Latest in cervical cancer, personalized medicine and the cancer risk from consuming animal proteins

Here are a few highlights of cancer research news that have recently caught my attention:

Study at the University of Arizona Cancer Center at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center reveals that women with advanced cervical cancer treated with the combined use of bevacizumab (Avastin®) and chemotherapy are living four months longer than those being treated with chemotherapy alone. Research is published in the New Journal of Medicine.
Researchers at the University of Toronto found higher success rates of drugs that target cells with a biomarker than small-molecule drugs that didn’t focus on a target. The 14 year study published in the February issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology focused on drugs used for treating patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
A new study reveals that having a diet rich in animal protein places you at a greater risk of dying from cancer than those individuals with a low protein diet. Results from a nearly two decade study have been published in latest issue of Cell Metabolism.

Please feel free to contact Marisol Hernandez for comments on the latest cancer research news.

Patients’ Own Immune Systems Can Be Trained to Kill Cancer and more…

Recent studies have shown that patients’ own immune systems can be harnessed to kill cancer. A genetic engineering procedure has shown success using the body’s immune system in the fight against B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, an aggressive blood cancer. Researchers at MSK and at the University of Pennsylvania have been trying to train immune cells to recognize leukemia cells and kill them. Dr. Renier Brentjens of MSK, one of the senior researchers, reported that 14 of 16 patients who received the special cell therapy achieved a “complete remission.”
Renal cell carcinoma survival is negatively affected by smoking. Dr. Behfar Ehdaie of MSK studied the effect of smoking on cancer specific survival in 1,625 patients suffering from clear cell renal cell carcinoma, looking at data collected between 1995 and 2012. The results did not reach statistical significance but indicated an adverse effect from smoking. Continue reading →

Here are a few highlights of cancer research news that have recently caught my attention:

Researchers at Fred Hutchinson found that young women who smoked for at least 10 years are a high risk of developing ER-positive breast cancer. The full study is published in the journal Cancer.
Major study published in the British Medical Journal cast doubt on the value of mammograms. The project involved 90,000 women and spanned twenty-five years.
Prostate cancer patients may experience more complications as a result of radiation than those patients that are treated with surgery. Findings were published in the journal Lancet Oncology.

Please feel free to contact Marisol Hernandez for comments on the latest cancer research news.