Is precision medicine coming of age?

Rapid advances in high-throughput genomic technology are driving the evolution of precision medicine and genomic sequencing could eventually become a routine part of clinical practice. Precision medicine has the potential to improve health outcomes, reduce toxicity and increase cost efficiency. Importantly, it puts the patient at the centre and allows physicians to optimise disease management.Oncology will be one of the areas in which the impact of precision medicine will be greatest: it could transform cancer care in the coming decades. Read more here.

Pembrolizumab shows promise in several solid tumours

Results from the studies of pembrolizumab in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), melanoma, gastric cancer, urothelial cancer and head and neck carcinoma, presented during the ESMO 2014 Congress (Madrid, Spain), show promising activity and tolerability from this novel monoclonal antibody.Read more here.

Scientists detect early sign of pancreatic cancer

Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston have identified an early sign of pancreatic cancer, which may lead to new tests for earlier diagnosis. Following an analysis of 1500 blood samples from study participants, the early sign "is an increase in levels of certain amino acids...[occurring] before patients develop symptoms." According to study co-senior author Dr. Brian Wolpin, higher levels of branched chain amino acids were present in individuals who eventually developed pancreatic cancer. To learn more about this study, click here.

Novel compound prevents metastasis of multiple myeloma in mouse studies

In a significant advance against the problem of cancer metastasis, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists have shown that a specially developed compound can impede multiple myeloma from spreading to the bones in mice. The findings suggest the technique can protect human patients, as well, from one of the most deadly aspects of cancer. In the current study, researchers explored why errant myeloma cells often settle in bones, and whether the bones could be made less hospitable to such malignant homesteading. Read more here.

Researchers engineer "Cas9" animal models to study disease and inform drug discovery

Researchers from the Broad Institute and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have created a new mouse model to simplify application of the CRISPR-Cas9 system for in vivo genome editing experiments. The researchers successfully used the new “Cas9 mouse” model to edit multiple genes in a variety of cell types, and to model lung adenocarcinoma, one of the most lethal human cancers. The mouse has already been made available to the scientific community and is being used by researchers at more than a dozen institutions. Read more here.

Ottawa failing to take action on e-cigarettes

The evidence backing e-cigarettes as an effective cessation or harm-reduction device is mixed, and more rigorous study is needed to figure out how well the products work at helping people quit tobacco-based cigarettes, and whether inhaling vaporized nicotine causes any long-term health effects. At the same time, there is real – and legitimate – worry that e-cigarettes, available in dozens of candy and fruit flavours, could be a gateway for teens who will then graduate to the real thing. Despite these lingering questions, more tobacco-control experts are embracing the idea that e-cigarettes may have a crucial role to play in reducing smoking rates and want them to be available on a restricted basis in Canada, to keep them out of the hands of minors. Read more here.

Public health officers tackle hazy issue of e-cigarettes

The e-cigarette debate is particularly complicated. The battery-operated devices – which mimic the look and feel of conventional cigarettes without the tobacco, producing vapour instead of smoke – are hailed by some as the key to quitting smoking. But others, including the World Health Organization, have called for stricter regulation because of the child-friendly flavours and the addictive nicotine that many, but not all, contain. In an effort to make sense of the regulations, the e-cigarette issue is on the agenda for provincial and territorial health ministers, who are meeting in Banff, Alta., this week. Read more here.

ESMO 2014 press release: PIK3CA mutations blunt benefit of anti-HER2 drugs

Patients with HER2 positive breast cancer derive less benefit from anti-HER2 drugs when they have PIK3CA mutations, according to Dr Evandro de Azambuja, medical director of the Br.E.A.S.T. Data Centre, Jules Bordet Institute in Brussels, Belgium. de Azambuja commented on the impact of PIK3CA mutations as new data in the neoadjuvant setting was presented at the ESMO 2014 Congress in Madrid, Spain. Read more here.

ESMO 2014 press release: New data on combination treatments for melanoma

 Combination therapy with both BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib and MEK inhibitor cobimetinib achieves greater progression-free survival and response rates than vemurafenib plus placebo in BRAF-mutation positive melanoma, according to phase III data presented at the ESMO 2014 Congress in Madrid, Spain. Read more here.

ESMO 2014 press release: Studies report new findings on treatment options for mesothelioma

Treating patients with high-dose radiotherapy after chemotherapy and surgery for malignant pleural mesothelioma does not achieve improvements in local relapse and overall survival, according to data from a prospective randomized phase II trial presented at ESMO 2014 Congress in Madrid. Read more here.

IARC calls on countries with high stomach cancer burden to act to prevent the disease

A new report from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the specialized cancer agency of the World Health Organization, urges health authorities of countries with high stomach cancer burden to include stomach cancer in their national cancer control programmes and allocate more resources to control the disease. A Working Group of international experts convened by IARC reviewed evidence to evaluate strategies for stomach cancer prevention based on the eradication of Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium that is the primary cause of stomach cancer. Read more here.

