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November 5, 2009
Scientists halt brain disease with new gene therapy
LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have managed to halt a rare and fatal brain disease with an experimental gene therapy technique using a deactivated version of the AIDS virus, a study published on Thursday showed.
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November 3, 2009
Brain trouble often persists after brain cancer
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Survivors of childhood brain tumors often suffer lasting problems with memory and other "cognitive" functions, results of a study indicate.
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November 2, 2009
Working with poultry linked to certain cancers
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Poultry workers may be at particularly high risk of developing several forms of cancer, according to a new study that points to viruses carried by birds as a possible cause.
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October 27, 2009
Thyroid cancer a risk after childhood cancer
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Childhood cancer survivors are 18 times more likely to develop thyroid cancer than the general population, UK researchers report.
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October 26, 2009
Gene therapy experiment restores sight in a few
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Nine-year-old Corey Haas can ride his bike alone now, thanks to an experimental gene therapy that has boosted his fading vision with a single treatment.
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October 23, 2009
Thoughts of suicide long after childhood cancer
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adult survivors of childhood cancer, particularly those in poor physical health, are at increased risk for experiencing suicidal thoughts, new research shows.
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October 8, 2009
Study isolates virus in chronic fatigue sufferers
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A virus linked to prostate cancer also appears to play a role in chronic fatigue syndrome, according to research that could lead to the first drug treatments for a mysterious disorder that affects 17 million people worldwide.
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September 8, 2009
Study questions dioxin's link to cancer
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Findings from a study of Dow Chemical workers suggest that exposure to dioxin may not increase the risk for certain cancers, as is widely believed.
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September 7, 2009
Virus might be one cause of prostate cancer-study
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A virus known to cause leukemia and tumors in animals can be found in some prostate tumors and might be one cause of prostate cancer, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.
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August 26, 2009
Drug ads may not alter most cancer patients' care
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study suggests that most cancer patients have seen ads for various drugs used against their disease, but it may ultimately have little impact on their treatment.
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August 24, 2009
Teens, young adults with leukemia living longer
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adolescents and young adults with leukemia or lymphoma still fare worse than children with these blood cancers, but new research shows things are getting better.
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August 13, 2009
Study traces steady declines in U.S. cancer deaths
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Improvements in cancer screening and better treatments have resulted in steady declines in cancer death rates over the past three decades, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.
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August 10, 2009
Childhood cancer treatment may raise diabetes risk
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Cancer survivors who got radiation treatments as children have nearly twice the risk of developing diabetes as adults, U.S. researchers said on Monday.
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August 6, 2009
Pesticides linked to childhood leukemia risk
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Exposure to common pesticides may play some role in the risk of the most frequent form of childhood leukemia, a small study suggests.
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August 4, 2009
Arthritis drugs raise cancer risk in kids: US FDA
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Blockbuster prescription drugs used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions can increase the risk of potentially deadly cancer in children and teenagers, U.S. health regulators said on Tuesday in ordering stronger warnings on such medications.
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August 4, 2009
"Don't eat me" sign helps bladder tumors escape
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Researchers said on Monday they had found primitive bladder cancer cells that cloak themselves with a "don't eat me" signal that scares off immune system cells, allowing them to mature into tumors later on.
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July 31, 2009
Getting personal: New tests aid drug performance
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Better diagnostic tests and pressure to lower healthcare costs may finally usher in the era of personalized medicine, in which patients get drugs tailored to their genetic makeup, a new report suggests.
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July 27, 2009
Agent Orange linked to heart disease, Parkinson's
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Agent Orange, used by U.S. forces to strip Vietnamese and Cambodian jungles during the Vietnam War, may raise the risk of heart disease and Parkinson's disease, U.S. health advisers said on Friday.
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July 7, 2009
Blacks only face survival gap with some cancers
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The chances of dying from breast cancer are greater in black women than white women, but other cancers do not show a survival gap between the races, according to two studies published online today in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI).
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July 2, 2009
Birth weight appears associated with leukemia
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - There may be an association between high birth weight and an increased risk of overall leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The increased risk of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) appears to be associated with the high and low extremes of birth weight.
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June 25, 2009
Radiation not needed in common childhood cancer
BOSTON (Reuters) - Children can be treated for a common form of childhood leukemia without bombarding the brain with radiation, reducing the risk that they will suffer additional tumors and thinking problems, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.
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June 16, 2009
Most patients want cancer prognosis test
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Most patients with a form of eye cancer called choroidal melanoma want to undergo a genetic test that can predict their likely outcome, a small study suggests.
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June 4, 2009
Green tea ingredient may fight incurable leukemia
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A chemical found in green tea may shrink lymph nodes and reduce white blood cell counts in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a new study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology shows.
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May 29, 2009
FDA advisers back Glaxo, Genmab cancer drug
ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - A small trial of Arzerra, being developed by GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Genmab for treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia, indicated benefits sufficient for U.S. approval, an advisory committee to regulators said on Friday.
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May 27, 2009
FDA staff questions data on leukemia drug
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. drug reviewers questioned whether a proposed leukemia drug from GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Genmab provides enough benefit to warrant approval, documents released on Wednesday said.
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May 20, 2009
Down's syndrome reveals one key to fighting cancer
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People with Down's syndrome rarely get most kinds of cancer and U.S. researchers have nailed down one reason why -- they have extra copies of a gene that helps keep tumors from feeding themselves.
