Medical News Today: Oncology News

Janssen-Cilag is disappointed that recommendations from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) will limit patient access to Velcade (bortezomib) in newly diagnosed (front-line) multiple myeloma...

Some nuclear-based breast imaging exams may increase a woman's risk of developing radiation-induced cancer, according to a special report appearing online and in the October issue of Radiology. However, the radiation dose and risk from mammography are very low...

In a joint study conducted by Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and a research group at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, researchers have now discovered that lipid peroxides* play a specific physiological role in the cell. Prior to this study, scientists had already established that accumulation of lipid peroxides* indicate cell stress...

In draft guidance published today (26 August 2010) NICE has recommended two treatments for multiple myeloma. Thalidomide (Thalidomide, Celgene) in combination with an alkylating agent and a corticosteroid is recommended for the first-line treatment of multiple myeloma in people for whom high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplantation is considered inappropriate...

Responding to the interim decision by NICE not to recommend bevacizumab (Avastin) as a treatment for metastic colorectal cancer, Mike Hobday, Head of Policy at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: 'We think this is devastating news for cancer patients with metastic colorectal cancer, especially as this drug could have a significant impact on peoples' quality of life...

Cancer Research Technology has signed an agreement with Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Germany to evaluate new leptin antagonist peptides as potential experimental treatments initially in the area of gynaecological diseases, including cancer...

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the world's oldest and largest cancer research organization, reiterates its support for the responsible conduct of human embryonic stem cell research that, up until this week, was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and expresses concern that the recent Federal District Court injunction to block federal funding ...

A novel mechanism used by adenovirus to sidestep the cell's suicide program, could go a long way to explain how tumor suppressor genes are silenced in tumor cells and pave the way for a new type of targeted cancer therapy, report researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in the Aug. 26, 2010 issue of Nature...

A phase 1 clinical trial using a new formulation of an experimental drug that targets the BRAF cancer gene, has shown early promise in treating melanoma in patients with a mutated form of the gene and whose skin cancer has progressed to the metastatic stage. A paper on the trial appears in the 26 August issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, NEJM...

Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. (NASDAQ: SNTA), a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing small molecule drugs to treat severe medical conditions, announced that the first patient has been treated in its clinical trial of STA-9090 in combination with docetaxel for the treatment of advanced solid tumor malignancies...

SIAM awards the Julian Cole Lectureship every four years for an outstanding contribution toward the mathematical characterization and solution of a challenging problem in the physical or biological sciences, or in engineering. Contributions in the development of mathematical methods for the solution of such problems are also recognized...

Scientists have discovered that when nicotine binds to nAchRs (nicotinic acetylcholine receptors), it may not only promote addiction, but breast cancer as well. We know that non-nicotine components of smoking are carcinogens, however, very little is known about how nicotine acts on cells to encourage cancer growth, the scientists explain...

Researchers at the BC Cancer Agency Genome Sciences Centre have provided the first published example of genome-scale RNA and DNA sequencing of a tumour to aid in clinical decision making and therapeutic choice. Published in the journal Genome Biology, the research focuses on a rare tumour of the tongue, which had progressed to metastatic disease...

On Monday, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists released recommendations that girls should be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus at ages 11 or 12, Reuters reports. The recommendations, published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, back government guidelines on HPV vaccination...

As changes mandated by the health law continue to emerge, news outlets are exploring how the measure will alter the landscape for consumers and for insurance professionals. Kaiser Health News: One cancer patient, seeking to join get an experimental drug, found that his access was hindered by his insurance coverage...

Researchers from the University of Massachusetts Medical School have identified a novel approach of combining chemotherapy with a targeted therapy to decrease the recurrence of glioblastoma multiforme, the most common and aggressive brain tumor. "Glioblastomas are horrendous tumors, and new therapies are desperately needed," said lead researcher Alonzo H. Ross, Ph.D...

To their deep dismay, researchers at Mayo Clinic discovered several years ago that laboratory samples of anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) they were using to help them find new treatments for this lethal disease were probably some other kind of cancer. It quickly became evident that the situation in their lab was common throughout the world...

Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRIS), a drug development company seeking to develop next generation targeted small molecule drug candidates for cancer treatment, announced that it has received preliminary results from a Phase II clinical trial of GDC-0449 from Roche and Genentech, Curis' collaborator and a member of the Roche Group...

Celsion Corporation (Nasdaq: CLSN), a leading oncology drug development company, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has designated the HEAT Study of its investigational drug, ThermoDox®, in combination with radiofrequency ablation (RFA), as a Fast Track Development Program...

Today, leukemia patients who have struggled with cancer therapy resistance and intolerance will now have more options thanks to targeted drug therapy. Such new treatment options are due, in part, to a rapid increase in journal and patent publications following the discovery of Gleevec, as reported by Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), the world's authority for chemical information...