(Posted: 10/23/2012) - Scientists have long believed that glioblastoma multiforme, the most aggressive type of primary brain tumor, begins in glial cells that make up supportive tissue in the brain or in neural stem cells. In a paper published October 18 in Science, however, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have found that the tumors can originate from other types of differentiated cells in the nervous system, including cortical neurons.

(Posted: 10/23/2012) - Like cleaning the lenses of a foggy pair of glasses, scientists are now able to use a technique developed by UCLA researchers and their European colleagues to produce three-dimensional images of breast tissue that are two to three times sharper than those made using current CT scanners at hospitals. The technique also uses a lower dose of X-ray radiation than a mammogram. UCLA is home to the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

(Posted: 10/19/2012) - Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center, and colleagues in the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network conducted a two-year clinical trial comparing two-year survival probabilities for patients transplanted with peripheral blood stem cells or bone marrow stem cells from unrelated donors and found no survival advantage for one method over the other.

(Posted: 10/19/2012) - An oral green tea extract, Polyphenon E, appears to inhibit vascular endothelial growth factor and hepatocyte growth factor, both of which promote tumor cell growth, migration and invasion.

(Posted: 10/19/2012) - Blood hormone tests (might be able to) predict a woman's risk for developing postmenopausal breast cancer for up to 20 years, according to a study led Brigham and Women's Hospital Department of Medicine.

(Posted: 10/19/2012) - Breast-feeding reduces the risk for estrogen receptor-negative and progesterone receptor-negative breast cancer, according to a study conducted at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

(Posted: 10/19/2012) - Men with prostate cancer who consumed green tea prior to undergoing prostatectomy had reductions in markers of inflammation, according to data presented at the 11th Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research.

(Posted: 10/19/2012) - A new drug (based on a mouse model) was created at the University of Minnesota and (may) hold the answer to pancreatic cancer, according to results published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

(Posted: 10/18/2012) - Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center have carried out a clinical trial in which patients with metastatic melanoma were given chemotherapy and an immunotherapy of adoptive cell transfer (ACT) with tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL). Tumor tissues were surgically removed from patients, minced and grown in culture. The treatment, using techniques developed at the National Cancer Institute, combined chemotherapy, then ACT with TIL, followed by interleukin-2 (IL-2). The combination therapy drew a high response rate from some patients.

(Posted: 10/18/2012) - Twenty-nine percent of patients with colorectal cancer in a nationally representative sample were diagnosed after an emergency, such as an obstruction or perforation of the bowel, according to a study from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas presented at the 11th Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research. In addition, African-Americans and those living in high-poverty areas were more likely to present with an emergency diagnosis. UT Southwestern is home to the Harold C. Simmons Cancer Center.