Category: News
Cervical cancer is deadlier than previously thought, concluded research published in the journal Cancer. Previous estimates of cervical cancer death rates did not account for women who had their cervixes removed in hysterectomy procedures, which eliminates the risk of developing this cancer. The study used 2002-2012 data from the National Center for Health Statistics and […]
Propranolol, a drug used to treat high blood pressure, is being repurposed for soft tissue sarcoma treatment in Europe. The European Commission recently granted propranolol Orphan Drug Designation, a status assigned to a medicine intended for use against a rare condition. The medicine must fulfill certain criteria for designation as an orphan medicine so that it […]
Sphingolipid Transporter 2 (SPNS2) is a protein-coding gene. A team of researchers at Sanger Institute in Cambridge report that it also led to a three-quarters reduction in tumors spreading to the lungs. [1] “We’ve learned some interesting new biology that we might be able to use — it’s told us this gene is involved in […]
A team of cancer researchers at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel in Switzerland has published in Science Advances that specific cancer cells respond to a combination of a diabetes medication and an antihypertensive drug. At higher doses, the antidiabetic drug Metformin, the most widely prescribed drug for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes, inhibits the […]
Grail is looking to expand its clinical validation of blood test for early-stage cancer detection through a venture capital investment of $1 billion. In a news release, the company said it will use the proceeds for continued development of its blood-based test for cancer screening, which will require large-scale clinical trials including the previously announced […]
A Cancer Statistics, 2017 report published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians states the death rate from all cancers combined in the United States has dropped by 25 percent during the past 25 years. “Cancer death rates peaked in the United States in 1991 and they’ve gone down 1 to 2 percent every year ever since,” Dr. Otis […]
Cancer cells have developed a multitude of mechanisms that allow them to evade destruction by the immune system. One of these escape mechanisms involves an immune cell called myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC). A study led by Sharon Evans, Ph.D., Professor of Oncology and Immunology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, provided new insight into how MDSCs […]
Glioblastoma multiforme (GMB) — the most common malignant primary brain tumor — is known for its ability to relapse. Researchers at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have identified a pathway by which cancer cells spread and grow in the brain, opening up new possibilities for treatment. [1] Primary brain tumors arise […]
Jennifer Chaussee of WIRED notes that a couple years ago, a researcher named Curtis Ellison took the podium in a crowded lecture hall at Boston University’s School of Public Health to tackle a question that had divided the university’s public health community: whether moderate drinking of alcohol should be recommended as part of a healthy […]
NPR’s Michelle Andrews writes that privately insured people with cancer were diagnosed earlier and lived longer than those who were uninsured or were covered by Medicaid, according to two recent studies. Both studies, published online in the journal Cancer in August, relied on data from the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program. […]