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Scientists have overcome a major impediment to the development of effective stem cell therapies by studying mice that lack CD47, a protein found on the surface of both healthy and cancer cells. Researchers at the National Cancer Institute discovered that cells obtained from the lungs of CD47-deficient mice, but not from ordinary mice that have the CD47 gene, multiplied in a culture dish and spontaneously converted into stem cells.

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Patients with a type of cancer known as primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma who received infusions of chemotherapy, but who did not have radiation therapy to an area of the thorax known as the mediastinum, had excellent outcomes, according to clinical trial results. Until now, most standard treatment approaches for patients with this type of lymphoma have included radiation therapy to the mediastinum. However, mediastinal radiation is associated with substantial long-term toxic side effects.

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More often than not, cancer immunotherapies that work in adults are used in modified ways in children. Seldom are new therapies developed just for children, primarily because of the small number of pediatric patients relative to the adult cancer patient population. We take a look in this article at how we adapting immunotherapies to address childhood cancers.

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A growing body of research indicates that understanding and effectively dealing with the appearance changes that occur during cancer treatment may help patients better cope with their disease.

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For some women with breast cancer, taking adjuvant tamoxifen (Nolvadex) for 10 years after primary treatment leads to a greater reduction in breast cancer recurrences and deaths than taking the drug for only 5 years, according to the results of a large international clinical trial.

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Newly identified mutations in a gene that makes cells immortal appear to play a pivotal role in three of the most common types of brain tumors, as well as cancers of the liver, tongue and urinary tract, according to research led by Duke Cancer Institute.

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NCI scientists have developed a new paradigm to assess hereditary risk prediction in common diseases, such as prostate cancer.

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The NCI has leapt aboard the open-development train. Soon, anyone in the world will be able to easily tap into and contribute to the NCI’s cancer informatics resources— and the community will determine development priorities.

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Now in its second year, the National Cancer Institute’s Provocative Questions Project challenges cancer researchers to pursue previous neglected ideas and investigate new areas that may require more in-depth study.

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Researchers are building complex mathematical models to understand cancer's evolution and how to treat it

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A University of Colorado Cancer Center review published in this month’s issue of the journal Current Opinion in Gastroenterology shows that resistant starch also helps the body resist colorectal cancer through mechanisms including killing pre-cancerous cells and reducing inflammation that can otherwise promote cancer.

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A multi-site clinical trial including the University of Colorado Cancer Center shows that the benefit of Bright IDEAS problem-solving skills training goes beyond teaching parents to navigate the complex medical, educational, and other systems that accompany a child’s diagnosis of cancer – the training also leads to durable reduction in mothers’ levels of anxiety and symptoms of posttraumatic stress, and improves overall coping with a child’s illness.

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Findings from clinical trial patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma, a common kidney cancer, show they did not have accelerated tumor growth after treatment with sunitinib, in contrast to some study results in animals.

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Patients with advanced, recurrent, or persistent cervical cancer that was not curable with standard treatment who received the drug bevacizumab (Avastin) lived 3.7 months longer than patients who did not receive the drug, according to an interim analysis of a large, randomized clinical trial.

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A University of Colorado Cancer Center review published this week in the journal Lancet Oncology describes possible long-term side-effects of new, targeted therapies in pediatric cancer patients: what we don’t know may hurt us.

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A father's obesity is one factor that may influence his children's health and potentially raise their risk for diseases like cancer, according to new research from Duke Medicine.

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A protein associated with conditions of metabolic imbalance, such as diabetes and obesity, may play a role in the development of aggressive forms of breast cancer, according to new findings by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and their colleagues.

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A pair of University of Colorado Cancer Center studies published this month show that the milk thistle extract, silibinin, kills skin cells mutated by UVA radiation and protects against damage by UVB radiation - thus protecting against UV-induced skin cancer and photo-aging.

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Patients with early stage breast cancer who were treated with lumpectomy plus radiation may have a better chance of survival compared with those who underwent mastectomy, according to Duke Medicine research.

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What cancerous conditions lead to what kinds of bacterial infections? If doctors knew, they could predict which patients would likely benefit from pre-treatment with certain kinds of antibiotics. A University of Colorado Cancer Center study shows the answer: E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae are especially prevalent in patients with lung and GI cancers, more so for Klebsiella if these patients have been treated previously with aminopenicillins.

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On a clear evening in Seattle last September, a hundred people gathered silently in the courtyard of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. The usually talkative group had just watched Bringing Light, a 3-minute documentary about a new drug that could transform the field of cancer surgery.

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Originally developed at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in 1996, Project SEARCH works with hospitals and businesses in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia to provide opportunities for young adults with disabilities to learn employability skills and gain work experience. NIH’s Clinical Research Center launched its Project SEARCH internship program in August 2010 as a pilot under the management of Denise Ford, chief of the Office of Hospitality Services. Now in its third year, the program has expanded beyond the Clinical Center, offering internships with other NIH institutes, including the National Cancer Institute.

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Dr. Susan Holbeck, Ph.D., is a biologist in the Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis at the National Cancer Institute. Her team spent two years testing all possible combinations of 100 cancer drugs currently approved by the FDA to see if any previously untested combinations are effective in certain cancers. 5,000 drug pairings were tested, totaling 300,000 experiments in all.

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In 2009, more than 30,000 people in the U.S. learned they had cancer linked to the human papillomavirus, or HPV. This virus is best known for causing cervical cancer, but it’s also the culprit behind many cancers of the mouth, throat, anus, and genitals. Unlike many forms of cancer, for which we lack the knowledge and tools to prevent, scientists have figured out how to dodge HPV-triggered cancers — by HPV vaccination. Vaccination against HPV thwarts the viruses’ spread, wrecking its ability to jump between people. Wiping out HPV could mean shutting down a big source of cancer cases — more than 3 percent of all diagnoses nationwide.

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Cancer researchers are increasingly aware that in addition to genetic mutations in a cancer itself, characteristics of the surrounding tissue can promote or suppress tumor growth. One of these important tissue characteristics is inflammation – most cancers prosper in and attach to inflamed tissue and so many cancers have developed ways to create it.

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Scientists have discovered a gene that interferes with the clearance of hepatitis C virus infection. They also identified an inherited variant within this gene, Interferon Lambda 4 (IFNL4), that predicts how people respond to treatment for hepatitis C infection.

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Have questions about the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer? We have answered some common inquiries about the report and the findings.

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The Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975–2009, shows that overall cancer death rates continued to decline in the United States among both men and women, among all major racial and ethnic groups, and for all of the most common cancer sites, including lung, colon and rectum, female breast, and prostate. However, the report also shows that death rates continued to increase during the latest time period (2000 through 2009) for melanoma of the skin (among men only) and for cancers of the liver, pancreas, and uterus. The special feature section on human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers shows that incidence rates are increasing for HPV-associated oropharyngeal and anal cancers and that vaccination coverage levels in the U.S. during 2008 and 2010 remained low among adolescent girls.

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How do viruses attach to cells? How do proteins interact and mediate infection? How do molecular machines organize themselves in healthy cells? How do they differ in diseased cells? These are the types of questions National Institutes of Health researchers ask in the recently established Living Lab for Structural Biology, questions they strive to answer through the most sophisticated of imaging techniques.

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Patients who have inherited a specific common genetic variant develop bladder cancer tumors that strongly express a protein known as prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA), which is also expressed in many pancreatic and prostate tumors, according to research at the National Institutes of Health.