Research into genetic mutations suggests possibility of tests that would detect cancer earlier

A controversial new study claims about one in every five cancers diagnosed in Australia would have been better left undiscovered.

“Deer antlers [are] using essentially a controlled form of bone cancer growth,” says Edward Davis, an evolutionary paleobiologist

December 27, 2019 — Artificial intelligence (AI) technology developed by the RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project (AIP) in Japan has successfully found features in pathology images from human cancer patients, without annotation, that could be understood by human doctors.

Cancer death rates have declined steadily over the past several decades, falling by nearly a third since the early 1990s, according to a report published Wednesday by the American Cancer Society. From 1991 to 2017, overall cancer deaths dropped by 29 percent, estimated at nearly 3 million avoided deaths.

The drop was largely credited to a decline in lung cancer deaths due to advances in treatments, among other factors, the American Cancer Society said.

British scientists may have discovered a cure for cancer — by accident. As The Telegraph reports, “Researchers at Cardiff University were analyzing blood from a bank in Wales, looking for immune cells that could fight bacteria, when they found an entirely new type of T-cell. That new immune cell carries a never-before-seen receptor which acts like a grappling hook, latching on to most human cancers, while ignoring healthy cells.”

The move toward targeted anti-cancer treatments has produced better outcomes with fewer side-effects for many breast cancer patients. But so far, advances in precision medicine haven’t reached people diagnosed with so-called triple-negative breast cancer.

A newly-discovered part of our immune system could be harnessed to treat all cancers, say scientists. The Cardiff University team discovered a method of killing prostate, breast, lung and other cancers in lab tests. The findings, published in Nature Immunology, have not been tested in patients, but the researchers say they have "enormous potential".

Positive early results from the first phase of human testing for a unique colorectal cancer vaccine are proving promising. A newly published study outlining the Phase I trial results suggests the vaccine is safe, and stimulates immune activation, paving the way for larger human trials.

A new type of drug that targets a genetic weakness in an untreatable childhood brain cancer could become the first ever treatment designed to target the disease. The prototype treatment could also offer hope for patients with the rare and devastating ‘stone man syndrome’ – in which muscles and ligaments turn to bone.

Scientists want to ‘take away the fear’ by halting mutation of cells, even in advanced cases

NHS patients with lymphoma have for the first time been given a pioneering treatment that genetically reprogrammes their immune system to fight cancer. Mike Simpson, 62, from Durham, says his cancer is now "on the run". The therapy, called CAR-T, is a "living drug" that is tailor-made for each patient using their body's own cells

Researchers didn’t know if it would work, but they had little to lose when they tried a new drug—a living cell reprogrammed to recognize and kill leukemia—on a dying 6-year-old.

Electromagnetic fields might help prevent some breast cancers from spreading to other parts of the body, new research has found. The study showed that low intensity electromagnetic fields hindered the mobility of specific breast cancer cells by preventing the formation of long, thin extensions at the edge of a migrating cancer cell. The research was done on cells in a lab, and the concept hasn’t yet been tested in animals or humans. The study was published today in the journal Communications Biology.

The newest cancer sniffer might not be as cute as a sharp-nosed canine, but it could give doctors a new way to determine the best treatment for patients using just the melange of compounds in their breath. The eNose can detect with 85 percent accuracy if a person will respond to immunotherapy, say researchers in a paper published today in Annals of Oncology. That could make it an alternative to current methods of determining which cancer treatment is best suited to different patients.

A space-age metal that formed part of the asteroid that destroyed the dinosaurs could provide a new method of treating cancer tumours selectively using light.

More than half of patients can now survive a deadly skin cancer that was considered untreatable just a decade ago, say UK doctors. Ten years ago only one-in-20 patients would live for five years after being diagnosed with late-stage melanoma. Most would die in months. But drugs to harness the body's immune system mean 52% now live for at least five years, a clinical trial shows.

An "extraordinary transformation" is how doctors describe therapies for advanced melanoma.

In a phone call to the self-described cancer researcher Amanda Jewell, a British woman who calls herself "Mary" describes how she is struggling to cope. "My mother, she has stage three breast cancer. It's spread to her right. It's spread to her lymph nodes and they're giving her chemotherapy. It's so distressing," she says.