Cancer Treatment

Bee Gees legend back in hospital

Ross Bonander — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 18:27:38 +0000

Robin Gibb, one third of the disco trio the Bee Gees, has returned to the hospital in London for more cancer treatment, despite less than a month ago announcing that his recovery was impressing even his own doctors.

Gibb, 62, was diagnosed with both liver cancer and colon cancer in 2011, and his gaunt, unhealthy appearance had given rise to speculation about his health. In November he announced his diagnosis and began receiving anti-cancer treatments.

Two weeks ago Gibb made his first public appearance, performing at the London Palladium at a charity concert.

Investigational prostate cancer drug extends life in advanced disease

Ross Bonander — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 10:04:47 +0000

A presentation at the European Association of Urology (EAU) congress in Paris by Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd. has demonstrated the potential efficacy of the company's investigational drug against advanced prostate cancer in patients previously treated with chemotherapy.

The drug, currently known as MDV3100, is a novel, oral androgen-receptor signaling inhibitor.

Mortality rate from melanoma linked to dermatologists per capita

Ross Bonander — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 02:49:58 +0000

According to research published in the February issue of the Archives of Dermatology, melanoma is more or less of a killer disease depending on the density of dermatologists in a given region.

Researchers from the University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland determined that, when compared with United States counties in which no dermatologists worked, counties with just one dermatologist for every 100,000 residents experienced a 35% lower mortality rate from melanoma.

Endometriosis raises risk of ovarian cancer subtypes

Ross Bonander — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 02:38:44 +0000

According to findings from a systematic review of a broad range of data and published in The Lancet Oncology, women with endometriosis have a much higher incidence of ovarian cancers compared to the general public.

Specifically, women with a history of endometriosis are:

-- Twice as likely to develop low-grade serous ovarian cancer
-- Twice as likely to develop endometriod invasive ovarian cancer
-- Three times more likely to develop clear cell ovarian cancer

All patients not equally referred to oncologists, says study

Ross Bonander — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 23:01:42 +0000

According to a study published in The Lancet Oncology, race, age, and cancer type have a significant effect on when a primary care doctor makes a specialist referral.

Patients with breast cancer, melanoma, testicular cancer and endometrial cancer are more often referred for evaluation of cancer by a specialist more quickly than patients with multiple myeloma, gastrointestinal cancers, and lung cancer.

Cervical Cancer Prevention

CancerTreatment.net Staff — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 20:10:44 +0000

A doctor shares information on what women can do to prevent cervical cancer

Adding Sutent to docetaxel in breast cancer confers no survival benefit

Ross Bonander — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 08:49:42 +0000

According to data published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, adding Sutent to therapy for patients with HER-2–negative breast cancer did not extend patient survival.

In the Phase III study, almost 600 patients were assigned at random to one of two arms:

-- 37.5 mg daily sunitinib (Sutent) plus 75 mg/m2 docetaxel once every 3 weeks
-- 100 mg/m2 docetaxel once every 3 weeks

Results were disappointing: Sutent plus docetaxel failed to extend progression free survival or overall survival compared to docetaxel alone.

Fasting boosts efficacy of chemotherapy against cancer in lab study

Ross Bonander — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 08:39:56 +0000

According to a study published in Science Translational Medicine, chemotherapy when combined with fasting slowed or limited the growth of tumors in all the cancers that the researchers tested in mouse models.

In fact, in more than half of the cancers tested, fasting alone was as effective as chemotherapy.

Fasting appears to protect mice against the harms of chemotherapy drugs, while sensitizing cancer cell types to those same chemotherapy drugs.

Venezuelan president Chavez back to Cuba for more cancer treatment

Ross Bonander — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 09:20:59 +0000

Hugo Chavez, the controversial 57 year-old socialist President of the country of Venezuela, has apparently returned to the island of Cuba in order to undergo cancer treatment for a cancer of undisclosed origin.

In October of 2011, Chavez publicly declared that he was free of cancer after having gone to Cuba to have a tumor removed from his pelvic area. He even made an off-handed suggestion that he, along with other South American leaders, were being poisoned by the West and given cancer, although the leader's comments weren't taken seriously.

Professor envisions public health strategy of moving smokers to smokeless products

Ross Bonander — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:41:14 +0000

Header Image:

At this year's Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Brad Rodu, D.D.S., professor of medicine at the University of Louisville (UofL) School of Medicine and the Endowed Chair in Tobacco Harm Reduction at UofL's James Graham Brown Cancer Center, didn't exactly come out and promote smokeless tobacco products to non-users of tobacco, but he certainly urged that they should be promoted to smokers for one basic reason: They save lives, and the evidence is there to back it up.