Category Archives: Cancer Research

Are You Taking Blood Thinners? Research Shows Your Risk for Cancer is Lower.

Blood thinners such as Warfarin are prescribed for millions of people around the world to control a range of cardiovascular problems. Based on the results of a recent study, the drugs may also reduce the risk of cancer, which could have future implications for cancer treatment.

A Surprising Weapon in the Battle Against Cancer

The study, recently published in JAMA Internal Medicine, involved 1.25 million people over the age of 50 in Norway. Researchers at the University of Bergen found that those who took Warfarin were 16 percent less likely to develop cancer than those who didn’t.

Benefits were even more pronounced for three of the most common forms of cancer. Prostate cancer had the highest risk reduction at 31 percent, followed by lung cancer at 20 percent and breast cancer at 10 percent.

The good news doesn’t end there. Patients taking Warfarin for atrial fibrillation, an abnormal heart rhythm, saw a 29 percent reduction in risk for bowel cancer.

Blood Thinners: A Form of Immunotherapy?

At this point, researchers are unclear how Warfarin affects the risk of cancer. They believe that the drugs may inhibit the signaling power of cancer cells, leaving them vulnerable to attack from the body’s immune system.

Despite the promising results, medical experts warn against self-medicating with Warfarin. The drug can have serious side effects, so it should always be taken under a doctor’s supervision.

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Cancer Research, Cancer Treatment, Uncategorized

New Device Helps to Accurately Detect Cancer in Tissue Biopsies

December 1, 2017 Chris

One of the biggest roadblocks to successful cancer treatment is the difficulty of differentiating between healthy and diseased tissue. Cancer immunotherapy helps to address this problem, and researchers have announced development of a new device that may also improve outcomes.

Removing Cancer While Sparing Healthy Tissue

Surgery is a primary tool in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, but there’s a risk that some of the cancerous tissue may be left behind. Surgeons sometimes use cryosection, in which a frozen tissue sample is evaluated by a pathologist, but the method is time-consuming and not always accurate.

A study published in Science Translational Medicine reveals how a team of researchers in Texas created the MasSpec Pen to detect cancer in human tissue. This device uses the dysfunctional metabolism of cancer cells to differentiate them from normal cells.

Identifying Cancerous Cells Within Seconds

Once a molecular fingerprint has been drawn, the cells are analyzed using software that has been “trained” by processing hundreds of healthy and cancerous human tissue samples. Within 10 seconds, the sample is flagged as “Normal” or “Cancer.”

The research team tested 253 samples of both normal and cancerous tissue with an accuracy rate of more than 96 percent. When the device was tested on mice, it again proved accurate without causing damage to healthy tissue. Testing in human cancer surgeries is expected to begin in 2018.

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Cancer Research, Cancer Treatment, Uncategorized

Smoking May Actually Prime Lung Cells for Cancer

November 29, 2017 Chris

The link between cigarette smoking and increased risk of lung cancer is well-established. Recent studies are giving researchers more insight into the causes of the connection as well as possible methods of treatment.

What Causes Genetic Abnormalities?

Gene behavior is driven by DNA code, but it can also be affected by other external factors. These events, such as those brought on by exposure to cigarette smoke, are known as epigenetic changes.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in Baltimore grew human bronchial cells, the same type that line airways in the lungs, and bathed them daily with a liquid form of cigarette smoke. This procedure went on for 15 months, making it the equivalent of smoking one to two packs of cigarettes a day for 20 to 30 years.

How Smoking “Primes” Cells for DNA Damage

After only 10 days, the smoke-exposed cells sustained more DNA damage than unexposed cells. Over the next three months, the exposed cells showed a significant increase in EZH2, which is a hormone that silences genes.

EZH2 is also a precursor to methylation, in which tiny methyl groups are added to the start of a gene’s DNA code. As a result, tumor suppression genes are silenced and thereby unable to prevent the uncontrolled cell growth of cancer. Smokers who quit show a lower level of methylation, which can decrease their risk of cancer.

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Cancer Research, Uncategorized

University of California Creates a Cancer Consortium for Research

November 24, 2017 Chris 1 Comment

Cancer Consortium Conference — Cancer Consortium Research Conference

There’s power in numbers, and the University of California is leveraging that concept to fight the battle against cancer. In September, the school announced that its five academic cancer centers are aligning to form a cancer research consortium.

