Poliovirus significantly boosts survival in deadly brain cancer

Image courtesy Duke Health

CANCER DIGEST – June 30, 2018 – Using a genetically modified poliovirus researchers at Duke Cancer Institute have significantly improved long-term survival for patients with recurrent glioblastoma, a deadly form of brain cancer.

The early stage clinical trial results of the poliovirus therapy were presented June 26 at the 22nd International Conference on Brain Tumor Research and Therapy in Norway and simultaneously published in June 26, 2018 The New England Journal of Medicine.

Cyanide drug cuts hearing loss in half in children treated for liver cancer

Photo courtesy of CDC Early Hearing Detection and
Intervention program

CANCER DIGEST – June 21, 2018 – A drug used as an antidote to cyanide poisoning reduces hearing loss by nearly 50 percent in children treated with chemotherapy for liver cancer, researchers say.

The drug is sodium thiosulphate (STS) and has been used for decades primarily as an antidote to cyanide poisoning, and is also used as a chemical to reduce excess chlorine levels in swimming pools. In the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, British researchers led by Dr. Penelope Brock for Cancer Research UK treated children with a rare type of childhood liver cancer called hepatoblastoma.

Higher levels of vitamin D linked to lower colorectal cancer risk in women

CANCER DIGEST – June 15, 2018 – People with higher levels of vitamin D in their blood appear to have protection against colorectal cancer, according to a new study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Vitamin D plays a key role in maintaining bone health, but research has produced clues that it may also lower the risk of colorectal cancer due to effects on cell growth and regulation, however the studies aimed to evaluate a protective effect have been inconsistent.

Immunotherapy approach wiped out advanced breast cancer patient's tumors

CT scans 14 months after treatment (right) 

show all tumors have disappeared. 

Image provided by National Cancer Institute

CANCER DIGEST – June 9, 2018 – Researchers at the National Cancer Institute used certain cells taken from a breast cancer patient’s immune cells to wipe out all tumors in a case of advanced disease that had spread to other parts of the body.

The patient with metastatic disease had undergone several other treatments, including chemotherapy and hormonal treatments that had not stopped her cancer from progressing.