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August 21, 2008
Celgene wins US approval to expand Vidaza label
BOSTON (Reuters) - Celgene Corp said on Thursday that U.S. regulators have given it the green light to add information to the label of its drug Vidaza showing it prolonged life in some patients with myelodysplastic syndromes, or MDS, a group of blood disorders that can lead to leukemia.
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August 1, 2008
Methadone promising in hard-to-treat leukemia
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Methadone, a drug used to treat people addicted to heroin and other opioid drugs, holds promise as a new treatment for leukemia, especially treatment-resistant leukemia, according to results of a study.
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July 29, 2008
Sparing leukemia patients from unnecessary chemo
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Nearly one-third of leukemia patients do not respond to chemotherapy, but this is not typically discovered until they have already endured a week-long course of chemotherapy and waited even longer to see if the chemotherapy worked.
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July 18, 2008
Home radon may have tie to childhood leukemia
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Children who live in homes with high radon levels may be at increased risk for acute lymphoblastic leukemia during childhood, but not other childhood cancers, research from Denmark suggests.
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July 8, 2008
US Medicare changes don't affect cancer care: study
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Legislation that cut fees doctors receive for giving chemotherapy to Medicare patients has not affected care so far, researchers reported on Tuesday.
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June 20, 2008
Approach enlists immune system to fight leukemia
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Leukemia patients may be able to avoid developing resistance to the drug Gleevec through a mathematical formula that predicts when they should receive an immune-boosting vaccine, researchers said on Thursday.
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June 19, 2008
Exercise helps kids after bone marrow transplant
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - An exercise program provides physical and overall health benefits for children after they've had a bone marrow transplant, according to a report from Spain.
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June 16, 2008
Stem cell field grows despite controversy - experts
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Political controversy may have slowed the pace of stem cell science, but the field is still promising enough to attract many talented researchers, stem cell experts said on Saturday.
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June 13, 2008
Hair dye may boost lymphoma risk: study
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study suggests that use of hair dye may increase the risk of certain types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), a blood cancer involving the lymph nodes.
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June 10, 2008
Aetna, lawmakers debate health costs, uninsured
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chief executive of Aetna Inc, one of the biggest U.S. health insurers, on Tuesday told lawmakers the escalating cost of insurance is driven by factors other than excess profits at insurers.
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June 10, 2008
Walking may relieve fatigue in leukemia patients
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A walking exercise program can reduce fatigue levels in patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) undergoing chemotherapy, according to the results of a new study.
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June 6, 2008
FEATURE-Olympics-Child's cancer care brought gymnast to Germany
COLOGNE, Germany (Reuters) - It is hard not to feel a lump in your throat when listening to Oxana Chusovitina tell the heart-breaking story of how she ended up in Germany.
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May 27, 2008
Gum disease may raise cancer risk, study finds
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Gum disease may increase the risk of developing cancer, researchers said on Tuesday.
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May 16, 2008
Heart risks high in childhood cancer survivors
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Children who survive cancer while they are young are five to 10 times more likely than their healthy siblings to develop heart disease, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.
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May 13, 2008
Gene therapy shows promise in rare brain disease
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An experimental gene therapy treatment appears to have helped eight children with a rare and incurable neurological disorder, although it may have been responsible for the death of one, researchers reported on Tuesday.
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May 8, 2008
Storage of cord blood raises questions
TORONTO (Reuters) - Public or private? That's the controversial question being asked about a potentially life-saving practice in which cord blood -- the blood collected from a newborn's placenta and umbilical cord -- is stored for future use.
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May 6, 2008
Bone marrow treatments restore nerves, expert says
BETHESDA, Md. (Reuters) - An experiment that went wrong may provide a new way to treat multiple sclerosis, a Canadian researcher said on Tuesday. Patients who got bone marrow stem-cell transplants -- similar to those given to leukemia patients -- have enjoyed a mysterious remission of their disease.
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April 29, 2008
Daycare may protect kids from leukemia: study
LONDON (Reuters) - Sending children to day-care at an early age could protect them against leukemia, perhaps by exposing them to certain infections, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.
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April 28, 2008
Gene therapy improves sight in near-blind patients
LOS ANGELES/LONDON (Reuters) - Gene therapy for a rare type of inherited blindness has improved the vision of four patients who tried it, boosting hopes for the troubled field of gene repair technology, scientists said on Sunday.
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April 17, 2008
Tiny magnets used in anti-cancer gene therapy
LONDON (Reuters) - Tiny magnets have been used to deliver anti-cancer gene therapy in mice in a development that could make the treatment much more effective, scientists said on Thursday.
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April 8, 2008
Treatment reverses blood disorder in mice, study finds
CHICAGO (Reuters) - An experimental treatment in mice showed promise in reversing a rare blood disease that can cause leukemia, U.S. researchers said on Monday, offering a glimpse of how the drug may work as it begins testing in humans.
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April 8, 2008
Childhood ALL survivors may develop problems later
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Among survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) treated in the 1970s and 1980s, approximately one in five have developed another severe chronic medical condition or have died 25 years after their cancer diagnosis, the results of a long-term study suggest. However, long-term outcomes in the future may be better.
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March 21, 2008
Cephalon wins U.S. approval for leukemia drug
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Cephalon Inc won U.S. approval to sell a chemotherapy drug to treat patients with a slow-growing type of leukemia, the company said on Thursday.
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March 17, 2008
Overweight women have worse breast cancer: study
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Breast cancer patients who are overweight have more aggressive disease and are likely to die sooner, U.S. researchers reported on Friday.
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March 14, 2008
Locally advanced breast cancer more deadly in obese
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Women with locally advanced breast cancer who are overweight have a worst prognosis than their slimmer counterparts, U.S. researchers reported on Friday.
