legislation would potentially impact. The study was conducted with the National Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium and utilizes data from breast cancer screening registries based at the University of Vermont, the Group Health Research Institute (Seattle, WA), the University of North Carolina, Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine, the University of California-San Francisco, and the University of New Mexico. Given their findings, Sprague and his research team are asking policy makers to consider the large number of women who fall into the category of having mammographically-dense breasts in the U.S…

Simeprevir in hepatitis C: Added benefit for certain patients

The drug manufacturer dossier provided indications and hints of an added benefit of simeprevir when the patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 have been untreated before or have relapsed after initially successful treatment. It is not possible to rate the extent of added benefit, however…