Cancer, while always dangerous, truly becomes life-threatening when cancer cells begin to spread to different areas throughout the body. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have discovered that a molecule used as a communication system by bacteria can be manipulated to prevent cancer cells from spreading. Senthil Kumar, an assistant research professor and assistant director of the Comparative Oncology and Epigenetics Laboratory at the MU College of Veterinary Medicine, says this communication system can be used to “tell” cancer cells how to act, or even to die on command.Continue reading
Pancreatic tumors ‘reprogrammed’ by new vaccine
Researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD, have discovered that a combination of a vaccine and low-dose chemotherapy may make pancreatic cancer susceptible to the effects of immunotherapy. These findings are significant because, typically, these cancers do not respond to immunotherapy, with fewer than 5% of patients surviving 5 years after diagnosis.Continue reading
Could antihistamines help fight cancer?
For those of you that suffer from watery, itchy eyes and runny noses throughout allergy season, antihistamines are likely to be your best friend. But a new study finds the drugs may do more than combat hay fever; they could fight cancer, too.
The research team, including Daniel H. Conrad, PhD, of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Virginia Commonwealth University, recently published their findings in The Journal of Leukocyte Biology.Continue reading
New tool for assessing financial risk of cancer patients and survivors
Cancer specialists from the University of Chicago, IL, have developed an innovative new tool to measure a cancer patient’s risk for – and ability to tolerate – financial stress. They publish details of the COST (COmprehensive Score for financial Toxicity) tool – the first of its kind – in the journal Cancer.Continue reading
Vitamin D may raise survival rates among cancer patients
Cancer patients who have higher levels of vitamin D when they are diagnosed tend to have better survival rates and remain in remission longer than patients who are vitamin D-deficient, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).Continue reading
Poor kidney function may boost cancer risk
People with kidney disease may be at increased risk of cancer, according to new findings presented at the National Kidney Foundation’s 2014 Spring Clinical Meetings.Continue reading
3.5 million new cases of cancer every year in China
CCTV reported that 3.5 million cancer cases are diagnosed every year in China. Cancer is one of the major causes of death for urban and rural residents in China. That’s according to a recently released annual report by the National Cancer Prevention and Control Office.
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3.5 million new cases of cancer are diagnosed every year in the country, and 2.5 million die from the disease, the report says. Only one quarter of Chinese cancer patients go into remission, compared with 65 percent in developed countries. The most prevalent forms of cancer in China are those affecting the lungs, stomach, rectum, liver and esophagus, with lung cancer having the highest mortality rate.
Medical experts say cancer is closely related to people’s lifestyles. And 60 percent of cases could be avoided by following a healthy lifestyle.
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