Articles

Urothelial (transitional) bladder carcinoma, the most common type of bladder cancer, has mutations in genes that function in chromatin remodeling, affecting the way DNA is packaged, duplicated, and processed during cell division. Gui et al from China examined this issue in a study just published online in Nature Genetics. Common chromatin remodeling genes include UTX, MLL-MLL3, CREBBP-EP300, NCOR1, ARID1A, and CHD6. Read More ›

Functional, psychological, and emotional well-being is of utmost importance to cancer patients. Macmillan Cancer Support has published Move More, a report highlighting the benefits of exercise for enhancing quality of life (QOL) in cancer survivors. How exercise affects functional capacity, muscular strength, body composition, nausea, fatigue, personality functioning, mood states, self-esteem, and QOL are summarized in the report. Read More ›

A new RNAi Center at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology will advance scientific efforts in identifying the specific genes involved in causing cancer and other diseases. Utilizing a Nobel Prize–winning technology known as RNA interference (RNAi), the Institute’s new RNAi Center will be a catalyst for accelerating discovery of new therapies against a variety of diseases. The center is one of a small, select group of dedicated RNAi facilities worldwide.  

Flaxseed may guard healthy tissues and organs from the harmful effects of radiation, according to researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The study demonstrated that a diet of flaxseed given to mice protected lung tissues before exposure to radiation and caused a noticeable reduction in damage after exposure occurred.

The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) recently granted the National Comprehensive Cancer Network^® (NCCN) continuing education accreditation through June 2013. This authorization is essential to oncology pharmacists who require up-to-date and evidence-based educational programs based on the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines™).

Approval has been issued by the FDA for updated label information on pioglitazone (Actos) and medications that contain it. This follows its warning in June 2011 regarding a risk of bladder cancer with use of pioglitazone, a warning that came just days after France and Germany banned use of the drug.

A recently developed urine test can assist in the early detection of and treatment decisions regarding prostate cancer, a study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology finds.

The test is designed to supplement an elevated PSA screening result. While defining those men at highest risk for clinically significant prostate cancer, the test could also delay or negate the need for a needle biopsy in some patients.

In its update of its technology assessment guidelines on chemotherapy sensitivity and resistance assays (CSRAs), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) cautioned against the use of this technology to select chemotherapeutic agents for individual patients. Rather, the guidelines recommend that oncologists “make chemotherapy treatment recommendations based on published reports of clinical trials and a patient's health status and treatment preferences.”

Breast cancer patients with no response to tamoxifen may overcome resistance to the widely-used drug when taken in combination with the leukemia chemotherapy dasatinib, new research from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson suggests.

About 70% of breast cancer diagnoses are estrogen receptor (ER)–positive disease, which indicates that the tumor may respond to tamoxifen. However, up to 35% of these ER-positive tumors have little to no response to the drug or ultimately develop resistance to it.