Some of the stories that caught my attention:

• Researchers supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation have discovered how aggressive cells can invade healthy tissue in the early stage of tumor development. The scientists used genetically modified fruit fly pupas and found that they carried an artificially activated gene called Myc, which is known to be involved in tumor formation. The results have been published in Nature.
• A phase I randomized clinical trial carried out by thirteen leading cancer centers in the United States and Canada for a medication, guadecitabine (SGI-110), for treatment of patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and myelodyplastic syndromes (MDS) yielded promising results. The findings are reported in The Lancet Oncology.
• A study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology found that music therapy reduces anxiety in women undergoing breast biopsies. The two-year study was conducted at the University Hospitals Case Medical Center and involved 207 patients.
• A NIH-funded study conducted by researchers at Case Western Reserve University have found that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) combined with the injection of a chemical solution (a protein of five amino acids) can lead to the detection of the earliest signs of breast cancer recurrence and fast-growing tumors. The results were published in Nature Communications.