A study in the Jan. 3 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute quantifies the risk of hereditary retinoblastoma survivors developing specific subtypes of soft tissue sarcomas and finds that this risk persists for decades after the original retinoblastoma diagnosis. The findings emphasize the importance of regular medical surveillance for these patients, the authors say.
In 2005, the overall cost of patients’ time spent on cancer care was $2.3 billion in the first year after diagnosis, according to a new study in the Jan. 3 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The time costs for the 11 cancers studied and for different phases of cancer care varied widely, they write.
Scientists have long thought that limiting the calories a person consumes can prevent, or at least slow the progression of certain cancers. But research at UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) using mice suggests that body composition ? whether a person is lean or obese ? actually is key to reducing cancer risks.
Women who exercise by doing housework can reduce their risk of breast cancer, according to a new study. The research is published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention.
GlaxoSmithKline’s new drug Tykerb dramatically slows the spread of aggressive late-stage breast cancer. Data from a Phase III study reporting that Tykerb? (lapatinib) plus Xeloda? (capecitabine) is superior to capecitabine alone in women with HER2 (ErbB2) positive advanced breast cancer who had progressed following prior therapy, including Herceptin? (trastuzumab), was published today in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
Solving a 100-year-old genetic puzzle, researchers at the UCSD School of Medicine have determined that the same genetic mechanism that drives tumor growth can also act as a tumor suppressor. Their findings could lead to new drug targets for cancer therapies.
Once people have been diagnosed with lung cancer they might think it pointless to stop smoking, but in fact it’s not too late to benefit from quitting, a new study shows.
The belief that mistletoe can help treat cancer is a myth which can cause harm, warn doctors in this week’s Christmas issue of the BMJ. The warning follows the case of a cancer patient who attended hospital with a tumour-like growth under the skin induced by mistletoe.
Mice with neuroblastoma tumors have been successfully treated with genetically modified cells that sought out the cancer cells and activated a chemotherapy drug directly at those sites, according to investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and their colleagues at City of Hope National Medical Center (Duarte, Calif.) and the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada). Neuroblastoma is a solid tumor that arises in the part of the nervous system outside the brain.
A new study reveals that the cumulative cost of prostate cancer is, on average, $42,570 over five years. Watchful waiting was the least expensive treatment while radiation and androgen deprivation therapy were the most expensive.