Experimental combination treatment halts rare leukemia

A prolymphocyte is a white
blood cell – Wikipedia

CANCER DIGEST – June 30, 2015 –An experimental new treatment approach for a rare, deadly leukemia can send the disease into remission even in patients for whom the standard therapy has failed, buying them more time to have the stem cell transplant that could save their lives, a small pilot study has found.

The new approach to battling T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia uses a combination of two drugs already approved for cancer and other therapies, alemtuzumab and cladribine. 

Vitamin D and weight loss linked to reduced inflammation

Lead author Catherine
Duggan, Ph.D

CANCER DIGEST – June 24, 2015 – For the first time, researchers have found that weight loss, in combination with taking vitamin D, has a greater effect on reducing chronic inflammation than weight loss alone. 

Chronic inflammation is known to contribute to the development and progression of several diseases, including some cancers. Led by Catherine Duggan, Ph.D., researchers in the Public Health Sciences Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA published their findings online ahead of the July issue of the journal Cancer Prevention Research. 

Cancer doctors publish tool to help compare treatment values

CANCER DIGEST – June 23, 2015 – The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) today published an initial version of what it hopes to develop into a standardized tool to help patients and their doctors assess the value of cancer treatment options based on clinical benefit, side effects, and for the first time cost. 

While cancer patients have long been confronted with discussions of complicated treatment options with varying degrees of effectiveness and side effects. Seldom is

Quality of colonoscopy exam matters

CANCER DIGEST – June 18, 2015 – Patients whose doctors tend to detect more adenomas, or abnormalities in the intestines had a 50 to 60 percent lower lifetime risk of dying of colorectal cancer, a new analysis shows.

The researchers led by Reinier G.S. Meester, M.Sc., of Erasmus Medical Center University Rotterdam, the Netherlands analyzed data from 57,000 patients in the Kaiser Permanente health system who underwent colonoscopies administered by 136 different gastrointestinal specialists. The study was published in the June 16 Journal of the American Medical Association.

Study shows how aspirin might halt breast cancer recurrence

Dr. Sushanta Banerjee (seated) is seen 
with his research team (from left): 
Samdipto Sarkar, Dr. Snigdha Banerjee, 
Dr. Amlan Das, Archana De, and Dr. 
Gargi Maity. photo by: Tony F. Barnett

CANCER DIGEST – June 13, 2015 – Aspirin may block or slow breast cancer, a laboratory study shows. The Veterans Affairs researchers in Kansas City, MO, have shown that acetylsalicylic acid, commonly known as aspirin, dramatically increased the rate of death of cancer cells in a petri dish and in mice.

While it has been shown to be effective for a host of ailments, including colon, gastrointestinal and prostate cancers, the new study shows how it might also be effective in stopping or slowing the growth of breast cancer by changing the microenvironment of the cancer. The study was published in the April 13, 2015 issue of Laboratory Investigation.

Yogurt bacteria developed into urine test for liver tumors

CANCER DIGEST – June 10, 2015 – Researchers have found a new use for bacteria, identifying liver tumors much earlier so treatment can be more effective.

Researchers have long been pursuing the use of bacteria to develop anti-cancer vaccines, engineering bacteria to specifically target and kill cancer cells. Now researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and University of California at San Diego have engineered a strain of the E. coli

Melanoma rates double over past 30 years

CANCER DIGEST – June 5, 2015 – Melanoma rates doubled between 1982 and 2011 but comprehensive skin cancer prevention programs could prevent 20 percent of new cases between 2020 and 2030, according to a Centers for Disease Control report.