A population-based analysis of more than 3,000 families including women with breast cancer, published online October 31, 2011, in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, a tri-monthly peer-reviewed journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), found that close relatives of women who carry mutations in a BRCA gene – but who themselves do not have such genetic…

Scientists at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia (Canada) have identified a key mechanism of metastasis that could lead to blocking tumor growth if their findings are confirmed.



In a recent issue of Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research (…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today authorized Circadian Technologies Ltd. to initiate clinical trials with its investigational new drug VGX-100. The first Phase I trials will study VGX-100 in patients with a variety of late stage cancers.



VGX-100 is a fully human antibody that acts against the human VEGF-C protein. Treatment for…

Battling melanoma is tough. Battling a rare and often overlooked melanoma can make the battle even tougher. That's why the Melanoma Research Foundation (MRF) is launching an initiative to give greater voice to patients fighting melanoma that affects the eye.



Ocular melanoma develops in the eye and is the most common eye cancer in adults and the second most common type of melanoma. About 2,000 Americans…

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…

A new fourth-generation oncolytic virus designed to both kill cancer cells and inhibit blood-vessel growth has shown greater effectiveness than earlier versions when tested in animal models of human brain cancer.



Researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) are developing the oncolytic…

A new fourth-generation oncolytic virus designed to both kill cancer cells and inhibit blood-vessel growth has shown greater effectiveness than earlier versions when tested in animal models of human brain cancer.



Researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) are developing the oncolytic…

The addition of ascorbate (vitamin C) or its close relative, erythorbate, and the reduced amount of nitrite added in hot dogs, mandated in 1978, have been accompanied by a steep drop in the death rate from colon cancer, according to data presented at the 10th AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, held in Boston,…

Drinking plenty of fluids may provide men with some protection against bladder cancer, according to a study presented at the 10th AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, held in Boston, Massachusetts (USA), Oct. 22-25, 2011.



Although the study did not determine why increased fluid intake might…

Use of acetaminophen and nonaspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) was associated with a significantly increased risk for developing renal cell carcinoma, according to data presented at the 10th AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, held in Boston, Massachusetts (USA), Oct. 22-25, 2011.…

Researchers confirmed an association between tanning bed use and an increased risk for three common skin cancers — basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma, according to results presented at the 10th AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, held in Boston, Massachusetts (USA), Oct. 22-25,…

Caffeine could be related to an inverse association between basal cell carcinoma risk and consumption of coffee, a study found. The prospective study, presented at the 10th AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, held in Boston, Massachusetts (USA), Oct. 22-25, 2011, examined the risks of basal cell carcinoma (BCC),…

Researchers may have found a specific dietary pattern linked to levels of C-peptide concentrations that increase a woman’s risk for colorectal cancer.



“High red meat intake, fish intake, sugar-sweetened beverage intake, but low coffee, whole grains and high-fat dairy intake, when taken as a whole, seemed to be associated with higher levels of C-peptide in the blood,” said Teresa T. Fung, S.D., R.D., professor of nutrition at Simmons College in Boston, who…

Body weight in young adulthood and diet appeared to be associated with the risk for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, according to results presented at the 10th AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, held in Boston, Massachusetts (USA), Oct. 22-25, 2011.



“The causes of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) are poorly…

An antiparasitic agent used to treat African sleeping sickness (Human African trypanosomiasis or HAT)might someday be used to prevent nonmelanoma skin cancers. Researchers found that Eflornithine (DFMO, or α-difluoromethylornithine), still appeared to protect against nonmelanoma skin cancers years after people stopped taking the drug, according to a poster presented at the 10th AACR International Conference on…

Postmenopausal women who gained weight during adulthood had an increased risk for endometrial cancer, a cancer that starts in the endometrium or the lining of the uterus (womb), compared with women who maintained a stable weight, according to data from the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Prevention Study II…

Postmenopausal women who reported having used nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for at least 10 years at the time of enrollment in the Women’s Health Initiative study had a lower risk for death from colorectal cancer compared with women who reported no use of these drugs at enrollment, according to data presented at the 10th AACR International Conference on…

For the first time, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute have found strikingly high levels of a bacterium in colorectal cancers. The researchers believe that the bacterium may contribute to the disease and could potentially be a key to diagnosing, preventing, and treating it.



In a study published online in the…

A US national health advisory panel is recommending against using a common prostate cancer screening test in healthy men, a finding that many cancer experts specializing in the treatment of prostate cancer view as misguided.



The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) reviewed data from five screening trials and concluded that prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing, a widely used screening method, “results in small or no reduction in…

Researchers expect that over the next decade, the population of cancer survivors over 65 years of age will increase by approximately 42%.



“We can expect a dramatic increase in the number of older adults who are diagnosed with or carry a history of cancer,” said Julia Rowland, Ph.D., director of the Office of Cancer Survivorship in the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences at the…