http://medicalxpress.com/cancer-news/ en-us PhysOrg Team Medical Xpress provides the latest news on cancer, health, medicines, cancer treatments, cancer research, cancer studies and types of cancer. The use of a smartphone application significantly improves patients' preparation for a colonoscopy, according to new research presented today at Digestive Disease Week (DDW). The preparation process, which begins days in advance of the procedure, includes dietary restrictions and requires specific bowel preparation medication to be taken at strict intervals. The better the preparation, the easier it is for doctors to see cancer and precancerous polyps in the colon. The study, which was conducted by the gastroenterologists of Arizona Digestive Health in Phoenix, featured the first doctor-designed app of its kind. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-smartphone-application-colonoscopy.html Cancer 2013-05-19T02:10:01-07:00 Research presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) explores new methods for managing digestive health through diet and lifestyle. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-methods-digestive-health.html Cancer 2013-05-19T01:50:01-07:00 A ground-breaking advance in colonoscopy technology signals the future of colorectal care, according to research presented today at Digestive Disease Week(DDW). Additional research focuses on optimizing the minimal withdrawal time for colonoscopies and exploring safer methods for removing polyps. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-colonoscope-ground-breaking-view-colon.html Cancer 2013-05-18T11:07:15-07:00 (HealthDay)—Concurrent use of two immune checkpoint antibodies—ipilimumab and nivolumab—may be effective for the treatment of advanced melanoma, according to a proof-of-principal study presented in advance of the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, held from May 31 to June 4 in Chicago. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-asco-combo-antibody-therapy-effective.html Cancer 2013-05-17T16:00:01-07:00 (HealthDay)—The risks of metastasis and death associated with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) are low, but significant, and risk factors for poor outcome include tumor diameter, invasion beyond fat, poor differentiation, and location, according to a study published in the May issue of JAMA Dermatology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-factors-idd-poor-cutaneous-cell.html Cancer 2013-05-17T15:30:01-07:00 A new review finds cancer survivors suffer a diverse and complex set of impairments, affecting virtually every organ system. Writing in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, Julie Silver, M.D., associate professor at Harvard Medical School, and colleagues say a majority of cancer survivors will have significant physical and psychological impairments as a result of treatments, and that these often go undetected and/or untreated, resulting in disability. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-physical-amp-emotional-impairments-common.html Cancer 2013-05-17T10:59:29-07:00 (AP)—A California doctor has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for bilking her patients out of more than $1 million by promising that an herbal supplement could cure late-stage cancer and other diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-doctor-cancer-sentencing.html Cancer 2013-05-17T10:30:01-07:00 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 2013-05-17T08:50:01-07:00 Sleeping sickness kills tens of thousands of people in Africa each year. Current chemotherapies are subject to various limitations, including resistance. Rhodesain, an enzyme of the parasites that cause this illness (human African trypanosomiasis), has emerged as a target for new drug candidates. Scientists led by F. Diederich (ETH Zürich) studied the molecular recognition properties of rhodesain and developed a series of triazine nitrile inhibitors as lead compounds using structure-based molecular modeling. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-awakening-drugs-sickness.html Cancer 2013-05-17T07:54:03-07:00 (Medical Xpress)—Most cancer patients would like to talk about the cost of their care with their doctors, but often don't because they fear the discussion could compromise the quality of their treatment, researchers at Duke Cancer Institute report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-doctors-discuss-financial-cancer-patients.html Cancer 2013-05-17T06:57:55-07:00 When Dexter the cocker spaniel tore a ligament in his hind leg a few weeks ago, he didn't suffer in silence. Instead, his owner blogged about. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-pet-lovers-blogging.html Cancer 2013-05-17T05:00:01-07:00 (HealthDay)—Men who are physically fit in middle age have a lower risk of developing and dying from certain cancers, new research indicates. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-middle-age-shield-men-cancer.html Cancer 2013-05-16T17:00:05-07:00 (HealthDay)—An experimental drug that taps the power of the body's immune system to fight cancer is shrinking tumors in patients for whom other treatments have failed, an early study shows. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-drug-immune-cancer.html Cancer 2013-05-16T16:30:02-07:00 Depressed cancer survivors are twice as likely to die prematurely than those who do not suffer from depression, irrespective of the cancer site. That's according to a new study, by Floortje Mols and colleagues, from Tilburg University in The Netherlands. Their work is published online in Springer's Journal of Cancer Survivorship. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-cancer-survivors-blues.html Cancer 2013-05-16T13:00:36-07:00 Imaging scans following treatment for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma do little to help detect a relapse, a Mayo Clinic study has found. The overwhelming majority of patients with this aggressive lymphoma already have symptoms, an abnormal physical exam or an abnormal blood test at the time of relapse, the researchers say. The findings will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting May 31-June 4 in Chicago. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-imaging-relapse-aggressive-lymphoma.html Cancer 2013-05-16T10:57:14-07:00 Scientists from Flinders University are trying to develop a new treatment for a highly aggressive, asbestos-related lung cancer that is set to become more prevalent in the future. