New combination treatment shows promise for AML

CANCER DIGEST – Nov. 10, 2018 – A combination of a standard chemotherapy and newer immunotherapy has shown promise in treating people with acute myeloid leukemia or AML, one of the most deadly forms of the disease.

Judge rules patent on Zytiga® invalid

CANCER DIGEST – Nov. 4, 2018 – A federal judge in New Jersey has ruled that Johnson & Johnson’s patent for the anti-prostate cancer drug abiraterone is invalid. The decision clears the way for generic versions of the drug, which are under development by a number of pharmaceutical companies. 

Treating hepatitis C has come down to a political prescription

Editorial

CANCER DIGEST – Oct. 24, 2018 – The World Hepatitis Alliance is calling for a dramatic increase in testing and treatment across all countries in an effort to reduce the number of people who are unaware they have hepatitis C, a viral infection that can lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer and death.

The organization says that out of an estimated 71 million people worldwide infected with virus, less than a million are treated, despite the fact that there are newer antiviral drugs that can cure more than 95 percent of those infected according to the World Health Organization.

The quest to determine which prostate cancers need treatment

Image courtesy University of York

CANCER DIGEST – Oct. 20, 2018 – Researchers  from the University of York in the UK and the University of British Columbia, Canada say they can now determine with 92 percent accuracy which prostate cancers are life-threatening and which can be managed.

Prostate cancers are generally categorized as slow-growing or aggressive. Slow-growing cancers that remain within the prostate can be monitored, sometimes for years before treatment is needed, while aggressive cancers need to be treated quickly.

Stomach ulcer bacteria might also be linked to colorectal cancer

Electron micrograph of H. pylori - copy-
right free image from Wikipedia 

CANCER DIGEST – Oct. 13, 2018 – Could a round of antibiotics prevent colorectal cancer? That’s the intriguing question coming out a new Duke University study that links the bacterium H. pylori to an increased risk of of colorectal cancers. 


The study analyzed 4,000 colorectal cancer cases and found a significant correlation between colorectal cancer and those infected with a particularly virulent strain of H. pylori that is especially common among African Americans and Asians.