or nearly a decade, the most distinguished minds in cancer care have advocated for shared decision-making — patients partnering with their clinicians to make informed decisions that are consistent with their needs, values, and preferences. Although widely perceived as the gold standard, it seems to be the exception rather than the rule. My organization, CancerCare, has surveyed more than...
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Arthritis drug could help treat advanced skin cancer
Treatment for the most deadly form of skin cancer could be more effective if combined with a well-known drug for rheumatoid arthritis, new research has shown. The study, by scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA), found that in mice, using the two treatments together almost completely stopped the growth of a melanoma tumour. Although only...
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Discovery of unsuspected flexibility offers new pathway to cancer drug development
Summary of novel cross-family VEGF and PDGF ligand-receptor interactions. Schematic illustrates an updated view of the VEGF and PDGF ligand-receptor binding patterns, adding newly discovered PDGF-VEGFR interactions. Specifically, only new …more Blood vessels are the supply lines of the human body, bringing nutrients and oxygen to cells and carrying away waste. Controlling the growth of...
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Novel combination therapy shown to be effective in ovarian cancer
Intermediate magnification micrograph of a low malignant potential (LMP) mucinous ovarian tumour. H&E stain. The micrograph shows: Simple mucinous epithelium (right) and mucinous epithelium that pseudo-stratifies (left – diagnostic of a LMP …more Researchers at The Wistar Institute have found that combining PARP inhibitors, recently approved for the treatment of BRCA-mutant ovarian cancer, with another...
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New strategy for unleashing cancer-fighting power of p53 gene
Cell-culture images excerpted from newly published Roswell Park research illustrate that disabling the protein peptidase is an effective strategy for killing cancer cells. Tumor protein p53 is one of the most critical determinants of the fate of cancer cells, as it can determine whether a cell lives or dies in response to stress. In a...
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Triple drug treatment combo shows promise in adult leukemia
A triple-drug targeted therapy approach could offer an effective new treatment option for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) that reduces the risk for the long-term side effects experienced with chemotherapy and is given for a limited time, not as a daily lifetime drug therapy. Led by Kerry Rogers, MD, researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive...
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Cancer immunotherapy may work better in patients with specific genes
Cancer cells arise when DNA is mutated, and these cells should be recognized as “foreign” by the immune system. However, cancer cells have found ways to evade detection by the immune system. New drugs called immune checkpoint inhibitors can restore the immune system’s recognition of cancer cells and have led to dramatic responses in a...
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What does hair loss have to teach us about cancer metastasis?
Understanding how cancer cells are able to metastasize — migrate from the primary tumor to distant sites in the body — and developing therapies to inhibit this process are the focus of many laboratories around the country. Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) have identified one mechanism that regulates signaling events leading...
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Study prompts new ideas on cancers’ origins
Graduate student Megan Radyk and Jason Mills, M.D., Ph.D., led a study revealing that although many cancer therapies target rapidly dividing stem cells, mature cells also seem to play a key role in initiating cancer, at least in forming precancerous lesions. Rapidly dividing, yet aberrant stem cells are a major source of cancer. But...
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The evolution of the gene responsible for red meat to produce cancer has been revealed
A sugar called Neu5Gc, present in red meat, some fish and dairy products, is related to the appearance of spontaneous tumors in humans. Researchers at the University of Nevada, Reno, led by Spaniard David Álvarez Ponce, have analyzed the evolutionary history of the CMAH gene – which allows the synthesis of this sugar – and...