http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress provides the latest news from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute A new oral targeted drug, idelalisib (GS-1101), has the potential to stave off the need for additional treatments for relapsed or treatment-resistant chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to a study led in part by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators. In a phase 1 clinical trial, the drug produced rapid and long-lasting tumor shrinkage in about two-thirds of patients, stalling disease progression for 17 months, on average. The activity of the drug is noteworthy, given that the patients had an average of five prior therapies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-protein-targeting-drug-early-trial-patients.html Cancer Fri, 17 May 2013 08:50:01 EST news287996211 A type of low-grade but sometimes lethal brain tumor in children has been found in many cases to contain an unusual mutation that may help to classify, diagnose and guide the treatment of the tumors, report scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-scientists-mutation-pediatric-brain-tumors.html Genetics Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:28:13 EST news286561685 MIAMI—The stem cell transplant regimen that was commonly used in the United States to treat advanced neuroblastoma in children appears to be more toxic than the equally effective regimen employed in Europe and Egypt, according to a new study being presented at the 26th annual meeting of the American Society of Pediatric Hematology Oncology in Miami April 24-27. The U.S. regimen was associated with more acute toxicity to the kidneys and liver. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-toxicity-differences-decision-conditioning-neuroblastoma.html Cancer Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:30:02 EST news286025901 When the eye cancer retinoblastoma is diagnosed in racial and ethnic minority children whose families don't have private health insurance, it often takes a more invasive, potentially life-threatening course than in other children, probably because of delays in diagnosis, Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center (DF/CHCC) researchers will report at the 26th annual meeting of the American Society of Pediatric Hematology Oncology being held in Miami, April 24-27. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-diagnosis-worsen-outlook-minority-uninsured.html Cancer Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:30:01 EST news286025989 Nearly two-thirds of children receiving stem cell transplants returned to the hospital within six months for treatment of unexplained fevers, infections or other problems, according to a study performed at Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center in Boston. Children who received donor cells were twice as likely to be readmitted as children who received their own stem cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-majority-children-readmitted-hospital-stem.html Cancer Wed, 24 Apr 2013 01:30:01 EST news285956728 An irregularity within many neuroblastoma cells may indicate whether a neuroblastoma tumor, a difficult-to-treat, early childhood cancer, is vulnerable to a new class of anti-cancer drugs known as BET bromodomain inhibitors, Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center scientists will report at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Washington, April 6-10. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-genetic-biomarker-neuroblastomas-vulnerable-class.html Cancer Tue, 09 Apr 2013 16:00:09 EST news284735117 A novel combination of two drugs has shown anti-cancer activity in patients who had incurable solid tumors and carried a germline mutation in their BRCA genes, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers are reporting at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting in Washington, April 6-10. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-patients-incurable-tumors-brca-mutations.html Cancer Sun, 07 Apr 2013 14:00:01 EST news284557517 A new blood test revealed more of the gene mutations that sustain certain digestive-tract tumors than did a DNA analysis of a traditional tumor biopsy, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators will report at a special symposium of the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting in Washington, April 6-10. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-blood-fuller-picture-mutations-cancer.html Cancer Sun, 07 Apr 2013 11:26:45 EST news284552788 A new antibody-guided drug has shown promising activity in a phase I trial involving ovarian cancer patients with platinum drug-resistant disease, researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute will report today at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. The findings (abstract LB-290) will be discussed at a press conference on Saturday, April 06, 2013, and later at an oral presentation on Tuesday, April 09, 2013. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-toxin-platinum-resistant-ovarian-cancers.html Cancer Sat, 06 Apr 2013 14:39:16 EST news284477951 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists and colleagues have discovered that pancreatic cancer cells' growth and spread are fueled by an unusual metabolic pathway that someday might be blocked with targeted drugs to control the deadly cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-scientists-potential-loophole-pancreatic-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 27 Mar 2013 14:00:07 EST news283606570 During the past 30 years, the number of patients with cancers that originate near the junction of the esophagus and stomach has increased approximately 600 percent in the United States. The first extensive probe of the DNA of these esophageal adenocarcinomas (EACs) has revealed that many share a distinctive mix-up of letters of the genetic code, and found more than 20 mutated genes that had not previously been linked to the disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-molecular-signature-rapidly-esophageal-cancer.html Cancer Sun, 24 Mar 2013 14:00:08 EST news283334944 Tumors are not factories for the mass production of identical cancer cells, but are, in reality, patchworks of cells with different patterns of gene mutations. In a new study, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute show, more fully than ever before, how these mutations shift and evolve over time in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) – providing a strobe-like look at the genetic past, present, and future of CLL tumors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-tracks-leukemia-genetic-evolution-disease.html Cancer Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:40:02 EST news280071028 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists have demonstrated a new strategy for treating autoimmune disease that successfully blocked the development of rheumatoid arthritis in a mouse model. They say it holds promise for improved treatment of arthritis and other autoimmune disorders in people. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-strategy-rheumatoid-arthritis-mice.html Arthritis & Rheumatism Fri, 08 Feb 2013 12:00:02 EST news279542331 Two new mutations that collectively occur in 71 percent of malignant melanoma tumors have been discovered in what scientists call the "dark matter" of the cancer genome, where cancer-related mutations haven't been previously found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-mutations-malignant-melanoma.html Cancer Thu, 24 Jan 2013 14:00:12 EST news278258137 Large-scale genomic sequencing has revealed two DNA mutations that appear to drive about 15 percent of brain tumors known as meningiomas, a finding that could lead to the first effective drug treatments for the tumors, report scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-genomic-sequencing-mutant-drivers-common.html Genetics Tue, 22 Jan 2013 15:07:28 EST news278089642