Medical scientists in the United States have discovered the key protein responsible for childhood leukemia. They discussed their findings in Genes & Development. Childhood leukemia, the most common cancer of children in Canada, is a cancer of the white blood cells. Leukemia develops when abnormal white blood cells form in the bone marrow. These abnormal…
Category Archives: Cancer
A recent study described a possible molecular mechanism for how a class of drugs leads to mental health side effects in breast cancer patients. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer that affects Canadian women and is considered to be the second leading cause of cancer-related death in this gender. Estrogen-positive breast cancer…
A recent study in the journal Nature Letters has reported a set of chemical inhibitors that can block cancer cell growth but leave normal cells unaffected. One of the biggest hallmarks of cancer is abnormalities in the cell cycle – a process which regulates the timing and the frequency of cell division. The cell cycle…
New research from Case Western Reserve University in the United States makes strides in understanding why HIV-infected patients often suffer from higher cancer rates. Controlling HIV infection with antiretroviral therapy has considerably reduced the risk of AIDS-defining cancers such as Kaposi’s sarcoma and certain B-cell lymphomas. However, cancer remains a leading cause of death in…
A new study in European Urology has described the results of a 20-year study describing how the presence of IBD in men influences prostate cancer risk. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) includes a group of chronic conditions that lead to prolonged inflammation within organs of the digestive tract. IBD is a disorder that primarily occurs…
A study in Canada in collaboration with scientists from the United Kingdom tested the accuracy of a cervical cancer test based on epigenetics. Infection with the HPV virus is associated with the development of cervical cancer, as research has shown that virtually all cervical cancer patients have tested positive for HPV virus. However, not…
A study compared the effectiveness of surgery and postoperative radiation therapy compared to surgery alone in treating aggressive prostate cancer. Treatment for prostate cancer varies depending on the progression of the disease, which can be graded by assessing biopsied tissue using the Gleason score. Tumours of patients with Gleason scores of 9 to 10 are…
Hot flashes during menopause are usually more severe in breast cancer survivors than in the general female population. Hormone-replacement therapy is a traditional treatment for hot flashes, but many women cannot tolerate these drugs. A recent study explored the use of oxybutynin for reducing hot flashes. Hot flashes are a common symptom of menopause. Menopause…
A recent study looked at connections between cancer and the risk of shingles in a group of Australians adults. The Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is a member of the herpes virus family and the cause of chickenpox. Chickenpox is a contagious disease that most commonly affects children. Signs of the illness are the typical itchy blisters,…
A Canadian research group used mass spectrometry to better understand how brain cancer cells communicate and promote metastasis. How does cancer spread? Glioblastoma remains a deadly form of brain cancer with just a 4% five-year survival rate. This poor prognosis is largely attributed to the spreading of tumor cells to the surrounding tissues in…