Category Archives: Cancer research

UK trial to assess if red grape chemical can prevent bowel cancer

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Resveratrol, which is also found in blueberries and peanuts, has been found to slow tumour growth in mice

Red wine was once heralded as a boon for health that could protect the heart and even extend life expectancy. But while scientists have debunked this claim, they believe that at least one red wine ingredient – a compound called resveratrol – may hold genuine health benefits.

A trial launched this week will assess whether a low dose of the chemical, also found in red grapes, blueberries and peanuts, could help keep bowel cancer at bay. The study, one of the largest to date testing drugs for cancer prevention, will recruit patients who are at risk of the disease.

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Researchers study treatment for chronic pain in childhood cancer survivors

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Team at Nottingham Trent University is investigating how chemotherapy in early life could damage nerve cells

Treatments that could help alleviate the chronic pain experienced by thousands of childhood cancer survivors are being investigated by scientists and researchers in the UK.

About eight out of 10 children survive their cancer for 10 years or more but more than half of them report delayed and ongoing pain in adulthood.

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Study of new personalised cancer therapies could ‘transform’ how the disease is treated

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Large-scale clinical project could give real-time view of how well treatments are working and lead to earlier diagnoses

Scientists are embarking on a large-scale clinical study of new personalised cancer therapies which could give clinicians are real-time view of how well treatments are working.

The £9m partnership between the Francis Crick Institute, five NHS trusts, charities and bioscience companies will spend four years examining the effectiveness of new immunotherapy treatments and exploring new ways to detect cancer.

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Scientists develop glowing dye that sticks to cancer cells in breakthrough study

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Experts say fluorescent dye, which spotlights tiny cancerous tissue invisible to naked eye, could reduce risk of cancer returning

Scientists have developed a glowing dye that sticks to cancer cells and gives surgeons a “second pair of eyes” to remove them in real time and permanently eradicate the disease. Experts say the breakthrough could reduce the risk of cancer coming back and prevent debilitating side-effects.

The fluorescent dye spotlights tiny cancerous tissue that cannot be seen by the naked eye, enabling surgeons to remove every last cancer cell while preserving healthy tissue. That could mean fewer life-changing side effects after surgery.

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Scientists make potential breast cancer breakthrough after preserving tissue in gel

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Ability to preserve tissue in a special gel solution for at least a week will help doctors identify most effective drug treatments

Scientists say they have a made a potentially “gamechanging” breakthrough in breast cancer research after discovering how to preserve breast tissue outside the body for at least a week.

The study, which was funded by the Prevent Breast Cancer charity, found tissue could be preserved in a special gel solution, which will help scientists identify the most effective drug treatments for patients.

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Cancer signs could be spotted years before symptoms, says new research institute

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Tests that can identify early changes in cells would give doctors more time to offer treatment, say Cambridge researchers

Scientists at a recently opened cancer institute at Cambridge University have begun work that is pinpointing changes in cells many years before they develop into tumours. The research should help design radically new ways to treat cancer, they say.

The Early Cancer Institute – which has just received £11m from an anonymous donor – is focused on finding ways to tackle tumours before they produce symptoms. The research will exploit recent discoveries which have shown that many people develop precancerous conditions that lie in abeyance for long periods.

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Cancer charities praise ‘brave’ Princess of Wales for speaking about her diagnosis

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Cancer Research UK’s chief executive says high-profile cancer cases such as Catherine’s can help others to seek help early

Cancer charities have praised the Princess of Wales for her “brave” decision to speak out about her cancer diagnosis as a way to encourage others to get their symptoms checked.

In a video message released on Friday, Catherine, 42, spoke of how her condition was discovered after she underwent abdominal surgery in January. In the weeks that followed her procedure, wild rumours flew around her absence and silence – but she said she and her husband, Prince William, had needed time to explain the situation to their three children, George, 10, Charlotte, eight, and Louis, five.

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She beat a rare liver cancer – and now works with her father to find more cures

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Cancer scientist decides to study the tumour that once afflicted his small daughter – and now her work is adding to his project’s success

Elana Simon was 10 years old when she started to experience severe pains in her abdomen. For two years, puzzled doctors put forward diagnoses including lactose intolerance, Crohn’s disease and stress. It was not until 2008 that they pinpointed the real cause. Elana was suffering from fibrolamellar carcinoma (FLC), a rare, usually lethal, form of liver cancer.

“In a way, it was comforting to have a word for what was wrong with me after so much confusion about my condition,” Elana told the Observer. “Pre-diagnosis, my life was a mixture of discomfort and fear. Now I had something to focus on.”

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Australia’s sun safety guidelines updated to take account of diverse skin types

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New Australian guidelines balance the risk of getting too much sun exposure with the benefits of vitamin D

Growing evidence about the health importance of sun exposure and genetic differences in the population have prompted Australia to adopt new sun safety guidelines.

The research informing the update was published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health on Tuesday, and led by Prof Rachel Neale from the QIMR Berghofer medical research institute in Brisbane.

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Oesophageal cancer test ‘should be made more available in UK’

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Charities say deaths will be prevented if ‘sponge on a string’ test is widely adopted

A test that can detect oesophageal cancer at an earlier stage than current methods should be made more widely available to prevent deaths, charities have said.

The capsule sponge test, previously known as Cytosponge, involves a patient swallowing a dissolvable pill on a string. The pill then releases a sponge which collects cells from the oesophagus as it is retrieved.

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Thousands rally in solidarity on Invasion Day in Melbourne, Sydney; AFL clubs call for 26 January date change – as it happened

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Australian and Aboriginal flags raised during Canberra ceremony

Following the welcome to country, the flag-raising ceremony has begun, with six flags raised including two Australian flags, two Aboriginal flags and two Torres Strait Islander flags.

