Smoking is associated with increased pain severity and the extent to which pain interfered with a patient’s daily routine. While the relationship between smoking and cancer is well established, in a study led by a Texas A&M University professor, published in the January 2011 issue of PAIN, researcher for the first time report evidence to suggest that cancer patients who continue to smoke, despite their diagnosis, experience greater pain than nonsmokers.…

The European Commission has approved nilotinib (Tasigna®, Novartis) as a treatment for adult patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia (Ph+ CML) in chronic phase.



Nilotinib is indicated for the treatment of adult patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) in the chronic…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved the vaccine Gardasil for the prevention of anal cancer and associated precancerous lesions due to human papillomavirus (HPV) types 6, 11, 16, and 18 in people ages 9 through 26 years. Gardasil already is approved for the same age population for the prevention of cervical, vulvar, and vaginal cancer and the associated precancerous lesions caused by HPV types 6, 11, 16, and 18 in females. It is also approved for the…

Genetic testing of minors is controversial, as ethical considerations depend on multiple aspects of the particular disease and familial context. For melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer, there is a well-established and avoidable environmental influence and a documented benefit of early detection. The vast majority of parents who tested positive for a genetic mutation that increases the risk of melanoma support genetic testing of their children or grandchildren. Results…

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have discovered that a rare cancer of the digestive tract is linked to a shutdown in an enzyme that helps supply oxygen to cells. In some cases, the enzyme's failure to function resulted from errors in genes containing the information needed to make the enzyme. In others, the cause could not be identified,…

A New Drug Application (NDA) has been submitted by Centocor Ortho Biotech Inc to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the investigational drug abiraterone acetate administered with prednisone for the treatment of metastatic advanced prostate cancer in patients who have received prior chemotherapy containing a taxane has been submitted At the same time Janssen-Cilag International NV filed a marketing authorization application (MAA) with the European Medicines Agency…

Research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators will likely impact how acute lymphoblastic leukemia is treated in young adults and shows older adolescent age does not dictate worse outcomes against the most common childhood cancer. More effective risk-adjusted chemotherapy and sophisticated patient monitoring helped push cure rates to nearly 88% for older adolescents enrolled in a St. Jude Children's…

Earlier today, Ambit Biosciences (San Diego, USA) announced that it had started recruitment for two separate Phase I trials, the first one for AC430, a selective Janus Kinase 2 (JAK2) inhibitor, and the second for AC480 (also known as BMS-599626 ), a pan-HER inhibitor.



The Phase I trial for AC430 is a two part, placebo-controlled, single ascending, and multiple ascending dose trial in healthy…

Enrollment of the first patient in a Phase I/II trial of PX-866 in combination with the chimeric monoclonal antibody cetuximab (Erbitux®, ImClone LLC/Bristol-Myers Squibb Company) started today. PX-866 is a small molecule compound designed to inhibit the activity of phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI-3K), a component of an important cell survival signaling pathway is activated in many types of human cancer. Aberrant activation…

The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), a division of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), has issued a positive opinion recommending approval of Teysuno™ (S-1), a novel oral anti-cancer agent, intended for the treatment of advanced gastric cancer in adults when given in combination with cisplatin.



With an estimated 934,000 new cases per year (8.6% of all new cancer cases), gastric cancer is the fourth most common cancer worldwide,…

Bevacizumab (Avastin®, Genentech/Roche) in combination with paclitaxel remains a treatment option for women with breast cancer, but not with other combinations. Earlier today the European Medicines Agency (EMA) confirmed that the benefits of bevacizumab in combination with paclitaxel outweigh its risks and that this combination remains a valuable treatment option for patients suffering from metastatic breast cancer.



The decision by the European regulators…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today that the agency is recommending removing the breast cancer indication from the label for bevacizumab (Avastin®, Genentech/Roche) because the drug has not been shown to be safe and effective for that use.



The FDA is making this recommendation after reviewing the results of four clinical studies of bevacizumab in women with HER2-negative, metastatic…

Pediatric cancer researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia contributed important expertise to a new landmark study of medulloblastoma, a type of brain tumor typically found in children. The large multicenter study defines the genetic landscape of this cancer, and holds intriguing clues to gene changes on signaling pathways that may become fruitful targets for future therapies.



The most common…

Radiation oncologists have launched a new research study to treat men with low to intermediate risk prostate cancer with a single dose of radiation. Alvaro Martinez, M.D., FACR, professor and chair, Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, department of Radiation Oncology, Beaumont Hospitals , performed the first-in-the-world one-dose, High-Dose Rate brachytherapy procedure Nov. 29 on a man from…

Projected improvements in recurrence-free survival in early stages of colorectal cancer is the most important factor limiting drug treatment opportunities for advanced disease.According to analysis of Pharmacor Patient Flow Model Colorectal Cancer, the growth in drug treatment opportunities for advanced disease will be limited to 15% between 2009 and 2024.



"Drug treatment opportunities for advanced colorectal cancer will be limited because of a sustained…

Scientists from deCODE genetics and academic colleagues from Iceland, the UK, US, Netherlands, Spain and Romania today report the discovery of a set of single-letter variations in the sequence of the human genome (SNPs) that impact individual baseline levels of prostate specific antigen, or PSA. Testing for PSA levels is the most commonly used screening tool for the detection of prostate cancer. A prostate biopsy is routinely…

San Francisco based Jennerex, Inc., a private clinical-stage biotherapeutics company and Transgene , a member of the Institut Merieux Group initiated the enrollment and treatment of patients in a Phase 1b clinical trial to evaluate JX-594 (Vaccinia GM-CSF/thymidine kinase-deactivated virus…

Scientists at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute may have uncovered a mechanism for blocking tumor angiogenesis that involves the patient’s immune system, according to findings published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.



Angiogenesis is the process by which tumors acquire and process blood, which is needed for their continued growth. Anti-angiogenesis drugs block blood flow and are an important part of cancer…