Utilizing new and faster technology, Agility multi-leaf collimator (MLC) expected to further improve therapy for oncology patients, accelerate treatment times Using a combination of 160 high-resolution tungsten leaves and dramatically faster leaf movement, Elekta's revolutionary new Agility™* MLC promises a new level of precision and delivery speed in radiation therapy t...
Glucose Deprivation Activates Feedback Loop That Kills Cancer Cells
6/28/2012
Compared to normal cells, cancer cells have a prodigious appetite for glucose, the result of a shift in cell metabolism known as aerobic glycolysis or the "Warburg effect." Researchers focusing on this effect as a possible target for cancer therapies have examined how biochemical signals present in cancer cells regulate the altered metabolic state...
Metformin Shows Promise For Pancreatic Cancer Patients
6/27/2012
According to the results of some preclinical trials, low doses of metformin, an antidiabetic drug, may effectively eliminate cancer stem cells, a group of cells believed to be responsible for tumor initiation, as well as tumor relapse, given that these cells are resistant to standard chemotherapies...
A new study comparing lung cancer death rates among women by year of birth shows dramatic differences in trends between states, likely reflecting the success or failure of tobacco control efforts...
Men With HPV Infection, Light Skin Color And Sun Exposure At Increased Risk of Skin Cancer
6/27/2012
Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues at the University of South Florida and the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg have found that having antibodies for cutaneous types of human papillomavirus (HPV), coupled with sun exposure (ultraviolet radiation) or poor tanning ability, can act "synergistically" in the development of non-melanoma skin cancers such as...
A Story Unfolding Of Prions And Cancer
6/27/2012
Prions, the causal agents of Mad Cow and other diseases, are very unique infectious particles. They are proteins in which the complex molecular three-dimensional folding process just went astray. For reasons not yet understood, the misfolding nature of prions is associated to their ability to sequester their normal counterparts and induce them to also adopt a misfolding conformation...
Male Cancer Patients Improve Muscle Strength With Experimental Drug
6/27/2012
An experimental medication safely increases muscle strength and physical functioning among cancer patients with low testosterone levels, a new drug study finds. The results were presented at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston...
Pancreatic Cancer Survival Linked To Vitamin D Receptor Gene
6/26/2012
At this year's American Association for Cancer Research's 'Pancreatic Cancer: Progress and Challenges' Conference (18-21 June), Federico Innocenti, M.D., Ph.D. presented a study, revealing that pancreatic cancer patients with a genetic marker linked to a higher vitamin D receptor expression, have higher rates of overall survival...
Childhood Hodgkin Lymphoma - Radiotherapy Does Not Undermine Outcomes
6/26/2012
Researchers have found that limited radiotherapy for children with favorable-risk Hodgkin lymphoma who are responsive to chemotherapy, was linked to a high rate of 2-year event-free survival. The study, conducted by Monika L. Metzger, M.D., of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tenn., is published in the June 27 issue of JAMA...
Quebec Government Favors Euthanasia
6/26/2012
After two years of consultations and research the Dying with Dignity commission of the Quebec National Assembly has issued a new report recommending euthanasia. According to Medilexicon's medical dictionary, euthanasia is: "A quiet, painless death or the intentional putting to death of a person with an incurable or painful disease intended as an act of mercy....