http://www.cancercompass.comCancerCompass is an online community committed to offering people living with cancer a place to receive cancer information and news, share knowledge, and share cancer treatment experiences. To learn more, visit our site today.en-us@copy; Copyright 2008, International Capital & Management Company, LLLP. All Rights Reserved.Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:52:39 CDTSat, 11 Oct 2008 04:52:39 CDTCancercompass.com: top stories60http://www.cancercompass.com/graphics/mini-logo.gifhttp://www.cancercompass.comhttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14753,00.htm?rss=yhttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14753,00.htm?rss=y Oncologist Allison Kurian, MD, and her colleagues at the Stanford University School of Medicine were perplexed. Computer models designed to identify women who might have dangerous genetic mutations that increase their risk of breast and ovarian cancer worked well for white women. But they seemed to be less reliable for another ethnic group. "We've been repeatedly surprised when Asian women who the models predicted would probably not have the mutations do in fact have them," said Kurian. She recently showed that in a head-to-head comparison between whites and Asians, two of the most commonly used models failed in predicting the presence of mutations in almost half of the Asian women studied. "Doctors and patients should have a higher l...Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:00:00 CDThttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14757,00.htm?rss=yhttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14757,00.htm?rss=y FORT MYERS, Fla. -- A new study of breast cancer radiation treatment performed at 21st Century Oncology has found that the SAVI(TM) applicator delivered excellent cosmetic results with minimal side effects, for women who had not qualified for breast conservation therapy using a previously available balloon device. Reporting on 12 recent cases, the 21st Century Oncology study found no incidence of potential side effects such as seroma (fluid collection), pigmentation change, fibrosis (scar tissue) or infection. Indicating the precision of the SAVI applicator, the maximum skin dose of radiation for patients never exceeded the prescribed amount. In 92% of the cases, the cosmetic result was rated "excellent." The researc...Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:00:00 CDThttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14734,00.htm?rss=yhttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14734,00.htm?rss=y NEW YORK -- Bone metastasis and other bone-related complications affect hundreds of thousands of cancer patients each year. The newly organized Bone and Cancer Foundation (BCF) provides information to patients and healthcare providers on the management of cancer that affects the bone through its publications and website http://www.boneandcancerfoundation.org. The web site also includes information on clinical trials. The six patient publications which are now available in print and on the website are: -- Breast Cancer, Bone Metastases, & Treatment-Related Bone Loss -- Prostate Cancer, Bone Metastases, & Treatment-Related Osteoporosis -- Myeloma Bone Disease: Current and Future Treatment...Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:00:00 CDThttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14737,00.htm?rss=yhttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14737,00.htm?rss=y MILWAUKEE -- U.S. medical scientists say they have created a synthetic form of a protein that is involved in certain types of cancer and immune system diseases. Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin-Milwaukee said they have applied for a patent on the protein, CXCL12, which is known as a chemokine. Chemokines are proteins that regulate the movement of cells into tissues and recruit infection-fighting white blood cells to infected and injured sites, the scientists said. The study was led by Associate Professor Brian Volkman and was based on seminal reports by Associate Professor Michael Dwinell. "We hope that stable synthetic versions of CXCL12 will allow us to conduct proof-of-concept studies about cancer...Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:00:00 CDThttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14741,00.htm?rss=yhttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14741,00.htm?rss=y OMAHA, Neb., and CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Transgenomic today announced a partnership with Key Genomics to develop a molecular diagnostic test which will guide clinicians in their choice of currently available treatments for ovarian cancer. The new test will be powered by Key Genomics' predictive algorithm, COXEN. Ovarian cancers are often diagnosed at the advanced stage of disease, after the tumor has spread beyond the ovary. Initial investigation of COXEN-derived genomic signatures in clinical trials has demonstrated that the test can distinguish responders from patients who do not benefit from a therapy. "Getting the patient the best therapeutic option as quickly as possible is a key factor in survival," commented Craig...Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:00:00 CDThttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14727,00.htm?rss=yhttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14727,00.htm?rss=y Researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) announced a new approach to treating endometrial cancer patients that not only stops the growth of tumors, but kills the cancer cells. In a potentially major breakthrough, TGen scientists and collaborators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis discovered that introducing a particular inhibitor drug can turn "off' receptors responsible for the growth of tumors in a significant number of patients with endometrial cancer. And, they found that the inhibitor drug proved effective even in cancer tumors containing a commonly occurring mutant gene, PTEN, previously associated with resistance to drug treatment. TGen's findings appear today in a paper publ...Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:00:00 CDThttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14728,00.htm?rss=yhttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14728,00.htm?rss=y HOUSTON -- U.S. scientists say they've determined the protein IKKalpha suppresses skin cancer development. "We have shown that IKK acts as a sentry, monitoring and, when necessary, halting proliferation of these important (squamous) cells, said University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Assistant Professor Yinling Hu, the study's senior author. Squamous cells are primary cell types that cover internal and external surfaces of the body. "In the first mouse model of its kind, we also found deleting IKK spontaneously induced squamous cell carcinomas by activating the epidermal growth factor receptor pathway," said Hu, "These results provide new therapeutic targets for prevention of skin cancer." The researchers...Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:00:00 CDThttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14718,00.htm?rss=yhttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14718,00.htm?rss=y In the largest multi-institutional study to date examining the impact of positron emission tomography (PET) in changing disease management of individuals with suspected recurrent colorectal cancer, researchers found that treatment plans were changed for more than half of patients, according to an article in the September issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. The study was conducted at four sites throughout Australia and comprised 191 patients who were divided into two groups. Group A consisted of symptomatic patients who had residual structural lesions suspicious for recurrent tumor after initial therapy. Group B comprised patients with pulmonary or hepatic metastases that were potentially operable. These results were compared with f...Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:00:00 CDThttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14719,00.htm?rss=yhttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14719,00.htm?rss=y Colorectal adenomas, the precursor polyps in virtually all colorectal cancers, occur infrequently in younger adults, but the rate sharply increases after age 50. Additionally, African Americans have a higher rate of proximal, or right-sided, polyps, and may have a worse prognosis for survival if the polyps become cancerous. Therefore, the results of this study further emphasize the importance of colonoscopies, which view the entire colon, for the prevention of colorectal cancer beginning at age 50. The results of this study, which represents the largest investigation, by several-fold, of this kind, were published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute...Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:00:00 CDThttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14720,00.htm?rss=yhttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14720,00.htm?rss=y BALTIMORE, MARYLAND --The new assay screens all 12 mutations in codons 12 and 13 of the KRAS gene with 1% detection sensitivity, which has significant implications for patients with colon cancer receiving chemotherapy. There are 12 possible mutations in codons 12 and 13 of the KRAS gene that may affect chemotherapy. Sequencing is the most common method used to screen these mutations, however, it cannot detect low-level mutations due to lack of sensitivity. Other KRAS assays do not cover all 12 mutations, whereas TrimGen's KRAS assay can detect all these mutations with conclusive results. Thirty to 40% of colorectal cancer patients carry KRAS mutations. Through screening, doctors can effectively determine a treatment plan,...Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:00:00 CDThttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14721,00.htm?rss=yhttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14721,00.htm?rss=y Alaska causes cancer. So do California, Kansas and New Jersey. So says University of Pittsburgh epidemiologist and environmental cancer expert Devra Davis, who spoke at UAA Thursday evening. Alaska, however, may have special problems. Hold that thought for a moment. Studies today show that only about one in 10 cases of breast cancer is caused through inherited traits from parents, Davis says, citing research from the National Cancer Institute. All the rest are a result of where and how you live. In one sense, that's good news, says Davis, who serves as director of the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. "You can't pick your parents and you can't go back and change w...Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:00:00 CDThttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14722,00.htm?rss=yhttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14722,00.htm?rss=y Black women are less likely than white women to receive radiation therapy after a lumpectomy, the standard of care for early stage breast cancer, according to a new study by researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The study, the largest of its kind, was presented today in advance of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Breast Cancer Symposium, and is the first national study to examine such racial disparities in radiation therapy. Led by Grace Li Smith, M.D., Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in M. D. Anderson's Department of Radiation Oncology, the researchers reviewed the Medicare records of more than 37,000 patients diagnosed with early stage breast cancer in 2003. "Although there have been small...Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:00:00 CDThttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14723,00.htm?rss=yhttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14723,00.htm?rss=y Agendia, a world leader in molecular cancer diagnostics, announced the launch of TargetPrint(R), a new diagnostic test that allows physicians to quantitatively determine the gene expression levels of the estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor 2 (HER2) in breast cancer tumor biopsies. The accurate measurement of these receptors is of paramount importance in planning treatment of breast cancer patients after surgery and assists physicians and patients in making informed treatment decisions. TargetPrint runs on Agendia's new High Density Chip, which received market clearance last month (August 2008) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). "Currently available targeted therapie...Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:00:00 CDThttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14724,00.htm?rss=yhttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14724,00.htm?rss=y STANFORD, Calif. -- Oncologist Allison Kurian, MD, and her colleagues at the Stanford University School of Medicine were perplexed. Computer models designed to identify women who might have dangerous genetic mutations that increase their risk of breast and ovarian cancer worked well for white women. But they seemed to be less reliable for another ethnic group. "We've been repeatedly surprised when Asian women who the models predicted would probably not have the mutations do in fact have them," said Kurian. She recently showed that in a head-to-head comparison between whites and Asians, two of the most commonly used models failed in predicting the presence of mutations in almost half of the Asian women studied. "Docto...Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:00:00 CDThttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14726,00.htm?rss=yhttp://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,14726,00.htm?rss=y Leading ovarian cancer researchers and clinicians from around the world gathered at the Ovarian Cancer Research Symposium today to hear about cutting-edge developments that may increase the chances of early detection of the disease. Dr. Patricia Kruk, from the University of South Florida, presented her research that could lead to using a non-invasive urine test for detecting ovarian cancer. Kruk said her research found that the amount of Bcl-2 levels was generally negligible in urine samples from healthy women and low in women with benign gynecologic disease. In contrast, urinary levels of Bcl-2 in women with ovarian and primary peritoneal cancer were over 10 times that of healthy controls. "We have submitted a patent for the urine te...Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:00:00 CDT