Munich, Germany: The first drug to target a key enzyme that cancer cells need to keep them alive has shown that it is effective in controlling disease in patients with advanced kidney cancer when it is used in combination with another anti-cancer drug, everolimus. Dr Funda Meric-Bernstam told the 28th EORTC-NCI-AACR [1] Symposium on Molecular […]
Category: Cancer
Deaths from ovarian cancer decline worldwide due to oral contraceptive use
Deaths from ovarian cancer fell worldwide between 2002 and 2012 and are predicted to continue to decline in the USA, European Union (EU) and, though to a smaller degree, in Japan by 2020, according to new research published in the leading cancer journal Annals of Oncology [1]. The main reason is the use of oral […]
Expecting the worst increases side-effects in breast cancer patients receiving adjuvant hormone therapy
A study of women receiving hormone therapies such as tamoxifen as part of their treatment for breast cancer has found that the number and seriousness of side-effects they experienced were influenced by their expectations. The study, which is published in the leading cancer journal Annals of Oncology [1], found that women who had higher expectations […]
Cancer overtakes heart disease as the main cause of death in 12 European countries
Although diseases of the heart and blood vessels (cardiovascular disease, CVD) kill more people worldwide than anything else, with 17.3 million deaths globally, cancer has now overtaken CVD as the main cause of death in 12 European countries. New data on the burden of CVD in Europe for 2016, which are published in the European […]
Radiotherapy for lung cancer patients is linked to increased risk of non-cancer deaths: researchers set out to investigate new heart-sparing techniques
Turin, Italy: Researchers have found that treating patients who have early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with a type of radiotherapy called stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is associated with a small but increased risk of death from causes other than cancer. In particular, they found that high doses to the left atrium of […]
Largest study of patients with early stage II testicular cancer shows radiation therapy is more effective than chemotherapy
Turin, Italy: A large study of testicular cancer patients has shown that radiation therapy is a better treatment than chemotherapy for patients with stage IIa disease (where one or more regional lymph nodes contain cancer cells but they are less than 2cms in diameter). These findings, presented at the ESTRO 35 conference and published simultaneously […]
Radiation and immunotherapy combination can destroy both primary and secondary tumours
Turin, Italy: Radiation therapy not only kills cancer cells, but also helps to activate the immune system against their future proliferation. However, this immune response is often not strong enough to be able to cure tumours, and even when it is, its effect is limited to the area that has been irradiated. Now, however, research […]
Breast conserving therapy or mastectomy? New study sheds light on best choices for younger and older women with early breast cancer
Turin, Italy: Young women with early breast cancer face a difficult choice about whether to opt for a mastectomy or breast conserving therapy (BCT). This is because there is little evidence as to whether the greater risk of a return of the disease at the site of the original tumour after BCT is linked to […]
Massive failure to publish trial results exposes patients to risks without providing benefits for others
Turin, Italy: Although the publication of results of clinical trials carried out in the USA within 12 months of their completion has been mandatory since 2007, an astoundingly high number of Phase III radiotherapy trials did not do so, according to new research presented at the ESTRO 35 conference. An analysis of 802 trials with […]
BRCA1 gene mutation is linked to women having fewer eggs in their ovaries
Researchers have discovered a link between the BRCA1 gene mutation and lower levels of a hormone that is an indicator of the number of eggs left in a woman’s ovaries, according to research published in Human Reproduction [1], one of the world’s leading reproductive medicine journals. In the first large study looking at BRCA1 and […]