'Biomarker signatures' could be used to customize melanoma treatment plans
4/08/2014
Genetic screening of cancer can help doctors customize treatments so that patients with melanoma have the best chance of beating it, according to the results of a clinical trial by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI), a partner with UPMC CancerCenter.
Link suggested between colon microbiome and genome stability
4/08/2014
Colorectal cancer develops in what is probably the most complex environment in the human body, a place where human cells cohabitate with a colony of approximately 10 trillion bacteria, most of which are unknown.
The pros and cons of antioxidants for omega 6 damage
4/08/2014
Given omega 6 fatty acid's reputation for promoting cancer - at least in animal studies - researchers are examining the role that antioxidants play in blocking the harmful effects of this culprit, found in many cooking oils. After all, antioxidants are supposed to prevent DNA damage. But employing antioxidants could backfire, say researchers at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Zombie cancer cells eat themselves to live
4/08/2014
A University of Colorado Cancer Center study recently published in the journal Cell Reports and presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Conference 2014 shows that the cellular process of autophagy in which cells "eat" parts of themselves in times of stress may allow cancer cells to recover and divide rather than die when faced with chemotherapies.
Better-targeted treatment in pediatric radiotherapy
4/08/2014
For the first time, researchers have been able to demonstrate that the use of helium ions in radiation therapy could provide accurate treatment to tumours while helping to spare healthy organs.
DDR2 mutations can confer sensitivity to the cancer drug dasatinib in recurrent head and neck tumors
4/08/2014
Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) and Yale University School of Medicine shareed their findings during a mini-symposium at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2014.
Resistant tumor cells destroyed by combining cell replication blocker with common cancer drug
4/08/2014
Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI), a partner with UPMC CancerCenter, have found that an agent that inhibits mitochondrial division can overcome tumor cell resistance to a commonly used cancer drug, and that the combination of the two induces rapid and synergistic cell death. Separately, neither had an effect.
Discovery of 2 genes that modulate risk of breast and ovarian cancer
4/08/2014
Today we know that women carrying BCRA1 and BCRA2 gene mutations have a 43% to 88% risk of developing breast cancer before the age of 70. Taking critical decisions such as opting for preventive surgery when the risk bracket is so wide is not easy.
Prostate cancer patients given brachytherapy more likely to maintain erectile function
4/08/2014
In approximately 50% of patients with prostate cancer, the use of permanent brachytherapy, a procedure where radioactive sources are placed inside the prostate, into or near to the tumour, preserves erectile function , a researcher told the ESTRO 33 congress.
Dose-escalated intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) with use of a moderate hypofractionation regimen (72 Gy in 2.