Here are a few newsworthy items in the world of cancer research

• The largest study to date of a condition known as “chemo brain” shows that women with breast cancer report it’s a substantial problem after chemotherapy for as long as six months after treatment. Using a tool called FACT-Cog, a validated measurement of cognitive impairment, investigators from the University of Rochester Medical found that compared to healthy people, breast cancer patients exhibited a higher percentage of impairment. Read more on their findings in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
• Medical Researchers with the support of the National Foundation for Cancer Research have developed a new pharmacological agent to treat glioblastoma multiforme. The agent has been tested and found to have significant survival benefits in pre-clinical models. For more, see PNAS.
• Scientists at the University of Basel recently reported on the potential of treating cancer with drugs for diabetes and hypertension. The research found that combining the type 2 diabetes drug metformin with the antihypertensive drug syrosingopine could represent a surprising new approach to fighting cancer. The findings are detailed in Science Advances.
• The American Cancer Society Annual Report, Cancer Statistics 2017, revealed that the cancer death rate in the United States has dropped by 25 percent since its 1991 peak, resulting in 2 million fewer cancer deaths than if the rate had stayed the same, while also reporting significant disparities of the cancer burden by gender and race. The full report has been published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.