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For African-American families in which a man is diagnosed with a prostate cancer, there are unmet psychosocial needs that affect survivorship, family relationships, and social interactions, according to new research.

“African-Americans continue to experience higher morbidity and mortality rates from prostate cancer and lower survival rates when compared to men of other ethnic and racial groups,” said study lead author Brian M. Rivers, PhD, MPH, assistant member of Health Outcomes & Behavior.

New guidelines for lung cancer screening are being strongly recommended. Created by a lung screening and surveillance task force established by the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) and led by medical professionals from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), the guidelines were published this week in the online edition of the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.

Because recent research shows low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) is valuable in reducing lung cancer deaths, the AATS task force recommends an annual LDCT lung cancer screening for:

Patients receiving a new prescription seldom read the critical warning labels such as “do not consume alcohol while taking this medication” or “for external use only.” As a result, an estimated 4 million Americans experience adverse reactions to prescription medications each year.

A new report appearing in the journal Organic Process Research & Development describes the development of a new procedure for eliminating almost 98% of an impurity that can contaminate prescription drugs and potentially increase the risk for adverse health effects in patients.

During the first few months of treatment, targeted cancer cell therapies using man-made proteins significantly shrink many tumors. However, the cancer cells often become resistant, the treatment stops working, and the disease returns. New research, reported online in the journal Nature, may point to why these outcomes frequently occur.

During its annual policy-making meeting, the American Medical Association (AMA) voted to adopt these new policies:

According to a first-ever report by the American Cancer Society in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the number of Americans with a history of cancer, currently estimated to be 13.7 million, will grow to approximately 18 million by 2022. The report, Cancer Treatment & Survivorship Facts & Figures, 2012-2013, and the accompanying journal article published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, used data from the NCI-funded Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program.

In an effort to address current cancer survivorship concerns, leading experts in the United States convened recently for the Cancer Survivorship Research Conference: Translating Science to Care, a conference jointly sponsored by the American Cancer Society’s Behavioral Research Center, the National Cancer Institute’s Office of Cancer Survivorship, the Lance Armstrong Foundation, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to the American Cancer Society, basal cell carcinoma accounts for approximately 80% of all diagnosed non-melanoma skin cancers. Although the most common type of skin cancer, in its advanced stages, basal cell carcinoma has the potential to become disfiguring and life-threatening.

Research has shown that women who receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy are more likely to achieve breast conservation than those receiving chemotherapy after surgery. Therefore, women with breast cancer often undergo chemotherapy prior to surgery.

Now, a new study published online in the journal Radiology points to the fact that MRI provides an indication of a breast tumor’s response to presurgical chemotherapy significantly earlier than clinical examination.