(Press-News.org) Alexandria, Va. – The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) today highlighted several studies in a press briefing from among more than 4,000 abstracts publicly posted online at www.asco.org in advance of ASCO's 47th Annual Meeting. An additional 17 plenary, late-breaking and other major studies will be released in on-site press conferences at the Annual Meeting.
The meeting, which is expected to draw approximately 30,000 cancer specialists, will be held June 3-7, 2011, at McCormick Place in Chicago, Ill. The theme of this year's meeting is "Patients. Pathways. Progress."
"This year marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of the National Cancer Act, a law that led to major new investments in cancer research. Every day in our offices, and every year at the ASCO meeting, we see the results of those investments. People with cancer are living longer, with a better quality of life, than ever before," said George W. Sledge Jr, MD, President of ASCO, Ballve-Lantero Professor of Oncology and professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine.
"With our growing understanding of the nature of cancer development and behavior, cancer is becoming a chronic disease that a growing number of patients can live with for many years," said Dr. Sledge. "The studies released today are the latest examples of progress against the disease, from new personalized treatments, to new approaches to screening and prevention."
Studies highlighted in today's press briefing include:
First Large Study of HPV and Pap Co-Testing in Routine Clinical Practice Confirms Many Women Can Safely Extend Testing to Every Three Years; HPV Testing Alone Also Appears to be Superior to Pap Testing Alone: The first large-scale study of both human papillomavirus (HPV) testing and Pap smear for cervical cancer screening in routine clinical practice confirms that women can safely extend their screening intervals from one to three years. The study also found that HPV testing may be more accurate than conventional Pap smear in determining cervical cancer risk.
Combined Screening with CA-125 and Transvaginal Ultrasound Does Not Reduce Ovarian Cancer Death Rate, Results in High Number of False Positives: Findings from a large, long-term study – the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Screening Trial – showed that using a CA-125 blood test and transvaginal ultrasound for early detection of ovarian cancer did not reduce the risk of dying from the disease, and resulted in a large number of false positives and related follow-up procedures.
Novel Screening Approach Suggests PSA Levels Among Men Age 44-50 May Predict Long-Term Risk of Metastatic Prostate Cancer or Prostate Cancer-Related Death: A large, population-based study of Swedish men showed that prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels at the time of initial screening among men aged 44 to 50 can accurately predict the risk that a man will die of prostate cancer or develop metastatic prostate cancer up to 30 years later, suggesting half of men could undergo just three PSA tests in a lifetime.
Genetic Biomarkers Predict Taxane-Induced Neuropathy: This study identified a genetic biomarker for nerve damage caused by paclitaxal, a complication of chemotherapy that can keep patients from functioning normally and interrupt their treatment.
Randomized Study Shows that Maintenance Therapy and PARP Inhibitors Could Play Important Roles in Treatment of Relapsed Ovarian Cancer: A Phase II trial showed that the oral drug olaparib, given after chemo, improved progression-free survival in women with the most common type of relapsed ovarian cancer.
Novel Multi-targeted Agent Cabozantinib (XL184) Has Significant Effect on Several Advanced Solid Tumors, and Can Shrink or Eliminate Bone Metastases: Cabozantinib demonstrated high rates of disease control in patients with prostate, ovarian and liver cancers. Importantly, it controlled bone metastases in patients with breast and prostate cancers and melanoma.
Long-Term Smoking, But Not Moderate Alcohol Use, Linked to Increased Risk of Common Cancers Among Women Already at High Risk of Breast Cancer: A prospective study of more than 13,000 healthy women at high risk of breast cancer reported that the risks of invasive breast, lung and colon cancers were significantly higher in women with long smoking histories, compared to women who did not smoke or had shorter smoking histories. The study did not confirm previous reports of increased risk of cancer among those with moderate alcohol use, though it found that moderate alcohol use was associated with a lower risk of colon cancer. Low physical activity was associated with a significantly higher risk of endometrial cancer.
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To view a full copy of the press release, click the link below: http://www.asco.org//ASCOv2/Department%20Content/Communications/Downloads/AM2011%20May%2018%20Presscast%20Release%20FOR%20DISTRIBUTION.pdf
ATTRIBUTION TO THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CLINICAL ONCOLOGY ANNUAL MEETING IS REQUESTED IN ALL NEWS COVERAGE.
