Cancer Treatment

A new imaging technique can monitor, in living mice, the HER2 protein found in above-normal amounts in many cases of breast cancer as well as some ovarian, prostate and lung cancers. This new approach, once validated in mice and pending further experiments, could provide a real-time noninvasive method for identifying tumors in humans who express HER2 and who would be candidates for targeted therapy directed against this protein.

Vegetarians are 12 per cent less likely to develop cancer than meat eaters, according to new research published in the British Journal of Cancer.

In a study of more than 61,000 people, Cancer Research UK scientists from Oxford followed meat eaters and vegetarians for over 12 years, during which 3,350 of the participants were diagnosed with cancer.

They found that the risk of being diagnosed with cancers of the stomach, bladder and blood was lower in vegetarians than in meat eaters.

New research at Rhode Island Hospital has uncovered the biological effects of a novel membrane estrogen receptor, a finding that has potential implications for hormonal therapy for breast cancer. The study is published in the July edition of the journal Molecular Endocrinology. This new study by Edward Filardo, MD, and his research team further supports earlier published work by the group that linked the transmembrane receptor, GPR30/GPER-1, to specific estrogen binding, rapid estrogen signaling and breast cancer metastasis.

Lung cancer remains the deadliest cancer, with 26,624 deaths in 2005, and affects mainly men (78% of 31 000 cases in 2005). However, mortality from lung cancer in humans decreases while increasing in women (+ 4.2% per year) at an alarming rate. The progression of lung cancer in women is in line with increase of smoking between 2000 and 2005.

Specific variations or mutations in a particular can gene raise a man’s risk of familial, or inherited, testicular germ-cell cancer, the most common form of this disease, according to new research by scientists at the National Institutes of Health. This is only the second gene to be identified that affects the risk of familial testicular cancer, and the first gene in a key biochemical pathway.

A team of researchers has demonstrated that a new method for detecting and quantifying protein biomarkers in body fluids may ultimately make it possible to screen multiple biomarkers in hundreds of patient samples, thus ensuring that only the strongest biomarker candidates will advance down the development pipeline. The researchers have developed a method with the potential to increase accuracy in detecting real cancer biomarkers that is highly reproducible across laboratories and a variety of instruments so that cancer can be caught in its earliest stages.

The Editor-in-Chief of Cancer Investigation, published by Informa Healthcare, has called for clarity, transparency and vision in the development and evaluation of better diagnostic, treatment and prevention options for cancer patients around the globe. Gary H. Lyman, MD, MPH, FRCP (Edin), has outlined the future of the fight against cancer in a detailed commentary piece, which focuses on comparative effectiveness research (CER) – a process for identifying and synthesizing the totality of available evidence on the effectiveness, safety and overall value of competing clinical strategies.

Researchers have discovered a key to the function of a specific protein that helps control the levels of other critical proteins within cells, including a protein that suppresses the spread of cancer. The new information about the mechanism of action of the protein, called gp78, may enable researchers to explore new types of therapies to prevent the spread of cancer. The study, by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, was published in the June 26, 2009, issue of Molecular Cell.

MRI test is linked to delays in breast cancer treatment, increase in mastectomy rates.

Reviewing the records of 577 breast cancer patients, Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers found that women with newly diagnosed breast cancer who receive a breast MRI are more likely to receive a mastectomy after their diagnosis and may face delays in starting treatment. The study demonstrates that, despite the lack of evidence of their benefit, routine use of MRI scans in women newly diagnosed with breast cancer increased significantly between 2004 and 2005, and again in 2006.

Actress Farrah Fawcett, 62, was diagnosed with anal cancer almost three years ago in September 2006. She died today at a hospital in Santa Monica, Calif., of anal cancer.

Former “Charlie’s Angel” Fawcett declared herself cancer-free four months after her initial diagnosis. The cancer was reported to return in May 2007. She then traveled to Germany for alternative treatment and documented her experiences.