(Posted: 03/07/2013) - A new study led by a researcher at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (home to the Abramson Cancer Center) adds support to current medical recommendations stating that screening colonoscopy substantially reduces an average-risk adult’s likelihood of being diagnosed with advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) in either the right or left side of the colon.

(Posted: 03/07/2013) - Researchers have identified a critical protein role in the metastasis of melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer. Inhibition of the protein known as adenosine diphosphate ribosylation factor 6 (ARF6) reduces the spread of melanoma to the lungs in mice, according to a study published in the March 5 issue of Science Signaling online, suggesting that targeting ARF6 may be an effective approach to preventing melanoma metastasis. The study was led by researchers at the University of Utah, home of the Hunstman Cancer Institute.

(Posted: 03/07/2013) - A series of microRNA expression signatures that may help to define progression of the precancerous condition Barrett's esophagus into esophageal adenocarcinoma was reported recently in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston.

(Posted: 03/07/2013) - UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists report the first successful blocking--in a mouse model--of the development of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNSTs), a cancer currently considered incurable in humans. UT Southwestern is home to the Harold C. Simmons Cancer Center. The study included researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Baylor College of Medicine.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.