- Scientists at Polytechnique Montréal, Université de Montréal and McGill University have developed nanorobotic agents with the capability of going through the bloodstream and administering a drug with precision by specifically targeting the active cancerous cells of tumors. Further discussion is found in Nature Nanotechnology.
- Cancer survivors have long complained of cognitive decline following chemotherapy. This effect has been dubbed “chemo brain.” A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, set out to investigate the effects of chemo brain over a longer period of time. Their findings provided one of the first animal models to demonstrate the long-term cognitive deficits resulting from a chemotherapeutic treatment used in treating humans for breast cancer. The results were published in the journal Behavioural Brain Research.
- Cancer overtakes heart disease as number one cause of death in 12 European nations. The report can be found in European Heart Journal.
- A randomized study published in the NEJM, found that the MammaPrint test that analyzes the 70 critical genes identified in breast cancer, demonstrated improved prediction of clinical outcomes for early-stage breast cancer in women. The study involved over 6000 patients, 1500 of which were identified as low risk based on genomic factors. These 1500 were later randomly assigned to two groups where one group received chemo and the other group did not. After five years, survival rates were similar.
- The New York Times recently published a series of articles that explore the novel uses of immunotherapy to combat cancer: