An article supported by nearly 120 leukemia specialists published today in Blood, the most cited peer-reviewed publication in the field of hematology published by the American Society of Hematology, increases in costs of treatments for chronic myeloid leukemia…

Neuroblastoma is a malignancy of the developing sympathetic nervous system that often presents with widespread metastatic disease, resulting in survival rates of less than 50%. While most neuroblastomas strike in a young child's chest or abdomen in the adrenal gland or next to the spinal cord, or in the chest, the disease can spread to the bones (face, skull, pelvis, shoulders, arms, and legs), bone marrow, liver, lymph nodes, skin, and around the eyes (orbits). Neuroblastoma is most…

Preclinical and clinical studies with AEZS-108 (AN-152, zoptarelin doxorubicin; Aeterna Zentaris) a hybrid molecule composed of a targeted cytotoxic peptide conjugate analog designed for receptor-mediated targeted chemotherapy consisting of an Luteinizing Hormone Releasing Hormone carrier (LHRH; also known as gonadotropin-releasing hormone) linked to the cytotoxic agent …

A large population- and health systems-based prospective study reports earlier discussions about end of life (EOL) care preferences are strongly associated with less aggressive care in the last days of life and increased use of hospice care for patients with advanced cancer. The study, published November 13, 2012 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, provides the first-of-its –kind scientific evidence that timing of End of…

Ensuring that cancer patients across Europe have equal access to the best possible cancer care, including early diagnosis, treatment and supportive care, is a medical and ethical imperative, Prof Martine Piccart (photo), the President of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), said at on Tuesday.

Speaking on the final day of the ESMO 2012 Congress in Vienna, which was attended by 16,402 persons from over 100…

One third of cancer patients are unaware of the fact that it is now possible to determine who is most likely to benefit from particular treatments, according to new survey data presented at ESMO 2012, the meeting of the European Society for Medical Oncology in Vienna, Austria (September 28 - October 2, 2012).…

According to findings published by the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance (AACII), cancer was last year (2011) the leading cause for critical illness insurance claims. Nearly half of all claims were for patients between ages 35 and 54. Stroke was the second leading cause followed by heart attack.



"Every year millions of Americans hear the dreaded words from a doctor, you have cancer or…

Earlier today, Bert Vorstman, M.D., a Florida urologist with nearly 30 years expertise in prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment, launched a series of exclusive medical reports detailing information and misinformation about prostate cancer screening and treatment options, including myths and marketing related information behind.



Vorstman releases his…

A groundbreaking new prostate cancer screening test – approved by the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and currently available in Europe and Australia – may change the face of screening through its more accurate readings and reduction of false-positive results.



Prostate cancer remains the second…

Results of an international Phase III trial demonstrate that the new targeted oral drug, regorafenib, which targets angiogenic, stromal and oncogenic receptor tyrosine kinase, can improve outcomes for patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) that progress due to resistance to other available treatment options, including imatinib (Gleevec®, Novartis) and sunitinib (…

An initial combination chemotherapy of bendamustine (Treanda®; Cephalon, Inc) and rituximab (Rituxan®, Genentech/Biogen IDEC) more than doubled progression-free survival (PFS) compared with R-CHOP therapy, the current standard of care, among patients with previously untreated indolent or slow-growing lymphoma and mantle cell lymphoma. This outcome is based on updated…

While more men are being diagnosed with the prostate cancer, fewer are dying from the disease. Data from the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries and the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that in 2012, incidence rates of prostate cancer will increase slightly, while death rates from the disease will decrease. In 2011, 33,720 men died from the disease,…

Routine use of positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scans in head and neck cancer patient follow-up can detect local recurrences before they become clinically apparent and may improve the outcome of subsequent salvage therapy, according to a study presented at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium, held from January 26-28, 2012 in the Biltmore, Phoenix, Arizona.



Extracranial head-and-neck carcinomas constitute of less…

Patients treated with Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy or IMRT for head and neck cancer report an increasingly better quality of life post-treatment when compared to patients receiving other forms of radiation therapy, according to a study presented at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium, held from January 26-28, 2012 in the Biltmore, Phoenix, Arizona.



Intensity modulated radiation therapy, or IMRT, is a highly specialized form of…

Researchers re-analyzing the results of a large phase III study of patients with advanced neuroendocrine tumors (NET) found that certain factors, such as bone metastases, having NETs that originate in the lung, and elevated levels of the blood biomarker chromogranin A predict which individuals are at greatest risk for neuroendocrine tumor progression and are more likely to need active therapy. The results of the study were presented at the 9th Annual Gastrointestinal Cancers…

Targeted drugs, which block or disrupt particular molecules involved in the growth of tumors, have been shown to be effective treatments against many types of cancer. A new phase III clinical trial conducted by the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) showed that a targeted therapy called bevacizumab (Avastin®, Genentech/Roche) effectively delayed the progression of…

A large, retrospective study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, a tri-monthly peer-reviewed journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), shows that children of childhood cancer survivors who received prior treatment involving radiation to testes or ovaries and/or chemotherapy with alkylating agents do not have an increased risk for birth…

A recent study focusing on a unique subtype of high-risk B-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) has used advanced genome sequencing to identify new targets for the treatment of this deadly blood cancer.



Acute lymphocytic leukemia is the most common pediatric malignancy, representing almost one-third of all childhood cancers. In particular, relapsed B-cell ALL remains a leading cause of cancer death in…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its orphan drug asparaginase Erwinia chrysanthemi (Erwinaze™ www.erwinaze.com , EUSA Pharma) for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in patients who have developed an allergy (hypersensitivity) to E. coli derived asparaginase and pegaspargase chemotherapy drugs used to treat ALL. The new drug will…

Challenging a half-century-old theory about why chemotherapy agents target cancer, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have devised a test that can predict how effective the drugs will be by determining whether a patient’s tumor cells are already “primed” for death.



In a study published online by the journal Science on October 27, 2011…