September 2013

Biological therapy with cediranib improves survival in women with recurrent ovarian cancer

Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Women with ovarian cancer that has recurred after chemotherapy have survived for longer after treatment with a biological therapy called cediranib, according to new results presented on Monday at the 2013 European Cancer Congress (ECC2013) [1]. Cediranib, which is taken in pill form, is an inhibitor of a cell signalling process involved […]

The State of Oncology 2013 – new report draws attention to urgent need to tackle disparities in cancer care worldwide

Amsterdam, The Netherlands: A proposal for a new financing model to tackle the major disparities that exist in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and outcome of cancer in countries worldwide has been presented at the 2013 European Cancer Congress (ECCO 2013). While much progress has been made against cancer over the last century, a new report […]

New research shows how aspirin may act on blood platelets to improve survival in colon cancer patients

Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Researchers believe they have discovered how aspirin improves survival in patients diagnosed with colon cancer, the 2013 European Cancer Congress (ECC2013) [1] heard on Monday. Although previous research has shown that taking low dose aspirin after being diagnosed with colon cancer improves patient outcome, the reasons why this happens remain unknown. The […]

First estimate of amount of radiotherapy dose wasted in compensating for tumour growth between treatments

Amsterdam, The Netherlands: For the first time, researchers have estimated the daily dose of radiotherapy that could be wasted in compensating for cancer cell growth that occurs overnight and during weekends in patients with early breast cancer. In research presented to the 2013 European Cancer Congress (ECC2013) [1] on Monday, Professor John Yarnold said that, […]

Trial combining anti-cancer drug and radiotherapy may lead to new treatment for most aggressive brain tumour

Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Results from a clinical trial of a new treatment for glioblastoma suggest that researchers may have found a new approach to treating this most aggressive of brain tumours, as well as a potential new biological marker than can predict the tumour’s response to treatment. When he presented the research to the 2013 […]

Identifying the disease-causing mechanisms in cancers with an unknown primary site improves treatment and survival

Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Identifying the molecular profile of a tumour where the primary site is unknown is crucial to the choice of treatment, the 2013 European Cancer Congress (ECC2013) [1] heard on Monday. In up to five percent of all cancers, the site of the primary tumour is unknown and the disease is not diagnosed […]

Organised screening for prostate cancer using the prostate-specific antigen test, does more harm than good

Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Prostate cancer screening using the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test is widely used in France despite a lack of evidence showing that it reduces cancer deaths. Now, researchers have shown that men experience more harm than good from routine PSA screening, according to research presented on Monday by Professor Mathieu Boniol, at the […]

Promising results for new antibody drug in non-small cell lung cancer patients: smokers respond well

Amsterdam, The Netherlands: New results from a trial of an antibody that helps the immune system to recognise and attack cancer cells have shown particularly encouraging responses in patients who are smokers or former smokers. Presenting the most up-to-date data from 85 patients with non-small cell lung cancer in a large, phase I clinical trial […]

Survival after cancer diagnosis in Europe is strongly associated with how much governments spend on health care

Amsterdam, The Netherlands: The more an EU (European Union) national government spends on health, the fewer the deaths after a cancer diagnosis in that country, according to new research presented to the 2013 European Cancer Congress (ECC2013) [1] on Sunday and published simultaneously in the leading cancer journal Annals of Oncology [2]. Researchers told the […]

Colorectal cancer screening works; ‘irrefutable’ evidence that fall in death rates is attributable to screening programmes

Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Screening for colorectal cancer (CRC) in European countries is highly effective in reducing mortality from the disease. Some of the resources currently being devoted to breast and prostate screening programmes, where the evidence of effectiveness is much less clear-cut, should be reallocated to the early detection of CRC, the 2013 European Cancer […]