Johns Hopkins researchers find that laser-light testing of breast tumor fiber patterns helps show whose cancer is spreading
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 11/02/2012) - New diagnostic tool could lower numbers of unnecessary lymph node surgeries. Using advanced microscopes equipped with tissue-penetrating laser light, cancer imaging experts at Johns Hopkins have developed a promising, new way to accurately analyze the distinctive patterns of ultra-thin collagen fibers in breast tumor tissue samples and to help tell if the cancer has spread.

U of Pittsburgh School of Medicine animal study finds that male fertility can be restored after cancer treatment
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 11/02/2012) - In an animal study, an injection of banked sperm-producing stem cells can restore fertility to male primates who become sterile due to cancer drug side effects, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Magee-Womens Research Institute.

Fox Chase Researchers Find Routine Blood Test Predicts Prognosis in Aggressive Skin Cancer
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 11/01/2012) - A routine blood test may help predict survival in patients with an aggressive form of skin cancer known as Merkel cell carcinoma, according to new findings by Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers.

Massachusetts General Hospital researchers find unexpected factor contributes to melanoma risk in red-haired, fair-skinned individuals
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 11/01/2012) - Red/blond pigment may actively participate in melanoma formation, identifying possible new prevention strategy. The well-established elevated risk of melanoma among people with red hair and fair skin may be caused by more than just a lack of natural protection against ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

Multinational Institutes Sequence 1092 Human Genomes to Determine Standard Range of Human Genetic Variation
(Posted: 11/01/2012) - Completing the second phase of the 1000 Genomes Project, a multinational team of scientists reports that they have sampled a total of 1092 individuals from 14 different populations and sequenced their full genomes.

NIH study uncovers new mechanism of action for class of chemotherapy drugs
NCI Press Release
(Posted: 11/01/2012) - NIH researchers have discovered a significant new mechanism of action for a class of chemotherapy drugs known as poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors, or PARP inhibitors. They have also identified differences in the toxic capabilities of three drugs in this class which are currently being tested in clinical trials. Prior to this study, PARP inhibitors were thought to work primarily by blocking PARP enzyme activity, thus preventing the repair of DNA damage and ultimately causing cell death.

MD Anderson studies find proton therapy treatment preserves quality of life for men with prostate cancer
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 10/30/2012) - Two studies led by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have found that proton therapy preserves the quality of life, specifically urinary and bowel function, in men treated with this targeted radiation modality for prostate cancer.

Radiation treatment after surgery improves survival for elderly women with early-stage breast cancer
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 10/30/2012) - Elderly women with early-stage breast cancer live longer with radiation therapy and surgery compared with surgery alone, researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have found. The researchers, who collected data on almost 30,000 women, ages 70 to 84, with early, highly treatable breast cancer enrolled in a nationwide cancer registry, are reporting their findings at the 54th annual meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). The University of Maryland is home to the Greenebaum Cancer Center.

Fox Chase researchers connect multifocal/multicentric breast cancer to a patient's increased risk of local recurrence
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 10/30/2012) - Not all women diagnosed with operable breast cancer present with a single tumor; some have multifocal disease appear in the breast—which means multiple tumors all arising from the same primary tumor. Others face a diagnosis of multicentric disease, where multiple tumors have formed independently in the breast. Standard radiation treatment is not tailored to the number of tumors found in the breast, so patients with multifocal or multicentric disease do not receive radiation after mastectomy and if they undergo lumpectomy, they receive the same dose and extent as patients presenting with a single mass. A team of Fox Chase physicians conducted a retrospective study designed to investigate those differences in outcomes. They found no statistically significant difference in overall survival or distant recurrence, where the cancer spreads to other organs or tissues. However, local recurrence—having cancer return to the same area from which it was surgically removed—occurred more than 2.5 times more often among patients with multifocal/multicentric disease, compared to patients with a single tumor.

Wake Forest study finds some cancer survivors report poor health-related quality of life years after diagnosis
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 10/30/2012) - Survivors of many common cancers enjoy a mental and physical health-related quality of life equal to that of adults who have not had cancer, but survivors of other cancers are in poorer health, according to results published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Researchers from the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, home to the Wake Forest Comprehensive Cancer Center, and from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed data from the 2010 National Health Interview Survey, a large survey conducted by the CDC to track trends in illness and disability in the United States. They identified a cohort of 1,822 cancer survivors and compared them with 24,804 adults with no history of cancer.