http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., and the University of South Florida (USF) College of Medicine evaluated the experience of medical students who participated in videotaped sessions where they practiced conveying difficult news to "standardized patients" (SPs). The SPs role-played patients with a variety of cancers and who were receiving bad medical news. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-bad-news-patients.html Health Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:57:21 EST news249134169 A new patent has been issued to Moffitt Cancer Center for a computerized system that efficiently selects the right patient for the right clinical trial. The newly patented system matches the registered patient's own molecular profile – warehoused in a database of thousands of patient-donated biological tissue or tumor samples – to the molecular design of the drug aimed at targeting their disease at the molecular level, and does it quickly. The system promises to accelerate clinical trials and help shorten the time that it takes to get critically needed new drugs into the market. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-moffitt-cancer-center-patent-trials.html Cancer Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:40:33 EST news248442021 Scientists at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) developed a new mouse model for studying a devastating childhood brain cancer called medulloblastoma. The animal model mimics the deadliest of four subtypes of human medulloblastoma, a tumor that is triggered by elevated levels of a gene known as Myc. The study, published February 13 in the journal Cancer Cell, also suggests a potential strategy for inhibiting the growth of this tumor type. This achievement marks an important milestone toward personalized therapies tailored to a specific type of medulloblastoma. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-childhood-brain-cancer-personalized-treatment.html Cancer Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:40:01 EST news248362140 In a study conducted by researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues from 11 other institutions in the Unites States and the United Kingdom, genes that are known to be involved in inflammation were found to be related to risk of ovarian cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-ovarian-cancer-inherited-inflammation-genes.html Cancer Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:47:44 EST news247841232 Research led by Wanguo Liu, PhD, Associate Professor of Genetics at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has identified a new protein critical to the development and growth of prostate cancer. The findings are published online in the Early Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, available the week of February 6, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-prostate-cancer-drug.html Cancer Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:00:16 EST news247755688 A new skin cancer drug tested for the first time in the world five years ago at the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare just received expedited approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a remarkable accomplishment in new drug development. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-fda-skin-cancer-drug.html Cancer Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:13:19 EST news247324388 Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center, who teamed with colleagues at five universities around the United States, analyzed past studies of cancer-related pain reduction and found that psychosocial interventions can have a beneficial effect on cancer patients' pain severity. They also found that certain psychosocial interventions provide better pain management and are effective in reducing the degree to which pain related to cancer and its treatment interferes with patients' lives. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-cancer-patients-pain-psychosocial-interventions.html Cancer Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:29:22 EST news247163304 A select subgroup of advanced head and neck cancer patients treated with radiation therapy plus the chemotherapy drug cisplatin had more positive outcomes than patients treated with radiation therapy alone and continued to show positive results 10 years post-treatment, according to a study presented at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium, sponsored by AHNS, ASCO, ASTRO and SNM. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-chemotherapy-long-term-positive-results-neck.html Cancer Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:03:46 EST news246794606 Patients with gynecologic cancer have new hope in a novel technology now offered at the Seidman Cancer Center at University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center. A team of cancer specialists, led by Robert DeBernardo, MD, is among the first in the nation to launch a dedicated program using Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC) to treat ovarian, endometrial and select other cancers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-uh-case-medical-center-therapy.html Cancer Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:51:04 EST news246304256 Scientists from the University of Colorado Cancer Center have once again advanced the treatment of a specific kind of lung cancer. The team has documented how anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) becomes resistant to a drug targeting the abnormal protein in the cancer. It's the first time scientists have analyzed the frequency and type of drug resistance in ALK positive patients taking crizotinib. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-drug-resistance-alk-positive-lung.html Cancer Thu, 19 Jan 2012 10:14:59 EST news246190465 Investigators at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center have identified a new genetic signature associated with bile duct cancer, a usually deadly tumor for which effective treatment currently is limited. Their report, which has been published online in The Oncologist, finds that growth-enhancing mutations in two related genes may account for nearly a quarter of bile duct tumors arising within the liver, presenting the possibility that drugs targeting this mutation could represent a new strategy to control tumor growth. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-gene-mutations-bile-duct-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:36:58 EST news246119693 Brain cancer is hard to treat: it's not only strong enough to resist most chemotherapies, but also nimble enough to migrate away from radiation or surgery to regrow elsewhere. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-cell-key-growth-migration-brain.html Cancer Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:44:02 EST news246041029 Using two cell surface markers found to be highly expressed in breast cancer lymph node metastases, researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center, working with colleagues at other institutions, have developed targeted, fluorescent molecular imaging probes that can non-invasively detect breast cancer lymph node metastases. The new procedure could spare breast cancer patients invasive and unreliable sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsies and surgery-associated negative side effects. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-noninvasive-lymph-node-metastasis.html Cancer Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:04:20 EST news245592202 Brain cancer cells are particularly resistant to chemotherapy — toxins enter the cells, but before the toxins can kill, cancer cells quickly pump them back outside. In fact, brain cancer cells are even better than healthy cells at cleaning themselves. This means that when hit with chemotherapy, healthy cells tend to die before brain cancer cells. Especially in the brain, killing healthy cells is bad. