Cancer Research News: August 17 – August 31

Pfizer’s new lung cancer pill, crizotinib (Xalkori), was approved by the FDA, and is intended to treat patients with non-small cell lung cancer and the ALK gene.
Michigan State researchers have created Gene-Z, a device that works with an iPod Touch or Android tablet to analyze microRNAs to detect cancer quickly and cheaply.
A British cancer survival scale for patients in palliative care reliably predicted whether a patient had days, weeks, or months left to live.

Cancer Research News: August 5 – August 16

NYTimes reports on a hypothesis from Harvard Medical School that proposes that noncoding DNA may play a role in cancers, esp. involving genes PTEN and KRAS.
New Scientist reports on a physicist from the University of Heidelberg who has created a mathematical model that predicts growth of tumors.
Experimental cancer research at the University of Pennsylvania involved genetically modified T-cells which destroyed tumors in leukemia patients. Simultaneously reported in New England Journal of Medicine and Science Translational Medicine.
Drexel research demonstrates that music therapy can reduce anxiety and pain in cancer patients.

Genomic data gathered on ovarian cancer was published in Nature
Looking to get more involved with social media? Webicina has published a guide on Oncology and Web 2.0, with lists of blogs, podcasts, news sites, communities, mobile apps and more.
Gene-based tests related to cancer treatment developed at Duke are discredited
The Norwegian Women and Cancer Study reports on increased risk of cancer mortality for Norwegian women with low levels of physical activity
New Scientist reports that a breast cancer gene patent has been reinstated