Copyright 2009 Medical News Today Latest Cancer / Oncology News From Medical News Today. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/cancer-oncology/ admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin) editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors) en-us Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169850.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169850.php MagForce Nanotechnologies AG, the Berlin-based medical technology company majority owned by Nanostart AG, today announced the successful completion of final trials demonstrating the efficacy of its Nano-Cancer® therapy in patients with recurrent glioblastoma, a frequent form of brain tumor which is highly malignant. The actual study results significantly exceeded the study objective. Cancer / Oncology Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169858.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169858.php Predictive Biosciences Inc. today announced the publication of pilot study results in the November issue of the Journal of Urology, highlighting the Company's novel urinary biomarker approach to bladder cancer detection that achieves exceptionally high Negative and Positive Predictive Values (NPV and PPV). Urology / Nephrology Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169817.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169817.php Optic nerve sheath meningiomas are rare tumors that are traditionally treated with surgery, which is typically a blinding procedure. However, researchers from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital have found that a specialized type of radiation therapy offers the same local control, with fewer adverse effects on vision. The investigators presented their data at the 51st ASTRO Annual Meeting (Abstract #2676/B-261). Eye Health / Blindness Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169834.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169834.php Clinical researchers at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) have confirmed that patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell cancer ("tonsil cancer") harbour a common type of human papilloma virus (HPV16), but also that such cancers are very sensitive to radiation. For some patients, this may mean successful treatment with radiation alone and avoiding the side effects of chemotherapy. "This represents the power of personalized medicine. Cancer / Oncology Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169839.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169839.php Radiation oncologists at Rush University Medical Center are intent on finding ways to avoid damage to the critically important hippocampus and limbic circuit of the brain when cranial radiation is required to treat existing or potential metastatic cancers. The goal is to spare these areas, which are responsible for short-term memory, as well as emotions, motivation, and a range of executive functions, such as planning and decision-making. Neurology / Neuroscience Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169773.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169773.php Treating a common brain tumor with multiple sessions of radiation appears to result in less brain swelling than treating the tumor once with a high dose of radiation, say researchers from the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University Hospital. Benign brain tumors known as meningiomas are often treated with a single, high dose of radiation using stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). At Georgetown, SRS is conducted using CyberKnife. Neurology / Neuroscience Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169774.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169774.php A pair of studies in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, lay to rest the decades-long concern that lower total cholesterol may lead to cancer, and in fact lower cholesterol may reduce the risk of high-grade prostate cancer. Demetrius Albanes, M.D., a senior investigator at the National Cancer Institute, said early studies suggested that low cholesterol could increase the risk of certain types of cancer. Cholesterol Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169822.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169822.php Two new studies from the US published this week negate concerns that have been around since early studies done decades ago suggested that low cholesterol leads to some types of cancer: one in fact affirms that undiagnosed cancer is the likely cause of lower total cholesterol while the other found evidence linking low cholesterol and decreased risk of high-grade prostate cancer among older men. Cholesterol Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169681.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169681.php Pateamine A (PatA), a natural product first isolated from marine sponges, has attracted considerable attention as a potential anti-cancer agent, and now a new activity has been found for it, which may reveal yet another anti-cancer mechanism. That's the assessment of Daniel Romo, a Texas A&M chemistry professor, and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins University who are pioneers in research involving this novel marine natural product. Cancer / Oncology Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169655.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169655.php Alexandra Wilson was just 4 when she was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia, a cancer affecting blood and blood marrow. Eleven years after completing treatment at Children's Medical Center Dallas she experienced heart abnormalities as a result of her chemotherapy. The sophomore at UT Dallas now receives her follow-up treatment at UT Southwestern Medical Center. "My doctors expected me to have complications because of the chemotherapy," said Ms. Wilson. Cancer / Oncology Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169640.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169640.php Guided Therapeutics, Inc. (GT) (Pink Sheets: GTHP) today announced plans to introduce its LightTouch™ non-invasive cancer detection technology at Medica 2009 in Düsseldorf, Germany November 18 - 20, 2009. GT will be showcasing the LightTouch Cervical Neoplasia Detection System in anticipation of a 2010 international launch. Cancer / Oncology Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169644.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169644.php An international team of physicists at Los Alamos National Laboratory has succeeded in using intense laser light to accelerate protons to energies never before achieved. Using this technique, scientists can now accelerate particles to extremely high velocities that would otherwise only be possible using large accelerator facilities. Physicists around the world are examining laser particle acceleration and laser produced radiation for potential future uses in cancer treatment. Cancer / Oncology Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169579.