NEWS
Genetic Abnormality Predicts Treatment Benefit for Patients with Rare Brain Tumor
The addition of chemotherapy to radiation therapy doubled the median survival time for certain patients with an aggressive form of oligodendroglioma, a rare brain tumor. Patients in the study had anaplastic oligodendrogliomas, but only those whose tumors contained a genetic abnormality known as the 1p19q co-deletion experienced a benefit from adding chemotherapy to radiation.
The finding, from a phase III trial in which patients were followed for a median of 11 years, will lead to changes in an ongoing NCI-sponsored clinical trial as well as in the standard of care for patients who are not enrolled in a clinical trial. NCI and the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) announced the finding January19 in coordinated press releases. Read more > >
Ovarian Cancer Patients with BRCA Mutations May Fare Better than Non-Carriers
Survival is higher among BRCA2 mutation carriers than BRCA1 mutation carriersExperimental Drug Improves Survival in Previously Treated Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
Drug stabilizes tumors by targeting multiple enzymes that affect tumor cell processesDifferences in Estrogen Metabolism May Influence Breast Cancer Risk
New way to measure circulating estrogen and estrogen metabolites may point to targets for prevention and risk predictionEpigenetic Study Suggests Possible Treatment for Retinoblastoma
In the lab, experimental drugs show promise against rare childhood cancerAlso in the Journals: Before Breast Cancer Surgery, Two Anti-HER2 Drugs May Be Better than One
COMMENTARY
A Conversation with the NCI Women Scientist Advisors
Drs. Katherine McGlynn and Mary Ward discuss recent activities and future plans of the NCI Women Scientist Advisors, a group created to represent the career interests of women scientists at NCI and NIH.
IN DEPTH
More than a Game: Super Bowl Initiative Helps Scientists Study the "Normal" Breast
Before the game, 700 healthy women will donate breast tissue for cancer research
Staying Alive: New Technique Grows Normal and Cancer Cells Rapidly
Cell culturing method holds great promise, but needs to be validated and refined
Targeted Therapies Offer Treatment Options for Advanced Kidney Cancer
Greater understanding of the disease opens new areas of research
Featured Clinical Trial: First-in-Humans Study of New Immunotherapy Agent
Is intravenous interleuken-15 safe and effective in patients with metastatic cancer?
UPDATES
FDA Update
- Glucarpidase Approved to Lower Toxic Chemotherapy Levels in the Blood
- New Warnings Added for Lymphoma Drug
Notes
- NIH and Industry Create "Living Lab" to Study Molecular Structures and Disease
- CURE Report Focuses on Reducing Disparities in the Cancer Workforce
Selected articles from past issues of the NCI Cancer Bulletin are available in Spanish.
The NCI Cancer Bulletin is produced by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), which was established in 1937. Through basic, clinical, and population-based biomedical research and training, NCI conducts and supports research that will lead to a future in which we can identify the environmental and genetic causes of cancer, prevent cancer before it starts, identify cancers that do develop at the earliest stage, eliminate cancers through innovative treatment interventions, and biologically control those cancers that we cannot eliminate so they become manageable, chronic diseases.
For more information about cancer, call 1-800-4-CANCER or visit http://www.cancer.gov.
NCI Cancer Bulletin staff can be reached at ncicancerbulletin@mail.nih.gov.