ASCO is the world's leading professional organization representing physicians who care for people with cancer. With more than 28,000 members, ASCO is committed to improving cancer care through scientific meetings, educational programs and peer-reviewed journals. For ASCO information and resources, visit www.asco.org/presscenter. Patient-oriented cancer information is available at www.cancer.net.
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Philadelphia, PA, May 18, 2011 – Abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) in women of reproductive age may be due to a wide range of disorders or pathologies. Until now, there has been no universally accepted method for classifying such patients, which has impeded basic science and clinical investigation, as well as the practical, rational, and consistent application of medical and surgical therapy. As the result of a stringent 5-year review process, a multinational group of clinician–investigators with broad experience in the investigation of AUB has now agreed on a classification ...
A human genetic variant associated with an almost 30 percent reduced risk of developing severe malaria has been identified. Scientists from the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM), Hamburg, and Kumasi University, Ghana, reveal that a variant at the FAS locus can prevent an excessive and potentially hazardous immune response in infected children. The study appears in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics on May 19.
Severe malaria is a major public health burden in Sub-Saharan Africa, where approximately one million individuals die each year as a result ...
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet; the saying is perhaps a testament to the acute sense of smell that is unique to mammals. Paleontologists have now discovered that an improved sense of smell jumpstarted brain evolution in the ancestral cousins of present-day mammals. The research will appear in the 20 May 2011 issue of the journal Science, which is published by AAAS, the international, nonprofit science society.
The findings may help explain why mammals evolved such large and complex brains, which in some cases ballooned 10 times larger than relative body ...
Mammals first evolved their characteristic large brains to enable a stronger sense of smell, according to a new study published this week in the journal Science by paleontologists from The University of Texas at Austin, Carnegie Museum of Natural History and St. Mary's University in San Antonio.
This latest study is the first to use CT technology, similar to medical scanners, to reconstruct the brains of two of the earliest known mammal species, both from the Jurassic fossil beds of China. The 3D scans revealed that even these tiny, 190-million-year-old animals had developed ...
PHILADELPHIA – Discovering the step-by-step details of the path embryonic cells take to develop into their final tissue type is the clinical goal of many stem cell biologists.
To that end, Kenneth S. Zaret, PhD, professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and associate director of the Penn Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and Cheng-Ran Xu, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in the Zaret laboratory, looked at immature cells called progenitors and found a way to potentially predict their fate. They base ...
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania… Paleontologists have often wondered why mammals—including humans—evolved to have larger brains than other animals. A team of paleontologists now believe that large brains may have developed in mammals to facilitate an acute sense of smell, according to a new paper published today in the prestigious journal Science. The team also noticed enlargement in the areas of the brain that correspond to the ability to sense touch through fur; this sense is acutely developed in mammals.
Scientists used high-resolution CT scans to study rare 190-million-year-old ...
After the death of Osama bin Laden, New York personal injury lawyer David Perecman reaffirmed his commitment to help the heroes who are still battling illnesses connected to 9/11.
For many individuals, the death of bin Laden brought closure. The death also served to rekindle memories of those who volunteered to assist at the World Trade Center site after the 9/11 attacks.
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"People ...
SEATTLE – Researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have discovered a new drug target for squamous cell carcinoma – the second most common form of skin cancer. Scientists in the laboratory of Valeri Vasioukhin, Ph.D., have found that a protein called alpha-catenin acts as a tumor suppressor and they also have unlocked the mechanism by which this protein controls cell proliferation.
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For the study, the researchers studied mice that were bred to lack a copy of the gene that ...
Scientists at Penn State University have achieved a major milestone in the attempt to assemble, in a test tube, entire chromosomes from their component parts. The achievement reveals the process a cell uses to package the basic building blocks of an organism's entire genetic code -- its genome. The evidence provided by early research with the new procedure overturns three previous theories of the genome-packaging process and opens the door to a new era of genome-wide biochemistry research. A paper describing the team's achievement will be published in the journal Science ...
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The next day, RIM, the manufacturer of the BlackBerry agreed to the removal of driving-under-the-influence (DUI/DWI) checkpoint functionality on its BlackBerry devices.
Google later ...