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169579.php Going smaller could bring better results, especially when it comes to cancer-fighting drugs. Duke University bioengineers have developed a simple and inexpensive method for loading cancer drug payloads into nano-scale delivery vehicles and demonstrated in animal models that this new nanoformulation can eliminate tumors after a single treatment. Cancer / Oncology Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169610.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169610.php "Heart and cancer doctors will get a smaller fee cut next year from Medicare, the U.S. government program for the elderly, than the Obama administration first sought in a move to shift money to family physicians," Bloomberg reports. Earlier this year, Medicare officials said they would cut 10 percent of payments for the two specialties. Now, they plan on making the reductions over four years, instead. Cardiovascular / Cardiology Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169580.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169580.php In campy old movies, Lucretia Borgia swans around emptying powder from her ring into wine glasses carelessly left unattended. The poison ring is usually a confection of gold filigree holding a cabochon or faceted gemstone that can be broken to empty the ring's contents. It is invariably enormous - so large it is rather odd nobody seems to notice it. Lucretia would have given her eyeteeth for the "smart capsule" devised in Younan Xia's laboratory at Washington University in St. Biology / Biochemistry Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169585.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169585.php Researchers from University Hospitals Case Medical Center report promising results from a cutting-edge research study that treated the aggressive brain tumors glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) using a novel type of imaging called MR spectroscopy coupled with high dose radiation in the form of Gamma Knife radiosurgery. Patients' survival rates increased by almost four months (3.7 months) compared with patients who were treated with traditional conventional radiotherapy alone. Neurology / Neuroscience Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169569.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169569.php The immune system's T cells have the unique responsibilities of being both jury and executioner. They examine other cells for signs of disease, including cancers or infections, and, if such evidence is found, rid them from the body. Precisely how T cells shift so swiftly from one role to another, however, has been a mystery. Biology / Biochemistry Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169574.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169574.php University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine researchers have identified the important role a protein plays in the body's first line of defense in directing immune cells called neutrophils toward the site of infection or injury. Their results are described online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Immune System / Vaccines Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169530.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169530.php Patients with non-small cell lung cancer treated with preventative brain radiation (called prophylactic cranial irradiation or PCI), significantly decrease their risk of developing brain metastases (cancer spread in the brain) by more than 50 percent (from 18 percent to 8 percent), compared to th Lung Cancer Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169531.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169531.php High-risk melanoma patients who are treated with radiation after surgery have a significantly lower risk of their cancer returning to the lymph nodes (19 percent), compared to those patients who do not have radiation therapy (31 percent), according to the first randomized study of its kind presented at the plenary session, November 2, 2009, at the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). Melanoma / Skin Cancer Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169532.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169532.php After mastectomy, breast cancer patients who receive radiation treatment to the lymph nodes located behind the breast bone do not live longer than those who do not receive radiation to this hard-to-treat area, according to a randomized 10-year study presented at the plenary session, November 2, 2009, at the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). Breast Cancer Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169533.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169533.php Short-term hormone therapy given prior to and during radiation treatment to medium-risk prostate cancer patients increases their chance of living longer, compared to those who receive radiation alone, however there is no significant benefit for low-risk patients, according to the largest randomized study of its kind presented at the plenary session November 2, 2009, at the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). Prostate / Prostate Cancer Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169514.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169514.php Below is a statement for attribution to ASCO CEO Allen S. Lichter, MD: "Today, CMS issued its physician fee schedule for 2010. The schedule included a one percent cut to oncology services in 2010, part of an overall six percent reduction in reimbursement for cancer care over the next four years. We are deeply concerned that these cuts will continue to erode access to cancer care in the United States. Cancer / Oncology Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169495.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169495.php Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLDX) announced positive results from Phase 1 studies of CDX-1307 in patients with advanced epithelial cancers, including breast, colon, bladder and pancreatic cancer. Cancer / Oncology Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169496.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169496.php Results of two phase 1 studies demonstrate that the novel, investigational cancer vaccines MKC1106-MT and MKC1106-PP are well-tolerated and show encouraging immune response rates and objective tumor response in advanced melanoma, prostate cancer and other solid malignancies, setting the stage for phase 2 studies. The data are being presented at the International Society for Biological Therapy of Cancer 2009 Annual Meeting. Melanoma / Skin Cancer