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May 14, 2009
Standard breast cancer therapy urged for older women
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Older women with early breast cancer benefit as much from chemotherapy as their younger counterparts, investigators report in The New England Journal of Medicine.
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May 13, 2009
Formaldehyde raises risk of deadly cancers: study
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Industrial workers who are exposed to the chemical formaldehyde may have a significantly higher risk of dying from blood and lymphatic cancers, U.S. government researchers said on Tuesday.
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April 30, 2009
Abortions not increased among cancer survivors
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who survive childhood cancer are no more or less likely to opt for an abortion during pregnancy than unaffected women, new research from Denmark suggests.
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April 30, 2009
Leukemia risk seen with MS drug mitoxantrone
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - An Italian study confirms that people with multiple sclerosis (MS) who are treated with the drug mitoxantrone have an increased risk of developing acute leukemia. Furthermore, it seems that the risk is significantly higher than previously reported.
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April 20, 2009
Bone drugs may protect against radiation exposure
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Drugs commonly used to strengthen bones to prevent osteoporosis may protect people exposed to radiation against developing leukemia, U.S. researchers said on Sunday.
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March 9, 2009
Hong Kong says drug contaminated with lethal fungus
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong health authorities said on Monday that a tainted drug possibly linked to the deaths of five patients likely became contaminated with a lethal fungus during its manufacture.
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February 4, 2009
Celiac disease linked to high risk of lymphoma
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Analysis of data from a Swedish cancer registry shows a more than 5-fold increased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in patients with celiac disease, but the risk is steadily decreasing, and is less than half of what it was 40 years ago.
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January 2, 2009
Cough medicine ingredient may treat prostate cancer
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Noscapine, a natural substance found in cough medicine, may prove useful in treating advanced prostate cancer, according to studies in mice.
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January 1, 2009
Parenthood less likely after early-life cancer
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who survive cancer that occurs early in life appear to be 50 percent less likely to parent a child than their siblings, according to findings from a Finnish population-based study.
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December 19, 2008
Chromosomal changes seen in long-term airline pilots
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - New research suggests that airline pilots with long-term flying experience may be exposed to higher than average levels of radiation, resulting in more chromosomal translocations than usually seen.
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December 18, 2008
Fatal attraction: How leukemia seduces blood cells
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Leukemia cells use powerful chemical signals to lure healthy blood-forming stem cells into their cancerous lairs, where they lose their power to make healthy blood cells, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.
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December 9, 2008
Obesity does not affect leukemia treatment
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Obesity has little impact on the success of blood cell transplants for acute myeloid leukemia, the most common reason for performing such transplantations, according to study findings presented at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting in San Francisco.
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December 9, 2008
Cancer deaths in U.S. carry high economic cost
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Lives lost due to cancer in the U.S. entail a heavy financial toll, alone with the human costs, but investment in programs that target the most common cancers or ones that tend to occur in younger, working-age individuals, may help reduce the economic losses, according to two reports in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
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December 9, 2008
Novartis leukemia drugs show promise
ZURICH (Reuters) - Novartis AG's cancer drug Tasigna was effective and helped achieve rapid responses as an initial therapy in newly diagnosed patients with a life threatening form of leukemia, the company said.
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December 8, 2008
Genentech drug boosts leukemia patient survival
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A combination of Genentech Inc's cancer drug Rituxan and chemotherapy reduces by 41 percent the risk of death or cancer progression, compared with chemotherapy alone, for patients with a common form of leukemia, the company said on Saturday.
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November 28, 2008
Scientists track genetic changes in leukemia
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Distinctive genetic changes occur in the cancer cells that trigger relapse in patients with the most common type of childhood cancer, according to a study that may offer new hope for beating the disease.
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November 25, 2008
Cancer rates and cancer-related deaths drop in U.S.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - For the first time ever, the overall cancer incidence and death rates have declined for men and women in the United States, according to an annual report released Tuesday by the American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute, and other groups.
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November 21, 2008
Drug can extend leukaemia patients' lives: study
ZURICH (Reuters) - Roche Holding AG said on Friday its top-selling cancer drug MabThera helped patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL) to live longer without their disease getting worse, according to a second late-stage study.
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November 18, 2008
New study backs solvent, leukemia link
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Research from Italy provides new evidence that exposure to the industrial solvent benzene increases a person's risk of developing multiple myeloma.
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November 14, 2008
Modern cancer drugs more likely to get to market
LONDON (Reuters) - Nearly one in five cancer drugs entering development now reach the market, a remarkably good success rate given the high level of failures in other disease areas, British researchers said on Friday.
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November 13, 2008
Bone marrow transplant suppresses AIDS in patient
BERLIN (Reuters) - A bone marrow transplant using stem cells from a donor with natural genetic resistance to the AIDS virus has left an HIV patient free of infection for nearly two years, German researchers.
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November 5, 2008
A cancer patient's genome decoded for first time
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists for the first time have decoded the entire genome of a cancer patient, identifying a series of genes never before linked to the type of white blood cell cancer that ultimately killed the woman.
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October 23, 2008
Gene study turns up 26 lung cancer genes
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A broad analysis of genes has turned up 26 mutations linked with the most common form of lung cancer, several of which play a role in other cancers as well, researchers said on Wednesday.
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October 23, 2008
Leukemia drug appears to stop early stage MS
LONDON (Reuters) - A drug developed to fight leukemia appears to stop multiple sclerosis in its early stages and restore lost function to patients, British researchers said on Wednesday.