https://medicalxpress.com/ en-us provides the latest news from UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a complex condition that requires individualized care to meet the needs of the patient's current disease state. With available medications sometimes causing serious side effects or losing their efficacy over time, many researchers have been exploring new, more targeted ways of delivering medications or other beneficial compounds, such as probiotics. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-05-potential-treatment-inflammatory-bowel-disease.html Tue, 07 May 2024 12:48:04 EDT news634304882 Using e-cigarettes (vaping) is highly popular among youth, with more than 2 million high school students using the products, according to the FDA. Recently, manufacturers have started to advertise and sell e-cigarettes with synthetic nicotine, which is made in a lab rather than derived from tobacco plants. There has been little research conducted with youth on their awareness of synthetic nicotine, or what the industry increasingly refers to as "tobacco-free" nicotine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-05-youth-misperceptions-synthetic-nicotine-e-cigarettes.html Tue, 16 May 2023 16:56:03 EDT news603474961 Researchers at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center have found that mailing human papillomavirus (HPV) self-collection tests and offering assistance to book in-clinic screening appointments to under-screened, low-income women improved cervical cancer screening nearly two-fold compared to scheduling assistance alone. Scheduling assistance primarily consisted of helping to book an appointment for in-person screening at a clinic, regardless of whether an at-home test was offered or returned, or whether the HPV test was negative or positive. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-05-cervical-cancer-screening-under-screened-women.html Thu, 11 May 2023 18:30:02 EDT news603039930 A multi-institutional national study has identified unique molecular features responsible for the development and progression of metastatic breast cancer. One of the key features involves changes in the immune system that are due, in part, to methylation of the HLA-A gene; methylation is the addition of a small chemical group to a DNA molecule. Focal deletions, or the loss of part of the HLA-A gene, were also found and were mutually exclusive from samples with DNA methylations. In this study, methylation and focal deletions resulted in fewer immune cells being available to attack cancer cells. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-01-molecular-differences-primary-breast-cancer.html Mon, 09 Jan 2023 15:20:04 EST news592500001 Researchers at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and colleagues have found that measuring activation of immune-system B cells may be better than measuring either T-cell activation or the total number of immune cells in and around a tumor, called tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), in predicting whether HER2-positive breast cancer responds to treatment. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-01-immune-b-cells-her2-positive-breast-cancer.html Thu, 05 Jan 2023 11:00:05 EST news592120805 A comprehensive genomic analysis in more than 200 patients with metastatic urothelial carcinomas may help inform how a patient would respond to immunotherapy, report UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers and colleagues. About 90% of urothelial carcinomas are bladder cancers. These results, derived from a computational model based on the initial molecular findings of the UC-GENOME study, are published in Nature Communications. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-11-genetic-analysis-common-bladder-cancer.html Fri, 18 Nov 2022 04:19:00 EST news587967535 A randomized, controlled study with over 1,500 US teen participants from across the nation tested the effectiveness of digital vaping prevention ads. Researchers from UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center discovered that "Real Cost" ads lowered the extent to which teens were open to vaping. The vaping prevention video ads, produced by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), also lowered openness to cigarette smoking. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-10-fda-real-ads-teen-vaping.html Thu, 13 Oct 2022 11:38:04 EDT news584879882 Researchers at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center have found a possible way to overcome barriers that block effective anti-cancer immune responses, thereby opening the potential for more effective immunotherapies in people. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-10-biological-pathways-evidence-barriers-limiting.html Wed, 05 Oct 2022 11:00:03 EDT news584177729 Using the wrong mathematical formula to assess heartbeat rhythms may lead oncologists to inappropriately stop life-saving chemotherapy, according to research findings from UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center scientists. Standardizing the mathematical formulas for measuring heartbeat rhythms with electrocardiograms, and avoiding one commonly used formula, could reduce this unintended outcome, the researchers reported. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-09-accurate-heart-rhythm-optimize-chemotherapy.html Thu, 22 Sep 2022 11:00:12 EDT news583050179 Giving standard chemotherapy drugs in a specific sequence for some types of metastatic breast cancer can help reduce overall costs and improve the value of care while preserving quality of life, according to a study led by UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health researchers. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-09-specific-sequence-drugs-metastatic-breast.html Tue, 13 Sep 2022 15:47:04 EDT news582302821 A multi-institutional study led by UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers and colleagues has found that diagnostic mammography results varied across racial and ethnic groups, with the rate of diagnostic accuracy highest in non‐Hispanic white women and lowest in Hispanic women. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-accurate-diagnostic-mammography-outcomes-vary.html Fri, 17 Jun 2022 03:16:30 EDT news574654584 People with advanced cancer who communicated their symptoms weekly using an electronic survey had about a one-third better physical function and over a 15% better control of their symptoms compared to those who were evaluated less frequently via in-person clinical visits, according to findings from a multi-state study conducted at 52 community cancer clinics. The PRO-TECT (Patient Reported Outcomes To Enhance Cancer Treatment) trial was led by researchers at the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.  https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-telehealth-regularly-symptoms-well-being-patients.html Mon, 06 Jun 2022 12:43:14 EDT news573738190 UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center's Hanna K. Sanoff, MD, MPH, is the author of a viewpoint in the New England Journal of Medicine that provides a perspective on the evolving treatment of rectal cancer. She offers prospects for future treatment of the disease in light of encouraging findings from a study published in the journal that found the immunotherapy drug dostarlimab was especially effective in a phase II clinical trial of a dozen patients with a subtype of rectal cancer. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-perspective-rectal-cancer-england-journal.html Sun, 05 Jun 2022 11:15:03 EDT news573646497 Effective anti-vaping advertisements geared to teens have the greatest impact when they emphasize the adverse consequences and harms of vaping e-cigarettes, use negative imagery, and avoid memes, hashtags and other "teen-centric" communication styles, according to a first-of-its-kind study by researchers at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-05-reveals-effective-anti-vaping-messages-teens.html Tue, 10 May 2022 16:52:32 EDT news571420349 Susana Garcia-Recio, Ph.D., a research associate in the lab of Charles M. Perou, Ph.D., at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, will present findings that identified molecular features responsible for the development and progression of metastatic breast cancer at the 2022 American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-04-molecular-features-tied-breast-cancer.html Mon, 11 Apr 2022 16:49:45 EDT news568914580 Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center have uncovered a new role of a chromatin-modulatory enzyme, termed EZH2, during cancer development. They then developed a new therapeutic approach with a potent small-molecule inhibitor of this enzyme. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-02-scientists-uncover-approach-aggressive-cancer.html Thu, 24 Feb 2022 13:00:22 EST news564929996 A detailed analysis by researchers at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and Greensboro Health Disparities Collaborative designed to address racial inequities in timing from diagnosis to surgery for lung cancer has found that a multi-faceted intervention resulted in timelier lung cancer surgery for Black patients. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-02-intervention-disparities-lung-cancer-surgery.html Mon, 14 Feb 2022 16:23:52 EST news564078228 UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers have demonstrated that a novel combination of two drugs that act as targeted inhibitors, delivered in a nanoparticle formulation, extend the survival of mice with medulloblastoma. The research team believes this laboratory success could be translated into a less toxic treatment for medulloblastoma, the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor. Advances such as this are crucial because current treatments, while effective for many patients, often result in potentially disabling brain injury. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-01-nanoparticle-formulated-drug-combination-effective-medulloblastoma.html Wed, 26 Jan 2022 14:00:06 EST news562425040 Researchers at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center have taken a major step forward in melding two key methods for studying breast cancer: one by genetic analysis and the second by looking at the architecture of cells, or their pathology. The investigators were able to link the two thanks to a decade-long effort made possible by the federally funded resource of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Breast Cancer Data set. The scientists found much agreement between genetic and pathologic classifications but developed a novel way to use data from both systems to arrive at a classification method that divides breast cancers into 12 distinct biological groups. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-12-breast-cancer-unique-biological-groups.html Wed, 08 Dec 2021 11:00:09 EST news558175926 For the first time, researchers have determined, cell-by-cell, the genetic and epigenetic state of ovarian and endometrial tumors. Scientists at the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, who led the research said this study is an important step forward in developing a better understanding of gynecologic cancers, as every tumor is a collection of different cells growing uncontrollably within its mass. Knowing how cell-to-cell variations affect the biological workings of the tumor is of utmost importance and can lead to new targets for therapeutic interventions. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-12-molecular-aspects-ovarian-endometrial-tumors.html Fri, 03 Dec 2021 02:11:27 EST news557719863 People with advanced cancers who reported their symptoms weekly using a digital tool received more timely, and potentially life-saving treatment, compared to those who were evaluated less frequently via regular in-person clinical visits, according to findings from a nationwide study. The PRO-TECT (Patient Reported Outcomes To Enhance Cancer Treatment) trial was led by researchers at the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and conducted at community cancer centers.  https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-11-weekly-electronic-symptoms-patients-advanced.html Mon, 15 Nov 2021 17:02:51 EST news556218167 Pairing a newly developed gel with immunotherapy that was delivered to post-surgical mouse brains with glioblastoma, a highly malignant and deadly cancer, improved the immunotherapy's effectiveness, report researchers from the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and colleagues. The findings appeared Oct. 6, 2021, in Science Advances. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-10-gel-car-t-immunotherapy-benefits-brains.html Wed, 06 Oct 2021 14:00:01 EDT news552724768 A clinical trial conducted at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center found that high-dose cytarabine followed by subsequent immunotherapy treatment with pembrolizumab benefited patients with resistant or relapsed acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a highly aggressive cancer. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-09-immunotherapy-high-dose-chemotherapy-favorable-outcomes.html Fri, 10 Sep 2021 10:08:29 EDT news550487305 A new study in mice found that adding the experimental drug entinostat to an immunotherapy-like treatment substantially boosted cancer remission. This approach shows such promise that it's already being tested in an ongoing clinical trial in people with advanced bladder cancer. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-08-experimental-drug-boosts-immunotherapy-bladder.html Mon, 16 Aug 2021 13:45:47 EDT news548340341 A new study has demonstrated that patients with advanced bladder cancers whose tumors have a mutated FGFR3 gene respond to immunotherapy treatment in a manner that is similar to patients without that mutation, a discovery that runs counter to previous assumptions. This research, led by scientists at the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, has important implications for patients who have not been offered immunotherapy because of their genetic profiles. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-07-advanced-bladder-cancers-immunotherapy-gene.html Fri, 23 Jul 2021 03:52:32 EDT news546231147 Researchers at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center demonstrated in a clinical trial in Malawi that a five-drug combination chemotherapy provided curative benefit compared to current standard-of care-therapy in people diagnosed with lymphoma, and now they have determined this option is also cost-effective. The economic finding appeared July 22, 2021, in Lancet Global Health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-07-combination-chemotherapy-beneficial-cost-effective-sub-saharan.html Fri, 23 Jul 2021 03:52:11 EDT news546231127 Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center have uncovered a new mechanism that activates specific genes, leading to the development of cancers. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-06-scientists-uncover-mechanism-enables-cancer.html Wed, 23 Jun 2021 11:00:04 EDT news543648897 Researchers have discovered a gene, OTUD7A, that impacts the development of Ewing sarcoma, a bone cancer that occurs mainly in children. They have also identified a compound that shows potential to block OTUD7A protein activity. The finding, by scientists at the University of North Carolina and the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, appeared online June 1, 2021, in Advanced Science. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-06-gene-linked-bone-cancer-children.html Tue, 01 Jun 2021 16:08:55 EDT news541782530 A comprehensive review by University of North Carolina researchers and colleagues highlights the optimal ways that focused, high-dose radiation can be delivered to various types of tumors while sparing normal tissue and mitigating long-term side effects. The review was reported as a special issue in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics on May 1, 2021. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-05-outlines-approaches-tumors-healthy-tissue.html Mon, 03 May 2021 12:42:35 EDT news539264550 Calling the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force's newly released recommendation statement to expand eligibility for annual lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography a step forward, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers say future changes should address equity and implementation issues. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-03-lung-cancer-screening-access-inequities.html Tue, 09 Mar 2021 15:37:44 EST news534526659