Launch of BCNet website

The Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) Biobank and Cohort Building Network (BCNet) initiative arose from the realization that despite improvements in developed countries, population cohorts and biobanking facilities are either underdeveloped or non-existent in LMICs. In this context and in line with IARC’s mission to contribute to worldwide cancer research, BCNet was set up as an opportunity for LMICs to work together in a coordinated and effective manner and jointly address the many challenges in biobanking infrastructure, including ethical, legal, and social issues. Visit the website here.

A single genetic change can cause cancerous tumors in a child’s eyes

Researchers have answered the long-standing question of why mutations to a particular gene primarily cause tumors of the retina and not of other cell types. Led by David Cobrinik, associate professor of ophthalmology at the USC Eye Institute, the study could reveal new cellular signaling pathways relevant to retinal development, cancer development and the development of novel therapies. Read more here.

NIH exceptional responders to cancer therapy study launched

The Exceptional Responders Initiative, a study to investigate the molecular factors of tumors associated with exceptional treatment responses of cancer patients to drug therapies, was launched by the National Cancer Institute. Scientists will attempt to identify the molecular features of tumors that predict whether or not a particular drug or class of drugs will be beneficial. Investigators will examine tumor specimens from patients in clinical trials who achieved an exceptional response relative to other trial participants, or other patients who achieved an exceptional and unexpected response to a non-investigational therapy. Read more here.

Study questions accuracy of lung cancer screens with FDG-PET technology in some geographic regions

A new analysis of published studies found that FDG-PET technology is less accurate in diagnosing lung cancer versus benign disease in regions where infections like histoplasmosis or tuberculosis are common. Misdiagnosis of lung lesions suspicious for cancer could lead to unnecessary tests and surgeries for patients, with additional potential complications and mortality. Read more here.

Fine line between breast cancer, normal tissues

Up to 40 percent of patients undergoing breast cancer surgery require additional operations because surgeons may fail to remove all the cancerous tissue in the initial operation. However, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital have successfully tested a tool they developed that will help surgeons better distinguish cancerous breast tissue from normal tissue, thereby decreasing the chances for repeat operations. Read more here.

Gene expression patterns in pancreatic circulating tumor cells revealed

Analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in a mouse model of pancreatic cancer identified distinct patterns of gene expression in several groups of CTCs, including significant differences from the primary tumor that may contribute to the ability to generate metastases. In their study, investigators from the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center identified several different classes of pancreatic CTCs and found unexpected factors that may prove to be targets for improved treatment of the deadly tumor. Read more here.

ESMO 2014 press release: Discrepancies in access to new cancer drugs revealed.

Access to potentially life-extending cancer drugs varies significantly in different regions of the world, two new studies show at the ESMO 2014 Congress in Madrid, Spain. Read more here.

NCI’s Center for Global Health announces first major research grants to support portable technologies

NCI’s Center for Global Health (CGH) announced grants that will support the development and validation of low-cost, portable technologies. These technologies have the potential to improve early detection, diagnosis, and non-invasive or minimally invasive treatment of several cancer types that have a particularly high prevalence in a number of low- and middle-income countries, noted CGH director Ted Trimble, M.D. Read more here.

Cancer cells adapt energy needs to spread illness to other organs

Scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have found that cancer cells traveling to other sites have different energy needs from their “stay-at-home” siblings which continue to proliferate at the original tumor site. The reason may lie with the protein, PGC-1α, a type of transcription co-activator crucial to regulation of cellular metabolism. PGC-1α appears to play a role in how cancer cells are able to acquire unique energy sources that allow them to travel and spread cancer in the body. Read more here.

Stanford researchers create 'evolved' protein that may stop cancer from spreading

A team of Stanford researchers has developed a protein therapy that disrupts the process that causes cancer cells to break away from original tumor sites, travel through the bloodstream and start aggressive new growths elsewhere in the body. This process, known as metastasis, can cause cancer to spread with deadly effect. "The majority of patients who succumb to cancer fall prey to metastatic forms of the disease," said Jennifer Cochran, an associate professor of bioengineering who describes a new therapeutic approach in Nature Chemical Biology. Read more here.

Canada often takes years longer than U.S. to approve cancer drugs: study

Health authorities in Canada tend to take several months longer to approve new cancer drugs than those in the U.S., leaving Canadian patients waiting longer for the potentially life-extending medication, a new study suggests. Toronto-based cancer researchers Dr. Sunil Verma, from Sunnybrook’s Odette Cancer Centre in Toronto, and PhD student Nardin Samuel looked at how long it took for 41 cancer drugs to be approved in Canada, and compared the approval times to those in the U.S. and the European Union. They found that on average, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved drugs six months earlier than for the European Union's European Medicines Agency, and 7.6 months earlier than Health Canada. Read more here.

Exercise boosts tumor-fighting ability of chemotherapy

New research from University of Pennsylvania scientists suggests that exercise may have an added benefit for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Their work, performed in a mouse model of melanoma, found that combining exercise with chemotherapy shrunk tumors more than chemotherapy alone. Joseph Libonati, an associate professor in the School of Nursing and director of the Laboratory of Innovative and Translational Nursing Research, and colleagues were particularly interested in testing whether exercise could protect against the negative cardiac-related side effects of the common cancer drug doxorubicin. Though effective at treating a variety of types of cancer, doxorubicin has is known to damage heart cells, which could lead to heart failure in the long-term. Read more here.

