Vanderbilt study tracks long-term effects of prostate therapies
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 01/31/2013) - A new study from the Vanderbilt University Medical Center (home to the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center) comparing outcomes among prostate cancer patients treated with surgery versus radiotherapy found differences in urinary, bowel and sexual function after short-term follow-up, but those differences were no longer significant 15 years after initial treatment.

MD Anderson preclinical study identifies 'master' proto-oncogene that regulates stress-induced ovarian cancer metastasis
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 01/30/2013) - Scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have discovered the signaling pathway whereby a master regulator of cancer cell proteins -- known as Src -- leads to ovarian cancer progression when exposed to stress hormones. The researchers report in the current issue of Nature Communications that beta blocker drugs mitigate this effect and reduce cancer deaths by an average of 17 percent.

University of Michigan researchers develop new technique that sheds light on RNA
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 01/29/2013) - When researchers sequence the RNA of cancer cells, they can compare it to normal cells and see where there is more RNA. That can help lead them to the gene or protein that might be triggering the cancer. But other than spotting a few known instigators, what does it mean? Is there more RNA because it’s synthesizing too quickly or because it’s not degrading fast enough? What part of the biological equilibrium is off? After more than a decade of work, researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have developed a technique to help answer those questions.

Less invasive treatment associated with improved survival in early stage breast cancer
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 01/29/2013) - Patients with early stage breast cancer who were treated with lumpectomy plus radiation may have a better chance of survival compared with those who underwent mastectomy, according to a study from Duke Medicine and the Duke Cancer Institute. The study, which appears online Jan. 28, 2013, in the journal CANCER, raises new questions as to the comparative effectiveness of breast-conserving therapies such as lumpectomy, where only the tumor and surrounding tissue is surgically removed.

Yale researchers find genes behind aggressive endometrial cancer
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 01/29/2013) - Yale and Yale Cancer Center researchers have defined the genetic landscape of uterine serous carcinoma (USC) tumors, a chemo-resistant, aggressive form of endometrial cancer, findings that point to new treatment opportunities. The collaborative team—which included researchers with expertise in gynecological cancer, genomics, and computational biology— identified a number of new genes that are frequently mutated in USC.

MD Anderson study finds qigong improves quality of life for breast cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 01/28/2013) - Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have found qigong, an ancient mind-body practice, reduces depressive symptoms and improves quality of life in women undergoing radiotherapy for breast cancer. The study, published in the journal Cancer, is the first to examine qigong in patients actively receiving radiation therapy and includes a follow-up period to assess benefits over time.

Emotional stress reduces effectiveness of prostate cancer therapies in animal model
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 01/28/2013) - Not surprisingly, a cancer diagnosis creates stress. And patients with prostate cancer show higher levels of anxiety compared to other cancer patients. A new study by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center indicates that stress is not just an emotional side effect of the diagnosis; it also can reduce the effectiveness of prostate cancer drugs and accelerate the development of prostate cancer. The researchers tested the effects of behavioral stress in two different mouse models of prostate cancer. Wake Forest is home to the Wake Forest Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Northwestern researchers develop new way to treat lymphoma without chemotherapy
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 01/25/2013) - A new study by Northwestern Medicine researchers shows that synthetic HDL nanoparticles killed B-cell lymphoma, the most common form of the disease, in cultured human cells, and inhibited human B-cell lymphoma tumor growth in mice. The nanoparticle appears to the cancerous lymphoma cell like a preferred meal -- natural HDL. But when the particle engages the cell, it actually plugs it up and blocks cholesterol from entering. Deprived of an essential nutrient, the cell eventually dies. Northwestern is home to the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Fruit and vegetable intake is associated with lower risk of ER-negative breast cancer
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 01/25/2013) - There is no association between total fruit and vegetable intake and risk of overall breast cancer, but vegetable consumption is associated with a lower risk of estrogen receptor-negative (ER-) breast cancer, according to a study from Brigham and Women's Hospital (a component of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute) published January 24 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Researchers discover new mutations driving malignant melanoma
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 01/25/2013) - Two new mutations that collectively occur in 71 percent of malignant melanoma tumors have been discovered in what scientists call the "dark matter" of the cancer genome, where cancer-related mutations haven't been previously found. Reporting their findings in the Jan. 24 issue of Science Express, the researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute said the highly "recurrent" mutations – occurring in the tumors of many people – may be the most common mutations in melanoma cells found to date.