- On December 31, Sir Murray Brennan, an international leader in cancer research who chaired the Dept. of Surgery at MSKCC for over twenty years, was bestowed the honor of Knight Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, one of his native New Zealand’s highest honors, for his services to medicine.
- On January 5, the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) announced that MSKCC will be awarded a $3.2 million grant, one of five awards (totalling $28.3M) made to researchers trying to understand how genes get turned on and off.
- In a January 6 article in PMLive entitled “Organs-in-a-dish aid drug discovery”, the work of MSKCC researcher Dr. Yu Chen, whose team created prostate cancer organoids, was highlighted as an achievement that could someday aid drug discovery.
- Recognized in a December 31 Daily News article were the best ways that Taylor Swift gave back to her fans in 2014, including dropping in on fan and cancer patient, Shelby Huff, who was shocked by Swift’s surprise visit to MSKCC last March.
Category Archives: In the News
Promising News on Herceptin, Aspirin, NSAIDS and More…
Here are a few highlights of cancer research news that have recently caught my attention:
- The American Medical Association has updated Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes for image-guided breast biopsies.
- Herceptin has been found to greatly improve long-term survival of her2-positive breast cancer. More on this study can be found in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
- Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology have identified one gene that allows breast cancer cells to break free and spread in the body. It’s a discovery that could lead to a way to block or slow the spread of the disease. You can read more about this study in Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB).
- Aspirin and NSAIDS may reduce skin cancer risk. Researchers at Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane Queensland Australia discuss their findings in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.
- Physical activity has been show to improve the survival rate for men with localized prostate cancer. The findings have been published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
- Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin have found a link between sleep deprivation and cell damage. More on their findings in the December issue of Sleep.
Please feel free to contact Marisol Hernandez to share any comments.
Late December Blog Buzz
‘Tis the season for year-end lists and Science Friday gave their list of 2014’s best science books.
It may be old news for some readers, but Matt Shipman gave a roundup of the changes to the Scientific American Blog Network that were announced beginning on December 15th.
Also a catch-up item, Gary Schwitzer’s Health News Review is back, having recently announced a two-year 1.3 million dollar grant and new plans for 2015.
Finally, for some science-themed winter fun, head on over to Symmetry Magazine to download templates for Deck the Halls with Nobel Physicists in the form of snowflakes! An exacto knife and cutting mat are required for these detailed designs so this is an activity for kids at heart and, possibly, supervised, older children.