- The results of a study conducted by Umeå University in Sweden and MSK, have suggested that the greater the number of PSA tests for prostate cancer carried out in a geographic area, the lower the prostate cancer mortality in that area. The increase in testing needs to be followed by early treatment to achieve these results. There is controversy regarding increased PSA screening because it leads to overtreatment.
- Investigators Jedd Wolchok and Dmitriy Zamarin of MSK collaborated with MD Anderson Cancer Center researchers to study synergism between oncolytic virotherapy and cancer immunotherapy to increase the immune response against cancerous tumors. The researchers combined cancer immunotherapy and the Newcastle disease virus (NDV), a virus that initiates an immune response. The results have been promising.
- Yoga is an activity which can help relieve pain, fatigue and depression in breast cancer patients. The study which demonstrates this, also reported that yoga may help some patients survive. Dr. Barrie Cassileth of MSK, commented that the study results reinforce the validity of mind-body approaches to cancer treatment.
- Researchers from MSK along with those from Weill Cornell Medical College and the Rockefeller University who discovered small chemical molecules (the predecessors of drugs) which are most likely to become effective therapies, are being encouraged to apply for the drug discovery and development program of the Tri-Institutional Therapeutics Discovery Institute. The purpose of the Tri-Institutional Therapeutics Discovery Institute is to fast-track early-stage drug discovery so as to get effective treatments onto the market.