http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. The increasing cost of treatments for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in the United States has reached unsustainably high levels and may be leaving many patients under- or untreated because they cannot afford care, according to a Blood Forum article supported by nearly 120 CML experts from more than 15 countries on five continents and published online today in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). Blood Forum articles are a new feature in the journal that present well documented opinions on controversial topics and provide a sounding board for current subjects of importance to the science and practice of hematology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-leukemia-experts-high-treatment-patients.html Cancer Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:07:31 EST news286106843 The emergence of molecular diagnostic testing in lung cancer offers new hope for patients battling the number one cancer killer in the United States and abroad. Now, for the first time after a decade of biomarker testing in lung cancer, a uniform approach for testing for the EGFR mutation and ALK rearrangement along with the availability of targeted therapies offer lung cancer patients the chance for improved quality of life and more time with their loved ones. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-advances-molecular-lung-cancer-patients.html Cancer Wed, 03 Apr 2013 16:49:40 EST news284226573 (HealthDay)—The anti-cancer drug Gleevec (imatinib) has received new U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to treat the most common type of pediatric cancer, affecting some 2,900 children each year, the agency said Friday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-gleevec-latest-pediatric-cancer.html Cancer Fri, 25 Jan 2013 16:55:35 EST news278355318 Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that hard-to-reach, drug-resistant leukemia stem cells (LSCs) that overexpress multiple pro-survival protein forms are sensitive – and thus vulnerable – to a novel cancer stem cell-targeting drug currently under development. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-drug-hard-to-reach-leukemia-stem-cells.html Cancer Thu, 17 Jan 2013 12:00:18 EST news277642727 Recent studies have demonstrated that molecular-targeted agents, such as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI), may prolong survival of selected patients based on tumor biomarkers. The presence of mutation in the EGFR gene is known as a predictive marker for the response to treatment. However, whether or not these EGFR mutations are prognostic factors for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has not been known. A recent study published in the February 2013 issue of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer's (IASLC) Journal of Thoracic Oncology, concludes EGFR mutations are not a prognostic factor in surgically resected patients or patients with recurrence treated with conventional therapies. However, after disease recurrence, administration of EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors can prolong survival. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-egfr-mutation-prognostic-factor-non-small.html Cancer Tue, 15 Jan 2013 11:17:07 EST news277471018 Exon 20 insertions are the third most common family of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations found in non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Little is known about cancers harboring these mutations aside from their lack of response to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors, impairing the development of effective targeted therapies. A recent study published in the February 2013 issue of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer's (IASLC) Journal of Thoracic Oncology, concludes that patients with EGFR exon 20 insertions have similar clinical characteristics to those with common EGFR mutations, but a poorer prognosis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-patients-egfr-exon-insertions-poorer.html Cancer Tue, 15 Jan 2013 11:16:49 EST news277470992 An international team, headed by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, has identified a key enzyme in the reprogramming process that promotes malignant stem cell cloning and the growth of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a cancer of the blood and marrow that experts say is increasing in prevalence. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-enzyme-malignant-stem-cell-cloning.html Cancer Mon, 24 Dec 2012 15:00:09 EST news275575816 Survival for people diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML) has risen by nearly half, with around 58 per cent of people surviving their disease for at least five years compared with only around 40 per cent in the late 1990s, according to a new report from the National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN), published today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-treatments-chronic-myeloid-leukaemia-survival.html Cancer Wed, 12 Dec 2012 08:05:52 EST news274521939 (HealthDay)—The orally bioavailable tyrosine kinase inhibitor cabozantinib (XL184) has clinical activity in men with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), according to a study published online Nov. 19 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-cabozantinib-castration-resistant-prostate-cancer.html Cancer Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:00:02 EST news273753279 Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) researchers Michael Deininger, M.D., Ph.D., and Thomas O'Hare, Ph.D., were part of a team that found a potent oral drug, ponatinib, effective in patients who have developed resistance to standard treatments for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and Philadelphia chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic lymphoma (Ph+ ALL). The New England Journal of Medicine released results of the trial today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-clinical-trial-good-results-leukemia.html Cancer Fri, 30 Nov 2012 09:10:17 EST news273489005 Right now, the best known treatment for patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with anaplastic lymphoma kinase gene rearrangements (ALK) or epidermal growth factor receptor mutations (EGFR) is crizotinib or EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), such as erlotinib, respectively. However, progression inevitably occurs. When it does, having no clear guidelines and/or indications, most patients are treated with chemotherapy. A new study published in the December 2012 issue of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer's (IASLC) Journal of Thoracic Oncology, shows that other approaches to overcome acquired resistance should be considered. