Posts by author
Janet Fricker
Study highlights need to reanalyse genomics and genetics of metastatic tumours
Around one third of breast cancer patients showed molecular subtype shifts (especially involving luminal cancers) between their primary and metastatic tumours. The study, published in Nature Cancer, on December 30th, also revealed the presence of fewer immune cells in triple-negative…
Current cervical cancer screening paradigm fails older women
Nearly one in five new cervical cancers diagnosed between 2009 and 2018 were in women aged 65 years and over. The US study, published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, January 9, demonstrates that relative to younger women, those aged…
Call-to-arms for Europe to provide essential paediatric anti-cancer medicines
A European Society for Paediatric Oncology (SIOPE) project has defined 66 anticancer medicines considered essential for treatment of children with cancer. The study, published in The Lancet Oncology, 23 December 2022, represents the first pan-European effort to systematically analyse the…
Exercise-stimulated myokine production can extend survival in advanced prostate cancer
After a bout of high-intensity interval training, men with advanced prostate cancer showed acute elevations of anti-cancer myokines in their serum. The study, published in Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases, (29 November 2022), then demonstrated growth suppression of prostate cancer…
Five San Antonio take-aways to improve care of breast cancer patients
The 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, hosted in association with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), was held December 6–10, 2022. More than 8,000 researchers, clinicians, students, and patient advocates from 90 countries attended the meeting, which focused…
Repurposed drug combination reduces risk of recurrence following surgery for colorectal cancer
Pharmacological suppression of adrenergic and inflammatory signalling using readily available drugs to lower blood pressure and reduce anxiety decreased the risk of post-surgical colorectal cancer (CRC) recurrence. The pilot COMPIT study, published in the European Journal of Surgical Oncology, 6…
Aerobic activity to outcompete metastasis
Aerobic exercise can reduce the risk of developing metastatic cancer by 73%. Using both human epidemiological data and in vivo mouse models of melanoma metastasis, Israeli investigators report in Cancer Research (November 15) that high-intensity aerobic exercise increases glucose consumption…
Biological differences revealed between dense and nondense breast tissue
Postmenopausal women with dense breast tissue compared to women of the same age who do not have dense tissue demonstrate upregulation of 124 proteins which may be responsible for creating pro-tumorigenic microenvironments. The study, published in the British Journal of…
Knowing ‘functional prognosis’ helps cancer patients plan unfinished business
More cancer patients want to be informed about their future functional prognosis than their life expectancy. The Japanese survey, published in Annals of Palliative Medicine, October 28, found that almost half of patients wanted to know about their functional progress…
New target identified for preventing cachexia
Targeting a specific enzyme in muscle could help cancer patients avoid the muscle wasting condition cachexia. The study, published in PNAS (October 17), found that a previously overlooked enzyme, known as UBR2, plays a critical role in cancer patients developing…