Cancer Currents: An NCI Cancer Research Blog
A blog featuring news and research updates from the National Cancer Institute. Learn more about Cancer Currents.
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Delivering Palliative Care by Telehealth Meets the Needs of People with Cancer
In a study of people with advanced lung cancer, palliative care delivered via telehealth was just as effective at improving patients’ quality of life and other measures of well-being as delivering care in person.
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Program Connects Adolescents and Young Adults to Quality Cancer Care
A 10-year-old program at an NCI-Designated Cancer Center has had substantial success at increasing the number of adolescents and young adults with cancer who get recommended treatment and services, including greater clinical trial participation and use of fertility services.
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Will Ponsegromab Be a Game Changer for Cancer Cachexia?
In a clinical trial, people with advanced cancer and cachexia treated with the experimental drug ponsegromab gained an average of 2 to 6 pounds over 12 weeks, depending on the dose they received. Participants treated with the placebo lost an average of 1 pound over the same time period.
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As More People with Cancer Use Medical Cannabis, Oncologists Face Questions They Struggle to Answer
Up to 40% of people being treated for cancer use cannabis to help with side effects like pain and anxiety. But with evidence from studies on cannabis lacking, clinicians feel ill-equipped to answer patient questions about its safety and effectiveness.
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Colorectal Cancer Screening: Where Does the Shield Liquid Biopsy Fit In?
FDA recently approved the Shield test, the first blood test for the primary screening of people at average risk of colorectal cancer. Where does it fit in with other screening options for the disease, including colonoscopy and stool tests?
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Some Women Avoid Breast Cancer Screening After False-Positive Mammogram Results
Some women who receive a false-positive result on a mammogram may not come back for routine breast cancer screening in the future, a new study finds. Better doctor–patient communication about the screening process is needed, several researchers said.
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Combination Chemo Helps People with Leiomyosarcoma Live Longer
Results from a French clinical trial have identified what experts say should now be the recommended initial treatment of advanced leiomyosarcoma. In the trial, the combination of trabectedin (Yondelis) and doxorubicin improved survival by a median of 9 months.
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Jaw Problems Linked to Bone-Modifying Drugs Not as Rare as Once Thought
Osteonecrosis of the jaw was thought to be a rare side effect of drugs like denosumab (Xgeva) that lessen bone problems when cancer has spread to the bone. But a new study has found that the painful side effect is more common than once thought.
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Breast Cancer May Spread by Recruiting Nearby Sensory Nerves
A new study may provide important new insights into breast cancer metastasis. Blood vessels within tumors release a molecule that draws sensory nerves closer to the tumors, the study shows. This close proximity turns on genes in the cancer cells that drive metastasis.
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Clinical Trial Results Support Uninterrupted Use of Imatinib for Some Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors
Trial participants who stopped imatinib had a more rapid worsening of disease, a shorter time until resistance, and did not live as long as participants who continued the therapy uninterrupted.
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Study Identifies Hundreds of Potential Targets for Cancer Drugs
Researchers have identified hundreds of promising targets for existing drugs or potential new cancer drugs. The findings relied heavily on proteogenomic data from more than 1,000 tumors representing 10 types of cancer released last year by NCI's CPTAC program.
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DNA from Ancient Viruses Helps Many Cancers Grow
DNA fragments from retroviruses that are millions of years old appear to be active in a variety of cancers, a new study found. One virus-derived DNA fragment in particular, known as LTR10, turns on cancer-related genes in multiple types of cancer.
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Growing the Cancer Research Pipeline by Expanding Opportunities
NCI Director Dr. Kimryn Rathmell and Division of Cancer Biology Director Dr. Dan Gallahan explain how the R15 grant program supports researchers at smaller institutions and encourages students to pursue careers in cancer research.
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FDA Approves Engineered Cell Therapy for Advanced Synovial Sarcoma
FDA approved afami-cel (Tecelra) to treat metastatic synovial sarcoma, a type of soft tissue sarcoma. The approval is for patients who have already received chemo and whose tumors are positive for MAGE-A4. Afami-cel is the first T-cell receptor therapy approved for cancer.
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To Combat Cancer Treatment Resistance, Researchers Try Leveraging Evolution
Scientists have developed a strategy for treating cancer that takes advantage of tumors’ ability to rapidly evolve and turns it against them. It involves intentionally making some tumor cells resistant to a specific treatment from the get-go.
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Can Chemo Help KRAS Inhibitors Work Better Against Pancreatic Cancer?
Two new studies in mice show that adding chemotherapy to the experimental KRAS inhibitor MRTX1133 greatly reduced tumor growth and spread compared with either treatment alone.
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New on NCI’s Websites for August 2024
NCI periodically provides updates on new websites and other online content of interest to the cancer community. See selected content that has been added as of August 2024.
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Understanding the Risk of Second Cancers After CAR T-Cell Therapy
In late 2023, FDA announced it was investigating instances of second cancers following treatment with CAR T-cell therapies. In this Q&A, NCI’s Dr. Stephanie Goff explains what’s known about the issue, stressing that second cancers “of any kind are rare.”
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Drug Combo JAKs Up Immunotherapy in Two Clinical Trials
Scientists have been searching for ways to make immune checkpoint inhibitors work for more patients. In two trials, researchers explored a possible role for JAK inhibitors, which dampen chronic inflammation.
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More Immunotherapy Options Approved for Treating Endometrial Cancer
People with advanced endometrial cancer now have new FDA-approved treatment options: pembrolizumab and durvalumab, paired with chemotherapy, for tumors with a genetic change called mismatch repair deficiency. The agency also expanded the approved uses of dostarlimab for the disease.