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ScienceBiology23andMe Gets FDA Green Light to Sell First Consumer DNA Test for Cancer Risk
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared 23andMe to sell directly to customers a DNA test for gene mutations linked to breast cancer, making it the first consumer DNA testing company to win the agency’s approval for a cancer risk screening. The new test will analyze DNA for three specific BRCA1 and BRCA2 breast … Continued
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ScienceHealthScientists Successfully Test a Vaccine in Mice That Could Prevent Many Cancers
Even under the best of circumstances, cancer treatment can be an excruciating, costly ordeal that tragically doesn’t even work sometimes. In light of that reality, scientists and doctors have long searched for a way to proactively head off the problem using a vaccine. One potential approach to a cancer vaccine, highlighted in a new study … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
New Drugs Extend Lives of Men With Resistant Form Of Prostate Cancer
As a general rule, cancer patients have to worry about the possibility that their cancer will return with a vengeance, no matter how successful their initial treatment course may have been. But some men with prostate cancer are left in an even more nerve-wracking state of uncertainty. Their cancer appears practically frozen, not spreading elsewhere … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
A Study Showing the Dangers of Hot Tea Reveals How Complex Cancer Risks Can Be
There are few better things on a blustery cold day than a spot of hot tea. But a new study published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine suggests that some people’s tea habits—in particular, those who drink and smoke regularly—might be raising their chances of developing esophageal cancer. The findings also highlight how complicated … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
Cancer Is Killing Fewer Americans, But a Racial Gap Endures
Here’s some good news, courtesy of the American Cancer Society’s annual Facts & Figures report: Fewer Americans are getting and dying from cancer, at least as of 2015, continuing a long decline seen since the early 1990s. But the report also highlights continuing racial and wealth disparities in who gets properly screened for cancer and … Continued
By Ed Cara -
Tech News
The Fascinating Link Between Gut Health and Cancer Treatment
Why do some therapies work wonders on some patients, but seem to have virtually no effect on others? Two fascinating new studies in Science shed light on one potential contributing factor in treatment outcome for cancer patients: The trillions of microrganisms that live in our guts. The makeup of a person’s microbiome, the two studies … Continued
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ScienceHealth
The FDA Is Cracking Down on Claims That Weed Cures Cancer
In the US, so far 29 states and DC have legalized medical marijuana, as modern research has suggested that weed can help treat conditions like chronic pain and the side effects of chemotherapy. Some companies, though, are abusing the growing acceptance of weed for medicinal purposes. On Wednesday, the FDA reported that it has sent … Continued
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Tech News
What Genetics Could Tell Us About How Cancer Develops
What happens when a precancerous growth turns from a benign cluster of abnormal cells to a full-blown disease? Researchers are turning to genome sequencing in an effort to find out. This month, the National Cancer Institute funded a three-year pilot project that aims to develop a “pre-cancer genome atlas” for lung, breast, prostate and pancreatic … Continued
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ScienceHealthWhen Hope Runs Out, Cancer Patients Are Making Their Own DIY Immunotherapy Treatments
Every generation has had its breakthrough that promised to, at long last, finally cure cancer, but this time around the chances of actually pulling it off are looking pretty good. Rapid advancement in fields like genetics have led to incredible success using immunotherapies to turn patients’ own bodies into cancer-fighting machines. Pharmaceutical companies, philanthropic billionaires … Continued
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ScienceHealth
Zika Virus Kills Brain Cancer Cells in Mice
The Zika virus played the role of 2016’s worst health story. At the center of that story was the virus’ heartbreaking link to microcephalic babies when it infected their pregnant mothers. But sometimes, the worst vectors can still be used for good. A team of researchers in the United States found that the Zika virus … Continued
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ScienceHealth
The FDA Just Approved the First ‘Living’ Therapy to Treat Childhood Leukemia
On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration approved a treatment that genetically modifies a patient’s own blood cells in order to attack childhood leukemia, a landmark decision opens the door for an era of FDA-sanctioned human gene modification. The treatment, called CAR-T, is made by the drug company Novartis. Doctors first harvest a patient’s white … Continued
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ScienceHealth
Alternative Medicine Doesn’t Work for Cancer Treatments
You have, as of today, a one hundred percent chance of dying. But a lot of people would like a little more time to do things, like eat interestingly-shaped pastas, or play catch with their grandchildren. That makes sense. I’d also like to do those things. But sometimes, our pursuit to eat lots of pasta … Continued
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Tech News
Did an FDA Panel Really Just Approve the First Gene Therapy Treatment?
This week marked a major milestone in medicine: On Wednesday, a Food and Drug Administration panel unanimously recommended the approval of the first CAR-T therapy, a pioneering new cancer drug from Novartis that genetically engineers a patient’s own white blood cells to recognize and attack the cancer cells invading their body. The headlines were emphatic. … Continued
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Tech NewsDisturbing New Visualization Shows Cancer Cells Coursing Through a Mouse
Biologists in Japan have a developed an innovative scanning technique that makes tissues and vital organs transparent, allowing them to track cancer as it spreads throughout the bodies and brains of mice. The new technique, described in the latest issue of Cell Reports, was developed by researchers from the University of Tokyo and the RIKEN … Continued
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Tech News
This Cancer-Causing Virus Lies Dormant for Years Before Striking
There’s no limit to viral ruthlessness. These lifeless packets of genetic code cause countless ails, often without a known cure. One such monster spends most of its time as a seemingly benign strand of DNA that could sit latent for years before striking, causing cells to turn into a rare but aggressive form of skin … Continued
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ScienceHealth
Two-Thirds of All Cancer Mutations Are Unavoidable, Scientists Claim
In a study that’s bound to attract considerable controversy, a pair of researchers are claiming that between 60 and 66 percent of all cancer-causing mutations are the result of random DNA copying errors, making them essentially unavoidable. The new research is offering important insights into how cancer emerges, and how it should be diagnosed and … Continued
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ScienceHealth
Biotech Firm Halts ‘Revolutionary’ Cancer Treatment After Patient Deaths
Following the deaths of five patients, Juno Therapeutics has decided to pull the plug on an experimental cancer treatment that boosts the power of a patient’s immune cells. The news comes just days after the company’s rival, Kite Pharma, announced its success with a similar method, showing there’s still hope for this potentially revolutionary gene … Continued
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ScienceHealth
Indoor Tanning Costs Americans a Staggering Amount in Healthcare Each Year
For years, tanning beds, booths, and sunlamps have been linked to an increased risk of skin cancer, yet the number of people using tanning devices continues to rise. An alarming new study shows that indoor tanning costs the US $343 million a year in medical bills, highlighting the severity of this growing health issue. In … Continued
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Tech News
An Innovative New Cancer Therapy Hijacks Bacteria to Fight Tumors
Researchers from South Korea have engineered a strain of bacteria that infiltrates tumors and fools the body’s immune system into attacking cancer cells. In experiments, the modified bacteria worked to reduce cancer in mice, raising hope for human trials. In a study published today in Science Translational Medicine, a research team led by biologists Joon … Continued
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Tech News
A Groundbreaking Gene-Editing Therapy Eliminated Cancer in Two Infants
Two infants diagnosed with an aggressive and previously incurable form of leukemia are now in remission, after British doctors say they cured the babies using so-called “designer cells.” It is the first time in history that cancer has been treated using genetically engineered immune cells from a donor. Details of the two cases were published … Continued