Obesity, physical inactivity linked with risk for certain molecular subtype of colorectal cancer
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 02/27/2013) - An increasing body mass index was associated with a higher risk for colorectal cancer with a specific molecular characteristic, and inversely, physical activity was linked to a decreased risk for that same cancer, according to data from a Dana-Farber Cancer Institute study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

University of Michigan study challenges notion of using Herceptin only for HER2-positive breast cancer
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 02/27/2013) - New research from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center finds that the protein HER2 plays a role even in breast cancers that would traditionally be categorized as HER2-negative – and that the drug Herceptin, which targets HER2, may have an even greater role for treating breast cancer and preventing its spread.

Masonic Cancer Center researchers identify genetic variation behind acute myeloid leukemia treatment success
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 02/27/2013) - Researchers from the College of Pharmacy and Medical School working within the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, have partnered to identify genetic variations that may help signal which acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients will benefit or not benefit from one of the newest antileukemic agents.

MD Anderson study shows new approach connecting smokers to quit lines increases smoking cessation treatment enrollment
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 02/27/2013) - Self-identified smokers directly connected to a tobacco cessation quit line are 13 times more likely to enroll in a treatment program as compared to smokers who are handed a quit line referral card and encouraged to call on their own, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and published online in JAMA Internal Medicine.

UNC-led study documents head and neck cancer molecular tumor subtypes
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 02/25/2013) - Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the seventh most common form of cancer in the United States, but other than an association with the human papillomavirus, no validated molecular profile of the disease has been established. By analyzing data from DNA microarrays, a UNC-led team has completed a study that confirms the presence of four molecular classes of the disease and extends previous results by suggesting that there may be an underlying connection between the molecular classes and observed genomic events, some of which affect known cancer genes. UNC is home to the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Other institutions participating in the study were: Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.; the University of Toledo; and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock.

New drug combination could prevent head and neck cancer in high-risk patients
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 02/20/2013) - A new drug combination shows promise in reducing the risk for patients with advanced oral precancerous lesions to develop squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. The results of the study, from the Emory University School of Medicine and its Winship Cancer Institute, which included preclinical and clinical analyses, were published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Moffitt researchers find potential new therapeutic target for treating non-small cell lung cancer
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 02/19/2013) - Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center have found a potential targeted therapy for patients with tobacco-associated non-small cell lung cancer. It is based on the newly identified oncogene IKBKE, which helps regulate immune response.

Dana-Farber study tracks genetic evolution of form of leukemia, may help physicians predict course of disease, tailor therapies
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 02/19/2013) - Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute show, more fully than ever before, how mutations shift and evolve over time in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) -- providing a strobe-like look at the genetic past, present, and future of CLL tumors.

Fred Hutchinson researchers examine role of radical prostatectomy in patients with prostate cancer
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 02/19/2013) - Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center scientists and colleagues, who conducted the Scandinavian Prostate Cancer Group Study Number 4 trial, identified that radical prostatecomy lowered prostate cancer deaths with a statistically significant absolute mortality difference between RP and watchful waiting of 6.1%.

Study tracks genetic evolution of form of leukemia, may help physicians predict course of disease, tailor therapies
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 02/15/2013) - Tumors are not factories for the mass production of identical cancer cells, but are, in reality, patchworks of cells with different patterns of gene mutations. In a new study, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute show, more fully than ever before, how these mutations shift and evolve over time in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) – providing a strobe-like look at the genetic past, present, and future of CLL tumors.