Global trends in breast cancer show disparities by countries

Photo courtesy of University of Calgary News

CANCER DIGEST – July 31, 2020 – Breast cancer rates are increasing among pre- and postmenopausal women around the world, but trends are different in low-income countries versus high-income countries, say a group of Canadian researchers.

Maintaining health of mouth and teeth my reduce cancer risk

CANCER DIGEST – July 24, 2020 – People with history of gum disease appear to have higher risk of developing digestive tract cancers, according to a new study published online July 20, 2020 in the journal GUT.

Researchers led by Chun-Han Lo and colleagues at Harvard Medical School examined the history of periodontal disease and tooth loss with the risk of esophageal and stomach cancer in 98,459 women who participated in the Nurses’ Health Study, and 49,685 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Both studies were conducted over a couple of decades beginning1988 for the men and 1992 in women.

Researchers say their cancer vaccine is ready for human trials

The Vaccine Research Team at Translational Research Institute, Australia says 
they are ready to begin human clinical trials of their cancer vaccine. 
Image courtesy TRI

CANCER DIGEST – July 17, 2020 – Scientists are ready to begin clinical trials for a new cancer vaccine in humans they say has the potential to treat a variety of blood cancers, following results of preclinical trials appearing in the journal Clinical and Translational Immunology.

New formulation of leading prostate drug could improve effectiveness

CANCER DIGEST – July 11, 2020 – A new formulation of the leading prostate cancer drug improves effectiveness and reduces side effects, a new early clinical trial shows.

The results of a pre-clinical trial by researchers at the University of South Australia show the new formulation improves the effectiveness of the drug Zytiga® (abiraterone acetate) by 40 percent. 

Pre-clinical trials are typically done in the laboratory and in living animals. The study appeared in the May 2020 issue of the International Journal of Pharmaceutics.

FDA approves home breast cancer treatment amid COVID-19 epidemic

Image credit – US Public Health
Emergency Weekly Report

CANCER DIGEST – July 3, 2020 – The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Phesgo, for home administration for HER-2 positive breast cancer.

A combination of targeted therapy drugs pertuzumab, trastuzumab (Herceptin®) and hyaluronidase is commonly given to HER-2 positive breast cancer patients whose cancer has spread to other parts of the body as an intravenous infusion at a clinic.