A better way to track emerging cell therapies using MRIs

Cellular therapeutics – using intact cells to treat and cure disease – is a hugely promising new approach in medicine but it is hindered by the inability of doctors and scientists to effectively track the movements, destination and persistence of these cells in patients without resorting to invasive procedures, like tissue sampling. In a paper published in the online journal Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh and elsewhere describe the first human tests of using a perfluorocarbon tracer in combination with non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to track therapeutic immune cells injected into patients with colorectal cancer. Read more here.

Improved risk identification will aid fertility preservation in young male cancer patients

A study led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators has found the chemotherapy dose threshold below which male childhood cancer survivors are likely to have normal sperm production. By clarifying which patients are at highest risk for reduced sperm production as adults, researchers expect the findings to eventually increase use of pre-treatment fertility preservation methods such as sperm banking. The study involved drugs called alkylating agents that are widely used to treat a variety of pediatric cancers. Unlike other chemotherapy, alkylating agents are known to damage sperm production. Until this study, however, there was scant information about the risk associated with different cumulative exposures. Read more here.

Cancer and the immune system: a double-edged sword

During cancer development, tumor cells decorate their surfaces with sugar compounds called glycans that are different from those found on normal, healthy cells. In the Sept. 15 online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that sialic acids at the tips of these cancer cell glycans are capable of engaging with immune system cells and changing the latter’s response to the tumor – for good and bad. Read more here.

Polyp removal doesn't always signal raised colon cancer risk, study says

People who have a single low-risk polyp removed have a much lower risk of colon cancer, compared to both the general public and patients who have multiple polyps or aggressive polyps removed, said lead author Dr. Magnus Loberg, a lecturer in health management and health economics at the University of Oslo.

"These findings support more intense surveillance of the high-risk group, but should maybe lead to reconsideration of the guidelines regarding the low-risk group," he said. The study is published in the Aug. 28 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Current guidelines recommended by the American Cancer Society call for repeat colonoscopy at 5 to 10 years for patients who have one or two small, non-aggressive polyps removed, based on risk factors such as family history and prior health problems. People with large or aggressive polyps are encouraged to receive repeat colonoscopy every 3 years.

Study mentioned:
Magnus Loberg, M.D., lecturer, department of health management and health economics, University of Oslo, Norway; David Lieberman, M.D., chief, gastroenterology division, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Ore.; Aug. 28, 2014, New England Journal of Medicine

Family squabbles can derail recovery from cancer surgery

Cancer patients burdened by stress and family conflicts before surgery may face a higher risk for complications following their operation, a new study suggests.

Investigators found that patients with a so-called quality-of-life "deficit" appeared to have a nearly three times greater risk for complications compared to those with a normal or good quality of life.

The findings, published in a recent issue of the Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery, were based on 431 colon cancer patients who underwent surgery in 1993. The study only found an association between quality of life and surgical outcomes; it did not prove cause and effect.

Study mentioned:

Juliane Bingener, M.D., professor, surgery, department of surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.; Otis Brawley, M.D., chief medical officer, American Cancer Society, and professor, oncology and epidemiology, Emory University, Atlanta, Ga.; August 2014, Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery

Urine test for HPV works well,analysis finds

A simple urine test can routinely spot human papillomavirus (HPV), which is linked to the risk of cervical cancer, a new analysis found.

"Our study shows that testing urine for HPV has good accuracy when compared to testing samples taken from the cervix for HPV," said lead researcher Dr. Neha Pathak. She is a resident in obstetrics and gynecology and research fellow at Queen Mary University of London, England.

Compared with cervical samples, the HPV urine test correctly identified positive results 87 percent of the time. The urine tests correctly identified negative results 94 percent of the time. When it came to the high-risk strains of the virus -- HPV 16 and 18 -- the urine test correctly identified positive results 73 percent of the time and negative results 98 percent of the time.

Although more research on the test is needed, the concept has potential, said Fred Wyand, a spokesman for the American Sexual Health Association and the National Cervical Cancer Coalition.

Study mentioned:
Neha Pathak, M.B.B.S., resident, obstetrics and gynecology, and research fellow, obstetrics and gynecology, Queen Mary University of London, England; Fred Wyand, spokesman, American Sexual Health Association and the National Cervical Cancer Coalition; Sept. 16, 2014, BMJ, online

New drug blocks gene driving cancer growth

When active, the protein called Ral can drive tumor growth and metastasis in several human cancers including pancreatic, prostate, lung, colon and bladder. Unfortunately, drugs that block its activity are not available. A study published today in the journal Nature uses a novel approach to target the activation of these Ral proteins: "When you want to keep an alligator from biting you, you can tie its mouth shut. We took another approach – we put a stick in its mouth to hold it open," says Dan Theodorescu, MD, PhD, professor of Urology and Pharmacology, director of the University of Colorado Cancer Center and the study's senior author, who led a multidisciplinary team of investigators from the University of Colorado, Indiana University, the University of Virginia and Yale University. Read more here.