The potential of large studies for building genetic risk prediction models
NCI News Note
(Posted: 03/04/2013) - NCI scientists have developed a new paradigm to assess hereditary risk prediction in common diseases, such as prostate cancer. This genetic risk prediction concept is based on polygenic analysis—the study of a group of common DNA sequences, known as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), each of which contributes a very small amount to overall disease risk, but has a strong effect when grouped together.

Fred Hutchinson study finds that where you're treated matters in terms of cancer survival
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 03/04/2013) - A study of older patients with advanced head and neck cancers has found that where they were treated significantly influenced their survival.

Mass General study identifies growth factor essential to the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 03/04/2013) - A multi-institutional team led by Massachusetts General Hospital researchers has identified a molecular pathway that appears to be essential for the growth and spread of medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor in children.

Columbia study finds nearly 1 in 4 women newly diagnosed with breast cancer report PTSD symptoms
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 03/01/2013) - A study by researchers at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, has found that nearly one in four women (23 percent) newly diagnosed with breast cancer reported symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) shortly after diagnosis, with increased risk among black and Asian women. The research has been e-published ahead of print in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Infusion of stem cells and specially generated T-cells from same donor improves leukemia survival
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 02/28/2013) - In a significant advance for harnessing the immune system to treat leukemias, researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center for the first time have successfully infused large numbers of donor T-cells specific for a key anti-leukemic antigen to prolong survival in high-risk and relapsed leukemia patients after stem cell transplantation. Both the stem cells for transplant and the T-cells came from the same matched donors.

Study Sees More Breast Cancer at Young Age
New York Times
(Posted: 02/27/2013) - The incidence of advanced breast cancer among younger women, ages 25 to 39, may have increased slightly over the last three decades, according to a study released Tuesday. But more research is needed to verify the finding, which was based on an analysis of statistics, the study’s authors said. They do not know what may have caused the apparent increase... The researchers analyzed data from SEER, a program run by the National Cancer Institute to collect cancer statistics on 28 percent of the population of the United States.

Obesity, physical inactivity linked with risk for certain molecular subtype of colorectal cancer
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 02/27/2013) - An increasing body mass index was associated with a higher risk for colorectal cancer with a specific molecular characteristic, and inversely, physical activity was linked to a decreased risk for that same cancer, according to data from a Dana-Farber Cancer Institute study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

University of Michigan study challenges notion of using Herceptin only for HER2-positive breast cancer
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 02/27/2013) - New research from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center finds that the protein HER2 plays a role even in breast cancers that would traditionally be categorized as HER2-negative – and that the drug Herceptin, which targets HER2, may have an even greater role for treating breast cancer and preventing its spread.

Masonic Cancer Center researchers identify genetic variation behind acute myeloid leukemia treatment success
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 02/27/2013) - Researchers from the College of Pharmacy and Medical School working within the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, have partnered to identify genetic variations that may help signal which acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients will benefit or not benefit from one of the newest antileukemic agents.

MD Anderson study shows new approach connecting smokers to quit lines increases smoking cessation treatment enrollment
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 02/27/2013) - Self-identified smokers directly connected to a tobacco cessation quit line are 13 times more likely to enroll in a treatment program as compared to smokers who are handed a quit line referral card and encouraged to call on their own, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and published online in JAMA Internal Medicine.