We tend to think of viruses as disease harbingers. Oncology researchers have found however that some viruses can be modified in the laboratory to infect and kill Cancer tumour cells while not harming healthy cells. A small but growing number of patients are benefiting from this new-targeted but presently exceedingly expensive viral treatment approach. After…
A recent pan-cancer study in USA has found that several cancer types are genetically different in children and adults. The paediatric study, led by Jinghui Zhang, Ph.D., at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, analysed samples from nearly 1,700 patients, aged 20 or younger, looking at all non-inherited, or somatic, genetic alterations. Adult patients in…
Following news of a phase 3 trial of AstraZeneca’s experimental drug (In The News 23.03.18), we are notified of a new phase 1 clinical trial being conducted at Bethesda Hospital, Maryland, for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) treatment. It will use a double-barrelled approach that targets two proteins found on the surface of the cancer cells.…
UK Cancer survival rates lag behind those in the rest of Western Europe. The primary reason for this is simple; cancer diagnosis is often too late to save the patient. This lamentable state of affairs is all too frequently met with the government’s complacent anodyne response that UK cancer survival rates are rising, and more…