http://medicineworld.org/cancer/cancer-blog.html Cancer blog from medicineworld.org adds a personal touch to the stories related to cancer. This cancer blog brings you stories of hope, stories of survivors and latest news and research related to cancer. Fri, 09 May 2008 02:47:41 GMT en-us http://medicineworld.org/images/blogs/cancer-cells.jpg http://medicineworld.org/cancer/cancer-blog.html 82 90 http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/5-2008/new-cancer-gene-discovered.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/5-2008/new-cancer-gene-discovered.html Fri, 09 May 2008 02:47:41 GMT Scientists at the OU Cancer Institute have identified a new gene that causes cancer. The ground-breaking research appears Monday in Nature's cancer journal Oncogene. The gene and its protein, both called RBM3, are vital for cell division in normal cells. In cancers, low oxygen levels in the tumors cause the amount of this protein to go up dramatically. This causes cancer cells to divide uncontrollably, leading to increased tumor formation........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/5-2008/6-month-mammogram-follow-up.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/5-2008/6-month-mammogram-follow-up.html Fri, 09 May 2008 02:47:41 GMT Radiologists can, with confidence, recommend a six-month follow-up diagnostic mammogram rather than an immediate biopsy for patients with probably non-malignant breast lesions, a new study emphasizes. The study observed that six-month short-interval follow-up examinations had an 83% sensitivity, which is similar to the sensitivity of other diagnostic mammograms, said Erin J. Aiello Bowles, MPH, lead author of the study from the Group Health Center for Health Studies. High sensitivity means identifying a high proportion of true positives (actual cancer cases) and a low proportion of false negatives (cases mistakenly deemed benign)........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/5-2008/speedier-precise-cancer-therapy.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/5-2008/speedier-precise-cancer-therapy.html Fri, 09 May 2008 02:47:41 GMT The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) this month became the first U.S. medical center to offer a speedier cancer radiation treatment. The new technique can turn a 20-minute radiotherapy session into a 90-second session for selected patients. Additionally, the new treatment saves healthy human tissue from unwanted radiation exposure at rates that are the same or better than other radiotherapy techniques, as per doctors at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/5-2008/ways-to-make-tumor-cells-easier-to-destroy.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/5-2008/ways-to-make-tumor-cells-easier-to-destroy.html Fri, 09 May 2008 02:47:41 GMT Tumors have a unique vulnerability that can be exploited to make them more sensitive to heat and radiation, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report. The Washington University radiation oncology scientists observed that tumors have a built-in mechanism that protects them from heat (hyperthermia) damage and most likely decreases the benefit of hyperthermia and radiation as a combined treatment........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/5-2008/cancer-patients-at-risk-for-ptsd.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/5-2008/cancer-patients-at-risk-for-ptsd.html Fri, 09 May 2008 02:47:41 GMT Patients with breast cancer who have a previous history of mood and anxiety disorders are at a much higher risk of experiencing posttraumatic stress disorder following their diagnosis, new research suggests. A study of 74 patients with breast cancer at the Ohio State University Medical Center observed that 16 percent of them (12 women) suffered from PTSD 18 months after diagnosis........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/how-cancer-spreads.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/how-cancer-spreads.html Fri, 09 May 2008 02:47:41 GMT Metastasis, the spread of cancer throughout the body, can be explained by the fusion of a cancer cell with a white blood cell in the original tumor, as per Yale School of Medicine researchers, who say that this single event can set the stage for cancers migration to other parts of the body. Their work was Reported in the recent issue of Nature Reviews Cancer. The studies, spanning 15 years, have revealed that the newly formed hybrid of the cancer cell and white blood cell adapts the white blood cells natural ability to migrate around the body, while going through the uncontrolled cell division of the original cancer cell. This causes a metastatic cell to emerge, which like a white blood cell, can migrate through tissue, enter the circulatory system and travel to other organs........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/advances-in-breast-reconstruction.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/advances-in-breast-reconstruction.html Fri, 09 May 2008 02:47:41 GMT Lumpectomy or breast conservation surgery is the most common type of breast cancer surgery currently performed. A benefit of the surgery is that only part of the breast is removed, but a drawback can be the resulting physical appearance of the breast, which may be disfigured, dented or uneven. A report in April's Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeryandreg; , the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), examines advances plastic surgeons have made in breast reconstruction to repair the damage left when cancer is removed........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/predict-prostate-cancer-survival.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/predict-prostate-cancer-survival.html Fri, 09 May 2008 02:47:41 GMT An Oregon Health and Science University Cancer Institute researcher has identified a protein that is a strong indicator of survival for men with advanced prostate cancer. The C-reactive protein, also known as CRP, is a special type of protein produced by the liver that is elevated in the presence of inflammation........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/death-of-ovarian-cancer-cells.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/death-of-ovarian-cancer-cells.html Fri, 09 May 2008 02:47:41 GMT In a discovery that may be useful for maintaining remission in chemo-resistant ovary cancer, Yale researchers report that pre-clinical studies have shown the drug compound NV-128 can induce the death of ovary cancer cells by halting the activation of a protein pathway called mTOR. Gil Mor, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at Yale School of Medicine, and associate research scientist Ayesha Alvero, M.D. presented the data April 15 during an oral presentation at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/inherited-colon-cancer-mutation-is-widespread.