Alternative endings: lure of the unproven can prove fatal to cancer patients

Research undertaken at the University of Alberta, and never before publicly reported, indicates that at least 1 in every 100 breast cancer patients reject standard treatment, opting for more alternative therapies.  According to study author Dr. Kurian Joseph, radiation oncologist at the University of Alberta, rejection of "standard care doubles (the) likelihood of death as a result."

To read more about this study, click here 

European Medicines Agency’s review concludes evidence does not support that HPV vaccines cause complex regional pain syndrome and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome

On 5 November 2015, the European Medicines Agency announced that its Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) has completed a detailed scientific review of the evidence surrounding reports of two syndromes, complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) in young women given human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines. These vaccines are given to protect them from cervical cancer and other HPV-related cancers and pre-cancerous conditions. This review concluded that the evidence does not support a causal link between the vaccines (Cervarix, Gardasil/Silgard and Gardasil-9) and development of CRPS or POTS. Therefore, there is no reason to change the way the vaccines are used or amend the current product information. Read more here.

Patient-derived tumour xenograft models encyclopedia

Researchers from the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research established 1,075 patient-derived tumour xenograft models (PDXs) with a diverse set of driver mutations. With these PDXs, they performed in vivo compound screens to assess the population responses to 62 treatments across six indications. They demonstrated both the reproducibility and the clinical translatability of this approach by identifying associations between a genotype and drug response, and established mechanisms of resistance. Read more here.

Prostate cancer treatment varies widely in Canada

Low-risk prostate cancer patients in Canada may be opting for treatment with major life-changing side-effects without fully understanding other options, including the choice to forego treatment unless the disease progresses, a new report reveals.
The Prostate Cancer Control in Canada: A System Performance Spotlight Report, produced by the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, shows more could be done to help patients understand their disease, treatment options and side effects and to provide patient-centred care.Read more here.