A new study investigating the effects of chemotherapy on cognitive function in mice has confirmed what many cancer patients receiving treatment have often complained about ? a decline in their memory and other cognitive functions, sometimes characterized as “chemobrain”.
Women undergoing radiation treatment for breast cancer benefit from moderate intensity, regular aerobic activity, according to a new study. A peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study found that exercise improved the oxygen capacity of patients and maintained levels of red blood cells during radiation treatment. In contrast, women who did not exercise experienced significant declines in their oxygen capacity. This is the first study to investigate the effect of exercise during treatment.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and the National Collaborating Centre for Primary Care have published an update of its familial breast cancer guideline.
Annual scans can catch lung cancer when it is still curable, researchers reported in a study. The findings, which have already ignited a disput among cancer experts, support the argument that yearly computed tomography (CT) scans are worthwhile for smokers and others at high risk, the researchers said.
A new test could now be able to improve doctors’ ability to recommend the right type of cancer treatment for their patients. According to the researchers, the test, which has been developed by Anil Potti at the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy in Durham, North Carolina, is 80% accurate in predicting the right chemotherapy to cure each person’s cancer.
Stay thin and trim to cut cancer risk as fat tissue may be preventing the death of damaged cells, a new study has said. In studies with mice, shedding a bit of weight acted as a preventive measure against cancers. And they didn’t even have to exercise to get the benefit: the mouse equivalent of liposuction did the trick.
Scientists at Duke University’s Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy have developed a panel of genomic tests that analyzes the unique molecular traits of a cancerous tumor and determines, which chemotherapy will most aggressively attack that patient’s cancer.
Malignancies of the breast can be more aggressive and associated with poorer outcome in African-Americans than other races, according to a new study. Published in the December 1, 2006 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study reviewed patient data from two different clinical trial protocols – to control for healthcare access biases – and found that African-Americans have tumors with poorer prognostic cellular characteristics and more aggressive clinical presentations, pointing to the possibility that racially influenced tumor biology may contribute to observed racial disparities in breast cancer outcome.
While some breast cancer survivors could benefit from adding aromatase inhibitors to the standard five years of tamoxifen, a new study shows the additional therapy should be weighed carefully for each individual. Writing in the December 1, 2006 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study’s authors say potential improvement in cancer-free survival beyond 5 years with the added therapy may be less than 2 percent for most patients.
Eli Lilly and Company has launched a major clinical trial evaluating ALIMTA (pemetrexed for injection) in extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC), a devastating and rapidly spreading form of lung cancer. This international trial, expected to be the largest ever to be conducted in SCLC(1), will assess the potential clinical benefit of pemetrexed in combination with carboplatin, a commonly-used chemotherapeutic agent, in direct comparison to the current leading treatment option of etoposide in combination with carboplatin.