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March 13, 2008
Study shows way to predict lung cancer recurrence
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It may be possible to predict whose lung cancer is likely to come back after surgery has apparently cured it, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.
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March 12, 2008
Thyroid cancer patients at risk of second cancer
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - After treatment for thyroid cancer, patients may face a slightly increased risk of developing a second primary malignancy elsewhere in the body, research suggests.
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March 7, 2008
Cancer drug may harm the developing fetus
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The majority of women who become pregnant while taking the cancer drug Gleevec, usually for a type of blood cancer called chronic myeloid leukemia, will probably have a successful outcome. However, there is a substantial risk of serious fetal malformations, according to a study reported this week.
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March 5, 2008
Cancer pill could affect women's fertility - report
BOSTON (Reuters) - Long-term use of the cancer pill Gleevec may produce fertility problems in women, Greek doctors reported on Wednesday.
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March 5, 2008
Breastfeeding may help explain weight disparities
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Lower rates of breastfeeding may help explain why minority and disadvantaged U.S. children are at greater risk of becoming overweight, a new study suggests.
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February 15, 2008
British researchers link obesity to more cancers
LONDON (Reuters) - Obesity can double the risk of several cancers, according to a study published on Friday that for the first time also links being overweight with a number of less common forms of the disease.
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January 30, 2008
Nexavar shows promise in acute myeloid leukemia
CHICAGO (Reuters) - The kidney cancer pill Nexava, know generically as sorafenib, has shown promise in treating a small number of people with a type of blood cancer known as acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.
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January 25, 2008
Nuclear plant workers show higher cancer risks
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Workers at one U.S. nuclear facility have suffered higher-than-average rates of certain cancers, a study shows -- suggesting that on-the-job exposures are to blame.
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January 24, 2008
Fewer teens than younger kids in cancer trials
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adolescents and young adults with cancer appear to have less access to clinical trials -- and, therefore, to the latest treatments -- than their younger counterparts, according to a new report.
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January 17, 2008
Bull's eye target for child leukaemia found-study
LONDON (Reuters) - British researchers have identified the cancer stem cells that spawn tumours in the most common form of childhood leukaemia, and said on Thursday it provided a "bull's eye" target for new drugs.
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January 16, 2008
Blood cancer risk increased with lupus drugs
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The results of a new study provide more evidence that the immune-suppressing drugs used to treat lupus may increase the risk of leukemia and other blood, or "hematologic," cancers.
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January 10, 2008
China parents to sue over "tainted" umbilical blood
BEIJING (Reuters) - Scores of Shanghai parents are to sue a biotech firm suspected of concealing the fact that their children's umbilical cord blood, believed to be a likely cure for future diseases, was tainted, state media said on Thursday.
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January 7, 2008
Bereaved US family campaigns for Edwards
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire, (Reuters) - A family who says its daughter died because a health insurance company refused to pay for an operation campaigned with Democrat John Edwards on Sunday, reinforcing his election message that corporate greed is hurting Americans.
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January 4, 2008
Deformities common among kids with cancer
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Children with cancer are more likely than other children to have a variety of deformities, such as droopy eyelids and legs of different lengths, new research shows. This suggests that there are genetic defects or early prenatal environmental factors that influence the occurrence of both problems.
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December 28, 2007
Childhood cancer survivors at risk for new cancers
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Survivors of childhood cancers have a markedly increased risk of developing new cancers later on, research indicates.
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December 20, 2007
Leukemia in Down's kids linked to parental factors
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - There appears to be a relationship between infertility or infertility treatments in the parents and a risk of developing acute leukemia in children with Down's syndrome, researchers report.
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December 18, 2007
"Bubble boy" has leukaemia after UK gene therapy
LONDON (Reuters) - A 3-year-old "bubble boy" undergoing pioneering gene therapy in London has developed leukaemia in a setback for the experimental treatment.
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December 14, 2007
Pfizer cancer drug Sutent linked with heart risks
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc's cancer drug Sutent may have toxic effects on the heart, U.S. researchers said Thursday.
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December 13, 2007
Breast cancer survival longer with Taxotere: study
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The long-term findings of a large, multicenter study show that breast cancer survival is significantly improved and side effects are significantly less severe with Taxotere (also called docetaxel) than with Adriamycin (also called doxorubicin).
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December 12, 2007
China revokes license of tainted drug maker
BEIJING (Reuters) - China has revoked the production license of a Shanghai drug company for making contaminated cancer drugs, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday, a sign of the country's harder line on product safety.
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December 11, 2007
Leukemia vaccine triples event-free survival
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new leukemia vaccine under investigation extends patients' event-free survival by more than three-fold, from 2.4 month with convention treatment to 8.7 months, investigators at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston reported this week at the 49th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology underway in Atlanta.
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December 11, 2007
Meat raises lung cancer risk: study
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People who eat a lot of red meat and processed meats have a higher risk of several types of cancer, including lung cancer and colorectal cancer, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.
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December 10, 2007
Anemia drugs may raise blood cancer risk - study
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Widely used anemia drugs may increase the risk that people with the rare blood disorder known as myelofibrosis will develop leukemia, U.S. researchers said on Monday.
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December 10, 2007
Gentler chemo helps patients survive lymphoma
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A gentler chemotherapy regimen may help some lymphoma patients better tolerate and benefit from bone marrow transplants, and the combination could even cure them, U.S. doctors reported on Monday.
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December 10, 2007
Experimental drug works in type of leukemia
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cephalon Inc's experimental cancer drug Treanda was significantly more effective than a common chemotherapy agent in helping patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who had not received prior treatment achieve remission, according to a late-stage study.