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Deep genomic analysis identifies a micro RNA opponent for ovarian cancer
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 02/12/2013) - Researchers led by MD Anderson Cancer Center employed an extensive analysis of genomic information to identify a new, high-risk cohort of ovarian cancer patients, characterize their tumors, find a potential treatment and test it in mouse models of the disease. The exhaustive analysis that led to micro RNA 506 (miR-506) as a potential therapeutic candidate for advanced or metastatic ovarian cancer is the cover article in the Feb. 11 edition of Cancer Cell.

Values and techniques shape decisions about PSA screening
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 02/12/2013) - An international team of scientists led by the University of North Carolina (home to the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center) has published a study evaluating different ways of helping men consider their values about PSA screening. They report that the decision-making process was influenced by the format in which information was presented. The team described PSA screening decision options in terms of four key attributes: effect on prostate cancer mortality, risk of biopsy, risk of being diagnosed with prostate cancer and risk of becoming impotent or incontinent as a result of treatment.

Mouse model of clear cell sarcoma improves understanding of rare, deadly cancer
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 02/12/2013) - Geneticists led by University of Utah scientists have engineered mice that develop clear cell sarcoma (CCS), a significant step in better understanding how this rare and deadly soft tissue cancer arises. The mouse model also can potentially speed the development of drugs to target genes that must be activated for the cancer to form. The study included researchers from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and Stanford University.

Hepatic function testing can assist in treatment planning for liver cancer patients
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 02/11/2013) - Monitoring the hepatic function of unresectable liver cancer patients, measured by 99mTc-labeled iminodiacetic acid (HIDA) via single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) prior to and during radiation therapy, provides vital information that could guide more customized treatment plans and reduce risks of liver injury, according to University of Michigan research being presented at the 2013 Cancer Imaging and Radiation Therapy Symposium. The University of Michigan is home to the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

DAI provides potential imaging biomarker to indicate brain tumor response to radiation therapy
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 02/11/2013) - Diffusion abnormality index (DAI) shows promise as an imaging biomarker to measure brain tumor response to radiation therapy, according to University of Michigan research being presented at the 2013 Cancer Imaging and Radiation Therapy Symposium. The study included 20 patients who had brain metastases and were treated with whole brain radiotherapy. The University of Michigan is home to the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Triple-negative breast cancer subtypes identified using microRNA
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 02/08/2013) - A new, large-scale study of triple-negative breast cancer shows that small molecules called microRNA can be used to define four subtypes of this aggressive malignancy. The findings, by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) working with collaborators in Italy, could lead to new screening methods, prognostic markers and perhaps new targeted treatments for this aggressive and often-fatal form of breast cancer.

NCI study finds that sunitinib benefits patients with renal cell carcinoma
NCI News Note
(Posted: 02/07/2013) - Findings from clinical trial patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma, a common kidney cancer, show they did not have accelerated tumor growth after treatment with sunitinib, in contrast to some study results in animals.

Bevacizumab significantly improves survival for patients with recurrent and metastatic cervical cancer
NCI Press Release
(Posted: 02/07/2013) - Patients with advanced, recurrent, or persistent cervical cancer that was not curable with standard treatment who received the drug bevacizumab (Avastin) lived 3.7 months longer than patients who did not receive the drug, according to an interim analysis of a large, randomized clinical trial.

University of Minnesota researchers discover enzyme behind breast cancer mutations
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 02/07/2013) - Researchers at the University of Minnesota and its Masonic Cancer Center have uncovered a human enzyme responsible for causing DNA mutations found in the majority of breast cancers. The discovery of this enzyme – called APOBEC3B – may change the way breast cancer is diagnosed and treated.

University of Michigan study finds potential to match tumors with known cancer drugs
NCI Cancer Center News
(Posted: 02/07/2013) - In a new study, University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers assess the complete landscape of a cancer’s “kinome” expression and determine which kinases are acting up in a particular tumor. They go on to show that those particular kinases can be targeted with drugs – potentially combining multiple drugs to target multiple kinases.

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