Delays in cancer diagnosis for children remain poorly understood
Though delays in the diagnosis of cancer in children are short and attributable to clinical presentation and healthcare system complexity, the impact of such delays on prognosis remains unclear, according to a new study. Published in the August 15, 2007 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, a review of the published literature found that delays could be generally attributed to gatekeeper-type healthcare systems, clinical presentation and stage of disease, as well as parent/patient factors. The study concludes that further research should focus on understanding the impact of delays in diagnosis on morbidity and mortality in children with cancer.
Pediatric cancers, such as leukemia and brain tumors, are rare, but in some countries are the leading cause of death in children from birth to 15 years old. In the U.S., almost 10,000 children are diagnosed with cancer annually.
Jefferson oncologists show breast cancers to be more aggressive in African-American women
A study of more than 2,200 women at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson in Philadelphia shows that African American women have more advanced breast cancer at the time of diagnosis than Caucasian women. In addition, African American women tend to have breast cancer tumor types that are more aggressive and have poorer prognoses. The findings, the researchers say, are in line with other recent studies and provide more powerful evidence of the continuing need for early breast cancer screening for African American women and the development of individual treatment strategies.
The research was led by Edith P. Mitchell, M.D., clinical professor of medicine and medical oncology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and Gloria Morris, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of medical oncology at Jefferson Medical College.
Discovery about Obesity Drug Helping Scientists Develop New Cancer Treatments
Based on their surprising discovery that an obesity drug can kill cancer cells, scientists at Wake Forest University School of Medicine have made a new finding about the drug’s effects and are working to design more potent cancer treatments.
Published online today in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, the study is the first to report how the drug orlistat (Xenical® or Alli®) binds and interacts with a protein found in tumor cells. The drug blocks the protein’s function and causes cell death.
