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

• Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center have developed a new high resolution microscope where cancer cells can be visualized in 3D. Read more about this tool in Developmental Cell.
• In recent animal studies researchers at Lund University along with colleagues at Johns Hopkins have found that ordinary sugar may be a potential MRI contrast agent for examining tumors. Malignant tumors show higher sugar consumption than surrounding tissue. Findings are discussed in Tomography.
• Scientists at Northwestern University have discovered a new predictor of cancer. According to researchers, when your epigenetic age is older than your chronological age, it places you at a higher risk of developing and dying of cancer. The study was published in EBioMedicine.
• Eribulin Mesylate, a type of chemotherapy, has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of liposarcoma that cannot be removed by surgery or is advanced. This treatment is approved for patients who received prior chemotherapy that contained an anthracycline drug.

Surfing the Web uncovered these news items worth sharing:

• Two researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine have produced a video of cancer cells from a breast tumor escaping and metastasizing. The video was featured in the American Society for Cell Biology’s 2015 Celldance video series.

• There’s excitement over the drug Venetoclax! After phase I of a clinical trial, nearly 80 percent of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) responded favorably to the drug. Details provided in NEJM.

• Researchers at the University of Montreal have found that a select number of heart drugs and antibiotics are effective in treating cancers. A total of 14 drugs were identified, mostly cardiac glycosides. Results were published in Cancer Research.

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

• A new report estimates there were 4.3 million new cancer cases and more than 2.8 million cancer deaths in China in 2015, with lung cancer the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer death in China.
• Mechanical engineers at the University of Washington along with other partners have developed a handheld microscope to aide clinicians in distinguishing good cells from cancerous cells right at the point of care. Read more about this technology in Biomedical Optics Express.
• Data published in the journal Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology was the key to the first ever FDA approved immunotherapy for pediatric cancer. The treatment called dinutuximab was used in clinical trials where children demonstrated improvement in overall survival.
• Expanding lung cancer screening to include people who quit smoking more than 15 years ago could detect more cases and further reduce associated mortality, according to a study by Mayo Clinic researchers published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology.