HPV vaccination tied to drop in precancerous cervical lesions in U.S.

HPV vaccination has gained greater credibility with the release of a new study indicating that administration of the Gardasil and Cervarix vaccines leads to a decline in the "number of young American women with cervical tissue changes than can lead to cancer."  Study lead Susan Hariri of the U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control attributes the decline in cervical lesions to greater awareness and recommendation of HPV vaccination.  While Hariri cautions that more research is required to investigate the impact of HPV vaccination on cervical cancer incidence, the results disseminated thus far are encouraging. 

To read more about this study, click here. 

Rise in colon cancer screening rates in the U.S. attributed to The Affordable Care Act

A new study conducted by the American Cancer Society indicates that the rise of colon cancer screening rates in the U.S. over the past few years may well be attributed to the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.  According to lead researcher Stacey Fedewa, since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010, "colon cancer screening rates among people ages 50 to 75 rose from 57% in 2008 to 61% in 2013."  This increase was predominantly seen in people with low incomes who were covered by Medicare.

To read more about this study, click here.

Results of the CheckMate 057 study reported at ASCO 2015 annual meeting

Nivolumab is the first PD-1 inhibitor to statistically significantly improve overall survival (OS) vs docetaxel in previously treated patients with advanced non-squamous cell non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). It significantly improved overall response rate (ORR) as well. Safety profile of nivolumab was favourable in comparison to docetaxel and consistent with prior studies. CheckMate 057 is the second randomised phase III trial to demonstrate superior survival over docetaxel in patients with advanced NSCLC. Read more here

Breast cancer screening cuts chance of dying from disease by 40%, say experts

Women who undergo breast cancer screening cut their risk of dying from the disease by 40%, according to a global panel of experts attempting to end a long-running controversy about mammograms. Read more here.