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/inherited-colon-cancer-mutation-is-widespread.html Fri, 09 May 2008 02:47:41 GMT A gene mutation responsible for the most common form of inherited colon cancer is older and more common than formerly believed, as per a recent study. The findings provide a better understanding of the spread and prevalence of the American Founder Mutation, a common cause in North America of Lynch syndrome, a hereditary cancer syndrome that greatly increases a persons risk for developing cancers of the colon, uterus and ovaries........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/radiation-beneficial-breast-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/radiation-beneficial-breast-cancer.html Fri, 09 May 2008 02:47:41 GMT A patients with breast cancer age alone should not determine whether or not she receives standard breast-conservation therapys, including a lumpectomy and radiation treatment; however, if additional health problems (comorbidities) are present, therapys should be individualized based on age and the type of comorbidities, as per a research studyin the April 1 edition of the International Journal for Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/smoking-related-to-subset-of-colorectal-cancers.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/smoking-related-to-subset-of-colorectal-cancers.html Fri, 09 May 2008 02:47:41 GMT Smoking puts older women at significant risk for loss of DNA repair proteins that are critical for defending against development of some colorectal cancers, as per research from a team led by Mayo Clinic scientists. In a study being presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the scientists observed that women who smoked were at increased risk for developing colorectal tumors that lacked some or all of four proteins, known as DNA mismatch repair (MMR) proteins. These proteins keep cells lining the colon and rectum healthy because they recognize and repair genetic damage as well as mistakes that occur during cell division........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/mouth-may-tell-the-tale-of-lung-damage.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/mouth-may-tell-the-tale-of-lung-damage.html Fri, 09 May 2008 02:47:41 GMT Cells lining the mouth reflect the molecular damage that smoking does to the lining of the lungs, scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report today at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. Examining oral tissue lining the mouth to gauge cancer-inducing molecular alterations in the lungs could spare patients and those at risk of lung cancer from more invasive, uncomfortable procedures used now, said senior researcher Li Mao, M.D., professor in M. D. Anderson's Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/protein-and-prognosis-in-breast-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/protein-and-prognosis-in-breast-cancer.html Fri, 09 May 2008 02:47:41 GMT Oregon Health and Science University Cancer Institute scientists have observed that a tumor protein present in an aggressive form of breast cancer is correlation to a poor prognosis. The presence of the protein, called growth factor receptor-bound protein-7, often referred to as GRB-7, in breast cancer tumors, is strongly correlation to the growth and spread of the cancer, as per principal investigator Shiuh-Wen Luoh, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine (hematology/medical oncology) in the OHSU School of Medicine........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/targeted-therapy-combination-for-liver-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/targeted-therapy-combination-for-liver-cancer.html Fri, 09 May 2008 02:47:41 GMT Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Abramson Cancer Center reported today at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research that combining two targeted therapies overcomes therapy resistance in liver cancer cell lines. The team is currently designing a trial to test the combination in patients........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/developing-targeted-chemotherapy.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/developing-targeted-chemotherapy.html Fri, 09 May 2008 02:47:41 GMT Scientists from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and his colleagues discovered that the Notch signaling pathway, which determines the development of a number of cell types, and is also implicated in some cancers, is not universally essential for the maintenance of stem cells. The findings appear this week in Cell Stem Cell, and indicate that inhibitors of Notch may not affect bone marrow stem cells........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/the-good-and-bad-side-of-anti-cancer-compounds.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/the-good-and-bad-side-of-anti-cancer-compounds.html Fri, 09 May 2008 02:47:41 GMT Compounds known as HDAC inhibitors exhibit cancer-killing activities in cultured cells. While they are currently being tested as anti-cancer agents in clinical trials, just how they execute their effects is unclear. In a pair of recent papers, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center researchers provide a potential mechanism by which HDAC inhibitors specifically damage cancer cells and offer clues about possible adverse effects of these compounds findings with important implications for their clinical use as cancer therapies........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/breast-cancer-risk-lingered-years-after-hrt.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/4-2008/breast-cancer-risk-lingered-years-after-hrt.html Fri, 09 May 2008 02:47:41 GMT A follow-up study of postmenopausal women who took the combination of estrogen and progestin for more than five years as part of the landmark Women's Health Initiative shows that the women continued to face an increased risk for breast cancer nearly three years after they quit taking the hormones. The new study also shows that while some of the other health risks and benefits diminished after the women had stopped taking the estrogen-progestin combination, the overall health risk was 12 percent higher at the end of eight years (with women on the pills for an average of 5.6 years and then off for 2.4 years) compared with those who took placebos. This was largely due to the high risks of breast cancer, strokes and serious blood clots during the original trial while the women took the hormones........ ]]>