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-approach-non-small-cell-lung-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 15 Nov 2012 13:11:03 EST news272207437 A gene that may possibly belong to an entire new family of oncogenes has been linked by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) to the resistance of breast cancer to a well-regarded and widely used cancer therapy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-oncogene-future-therapy.html Cancer Tue, 11 Sep 2012 16:24:03 EST news266599428 Aberrant regulation of cell growth pathways is required for normal cells to become cancerous, and in many types of cancer, cell growth is driven by a group of enzymes known as receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). The RTK epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is overexpressed in over 30% of breast cancers; however, drugs that target RTKs, known as tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have not been effective in treating breast cancer. Researchers believe that the cancer cells escape TKIs by circumventing the RTKs and utilizing other enzymes that are not TKI-sensitive. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-class-proteins-breast-cancer-cells.html Cancer Mon, 13 Aug 2012 12:00:01 EST news264064079 Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) kill cancerous cells by inducing programmed cell death. They are of enormous therapeutic benefit to patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and certain types of lung cancer, but their effectiveness may vary from individual to individual. Previous studies have estimated that one in five patients finds TKIs to be ineffective. An international team of researchers including Yijun Ruan and Axel Hillmer at the A*STAR Genome Institute of Singapore, Sin Tiong Ong and King Pan Ng at the Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School, Charles Chuah at the Department of Haematology, Singapore General Hospital and Darren Wan-Teck Lim at the National Cancer Centre has now identified a common genetic variation linked with resistance to TKIs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-genetic-variation-common-east-asian.html Genetics Thu, 02 Aug 2012 08:19:37 EST news263112686 Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the most common form of lung cancer, is usually treated with surgery and chemotherapy. However, a small group of patients can also be helped by treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI). New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine, shows that blocking production of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) using RNAi, alongside TKI (or antibody therapy), could enhance the effect of TKI on NSCLC cell death, and slow cell growth. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-whammy-rnai-lung-cancer-therapy.html Cancer Tue, 20 Mar 2012 20:00:01 EST news251481908 New research takes aim at stubborn cancer stem cells that are thought to be responsible for treatment resistance and relapse. The study, published by Cell Press in the February 14 issue of the journal Cancer Cell, provides insight into mechanisms associated with the survival of leukemia stem cells and identifies a potential therapeutic target that is specific for these dangerously persistent cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-therapy-leukemia-stem-cells.html Cancer Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:10:01 EST news248362666 About one in five or six cases of adult leukaemia in Western populations relates to so-called chronic myeloid leukaemia, or CML. Treatment of CML usually relies on inhibitors of the abnormal protein that causes the condition but some patients do not respond to treatment and efforts are underway to develop a supplementary approach, targeting the so-called JAK2 kinase. Recent results from the groups of Veronika Sexl at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna (Vetmeduni Vienna) and Giulio Superti-Furga at the Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (CeMM) have called this strategy into question. The work is published in the current issue of the prestigious journal Nature Chemical Biology and is of immediate relevance to leukaemia treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-jak-leukaemia-therapy.html Cancer Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:18:39 EST news247141110 Tuberculosis (TB) has been suspected to increase a person's risk of lung cancer because the pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis can induce genetic damage. However, direct evidence of specific genetic changes and the disease have not been extensively reported. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-link-tb-gene-mutation-lung.html Cancer Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:54:36 EST news246102796 Sorafenib was effective in patients with non-small cell lung cancer and a KRAS mutation, but survival rates were reportedly "unsatisfactory," 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-sorafenib-effective-patients-non-small-cell.html Cancer Tue, 10 Jan 2012 05:18:20 EST news245395092 Taking a leukemia chemotherapy drug may help breast cancer patients who don't respond to tamoxifen overcome resistance to the widely-used drug, new research from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson suggests. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-leukemia-drug-reverses-tamoxifen-resistance-breast.html Cancer Mon, 01 Aug 2011 12:30:06 EST news231417656 A non-invasive PET imaging technique may identify lung cancers that respond best to tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), allowing doctors to better select patients for personalized therapy, according to research presented at the 14th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Amsterdam, hosted by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-pet-scan-11cerlotinib-noninvasive-method.html Cancer Tue, 05 Jul 2011 04:49:28 EST news229060128 Patients treated with sunitinib and sorafenib responded to the flu vaccine, which suggests the agents do not damage the immune system as much as previously feared, according to a study in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-patients-sunitinib-sorafenib-flu-vaccine.html Cancer Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:34:01 EST news228486567 A component in soybeans increases radiation's ability to kill lung cancer cells, according to a Wayne State University study published in the April 2011 issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, the official monthly journal of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-soy-effectiveness-lung-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 07 Apr 2011 16:08:38 EST news221411282