The latest in the world of cancer research:

• An innovative cancer treatment made of luminescent chemotherapy-filled beads injected into tumors through the wrist is now available for patients with inoperable and difficult-to-treat liver cancer. Here’s a video of Dr. Edward Kim from Mount Sinai Hospital performing this cancer procedure:
• A team of scientists led by Dr. Peter S. Nelson at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center conducted a genomic analysis and found that prostate cancer metastases varied greatly between men. The study also found that a single metastasis within one individual may provide molecular information to help guide therapy. Read more on the findings in Nature Medicine.
• Researchers at the University of Vienna have discovered why small cell lung cancer is chemoresistant. The resistance to chemo and radiation is due to the circulating tumor cells forming clusters. Completely new therapeutic approaches must therefore be developed to prevent the formation of these cancer clusters or to break them up. Read more on the discovery in Cell Adhesion and Migration.
• Landmark research out of the University of South Wales in Australia has led to the development of a technique whereby stem cell therapies may be capable of regenerating damaged human tissue. Their findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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

• The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has just released a report, State of Cancer Care in America 2016, its third annual assessment of national trends in cancer care delivery. You can read the full report in the Journal of Oncology Practice.
• Researchers at the California Institute of Technology have demonstrated that nanoparticles can target tumors while avoiding healthy tissue in cancer patients. Read more on their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
• JAMA Pediatrics has recently published a narrative review where authors from MacMaster University in Canada examine the current status of cancer in adolescents and young adults (AYA). The article discusses incidence and survival as well as opportunities for progress.
• New research from Yale, Georgetown and the University of Michigan reveals that differences in smoking habits between African Americans and whites may lead to a disparity in screening for lung cancer. The comparative paper looks at initiation of smoking, cessation and intensity by age from 1890-1990. The results were published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research.

Surfing the web I uncovered these news items worth sharing:

• The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care released new lung cancer guidelines that recommend that current and former smokers between the ages of 55 and 74, who are at high risk of developing lung cancer, should be screened annually for up to three years with low-dose CT scans.
• According to researchers at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, Twitter may be effective in recruiting cancer patients for clinical trials. Read more about their findings in JAMA Oncology.
• Researchers at the University of Louisville have found a link between Porphyromonas gingivalis, the bacterial species that causes gingivitis, and esophageal cancer. The results of their study were published in Infectious Agents and Cancer.
• Researchers at MIT and Harvard have developed a new method called PRISM (Profiling Relative Inhibition Simultaneously in Mixtures) to uniquely barcode more than 100 cancer cells. These DNA barcodes could ultimately aide in the development of new drugs to fight cancer. Read more on their findings in Nature Biotechnology.