A new study suggests that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active component in marijuana, may help destroy brain cancer cells.
The researchers tested the effects of TCH in mice with brain cancer cells and two humans with aggressive brain tumors (called recurrent glioblastoma multiforme). TCH was injected daily near the tumor sites. Biopsies were taken before and after Read the rest of this entry »
This morning my inbox brought me an astonishing press release from Pfizer:
“Pfizer Inc today announced the discontinuation of one of its Phase 3 studies based on statistical assessment for futility: the SUN 1107 Phase 3 study of Sutent® (sunitinib malate) in advanced breast cancer. SUN 1107 evaluated single-agent sunitinib versus single-agent capecitabine for the treatment of a broad range of patients with advanced Read the rest of this entry »
Natural Standard Associate Editor Ramon Iovin, PhD, provides a brief introduction to the Laboratory Interactions Checker, one of Natural Standard's interactive tools. The presentation includes several examples of herb and supplement interactions with laboratory diagnostic tests, sampled from the Natural Standard Interactions database.
Complimentary access is available until April 30, 2009. To log in, please visit www1.gotomeeting.com/register/338915605.
The FDA Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) met yesterday and unanimously recommended that Avastin offered benefit to patients with previously untreated Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a fatal form of brain cancer. If accerated approval is granted on May 5th, it will be the first new treatment for the disease in 10 years.
The American Cancer Society estimates that 21,810 malignant tumors of the brain or spinal cord are diagnosed Read the rest of this entry »
Today and tomorrow I’m microblogging the Eye for Pharma Oncology Summit meeting in Boston. You can follow the meeting from the widget below, from my Twitterstream or on the Eye for Pharma website. We’ll be using the #EFP code to track live tweets from anyone commenting at the event.
The program looks to be a really good one, so do join us during the event and catch up on the news and views for what’s hot and what’s not in the cancer Read the rest of this entry »
According to a new study published in the British Medical Journal, drinking hot black tea may increase the risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, the most common type of esophageal cancer.
In the latest study, researchers studied the tea-drinking habits of 300 people diagnosed with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and 570 healthy people (controls). The participants were from northern Iran's Read the rest of this entry »
Approaches to improve the efficacy of radiotherapy and chemotherapy in treating various cancers have begun to include the addition of radio- and chemo-sensitisers to the existing regimen.
One such drug is motexafin gadolinium (MGd, Xcytrin®). Motexafin is an aromatic macrocycle that has a strong affinity for electrons, i.e., it is easily reduced. In the presence of oxygen, motexafin accepts electrons from various cellular reducing Read the rest of this entry »
Well, that was an attention grabbing headline for those of us interested in CML.
Whilst the majority of patients do well on treatment with imatinib (Gleevec), a small number will not respond to the drug initially (primary resistance), and a few will develop secondary resistance as new mutations occur. Other tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as dasatinib (Sprycel) and nilotinib (Tasigna) are now available that Read the rest of this entry »
Yesterday, Jade Goody the UK reality tv star sadly passed away from cervical cancer. She was 27 years old.
Source: Daily Telegraph
Whatever else one may think about the furore and PR that accompanied her last few months, we cannot deny that she was very brave and probably did more for raising awareness of the condition than any other individual.
Cervical cancer is linked Read the rest of this entry »
New evidence suggests that maggot therapy, a technique that uses live maggots to clean non-healing wounds, may be more painful and less effective for leg ulcers than standard treatment.
During maggot therapy, also called maggot debridement therapy, fly larvae (maggots) debride wounds by dissolving the dead infected tissue. They may also stimulate wound healing and disinfect Read the rest of this entry »