Australia is home to the oldest continuous culture on Earth, 65,000 years of uninterrupted heritage, demonstrated by the unique archeological evidence found in the very ground that you may are sitting on, found in the rocks and stones of this very place. That makes this continent unique in the whole world.

Ngunnawal’s view of heritage transcends time, it is our way of being with nature, best expressed in the Ngunnawal language through the concepts of respect and deep honour, coming together in the wellbeing for all.

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DNA test can detect 18 early stage cancers, scientists say

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US biotech firm designs cheaper, less invasive multi-cancer screening test it says could be ‘gamechanger’

Scientists have developed a simple DNA test that can identify 18 early-stage cancers that experts say could represent a medical “gamechanger”.

Cancer accounts for one in every six deaths worldwide, but early detection can significantly improve outcomes. Existing screening tests have drawbacks, including invasiveness, cost and low levels of accuracy for early stage disease.

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AstraZeneca buys Chinese cancer therapy firm Gracell for $1.2bn

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Gracell Biotechnologies acquisition marks China’s growing importance to the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker

AstraZeneca has struck a deal to buy a Chinese cancer therapy company for up to $1.2bn (£950m), as Britain’s biggest drugmaker expands its footprint in its second-largest market.

The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical firm announced on Tuesday it would acquire Gracell Biotechnologies, which is focused on a type of cancer therapy known as CAR-T that modifies a patient’s cells to fight the disease.

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Genetic data on 500,000 volunteers in UK to be released for scientific study

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UK BioBank offers up biggest ever cache of whole-genome sequences for medical research

A new era of medical discoveries, treatments and cures is on the horizon, researchers say, following the announcement that an unprecedented trove of genetic information is to be made available to scientists.

Health researchers from around the world can now apply to study the whole genomes of half a million people enrolled in UK Biobank, a biomedical research project that has compiled detailed health and lifestyle records on individuals since it began 20 years ago.

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Hope for new skin cancer therapy as UK cases soar

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Researchers discover a technique that can kill melanoma cells with few toxic side effects, but warn there is still no cure

Skin cancer rates are rocketing. Thanks to over-enthusiastic sunbathing in previous decades, melanoma cases have tripled in numbers in the UK since the early 1990s – and scientists predict worse is to come.

The type of cancer once relatively rare in Britain is now its fifth most common. Broadcaster Chris Evans recently revealed he had been diagnosed with the disease.

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Immortal cells: Henrietta Lacks’ family settle lawsuit over HeLa tissue harvested in 1950s

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Cells taken without consent from cancer victim can reproduce indefinitely and were sold for unjust profit by Thermo Fisher Scientific, relatives argued

Laboratory equipment maker Thermo Fisher Scientific has settled a lawsuit brought by the estate of Henrietta Lacks, a long-deceased cancer victim whose “immortal” cells have lived on to fuel biomedical research for decades, lawyers for the estate have said.

The story of Lacks, a young African American woman who died in Baltimore in 1951, was made famous in Rebecca Skloot’s 2010 book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which became a movie in 2017 featuring Oprah Winfrey.

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Bowel cancer patients could be spared radiotherapy, US study suggests

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Doctors found some patients could rely on chemotherapy and surgery alone to treat the disease

Thousands of bowel cancer patients could be spared radiotherapy, a study suggests, after doctors discovered they could rely on chemotherapy and surgery alone to treat their disease.

Radiotherapy has been used to treat bowel cancer patients for decades, but the side-effects can be brutal. It can cause problems that negatively affect quality of life, including infertility, the need for a temporary colostomy, diarrhoea, cramping and bladder problems.

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UK breakthrough on lung cancer helps target patients at risk of relapse

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Research programme buys doctors crucial time by spotting returning tumours before symptoms appear

Seven years ago, Kelly Harrop was working at a stables while also running regularly in half marathons and 10k races. Then she began to suffer digestive problems. Scans eventually revealed marks on her lungs. The subsequent diagnosis was direct. “I had lung cancer. It was a shock. I was fit, healthy and had never smoked,” she told the Observer.

Kelly had surgery to remove the tumour, followed by chemotherapy. But doctors knew there was a risk of the tumour reappearing, so they enrolled her in a new research programme, TRACERx. Funded by Cancer Research UK, the £14m project was set up 10 years ago to investigate how lung tumours arise and evolve. A total of 850 patients with early-stage lung cancer were studied and followed from diagnosis to treatment.

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Mary J Blige backs Biden administration’s cancer initiative

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The R&B superstar, who has lost numerous family members to the disease, appeared with first lady Jill Biden to announce program

The Biden administration’s initiative to spur the prevention and treatment of cancer got a dose of celebrity support on Monday when singer Mary J Blige joined Jill Biden and the American Cancer Society (ACA) to announce national meetings on breast and cervical cancer.

The ACA pledged to convene the events after US president Joe Biden and the first lady resurrected the “cancer moonshot” initiative this year. The program provides more money for research to, as Jill Biden said, “Help us end cancer as we know it. For good.”

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Obesity-related cancer rates nearly quadruple in Australia over three and a half decades

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Researchers call on governments to implement national obesity strategy to help stem further rises in preventable cancers

The rate of obesity-related cancers in Australia has almost quadrupled in a few generations, new research suggests.

Researchers at the Daffodil Centre, a joint venture of Cancer Council New South Wales and the University of Sydney, analysed the rate of 10 obesity-linked cancers between 1983 and 2017.

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