Cancer Center – Page 13

Making Sure Cancer Patients Get the Information They Need

Cancer patients’ information needs seem to differ depending on the type of cancer they have, and clinicians caring for survivors may need to understand those individual needs to better address survivors’ concerns about cancer recurrence, late effects, and family members’ risks. A three-year study of over 2,000 cancer survivors by the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg… Continue reading Making Sure Cancer Patients Get the Information They Need

Defeating Aggressive Cancers

Researchers are drawing closer to a drug that attacks cancer stem cells in some forms of the disease. That medicine could treat an element in tumors that is believed responsible for metastasis and drug resistance. The team of investigators, led by experts from the Cancer Research Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), in… Continue reading Defeating Aggressive Cancers

Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancers: Moving Toward More Precise Prevention

By NIH Director Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D. Inherited mutations in the BRCA1 gene and closely related BRCA2 gene account for about 5 to 10 percent of all breast cancers and 15 percent of ovarian cancers [1]. For any given individual, the likelihood that one of these mutations is responsible goes up significantly in the presence… Continue reading Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancers: Moving Toward More Precise Prevention

Fish Oil Could Cause Resistance to Chemo

Researchers at the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam found that consuming herring and mackerel as well as three kinds of fish oils, raised blood levels of the fatty acid, which experiments in mice suggest may induce resistance to chemotherapy used to treat cancer. The study was published online in April 2015 by JAMA Oncology. A… Continue reading Fish Oil Could Cause Resistance to Chemo

Integrative Approaches to Understanding Cancer

Researchers at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute in Tampa, Florida are using integrative approaches to study cancer by combining mathematical and computational modeling with experimental and clinical data. The use of integrative approaches enables scientists to study and model cancer progression in a manner that conventional experimental systems are unable to… Continue reading Integrative Approaches to Understanding Cancer

An Update on Precision Medicine

Everyone knows that different people don’t respond the same way to medications, and that “one size does not fit all.” FDA has been pushing for targeted drug therapies, sometimes called “personalized medicines” or “precision medicines,” for a long time. Targeted therapies make use of blood tests, images of the body, or other technologies to measure… Continue reading An Update on Precision Medicine

Review Upends Belief on Radiation after Prostate Cancer Surgery

Important news for men receiving treatment for prostate cancer: Two new studies from the University of Virginia School of Medicine have upended the widely held view that it’s best to delay radiation treatment as long as possible after the removal of the prostate in order to prevent unwanted side effects. A release from the university… Continue reading Review Upends Belief on Radiation after Prostate Cancer Surgery

New Guidelines for Smoking Cessation for Cancer Patients

To meet the needs of patients who are smokers at the time of a cancer diagnosis, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) has published the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) for Smoking Cessation. The NCCN Guidelines® for Smoking Cessation were presented on March 13, 2015, at the NCCN 20th Annual Conference: Advancing… Continue reading New Guidelines for Smoking Cessation for Cancer Patients

Tomatoes and Other Lycopene-Rich Foods Can Fight Kidney Cancer

The natural antioxidant lycopene, found in tomatoes, watermelon and papaya, could lower the risk of a kind of kidney cancer in postmenopausal women. A higher intake by postmenopausal women of the natural antioxidant lycopene, found in foods like tomatoes, watermelon and papaya, may lower the risk of renal cell carcinoma, a type of kidney cancer.… Continue reading Tomatoes and Other Lycopene-Rich Foods Can Fight Kidney Cancer

Damage from Sun Exposure Continues When You’re in the Dark

Much of the damage that ultraviolet radiation (UV) does to skin occurs hours after sun exposure, a team of Yale-led researchers concluded in a study that was published online February 19th 2015 by the journal Science. A release from Yale written by Ziba Kashef explains that exposure to UV light from the sun or from… Continue reading Damage from Sun Exposure Continues When You’re in the Dark

Prostate Cancer And A Deadly Protein

Researchers have discovered that a newly discovered protein promotes prostate-cancer cell growth – and the finding could lead to a new therapeutic target for the illness. The findings from Keck School of Medicine, of the University of Southern California, provide evidence that the newly discovered member of a family of cell surface proteins called G-protein… Continue reading Prostate Cancer And A Deadly Protein

How Much Sun Screen Do You Need?

We all need some sun exposure because it’s our primary source of vitamin D, which helps us absorb calcium for stronger, healthier bones. But it doesn’t take much time in the sun for most people to get the vitamin D they need, and repeated unprotected exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays can cause skin damage,… Continue reading How Much Sun Screen Do You Need?

Ultrasound Helps Show Which Breast Ca Patients Need Lymph Nodes Removed

Which breast cancer patients need to have underarm lymph nodes removed? Mayo Clinic-led research is narrowing it down. A study published in the February 2015 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology finds that not all women with lymph node-positive breast cancer treated with chemotherapy before surgery need to have all of their underarm nodes… Continue reading Ultrasound Helps Show Which Breast Ca Patients Need Lymph Nodes Removed

Breast Reconstruction Over Age 65: Implants vs. Patients’ Own Tissues

Older women don’t have an increased overall risk of complications from implant-based breast reconstruction after mastectomy, but women aged 65 or older are at increased risk of blood clot-related complications after tissue-based breast reconstruction. Those are the findings of a study published in the February 2015 issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical… Continue reading Breast Reconstruction Over Age 65: Implants vs. Patients’ Own Tissues

Coffee May Lower Risk of Melanoma

Java lovers rejoice! According to a study published January 20th 2015 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, drinking four or more cups of coffee a day may lower the risk of malignant melanoma. Previous studies have suggested that coffee consumption has a protective effect against non-melanoma skin cancers, but the protective effect for… Continue reading Coffee May Lower Risk of Melanoma

Update on Pancreatic-Cancer Treatments

Scientists are working to develop breakthrough therapies for pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancers affecting both men and women. Pancreatic cancer is a disease that frequently presents no symptoms until it reaches very advanced stages. Surgery is the only chance for a cure, but most patients are not surgical candidates because of the location… Continue reading Update on Pancreatic-Cancer Treatments

Cancer, the Flu and You

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control, living with cancer increases your risk for complications from influenza, more commonly known as the flu. If you have cancer now or in the past, the CDC cautions, you are at higher risk for complications from seasonal flu or influenza. And those complications can include hospitalization and… Continue reading Cancer, the Flu and You

Reprogramming Stem Cells May Prevent Cancer after Radiation

The body has evolved ways to get rid of faulty stem cells. A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published December 29th 2014 in the journal Stem Cells shows that one of these ways is a “program” that makes stem cells damaged by radiation differentiate into other cells that can no longer survive forever. Radiation… Continue reading Reprogramming Stem Cells May Prevent Cancer after Radiation