Cancer Currents: An NCI Cancer Research Blog
A blog featuring news and research updates from the National Cancer Institute.
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Doxorubicin is used to treat many types of childhood cancer, but it can damage the heart. Giving dexrazoxane (Zinecard) before each dose substantially decreases a child’s risk of treatment-related heart problems in adulthood, new study results show.
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For certain people with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer, sublobar surgery to remove only a piece of the affected lung lobe is as effective as surgery to remove the whole lobe, new research shows.
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The protein ETV6 appears to promote tumor growth by affecting the behavior of the EWS-FLI1 fusion protein that drives most Ewing sarcomas. The research groups that made the discovery hope it leads to a targeted therapy for the aggressive childhood cancer.
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For some people with cancer, is 6 months of immunotherapy the only treatment they might ever need? Or 4 weeks of immunotherapy followed by minor surgery? Results from several small clinical trials suggest these scenarios may be bona fide possibilities.
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Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people with cancer have had telehealth visits with their doctors. According to an analysis of nearly 25,500 telemedicine visits to the Moffitt Cancer Center by more than 11,600 adults with cancer, the use of telehealth saved people with cancer time, travel, and money.
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Black and Hispanic patients nearing the end of life are less likely than White patients to get opioids needed to control their cancer pain, a new study shows. Black patients were also more likely than White patients to undergo urine tests that screen for drugs.
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FDA approved tucatinib (Tukysa) with trastuzumab (Herceptin) to treat HER2-positive advanced colorectal cancer. The approval was based on the MOUNTAINEER trial, in which nearly 40% of participants’ tumors shrank after receiving the drug combination.
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NCI Director Dr. Monica Bertagnolli reflects on the tremendous progress made in cancer research over the past 3 decades, important opportunities that lie ahead, and the need for coordinated, all-of-society collaboration to end cancer as we know it for everyone.
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Two research teams have developed ways of overcoming barriers that have limited the effectiveness of CAR T-cell therapies, including engineering ways to potentially make them effective against solid tumors like pancreatic cancer and melanoma.
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An NCI-funded clinical trial has shown that treatment-related early deaths in people with a rare leukemia can be dramatically reduced. How did they do it? In part, by establishing a help desk staffed by experts in treating APL.