Strength Through Teamwork

The partnership is made up of UC branches in Davis, Irvine, San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles. UC officials and researchers hope that the new consortium, believed to be the largest ever formed by a U.S. public university system, will enable larger clinical trials of cancer immunotherapy and other treatments across a wider spectrum.

The announcement has particular resonance in California, where cancer is on the verge of overtaking heart disease as the leading cause of death. It also has personal meaning for UC President Janet Napolitano, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2000 and again in 2016.

Cancer Research at the University of California

Currently, the five UC cancer centers treat 16 percent of cancer patients in California, with nearly half of them in late-stage cancer. In addition, the centers have administered more than 1,600 clinical trials over the last year, moving the top therapies along the road to FDA approval.

According to Paula Aspiazu of the American Cancer Society, their organization provides $23 million in funding to the UC system. Aspiazu pointed out that the consortium means each center can now draw data from a larger pool rather than only their own specific group.

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Alternative Cancer Treatment, Breast Cancer, Cancer Research, Cancer Treatment, Uncategorized

New Treatment for Cancers Linked to BRCA Mutations

November 20, 2017 Chris 1 Comment

New Research for Breast Cancer Studies Genes — New Research for Cancer Studies Genes

Identification of Breast Cancer genetic mutations was a breakthrough for scientists working on cancer testing and treatment. Recent findings show that a new form of cancer treatment can effectively extend progression-free survival in patients with BRCA-related tumors.

PARP Inhibitors and BRCA-Related Cancers

PARP inhibitors make up a new class of cancer drugs that have been used primarily in a narrow application for women with ovarian and related forms of cancer. As presented at the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) in Madrid last September, recent trial results open up possibilities of other uses.

The ARIEL-3 trial, sponsored by Clovis Oncology, involved 564 patients who received randomized doses of a placebo or Rubraca, a PARP inhibitor manufactured by Clovis. Rubraca was found to help women who had ovarian cancer both with and without BRCA mutations.

While Rubraca’s greatest effectiveness was in cases involving BRCA mutations, it also had a positive effect on some with other markers of impaired DNA repair. This condition is referred to as genomic scarring or BRCA-ness, related to a deficiency in homologous recombination repair (HRD).

Future Uses of PARP Inhibitors

Rubraca is currently approved in the U.S. for treatment of advanced BRCA-positive ovarian cancer. Based on the trial results, Clovis has applied for FDA approval of broader applications of Rubraca, including maintenance treatment. Researchers are hopeful that benefits will eventually extend to breast, pancreatic and prostate cancer.

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Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research, Cancer Treatment, Cancer Vaccine, Immuno-Oncology, Immunotherapy, Immunotherapy for Cancer, Living with Cancer, Uncategorized

Cancer Patients – The Struggle to Understand Clinical Trial Opportunities

November 17, 2017 Chris

Cancer Patients Can Struggle to Understand if a Clinical Trial is Right for Them

Clinical trials are essential for continued development of immunotherapy and other cancer treatment methods. A recent study shows that while cancer patients recognize the importance of clinical trials, they lack the same understanding about the concepts behind the process.

What Is the Public Conception of Clinical Trials?

Oncologist Catherine Kelly of Mater Misericordiae University Hospital in Dublin led a study involving 1,090 cancer patients being treated in centers across Ireland. Kelly presented the results at the September meeting of the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) in Madrid.

Despite the fact that more than 25 percent of the subjects had previously participated in clinical trials, misunderstanding of central concepts was widespread throughout the responses.

Nearly three-quarters of those who had never taken part in a clinical trial didn’t understand that the types of treatment are randomly assigned. Surprisingly, this also applied to more than half of the patients who had participated in trials.
Most patients didn’t understand the concept of clinical equipoise, in which no one knows which of the treatments being tested is better. With previous clinical trial participants, an astonishing 60 percent believed that their doctor knew which treatment was better.

Why Understanding of Clinical Trials Matters

Results of this study were consistent with those from earlier studies. Kelly pointed out the need for doctors to address these misconceptions that instill fear in patients, preventing them from participating in trials.

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