Oncology Animations

Immutep Announces Positive Interim Results In Phase I/II Chemoimmunotherapy Trial In Breast Cancer
Immutep S.A. announced today interim results from its ongoing Phase I/II chemoimmunotherapy clinical trial in metastatic breast carcinoma. ImmuFact IMP321 was administered the day after weekly paclitaxel for six months. The interim results show a clinical response rate of 50 per cent compared to 25 per cent with paclitaxel alone. In addition, a robust immune response was observed in clinically-responding patients.

Study Links Obesity To Elevated Risk Of Ovarian Cancer
A new epidemiological study has found that among women who have never used menopausal hormone therapy, obese women are at an increased risk of developing ovarian cancer compared with women of normal weight. Published in the February 15, 2009 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the research indicates that obesity may contribute to the development of ovarian cancer through a hormonal mechanism.

Earlier, Individualized Treatment Of Thyroid Cancer Enabled By Molecular Imaging
In a study to determine the diagnostic value of molecular imaging in nodal staging of patients with thyroid cancer, researchers were able for the first time to accurately distinguish between cancerous cells in regional lymph nodes and normal residual thyroid tissue directly after surgery.

Novel Glioblastoma Mouse Model Developed By Salk Researchers
Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have developed a versatile mouse model of glioblastoma - the most common and deadly brain cancer in humans - that closely resembles the development and progression of human brain tumors that arise naturally. "Mouse models of human cancer have taught us a great deal about the basic principles of cancer biology," says Inder Verma, Ph.D., a professor in the Laboratory of Genetics.

Dormant Cancer Cells Rely On Cellular Self Cannibalization To Survive
A single tumor-suppressing gene is a key to understanding, and perhaps killing, dormant ovarian cancer cells that persist after initial treatment only to reawaken years later, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the December Journal of Clinical Investigation. The team found that expression of a gene called ARHI acts as a switch for autophagy, or self-cannibalization, in ovarian cancer cells.

Scientists Pull Protein's Tail To Curtail Cancer
When researchers look inside human cancer cells for the whereabouts of an important tumor- suppressor, they often catch the protein playing hooky, lolling around in cellular broth instead of muscling its way out to the cells' membranes and foiling cancer growth.

Johns Hopkins Scientists Pull Protein's Tail To Curtail Cancer
When researchers look inside human cancer cells for the whereabouts of an important tumor-suppressor, they often catch the protein playing hooky, lolling around in cellular broth instead of muscling its way out to the cells' membranes and foiling cancer growth.

Writing Chemotherapy Orders On The Day Of Administration And Improved Communication Could Reduce Medication Errors
Seven percent of adults and 19 percent of children taking chemotherapy drugs in outpatient clinics or at home were given the wrong dose or experienced other mistakes involving their medications, according to a new study led by Kathleen E. Walsh, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and published in the January 1, 2009 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Study Links Molecule To Muscle Maturation, Muscle Cancer
Researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered that a molecule implicated in leukemia and lung cancer is also important in muscle repair and in a muscle cancer that strikes mainly children. The study shows that immature muscle cells require the molecule, called miR-29, to become mature, and that the molecule is nearly missing in cells from rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancer caused by the proliferation of immature muscle cells.

Using Gold Particles To Release Multiple Drugs In A Controlled Fashion - Nanoparticles Could Treat Cancer And Other Diseases
Using tiny gold particles and infrared light, MIT researchers have developed a drug-delivery system that allows multiple drugs to be released in a controlled fashion. Such a system could one day be used to provide more control when battling diseases commonly treated with more than one drug, according to the researchers.

A New Light On The Anti-tumor Mechanisms Of Scutellaria Barbata
Medicinal plants have been used as traditional remedies for hundreds of years. Among them, S. barbata has been traditionally used in treatment of hepatitis, inflammation, osteomyelitis and gynecological diseases in China. Studies indicate that extracts from S. barbata have growth inhibitory effects on a number of human cancers. Reports are available on the treatment of lung, breast and digestive system cancer, hepatoma, and chorioepithelioma with S. barbata extracts.

Why Prostate Cancer Patients Fail Hormone Deprivation Therapy
The hormone deprivation therapy that prostate cancer patients often take gives them only a temporary fix, with tumors usually regaining their hold within a couple of years. Now, researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered critical differences in the hormone receptors on prostate cancer cells in patients who no longer respond to this therapy. The findings, reported in the Jan.

In Lung Cancer, Silencing One Crucial Gene Disrupts Normal Functioning Of Genome
While examining patterns of DNA modification in lung cancer, a team of international researchers has discovered what they say is a surprising new mechanism. They say that "silencing" of a single gene in lung cancer led to a general impairment in genome-wide changes in cells, contributing to cancer development and progression.

Two Compounds In The Trofex™ Prostate Cancer Molecular Imaging Program Specifically Target Prostate Cancer Cells
Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: MIPI) announced today the publication of a preclinical study describing the synthesis and initial evaluation of two series of radiolabeled small molecules that target prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), a validated molecular marker for prostate cancer.

GTx Submits New Drug Application For Toremifene 80 Mg For Prevention Of Bone Fractures In Men With Prostate Cancer On Androgen Deprivation Therapy
GTx, Inc. (Nasdaq: GTXI) today announced the submission of a New Drug Application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for toremifene 80 mg, an oral selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM), for the prevention of bone fractures in men with prostate cancer on androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). "ADT has helped improve survival for men with advanced prostate cancer.