A new federally funded University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine study aims to learn whether women at high risk of breast cancer can use exercise to meaningfully reduce their risk of getting the disease. Building on evidence that reducing estrogen in the body reduces cancer risk, and that elite female athletes experience a drop in estrogen levels that often cause them to stop ovulating and menstruating, the WISER Sister trial will investigate two different levels of regular treadmill exercise as a possible intervention for breast cancer risk reduction. The stakes for women who carry BRCA genetic mutations are high as many as 80 percent of them will develop breast or ovarian cancer during their lives but options for risk reduction a...

Three-day-old broccoli sprouts, a widely available human food, suppressed Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infections, according to a report in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. H. pylori infections are one of the most common bacterial infections worldwide and are a major cause of stomach cancer. The cancer protective effects of sulforaphane, a phytochemical from broccoli, have been known for almost two decades, but this is the first study to show an effect of broccoli in humans on the bacterial infection that leads to stomach cancer. In this study, researchers enrolled 48 Helicobacter-infected Japanese men and women and randomly assigned them to eat 70 grams of fresh broccoli sprouts d...

DENVER -- AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company leveraging breakthrough discoveries in cancer biology to discover, develop and commercialize targeted oncology therapies, today announced data from its proprietary preclinical models which demonstrates that the company's potent and selective triple VEGF receptor inhibitor, AV-951, exhibits robust inhibitory activity in its novel, genetically engineered model of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of liver cancer. These data were presented today at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 100th Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado. "By utilizing the unique capability of our proprietary cancer biology platform to guide drug develop...

Would-be cancer survivors had their diet expanded by three menu items this week, with new studies extolling the disease-fighting properties of grapefruit juice, walnuts and wine. The research hailing the apparent cancer-fighting powers of the three foods was presented Monday at the 100th annual meeting in Denver of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR.) In one small clinical trial, researchers at the University of Chicago Medical Center found that combining eight ounces (230 milliliters) of grapefruit juice with the promising anti-cancer medicine rapamycin could increase the amount of that drug in the blood. Rapamycin has shown some promise in stopping the growth of new blood vessels -- which cancer tumors need to gro...

A nicotine compound called NNAL appears to be a bellwether for smokers of their risk of lung cancer, according to new University of Minnesota research results. Evaluating urine samples from 491 smokers, U tobacco researcher Jian-Min Yuan found that high levels of NNAL doubled the risk of lung cancer. Even moderate levels of the compound increased the cancer risk among the smokers by 43 percent. "We've known for a long time that smoking increases a person's risk for getting lung cancer, but we have not been able to clearly answer why one smoker would eventually develop lung cancer and another one would not," Yuan said. "Now we know one definitive link." The results were presented Sunday at a national cancer research convention and p...

ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Celera Corporation today announced the presentation of data describing a novel mass spectrometry-based approach to identify and validate circulating protein biomarkers that detect non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A key outcome of the study was the assembly of an immunoassay test for a panel of 6 biomarkers that detected lung cancer with 94% sensitivity and 93% specificity in a blinded analysis. In addition to detecting all stages of lung cancer studied and all major histological subtypes, the panel also accurately distinguished malignant cases from benign lung disease. The data will be presented from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. MDT today as poster #3542 at the 100th Annual American Association for Cancer...

Two years ago, Kevin Brumett was diagnosed with lung cancer. He was 29 and had never smoked. After an initial round of successful treatment, the cancer spread to his brain. Still, Brumett is determined to fight the disease and says God is on his side at every step. He hopes his fight can help others who share his condition. "It's not right that people get cancer," says Brumett, from Newton, Massachusetts. "God is giving me the strength to fight this as hard and as long as I possibly can." Cancer fighters such as Brumett, who employ faith in their battle against the deadly disease, are often able to adjust psychologically to a serious illness, according to several studies. But new research suggests that they may also be more likely to exa...

Regularly eating meat cooked at a high temperature, to the point of charring, could increase the risk of pancreatic cancer by 60 percent, researchers said Tuesday. "Our findings in this study are further evidence that turning down the heat when grilling, frying, and barbecuing to avoid excess burning or charring of the meat may be a sensible way for some people to lower their risk for getting pancreatic cancer," said Kristin Anderson of the University of Minnesota, who led the study. Anderson said the research, presented at the meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, in Denver, Colorado, found that well and very well done meats cooked by frying, grilling or barbecuing formed carcinogens. Meat that is baked, stewed...

A new study identifies a protein that modifies the androgen receptor (AR) and influences its ability to regulate target genes linked with the progression of prostate cancer. The research, published by Cell Press in the April 7th issue of the journal Cancer Cell, may also drive creation of new strategies for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer that no longer responds to traditional anti-hormone therapies. The AR is an important mediator for the development and progression of prostate cancer, including the progression to the aggressive and often lethal androgen-independent form of the disease. "Androgen ablation therapy is the most common treatment for advanced prostate cancer," offers senior study author, Dr. Yun Qiu from the Univer...

In a paper published online this week in Science Express (the online version of Science magazine), researchers report that early clinical trials for two compounds, MDV3100 and RD162, show initial promise for patients suffering from an advanced metastatic form of the disease known as castration-resistant prostate cancer. MDV3100, designed to work by antagonizing androgen receptor action and preventing testosterone from fueling tumor growth, reduced PSA levels in 43 percent of patients by more than 50 percent. These compounds were initially derived through work funded by a Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) Competitive Award granted to Drs. Owen Witte, Charles Sawyers and Michael Jung at UCLA in 2002. Their research focus was to discover new...