Happy Nirvana

A 44-year old patient with inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT), a sarcoma that predominantly develops in the abdomen or chest of young adults and children, was found to respond surprisingly well to a new oral medication with “dramatic shrinkage” of tumors, researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute wrote in the NEJM (New England Journal of Medicine). [...]

A page from ‘State of the Evidence’ shows the difficulty of linking risks to causes for breast cancer. Courtesy Breast Cancer Fund. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and you’re likely to see pink ribbons along with fall colors, as groups raise money for breast cancer research and emphasize the importance of early detection. It’s [...]

Photo: Flickr, CC “Women living in the areas with the highest levels of pollution were almost twice as likely to develop breast cancer” A study recently published by researchers based in Montréal, Canada, has found a worrying correlation between markers for air pollution and breast cancer. The scientists used detailed historical air-pollution map tracking nitrogen [...]

Screening mammographies do not reduce the death rate from breast cancer as much as people had thought, especially among women aged 50 years or more, scientists in a large Norwegian study report in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). In fact, better treatment and greater awareness about breast cancer are the main reasons for [...]

Regular alcohol intake raises the risk of developing lobular and hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, but does not appear to be linked to invasive ductal carcinoma risk, says a report published in JNCI (Journal of the National Cancer Institute), August 23rd issue. This is the first major study to look at a possible relationship between alcohol [...]

UroToday.com – Our study of prostate cancer patients’ outcomes relative to their body mass index (BMI) is interesting because of the lack of effect we observed between BMI and the study’s endpoint: biochemical failure. Our study group was comprised of low- and intermediate-risk patients in order to minimize the potential for disease virulence to overwhelm [...]

While researchers have known that obesity increases the risk for the development of colon cancer, the underlying molecular mechanisms have remained unclear… Credits to:Health News from Medical News Today

One of the UK’s largest radiotherapy departments has begun treatments using fast and efficient RapidArc® technology from Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR). Four head & neck cancer patients have been treated to date at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre in Glasgow. The advanced RapidArc system, which has been introduced clinically on two Varian [...]

A new nationwide study in the US found that worry about costs is preventing many cancer survivors from getting the medical care they need: the researchers said the study raises concerns about the long-term health and wellbeing of cancer survivors. You can read about the study, led by Dr Kathryn E Weaver, an assistant professor [...]

Bevacizumab (Avastin), a bowel cancer medication which is widely used off label to prevent AMD (wet age related macular degeneration), has been shown to be safe and effective – it is a much cheaper alternative to approved drug ranibizumab (Lucentis). Several large trials comparing the two medications are currently ongoing. Ranibizumab was not included in [...]