http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Ten years after the Iraq war of 2003 a team of scientists based in Mosul, northern Iraq, have detected high levels of uranium contamination in soil samples at three sites in the province of Nineveh which, coupled with dramatically increasing rates of childhood cancers and birth defects at local hospitals, highlight the ongoing legacy of modern warfare to civilians in conflict zones. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-cancer-birth-defects-iraq-nuclear.html Health Tue, 21 May 2013 08:10:02 EST news288341596 Two researchers at the National Institutes of Health discovered a new genetic link between the rapid growth of healthy fetuses and the uncontrolled cell division in cancer. The findings shed light on normal development and on the genetic underpinnings of common cancers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-genetic-link-fetal-growth-cancer.html Genetics Tue, 09 Apr 2013 04:20:29 EST news284700022 As success rates in treating childhood cancers have improved, greater emphasis is being placed on quality of life issues following successful treatment. Many cancer treatments can lead to infertility, but there are few methods to preserve the fertility of children who have not entered puberty. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-fertility-childhood-cancer.html Cancer Fri, 15 Mar 2013 12:22:55 EST news282568968 One year after his last treatment, a six-year-old boy with recurrent neuroblastoma is in complete remission for his high-risk metastatic cancer. Doctors reported this case study in the January 2013 issue of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, which was funded in part by a joint grant from the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation, Pierce Phillips Charity and Solving Kids' Cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-dendritic-cell-vaccine-relapsed-neuroblastoma.html Cancer Tue, 29 Jan 2013 11:04:13 EST news278679840 A report from the nation's leading cancer organizations shows rates of death in the United States from all cancers for men and women continued to decline between 2000 and 2009. The findings come from the latest Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-cancer-death-decline-national.html Cancer Tue, 08 Jan 2013 09:12:46 EST news276858742 This month, Molecular Pharmaceutics reported promising findings from the Nemours Center for Childhood Cancer Research and the Materials Science and Engineering Department at the University of Delaware, about the potential for nanotechnology to deliver chemotherapeutic agents in a way that attacks cancer cells without harming healthy cells. To date, nanoparticle-based drug delivery approaches have been poorly developed for the treatment of childhood leukemia, which comprises 30% of childhood cancers. In the Nemours study, encapsulated dexamethasone ("dex") delivered to pre-clinical models with leukemia significantly improved quality of life and survival compared to the control receiving the unencapsulated drug. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-nanotechnology-drug-delivery-treatment-pediatric.html Cancer Tue, 04 Dec 2012 12:06:07 EST news273845157 (Medical Xpress) -- A small but statistically significant link between risk of childhood leukaemia and the gamma rays we are all exposed to from our natural environment has been detected in a very large study led by Oxford University researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-gamma-rays-background-linked-childhood.html Cancer Tue, 12 Jun 2012 09:41:38 EST news258712674 A new analysis from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital adds to evidence that equal access to comprehensive treatment and supportive care typically translates into equally good outcomes for most young African-American and white cancer patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-equal-access-survival-gap-young.html Cancer Mon, 30 Apr 2012 16:20:17 EST news255021601 (Medical Xpress) -- Treatments for childhood cancers are increasingly successful with cure rates approaching 80%, but success often comes with a downside for the surviving men: the cancer treatments they received as boys can leave them sterile as adults. Now, a research team led by Ralph Brinster of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine has completed a 14-year experiment that gives hope for a technique that could restore their fertility. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-fertility-boys-cancer-treatment.html Medical research Mon, 26 Mar 2012 10:50:06 EST news251977080 A new treatment option may soon be available for children with neuroblastoma according to research published in the July issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. The study tested the principle that combined positron emission tomography and X-ray computed tomography (PET/CT) may be used to select children with primary refractory or relapsed high-risk neuroblastoma for treatment with a molecular radiotherapy known as 177Lu-DOTATATE. This therapeutic option was found to be viable option for children with neuroblastomas. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-therapy-childhood-neuroblastoma-feasible-safe.html Cancer Wed, 29 Jun 2011 16:47:08 EST news228584793 Scientists at the University of Birmingham have found that survivors of childhood cancers are four times more likely than the general population to develop a new cancer. The results are published online today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-childhood-cancer-survivors-greater-middle.html Cancer Mon, 06 Jun 2011 07:22:25 EST news226563629