Study finds anti-smoking drug improves smokers’ chances of stopping
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 03/28/2013) - Smokers have a higher probability of quitting smoking and a better overall cessation experience when taking varenicline (Chantix) compared to bupropion (marketed under various trade names as antidepressants and smoking cessation aids) and to placebo – unmedicated assisted smoking cessation – according to a University of Texas MD Anderson study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

Cancer biologists find DNA-damaging toxins in common plant-based foods
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 03/28/2013) - In a laboratory study pairing food chemistry and cancer biology, scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center tested the potentially harmful effect of foods and flavorings on the DNA of cells. They found that liquid smoke flavoring, black and green teas, and coffee activated the highest levels of a well-known, cancer-linked gene called p53.

Study reveals the genetic variations that raise the risk of breast, prostate or ovarian cancer
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 03/28/2013) - Over 80 regions of the genome that can increase an individual’s risk of breast, prostate and ovarian cancers have been found in the largest ever study of its kind. The scientists were looking for genetic variations – called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) – linked to an increased risk of developing cancer. By studying the DNA make-up of over 100,000 people with cancer and 100,000 people from the general population, they found alterations that were more common in people with prostate, breast or ovarian cancers.

Women who ate more soy survive lung cancer better, study finds
NBC News
(Posted: 03/26/2013) - Soy foods, long shown to help lower the risk of cancer, may also help people survive at least some forms of cancer better. They found that Chinese women who ate the most soy were also less likely to die of lung cancer, the No. 1 cancer killer across the world. For the study, Gong Yang and colleagues at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Shanghai Cancer Institute, and the National Cancer Institute looked at data from a large study of Chinese women called the Shanghai Women’s Health Study.

UNC research probes how pancreatic cancers metastasize
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 03/26/2013) - Researchers at the University of North Carolina and the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at Chapel Hill have discovered that a protein found in the cells surrounding pancreatic cancers plays a role in the spread of the disease to other parts of the body. In a finding published in the March 25 issue of Oncogene, researchers found that the protein palladin enhances the ability of cancer-associated fibroblasts to assemble organelles known as invadopodia to break down the barriers between cells and create pathways for tumors to spread throughout the body.

Monoclonal antibody targets, kills leukemia cells
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 03/26/2013) - Researchers at the University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center have identified a humanized monoclonal antibody that targets and directly kills chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells. The findings, published in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on March 25, 2013 represent a potential new therapy for treating at least some patients with CLL, the most common type of blood cancer in the United States.

New chemo drug gentler on fertility, tougher on cancer
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 03/26/2013) - In a pre-clinical study using mice, a new gentler chemotherapy drug in the form of nanoparticles packed with the chemotherapy drug, arsenic trioxide, has been designed by Northwestern Medicine scientists to be less toxic to a young woman’s fertility but extra tough on cancer. This is the first cancer drug tested while in development for its effect on fertility using a novel in vitro test. Northwestern is home to the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Study finds molecular 'signature' for rapidly increasing form of esophageal cancer
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 03/25/2013) - During the past 30 years, the number of patients with cancers that originate near the junction of the esophagus and stomach has increased approximately 600 percent in the United States. The first extensive probe of the DNA of these esophageal adenocarcinomas (EACs) has revealed that many share a distinctive mix-up of letters of the genetic code, and found more than 20 mutated genes that had not previously been linked to the disease. The research, led by scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Broad Institute, and other research centers, may offer clues to why EAC rates have risen so sharply.

Genetic alterations linked with bladder cancer risk, recurrence, progression, and patient survival
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 03/25/2013) - A new analysis by researchers from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston has found that genetic alterations in a particular cellular pathway are linked with bladder cancer risk, recurrence, disease progression, and patient survival. Published early online in CANCER, a peer- reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the findings could help improve bladder cancer screening and treatment.

UCLA, Caltech research on immune-cell therapy could strengthen promising melanoma treatment
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 03/22/2013) - A new study of genetically modified immune cells by scientists from UCLA (home of the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center) and the California Institute of Technology could help improve a promising treatment for melanoma, an often fatal form of skin cancer.