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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Darolutamide Extends Survival for Some People with Metastatic Prostate CancerAdding darolutamide (Nubeqa) to ADT and docetaxel (Taxotere) can improve how long men with hormone-sensitive metastatic prostate cancer live without causing more side effects, results from the ARASENS trial show.
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Can Artificial Intelligence Help See Cancer in New, and Better, Ways?Researchers have been developing artificial intelligence (AI) tools that could make cancer imaging faster, more accurate, and more informative. But there are also questions about whether these tools are ready for doctors’ offices, whether they will actually help people, and whether that benefit will reach all—or only some—patients.
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New on NCI’s Websites for March 2022NCI 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 March 2022.
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Severe Side Effects of Cancer Treatment Are More Common in Women than MenWomen are more likely than men to experience severe side effects from cancer treatments such as chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy, a new study finds. Researchers hope the findings will increase awareness of the problem and help guide patient care.
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Trametinib Is a New Treatment Option for Rare Form of Ovarian CancerNew results from a large study show that trametinib (Mekinist) is an effective treatment for low-grade serous ovarian cancer. The findings are the first strong evidence that this rare type of ovarian cancer should be treated differently from other forms of the disease.
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Telehealth-Based Cancer Care Surged during COVID. Will It Continue?Experts say studies are needed on how to best transition telehealth from a temporary solution during the pandemic to a permanent part of cancer care that’s accessible to all who need it.
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Good News and Cautions about Pregnancy for Childhood Cancer SurvivorsAs adults, survivors of childhood cancer aren’t any less likely to have healthy babies than those without a history of cancer, a new study shows. However, they may have more health risks during pregnancy, warranting more intensive obstetric care.
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Experimental Medulloblastoma Treatment Gets a Boost with NanoparticlesA nanoparticle coating may help cancer drugs reach medulloblastoma tumors in the brain and make the treatment less toxic. Mice treated with nanoparticles containing palbociclib (Ibrance) and sapanisertib lived substantially longer than those treated with either drug alone.
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Why Are Many Women Overdue for Cervical Cancer Screening?The rates of timely cervical cancer screening fell between 2005 and 2019, researchers found, and disparities existed among groups of women. The most common reason for not receiving timely screening was lack of knowledge about screening or not knowing they needed screening.
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Can Chronic Graft-Versus-Host Disease Be Prevented?Removing immune cells called naive T cells from donated stem cells before they are transplanted may prevent chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in people with leukemia, a new study reports. The procedure did not appear to increase the likelihood of patients’ cancer returning.
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Durvalumab Modestly Improves Survival in Advanced Biliary Tract CancerAdding durvalumab (Imfinzi) to standard chemotherapy modestly extended how long people with advanced biliary tract cancer lived, results from the TOPAZ-1 trial show. The immunotherapy drug may now be the standard first-line therapy for this hard-to-treat cancer.
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Air Is Life: The Navajo Nation’s Historic Commercial Tobacco BanWith the passage of the Air is Life Act of 2021, the Navajo Nation enacted the most comprehensive ban on commercial tobacco products of any American Indian tribe to date.
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Study Identifies Potential Drug Target to Prevent Some Liver CancersResearchers have found that mice that lack β2-spectrin protein in their livers are protected from nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and the most common kind of liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma.
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President’s Cancer Panel Report: Closing Gaps in Cancer Screening for All AmericansDr. John P. Williams, chair of the President’s Cancer Panel, summarizes the panel’s new report, Closing Gaps in Cancer Screening: Connecting People, Communities, and Systems to Improve Equity and Access.
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Cancer Immunotherapies Don’t Work for Everyone: HLA Gene May Explain WhyA specific form of the HLA gene, HLA-A*03, may make immune checkpoint inhibitors less effective for some people with cancer, according to an NCI-led study. If additional studies confirm the finding, it could help guide the use of these commonly used drugs.
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Even If Insured, People with Advanced Cancer Often Face Financial ProblemsFinancial hardship caused by cancer care was common and occurred early in treatment, even for patients with insurance, a recent study found. The investigators believe financial hardship should be addressed like any other complication of cancer care.
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Can mRNA Vaccines Help Treat Cancer?The success of mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 could help accelerate research on using mRNA vaccine technology to treat cancer, including the development of personalized cancer vaccines.
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Should CAR T Cells Be Used Earlier in People with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma?Results from three clinical trials have found that CAR T cells may be superior to standard treatments for patients with B-cell NHL that has not responded to treatment (refractory) or has returned after treatment (relapsed).
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When Ovarian Cancer Returns, Surgery May Be a Good Choice for Selected PatientsFor patients with recurrent ovarian cancer who meet strict criteria, additional surgery may improve survival, results from a large clinical trial show.
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FDA Oversight of E-Cigarettes Gathers Speed: A Conversation with Mitch ZellerCompanies that want to market e-cigarettes in the United States must now submit applications to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In this interview, Mitch Zeller, director of FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, provides insights into FDA actions on e-cigarettes.