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-glutathione-sensitizes-brain-tumors-chemotherapy.html Cancer Thu, 12 Jan 2012 09:11:14 EST news245581796 Multicentric carcinogenesis with the same genetic mutation appears to occur in lung adenocarcinoma, according to data presented at the AACR-IASLC Joint Conference on Molecular Origins of Lung Cancer: Biology, Therapy and Personalized Medicine, held Jan. 8-11, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-genetic-composition-multicentric-lung-tumors.html Cancer Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:56:54 EST news245347005 A malignancy-risk gene signature developed for breast cancer has been found to have predictive and prognostic value for patients with early stage non-small cell lung cancer. The advancement was made by researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., who published their study results in a recent issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-malignancy-risk-gene-signature-early-stage-non-small.html Cancer Fri, 06 Jan 2012 10:48:12 EST news245069277 Fibroblasts, cells that play a role in the structural framework of tissues, play an apparent role in melanoma tumor growth. Fibroblasts also contribute to melanoma drug resistance and may also facilitate the "flare" response when a tumor's metabolism is enhanced following a patient being removed from a targeted therapy, said researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-fibroblasts-contribute-melanoma-tumor-growth.html Cancer Thu, 05 Jan 2012 11:50:09 EST news244986594 Finding ways to counteract or disrupt the invasive nature of cancer cells, called "metastasis," has been a long-term goal of cancer researchers. Now, researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., have identified an interactive pathway that regulates metastases in some cancers that may be vulnerable to chemical targeting in order to prevent cancer cell proliferation and tumor growth. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-potential-metastatic-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:57:16 EST news243014139 Women who have non-melanoma skin cancers are more likely to have smoked cigarettes compared to women without skin cancer, said researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., who published study results in a recent issue of Cancer Causes & Control. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-strongly-squamous-cell-carcinoma-women.html Addiction Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:57:37 EST news242585850 In a follow-up study, researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues have found that patients who receive chemotherapy for breast cancer might experience prolonged fatigue years after their therapy. The new study, published in the American Cancer Society's current issue of CANCER, is a follow-up to a study on fatigue and chemotherapy and radiotherapy for breast cancer Moffitt researchers published in CANCER in 2007. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-follow-up-prolonged-fatigue-chemotherapy-breast.html Cancer Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:42:38 EST news242314947 A son's passion to find a cure for the cancer that claimed the life of his mother has led to a new series of clinical trials under a Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) initiative to find a cure for pancreatic cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-seena-clinical-trials-pancreatic-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 01 Dec 2011 02:20:00 EST news241928392 Although men have higher cancer mortality rates than women, they are less willing to be screened for cancer, according to a study conducted by researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., and colleagues at Sanoa Consulting LLC, Muscle Shoals, Ala., and the New York University College of Dentistry. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-men-screened-cancer.html Health Tue, 22 Nov 2011 13:31:40 EST news241191060 A new study from the University of Hawaii Cancer Center reveals that PEA-15, a protein previously shown to slow ovarian tumor growth and metastasis, can alternatively enhance tumor formation in kidney cells carrying a mutation in a cancer-promoting gene called H-Ras. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-role-pea-protein-cancer-growth.html Cancer Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:17:51 EST news241114663 The trouble with most anti-cancer therapies is that they are lethal to most cells in the body, not just cancer cells. As a result, patients experience side effects like nausea, increased susceptibility to infection, and increased risk of developing secondary cancers later in life. Researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) are developing techniques to deliver cancer drugs directly to tumors, increasing their effectiveness and decreasing collateral damage. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-tumors-minimize-side-effects-tumor-homing.html Cancer Mon, 21 Nov 2011 15:00:01 EST news241097458 Results of a study by Baylor College of Medicine physicians underscore the important role that clinical genetic evaluation can have in the management plan of patients with retinoblastoma, a childhood cancer of the eye. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-genetic-retinoblastoma.html Cancer Mon, 14 Nov 2011 16:00:03 EST news240490980 When given alongside radiation therapy for head and neck cancer, acupuncture has shown for the first time to reduce the debilitating side effect of xerostomia, according to new research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-acupuncture-radiation-induced-chronic-mouth.html Cancer Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:10:16 EST news240152968 Because the incidence of malignant melanoma is rising faster than any other cancer in the U.S., researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., and colleagues at Tampa-based Intezyne Technologies, Inc., Western Carolina University and the University of Arizona are working overtime to develop new technologies to aid in both malignant melanoma diagnosis and therapy. A tool of great promise comes from the world of nanomedicine – where tiny drug delivery systems are measured in the billionths of meters and are being designed to deliver targeted therapies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-ways-image-therapeutically-melanoma.html Other Thu, 03 Nov 2011 11:10:06 EST news239536215 Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a serious risk in many kinds of cell transplants, including for stem cell transplants carried out when stem cells are partially depleted of conventional T cells, which play an important role in the immune system. Now, researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center have tested a process by which T regulatory cells (Tregs) can be "expanded" to help prevent GVHD. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-regulatory-t-cell-clue-gvhd.html Medical research Mon, 31 Oct 2011 11:43:41 EST news239280207 (AP) -- In the smoker-heavy state of Kentucky, a cancer center is suggesting something that most health experts won't and the tobacco industry can't: If you really want to quit, switch to smoke-free tobacco. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-urges-smokers-smokeless-tobacco.html Health Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:20:22 EST news239034002 Assessing the quality of life experienced by cancer survivors is becoming increasingly important, say researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla. Such an assessment has a number of important applications when doing research on cancer survivorship, but just how to measure quality of life for cancer survivors is still being developed. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-cancer-survivorship-quality-life.html Cancer Fri, 28 Oct 2011 11:13:20 EST news239019185