Category: Cancer

Families of men with fertility problems show distinct patterns of increased risk for several types of cancer

For the first time researchers have identified patterns of risk for several different types of cancer in men with fertility problems and their families. The study, which is published in Human Reproduction [1], one of the world’s leading reproductive medicine journals, found that families of men who have very few or no sperm in their […]

Obesity and alcohol are contributing to increases in bowel cancer rates among young adults

Experts predict death rates from all cancers for the EU and UK for 2024 Overweight and obesity are contributing to rising death rates from bowel cancer among people aged 25-49 years in the European Union (EU) and the UK, although death rates from this type of cancer are decreasing overall across Europe. These findings are […]

Aid agencies are failing patients with breast cancer in war zones meaning more will develop advanced disease

Lisbon, Portugal: Patients with breast cancer in conflict zones around the world are being “massively under-served” by governments, UN aid agencies and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Professor Richard Sullivan told the Advanced Breast Cancer Seventh International Consensus Conference (ABC 7) in a video presentation from the Rafah crossing where he is working with the United […]

People with advanced breast cancer are forced out of work with a cost to themselves and the economy

Lisbon, Portugal: The majority of people living with advanced breast cancer give up working against their will, according to research presented at the Advanced Breast Cancer Seventh International Consensus Conference (ABC 7). [1] As well as the personal costs of being out of work, the new study shows that there is a significant overall cost […]

Latest results from PHOEBE trial show patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer live longer on pyrotinib

Lisbon, Portugal: Patients with HER2-positive breast cancer that has started to spread to other parts of the body survive for longer if they are treated with a new drug called pyrotinib, according to results from the longest follow-up of the PHOEBE randomised clinical trial in China. Presenting the latest results at the Advanced Breast Cancer […]

Research brings hope for early treatment of brain degeneration in ‘children of the night’

Glasgow, UK: Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is a rare and devastating genetic disorder characterised by an inability to repair skin damage caused by ultraviolet (UV) light.  As a result, patients with XP develop skin cancers, usually in childhood. Once diagnosed, they can be protected by avoiding sunlight (hence sometimes being called ‘children of the night’), wearing […]

Polygenic risk scores could improve colorectal cancer screening

Glasgow, UK: Rates of colorectal cancer are high despite widespread adoption of screening programmes in many high-income European countries. Such programmes tend to use a one-size-fits-all approach where most people are screened starting from the same age, and no individual factors are considered in organised population screening. Now, based on one of the largest genomics […]

Blood biomarkers plus genomics predict common disease risk more accurately than genomic information alone

Glasgow, UK: Being to identify people at high risk of chronic disease means that they can be targeted with prevention measures before they become sick. Polygenic risk scores, where genomic information alone is used to assess the risk of developing diseases, have been receiving a lot of attention recently, but research presented at the annual […]

Death rates from lung cancer will fall overall in the EU and UK in 2023, but rise among women in France, Italy and Spain

A total of 1,261,990 people will die from cancer in 2023 in the EU (EU-27). A further 172,314 people will die from the disease in the UK, according to new research published in the leading cancer journal Annals of Oncology [1]. Researchers led by Carlo La Vecchia (MD), a professor at the University of Milan […]

Researchers identify how certain immune cells contribute to worse survival in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer

Barcelona, Spain: Patients with a type of breast cancer called HER2-positive are less likely to survive if their initial treatment fails to eradicate the tumour completely and they have high levels of immune cells called tumour infiltrating lymphocytes in the residual disease. Dr Federica Miglietta told the 13th European Breast Cancer Conference that normally tumour […]