http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. By tracking changes in patients' blood, Cambridge scientists have created a new way of looking at how tumours evolve in real-time and develop drug resistance. The research was published in the print edition of Nature today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-scientists-simple-blood-track-tumour.html Cancer Fri, 03 May 2013 07:48:48 EST news286786120 Breast cancers that lack estrogen receptors are more difficult to treat than ER+ cancers. Research presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013 demonstrates an investigational drug, Paragazole, that makes triple-negative breast cancer cells express estrogen receptors, and that increases the sensitivity of these cells to chemotherapy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-paragazole-excels-preclinical-triple-negative-breast.html Cancer Mon, 08 Apr 2013 09:16:30 EST news284631363 Among patients with painful chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, use of the anti-depressant drug duloxetine for 5 weeks resulted in a greater reduction in pain compared with placebo, according to a study in the April 3 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-medication-duloxetine-pain-chemotherapy.html Cancer Tue, 02 Apr 2013 16:00:05 EST news284130084 (HealthDay)—Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels may be predictive of success in treating chemotherapy-naive patients with advanced melanoma with a combination of elesclomol plus paclitaxel, according to research published online Feb. 11 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-adding-elesclomol-paclitaxel-advanced-melanoma.html Cancer Fri, 22 Feb 2013 17:00:01 EST news280765883 A multi-center Phase III clinical trial demonstrates that Abraxane (nab-paclitaxel) plus gemcitabine is the first combination of cancer drugs to extend survival of late-stage pancreatic cancer patients compared to standard treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-drug-combination-pancreatic-cancer-patient.html Cancer Tue, 22 Jan 2013 18:00:01 EST news278097991 A combination of the drugs pazopanib and paclitaxel shows promise in slowing anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC), according to a Mayo Clinic-led study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The two drugs together resulted in greater anti-cancer activity in ATC than either drug alone, says lead researcher Keith Bible, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic oncologist. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-two-drug-combination-deadly-thyroid-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 08 Jan 2013 16:42:32 EST news276885650 (HealthDay)—A phase I trial of dasatinib combined with paclitaxel and carboplatin has determined the optimal dose of dasatinib and suggested some efficacy in women with advanced or recurrent ovarian cancer, according to research published in the Oct. 1 issue of Clinical Cancer Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-optimal-dose-dasatinib-ovarian-cancer.html Cancer Mon, 19 Nov 2012 10:00:13 EST news272540632 (Medical Xpress)—Results of a University of Arizona Cancer Center's scientist-led clinical trial show that a drug already approved for breast and lung cancer improved progression-free survival in patients with metastatic melanoma. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-cancer-drug-survival-patients-metastatic.html Cancer Wed, 14 Nov 2012 08:20:40 EST news272103570 A team of UC Davis scientists has shown in experimental mouse models that a new drug delivery system allows for administration of three times the maximum tolerated dose of a standard drug therapy for advanced bladder cancer, leading to more effective cancer control without increasing toxicity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-drug-delivery-bladder-cancer-nanoparticles.html Cancer Thu, 25 Oct 2012 15:15:18 EST news270396838 (HealthDay)—Abraxane (paclitaxel protein-bound) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration—in combination with the drug carboplatin—to treat advanced or spreading non-small cell lung cancer among people who aren't candidates for surgery or radiation therapy, the agency said Friday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-abraxane-advanced-lung-cancer.html Cancer Sun, 14 Oct 2012 06:33:08 EST news269415178 Disease-free survival is short-lived for women with triple-negative breast cancer—a form of the disease that doesn't respond to hormone drugs and becomes resistant to chemotherapy. Thankfully, a promising line of study in the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio suggests it is possible to fine-tune the properties of this fearsome cancer, making it more sensitive to treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-triple-negative-breast-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 02 Oct 2012 09:37:20 EST news268389432 Two new studies presented at the ESMO 2012 Congress in Vienna, Austria show how improvements in breast cancer treatments are making it possible for more women to conserve their breasts following therapy, but raise concerns about whether enough women are being offered these approaches. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-women-breast-conserving-treatment.html Cancer Sun, 30 Sep 2012 06:27:50 EST news268205243 (HealthDay)—The monoclonal antibody against epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), cetuximab, augments the antitumor activity of paclitaxel in patients with previously treated urothelial cancer, according to a study published online Aug. 27 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-cetuximab-paclitaxel-combo-urothelial-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 29 Aug 2012 19:10:02 EST news265483848 Compared with a bare-metal stent, the use of a stent with a biodegradable polymer that releases the drug biolimus resulted in a lower rate of major adverse cardiac events at 1 year among patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI; a certain pattern on an electrocardiogram following a heart attack) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI; procedures such as balloon angioplasty or stent placement used to open narrowed coronary arteries), according to a study in the August 22/29 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-newer-generation-drug-releasing-stent-results-adverse.html Cardiology Tue, 21 Aug 2012 16:00:01 EST news264782719 (HealthDay) -- For patients with operable breast cancer, peripheral neuropathy due to adjuvant taxane therapy does not correlate with improved outcomes, according to research published online July 30 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-taxane-induced-neuropathy-tied-breast-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 02 Aug 2012 13:30:02 EST news263132377 (HealthDay) -- For patients with metastatic melanoma with activating mutations in serine-threonine protein kinase B-RAF (BRAF), treatment with the oral selective MEK inhibitor trametinib is associated with improved progression-free and overall survival, compared with chemotherapy, according to a study published online June 4 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with presentation at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, held from June 1 to 5 in Chicago. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-asco-trametinib-survival-metastatic-melanoma.html Cancer Tue, 05 Jun 2012 04:10:01 EST news258086357 (HealthDay) -- Even in the field of cancer treatment, sometimes newer isn't necessarily better. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-older-drug-advanced-breast-cancer.html Cancer Mon, 04 Jun 2012 09:40:02 EST news258020025 The antidepressant drug duloxetine, known commercially as Cymbalta, helped relieve painful tingling feelings caused by chemotherapy in 59 percent of patients, a new study finds. This is the first clinical trial to find an effective treatment for this pain. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-antidepressant-relieve-pain-chemotherapy.html Cancer Mon, 04 Jun 2012 00:20:07 EST news257925118 (HealthDay) -- For patients with esophageal or esophagogastric-junction cancer, treatment with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by surgical resection is associated with improved survival compared with surgery alone, according to a study published in the May 31 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-pre-op-chemoradiotherapy-ups-survival-esophageal.html Cancer Thu, 31 May 2012 10:20:01 EST news257675383 Analysis of a drug regimen approved by the F.D.A. in 2006 for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (bevacizumab added to the standard chemotherapy regimen carboplatin and paclitaxel) finds Medicare insured patients age 65 years and older who received this regimen did not have improved survival compared to patients who received the standard treatment of carboplatin and paclitaxel alone, according to a study in the April 18 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on comparative effectiveness research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-drug-regimen-treatment-non-small-cell.html Cancer Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:51:03 EST news253878657 (HealthDay) -- Meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) suggests that drug-eluting stents (DESs) significantly reduce repeat revascularizations, with no increase in stent thrombosis (ST), mortality, or recurrent myocardial infarction, but data from observational studies indicate an increased risk of ST with DES use, according to research published in the April 1 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-good-long-term-outcomes-drug-eluting-stents.html Cardiology Wed, 04 Apr 2012 12:46:11 EST news252762346 A combination of nab-paclitaxel and carboplatin for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer may be a promising option for patients ineligible for treatment with bevacizumab, according to data presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-drug-combination-option-patients-nsclc.html Cancer Tue, 03 Apr 2012 09:42:16 EST news252664926 The Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) today announced the initiation of the HORIZONS-AMI II randomized trial, evaluating Promus Element platinum-chromium everolimus-eluting stents versus Omega bare-metal stents in patients with heart attack undergoing primary angioplasty with bivalirudin anticoagulation. The HORIZONS-AMI II trial will also investigate the chronic use of the antiplatelet medications prasugrel versus clopidogrel in patients free of major events at 30 days. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-cardiovascular-foundation-horizons-ami-ii-clinical.html Cardiology Tue, 27 Mar 2012 09:58:18 EST news252060971 (HealthDay) -- Cobalt-chromium everolimus eluting stents (CoCr-EES) are associated with a significantly lower rate of stent thrombosis within two years of implantation, compared with other bare-metal and drug-eluting stents, according to a meta-analysis published online March 23 in The Lancet. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-drug-eluting-stents-thrombosis.html Cardiology Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:22:00 EST news251724075 Oncologists who treat patients with pancreatic cancer may be one step closer to understanding why gemcitabine, the only currently available treatment, works in some cases but not in others, according to a paper in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-combination-therapy-gemcitabine.html Cancer Tue, 28 Feb 2012 10:29:39 EST news249647368 A drug-coated balloon inserted in a narrowed bare metal stent is a promising therapy for restoring blood flow, according to research (Abstract 10244) presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2011. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-drug-eluting-balloons-tool-treatment-narrowed.html Cardiology Wed, 16 Nov 2011 09:43:52 EST news240659023 A clinical trial testing the efficacy of rotational atherectomy (or rotablation, a process of drilling through plaque deposits) prior to implantation of a drug-eluting stent found that the process was not superior to standard balloon angioplasty and decreased the efficacy of the stent in reducing new tissue growth within the blood vessel. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-results-rotaxus-trial-tct.html Cardiology Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:52:58 EST news240259947 (Medical Xpress) -- Cancer Research UK scientists have discovered that switching off a gene called CERT makes breast cancer cells more sensitive to a range of drugs. The research is published in the Journal of Pathology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-gene-silencing-paves-treatments-breast.html Cancer Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:40:01 EST news238415280 A chemical component of the marijuana plant could prevent the onset of pain associated with drugs used in chemo therapy, particularly in breast cancer patients, according to researchers at Temple University's School of Pharmacy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-marijuana-component-ease-pain-chemotherapy.html Medications Thu, 06 Oct 2011 12:49:22 EST news237124153 (Medical Xpress) -- Blocking key proteins could improve response to a common chemotherapy drug, suggests an Oxford University-led study which used cancer cells grown in the lab. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-chemotherapy-response.html Cancer Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:39:00 EST news234164310