Targeted cancer therapies such as trastuzumab (Herceptin), gefitinib (Iressa) and erlotinib (Tarceva) could be used to treat a wider range of cancers than previously thought, according to new research presented today (Wednesday) at the 22nd EORTC-NCI-AACR [1] Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Berlin. Scientists in the USA have studied 20 genes that […]
Category: Cancer
Scientists identify potential new target for treating triple negative breast cancer
Scientists believe they may have found a new target for treating triple negative breast cancer – one of the more difficult breast cancers to treat successfully and for which there is no targeted therapy at present. Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a cancer that does not express receptors for oestrogen (ER), progesterone (PR) or […]
MEPs and health professionals call for urgent action to tackle chronic diseases
Members of the European Parliament are calling on the Presidency of the EU and Member States to tackle urgently the problem of chronic non-communicable diseases that are responsible for 86% of all deaths in the WHO European Region. Their call is supported by an alliance of European health professionals, including ECCO – the European CanCer […]
Intrauterine devices (IUDs) can be used to treat endometrial cancer
Intrauterine devices, originally developed as contraceptives, can also be used to treat and cure cancer of the endometrium according to new research published online in the cancer journal, Annals of Oncology [1] today (Wednesday 29 September). The finding opens the way for young women with the disease, which affects the lining of the womb, to […]
Cancer deaths fall, but prevention still lags behind; short-term economic outlook must not damage long-term health, researchers say
Although overall mortality from cancer is decreasing in the European Union, its incidence increased by almost 20%, from 2.1 million new cases in 2002 to 2.5 million in 2008, says a special issue [1] of the European Journal of Cancer (the official journal of ECCO – the European CanCer Organisation) on cancer prevention, published today […]
Only five percent of cancer research funds are spent on metastases, yet it kills 90 percent of all cancer patients
On average, about five percent of total cancer research funding is spent on investigating metastases (the spread of cancer cells around the body) in Europe, yet metastatic disease is the direct or indirect cause of 90 percent of all cancer deaths, according to an editorial in the European Journal of Cancer (EJC). [1] The authors […]
Initial results from international trial show specific lymph node radiotherapy is well-tolerated after surgery in women with early breast cancer
Barcelona, Spain: In patients with early breast cancer, giving radiotherapy to the lymph nodes located behind the breast bone and above the collar bone is well-tolerated, after mastectomy or breast conserving surgery, a radiation oncologist will tell delegates at the seventh European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC7) today (Saturday 27 March). Women at a high risk […]
Discovery that PARP protein exists in all tumour types will help target chemotherapy and predict response
Barcelona, Spain: The presence of the protein poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) in tumours can help predict their response to chemotherapy, a German scientist will tell the seventh European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC7) in Barcelona tomorrow (Saturday 27 March). Professor Gunter von Minckwitz, from the German Breast Group Forschungs GmBH, Neu-Isenburg, says that, contrary to current […]
Survival in metastatic breast cancer patients is improving – targeted therapies have specifically contributed to this improvement
Barcelona, Spain: Trends indicate that survival is improving in patients with metastatic breast cancer, especially in those patients whose tumours are described as being HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor-2) positive, a surgical oncologist will say today (Friday 26 March) at the seventh European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC7). Dr Marie Sundquist, from the Department of […]
Inadequate access to opioid-based pain relief is a human rights issue for cancer patients
Many cancer patients in Europe are being denied access to adequate pain relief because of over-zealous regulations restricting the availability and accessibility of opioid-based drugs such as morphine. Authors of the Europe-wide study say that restricting access to pain-killing drugs in this way is a breach of patients’ human rights, and they conclude that “there […]