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-asbestos-related-cancer.html Cancer 2013-05-16T07:50:01-07:00 Movie star Angelina Jolie tested positive for a "faulty gene" at the center of a high-profile legal battle in the United States that challenges whether human genes can belong to a corporation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-jolie-mastectomy-spotlights-legal-genes.html Cancer 2013-05-16T04:20:01-07:00 (HealthDay)—There is a significant association between performing surgeons and patient quality of life following radical prostatectomy, according to a study published in the April issue of The Journal of Urology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-surgeon-variation-affects-qol-prostatectomy.html Cancer 2013-05-15T19:50:01-07:00 (HealthDay)—Roughly three in 10 diagnostic accuracy studies published in journals with impact factors of four or higher have overinterpretation, according to a review published in the May issue of Radiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-overinterpretation-common-diagnostic-accuracy.html Cancer 2013-05-15T19:30:01-07:00 (HealthDay)—For unresectable lung tumors, the combination of segmental pulmonary arterial chemoembolization (SPACE) and percutaneous radiofrequency (RF) ablation helps achieve better local tumor progression rates than RF ablation alone, according to a study published in the May issue of Radiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-space-rf-ablation-combo-safe.html Cancer 2013-05-15T18:50:01-07:00 The majority of cancer doctors, patients, and members of the general public support cutting health care costs by refusing to pay for drugs that don't improve survival or quality of life, according to results of a new study that will be presented by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania during the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago in early June (Abstract #6518). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-broad-rationing-cancer.html Cancer 2013-05-15T18:00:04-07:00 Continuous infusion of a novel agent not only halted the progression of Ewing sarcoma in rats, while some tumors also regressed to the point that cancer cells could not be detected microscopically, say researchers at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. Their study, which will be presented at the 2013 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, provides pre-clinical evidence necessary to initiate a clinical trial. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-preclinical-agent-slippery-proteins-ewing.html Cancer 2013-05-15T18:00:03-07:00 A clinical trial has shown that patients, and their physicians, are eager to jump into next-era cancer care—analysis of an individual's tumor to find and target genetic mutations that drive the cancer. Results of the study, CUSTOM, are being presented at the 2013 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology years before investigators thought they would be ready. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-prospective-trial-molecular-profiling-tailoring.html Cancer 2013-05-15T18:00:02-07:00 In the largest clinical trial to date to examine the efficacy of PARP inhibitor therapy in BRCA 1/2 carriers with diseases other than breast and ovarian cancer, the oral drug olaparib was found to be effective against advanced pancreatic and prostate cancers. Results of the study, led by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, Israel, will be presented during the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting in Chicago in early June (Abstract #11024). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-parp-inhibitor-pancreatic-prostate-cancers.html Cancer 2013-05-15T18:00:01-07:00 People diagnosed with cancer are more than two-and-a-half times more likely to declare bankruptcy than those without cancer, according to a new study from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Researchers also found that younger cancer patients had two- to five-fold higher bankruptcy rates compared to older patients, and that overall bankruptcy filings increased as time passed following diagnosis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-cancer-diagnosis-people-greater-bankruptcy.html Cancer 2013-05-15T16:45:29-07:00 (AP)—The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new injectable drug that uses radiation to treat advanced prostate cancer that has spread to the bones. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-radiation-based-prostate-cancer-drug.html Cancer 2013-05-15T16:31:37-07:00 Women in their 40s continue to undergo routine breast cancer screenings despite national guidelines recommending otherwise, according to new Johns Hopkins research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-women-40s-routine-mammograms.html Cancer 2013-05-15T13:17:01-07:00 Actress Angelina Jolie has today written an op-ed in the New York Times explaining that she has opted to have a double mastectomy because she carries the hereditary BRCA1 gene, which she says increases her risk of breast cancer by 87%. Her mother died from cancer after a ten-year struggle at the age of 56. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-brca1.html Cancer 2013-05-15T09:30:05-07:00 UC Irvine Health urologists and health policy experts report in a new study that two written assessments that identify existing comorbidities – the patient-reported Total Illness Burden Index for Prostate Cancer (TIBI-Cap) and the physician-reported Charlson Comorbidity Index – can successfully target prostate patients who would not benefit from biopsy to discover possible cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-comorbidities-factor-prostate-biopsy-choice.html Cancer 2013-05-15T09:18:45-07:00 The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) today announced its strong support of the "Breast Cancer Patient Education Act" (S. 931). This bipartisan legislation is being introduced today, coinciding with National Women's Health Week, in the U.S. House of Representatives by Reps. Leonard Lance (R-NJ) and Donna Christensen, M.D. (D-VI) and in the United States Senate by Sens. Roy Blunt (R-MO), Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and David Vitter (R-LA). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-asps-legislation-women-aware-breast.html Cancer 2013-05-14T17:00:24-07:00