Cancer Research

Over 50,000,000 Americans get subsidized or free health under the Affordable Care Act but that doesn't mean usage of preventive care increased across the board. Instead, a new analysis found that the inflationary spike which led to much higher costs for housing, food, and utilities are barriers. Data from 186 community-based health organizations in 13 states found that despite higher rates of primary care visits, patients experiencing social risks like concerns about food or rent were less likely to complete screenings when recommended by doctors. That means access to care is not the main…

Testicular cancer is the most common solid tumor in young men, with approximately 10,000 diagnoses in the U.S. each year. New treatments are always in development, often with the goal of less open surgery, but a new analysis of 165 patients with clinical stage I or II testicular cancer and no prior chemotherapy in the Indiana University Testicular Cancer database found that the conventional open surgery approach, removing lymph nodes behind the intestines for patients whose testicular cancer is still only in the abdomen remains the best standard of care. Robot-assisted care may allow a more…

A multi-institutional study has found that a shorter course of post-mastectomy radiation, combined with breast reconstruction can time from 25 to 16 treatment sessions while remaining safe and effective. Breast cancer is the second most frequently diagnosed cancer for American women and nearly 40% have mastectomies. The majority who do undergo reconstructive breast surgery. To help prevent their cancer from returning, most patients who get mastectomies also receive radiation therapy to the chest wall and lymph nodes over a period of five to six weeks. The new research finds that a…

Given that most adult women did not have access to the HPV vaccine in youth, the clinical burden of cervical cancer in the United States has not yet declined.   Women still get tested and a few thousand still die each year. The authors believe that the increase in saved life-years has not occurred because taxpayers haven't yet spent enough. Despite assurances that the Affordable Care Act while close the economic gaps in health care, it has done little. Cervical cancer screening is among the preventive services covered free of charge but if a patient does have to pay anything in…

A new study is actively recruiting men and women of African ancestry who were diagnosed with prostate or breast cancer to build a database from which researchers hope to identify genetic factors that may influence cancer risk among these groups. Lifestyle is also a factor, smoking, drinking, and obesity are the top killers and disease risk factors, but those are epidemiology. What is compelling is why Black men and women in developed countries are at higher risk of developing and dying from aggressive prostate or breast cancer. There is no easy answer, anyone studying sociology will say it is…

The discovery of new biomarkers is important for detecting ovarian cancer, as the disease is difficult to detect in its early stages where it can most easily be treated. One approach to detecting cancer is to look for extracellular vesicles (EVs), especially small proteins released from the tumor called exosomes. As these proteins are found outside the cancer cell, they can be isolated from body fluids, such as blood, urine, and saliva. However, the use of these biomarkers is hindered by the lack of reliable ones for the detection of ovarian cancer. A research group led by Akira Yokoi (he,…

New results show that the number of reported cancer cases in the National Cancer Database during the COVID-19 pandemic declined by 14.4 percen, which means over 200,000 cancer cases were not diagnosed and/or treated. The reasons were unclear, perhaps concern about catching COVID-19 or being symptomatic but not wanting to go to the doctor because of media claims about those unable to get care for SARS-CoV-2. The results are more obvious; a lot of people are at greater risk.  According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 1.1 million died due to COVID-19 or complications, but…

A clinical trial where dogs get advanced cancer treatment could pave the way for a new immunotherapy treatment in kids.  Sarcoma is a cancer of the bones and soft tissues and one of the most common childhood cancers, the third most common cancer in children, with one in three dying from their disease. The first step for almost all sarcoma patients after diagnosis is surgery to remove the tumor.  Sometimes cancer cells are left behind and the cancer just comes back. The new treatment is a polymer-filled gel which is loaded with immunotherapy drugs and can be applied inside the…

A new paper describes the perfect combination of genetic alterations that tumors use to promote explosive growth and prevent their own demise, a development that could change the way oncologists understand and treat melanoma. Telomeres, protective caps at the of the end of the chromosome, are required to prevent DNA from degrading. In healthy cells, telomeres become shorter with each cycle of replication until they become so short that the cell can no longer divide. Disruptions in maintenance of the length of the telomeres can lead to severe disease. Short telomere syndromes lead to premature…

A recently published study in a high-profile medical journal appeared to call into question the efficacy of colonoscopy, a proven and widely utilized strategy for the screening and prevention of colorectal cancer. News headlines were striking: “Disappointing results on colonoscopy benefits”; “New study suggests benefits of colonoscopies may be overestimated”; “In gold-standard trial, invitation to colonoscopy reduced cancer incidence but not death.” Such news coverage has ignited controversy and created some confusion about the study and its implications, leading people to question whether…