The mindset of cancer medicine is to think it's great science to identify the best treatment to give to the average patient is through prospective, randomized trials. We have produced an entire generation of investigators in clinical oncology who believe that the only valid form of clinical research is to perfrom well-designed, prospective randomized trials in which patients are randomized to receive one empiric drug combination versus another empiric drug combination. Do cancer cells like Coke or Pepsi?

A new finding in basic science should trigger a "change in thinking" about how cancer drugs might be developed and tested for maximum effectiveness, says Louis M. Weiner, M.D., director of the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, in a "Clinical Implications of Basic Research" article titled Tumor-Cell Death, Autophagy, and Immunity published in the March 22 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

One way to tackle a tumor is to take aim at the metabolic reactions that fuel their growth. But a report in the February Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press Publication, shows that one metabolism-targeted cancer therapy will not fit all. That means that metabolic profiling will be essential for defining each cancer and choosing the best treatment accordingly, researchers say.

Clinical Trial Finds Personalized Cancer Cytometrics More Accurate than Molecular Gene Testing

In the first head-to-head clinical trial comparing gene expression patterns with Personalized Cancer Cytometric testing (also known as “functional tumor cell profiling” or “chemosensitivity testing”), Personalized Cancer Cytometrics was found to be substantially more accurate.

The widely known PSA blood test for prostate cancer in men may get a second life as a much-needed new test for breast cancer, the most common form of cancer in women worldwide, scientists are reporting in a new study in the ACS journal Analytical Chemistry.

Bone marrow transplant survival more than doubled in recent years for young, high-risk leukemiaterm patients treated at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, with patients who lacked genetically matched donors recording the most significant gains. The results are believed to be the best ever reported for leukemia patients who underwent bone marrow transplantation.

 COLUMBUS, Ohio – An interim analysis of a phase II clinical trial indicates that a novel experimental agent for chronic lymphocytic leukemiaterm (CLL) is highly active and well tolerated both in patients who are undergoing treatment for the first time and those who have relapsed and are resistant to other therapy. 

Solid tumours such as brain tumours are highly resistant to chemotherapyterm and radiation. One reason for this is a ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ strategy that these tumours use to survive treatment. By developing a cancer drug that targets this recycling pathway, Malaghan Institute of Medical Research scientists have struck upon a novel approach for combating otherwise resistant and aggressive cancers.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A study led by researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center showed in animal studies that new cancer drug compounds they developed shrank tumors, with few side effects.

A Harvard bioengineer and an MIT aeronautical engineer have created a new device that can detect single cancer cells in a blood sample, potentially allowing doctors to quickly determine whether cancer has spread from its original site. 

 University of Rochester optics professor Jannick Rolland has developed an optical technology that provides unprecedented images under the skin's surface. The aim of the technology is to detect and examine skin lesions to determine whether they are benign or cancerous without having to cut the suspected tumor out of the skin and analyze it in the lab.

It's a discordant note in the symphony of good news that usually accompanies stem cell research announcements. Stem cells hold enormous promise in regenerative medicine, thanks to their ability to regenerate diseased or damaged tissues. They have made it possible to markedly improve the effectiveness of many medical treatments – muscle regeneration in cases of dystrophy, skin grafts for treating burn victims, and the treatment of leukemiaterm via bone marrow transplants.

Men who start to lose hair at the age of 20 are more likely to develop prostate cancer in later life and might benefit from screening for the disease, according to a new study published online in the cancer journal, Annals of Oncology [1] today.

Projections of the Cost of Cancer Care in the United States: 2010-2020

Angela B. Mariotto, K. Robin Yabroff, Yongwu Shao, Eric J. Feuer and Martin L. Brown

Angela B. Mariotto, PhD, Surveillance Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Ste 504, MSC 8317, 6116 Executive Blvd, MSC 7344, Bethesda, MD 20892-7344
Background

Current estimates of the costs of cancer care in the United States are based on data from 2003 and earlier. However, incidence, survival, and practice patterns have been changing for the majority of cancers.