Category Archives: Cancer Research

Targeting CD44s May Make Glioblastoma More Sensitive To Clinical Treatment

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Chonghui Cheng, M.D., Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Molecular & Human Genetics Lester & Sue Smith Breast Center Baylor College of Medicine Houston, TX77030

Dr. Cheng

Chonghui Cheng, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Molecular & Human Genetics
Lester & Sue Smith Breast Center
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX77030

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Understanding the mechanisms that give cancer cells the ability to survive and grow opens the possibility of developing improved treatments to control or cure disease. In the case of glioblastoma multiforme, the deadliest type of brain cancer, abnormal EGFR signaling is frequently observed.

Treatment with the EGFR inhibitor erlotinib attempts to kill cancer cells. However, the clinical benefit of treatment with this and other EGFR inhibitors has been limited by the development of drug resistance.

Scientists at Baylor College of Medicine discovered that the molecule CD44s seems to give cancer cells a survival advantage. Eliminating this advantage by reducing the amount of CD44s resulted in cancer cells being more sensitive to the deadly effects of the drug erlotinib.

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Study Reports Hair Repigmentation During Immunotherapy For Lung Cancer

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Noelia Rivera MD
Dermatologist
Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: In the last few years some new therapies targeting immune checkpoints have been developed. The programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) are immune checkpoints that prevent the immune system to act against own tissues. By blocking these mediators it is possible to prevent tumors to escape from the immune system.

About half of the patients receiving these therapies will develop mild to moderate cutaneous adverse events. In the pre-authorization studies for malignant melanoma these include rash, vitiligo, and pruritus. “Rash” has commonly been reported as an adverse event in many oncologic trials evaluating the drugs, without providing further information about the clinical or histological details. Lately, lichenoid eruptions associated to these therapies have been reported and it suggests that an important percentage of these reactions present lichenoid histological features.

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Lithium May Reduce Melanoma Risk and Mortality

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Maryam M. Asgari, MD, MPH Department of Dermatology Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Population Medicine Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland 

Dr. Asgari

Maryam M. Asgari, MD, MPH
Department of Dermatology
Massachusetts General Hospital,
Department of Population Medicine
Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente
Northern California, Oakland 

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response:  Laboratory studies show lithium, an activator of  the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway, slows melanoma progression, but no published epidemiologic studies have explored this association. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of adult white Kaiser Permanente Northern California members (n=2,213,848) from 1997-2012 to examine the association between lithium use and melanoma risk.

Our main finding is that lithium-exposed individuals had a reduced incidence of melanoma, did not develop very thick tumors (> 4 mm Breslow depth) or extensive disease at presentation, and had decreased melanoma-specific mortality compared to unexposed individuals suggesting a possible role for lithium in altering melanoma risk.

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Higher HIV Viral Loads Linked to Increased Squamous Cell Cancers of Skin

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Maryam M. Asgari, MD, MPH Department of Dermatology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Population Medicine Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland

Dr. Asgari

Maryam M. Asgari, MD, MPH
Department of Dermatology
Massachusetts General Hospital,
Department of Population Medicine
Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente
Northern California, Oakland

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Nonmelanoma skin cancer – defined as basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) – is a common malignant condition, affecting more than 2 million Americans every year. BCCs are more common than SCCs among individuals with healthy immune systems, while SCCs are more predominate than BCCs among people who are immunocompromised.

We examined how laboratory markers used to evaluate HIV disease progression may be associated with subsequent nonmelanoma skin cancer risk in white patients previously diagnosed with at least one such cancer from 1996 to 2008.  We measured CD4 count, viral load and subsequent nonmelanoma skin cancer. The study included 455 participants with HIV and 1,952 without HIV. All were members of the Kaiser Permanente Northern California health care plan.

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Bacteria Actively Drive Development of Colorectal Cancer

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr.Yi Xu PhD
Center for Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases
Institute of Biosciences and Technology
Department of Microbiology and Microbial Genetics,
University of Texas Health Science Center
Texas A&M Health Science Center
College Station, Texas

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Colorectal cancer is fairly treatable when caught early with regular screenings, but it is still the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in American men and the third-leading cause in women. Researchers at Texas A&M have found that a subspecies of the bacterium Streptococcus gallolyticus appears to actively promote the development of colorectal cancer, which could lead to potential treatment strategies. Their findings are published in the journal PLOS Pathogens.

Scientists have known for some time that people infected with S. gallolyticus are more likely to have colorectal cancer. “This association was well established in the clinical literature,” said Yi Xu, PhD, associate professor at the Texas A&M Institute of Biosciences and Technology and principal investigator of the study. However, it was unclear if that relationship was cause or effect—that the bacteria promote cancer development—or if S. gallolyticus simply grows easily in the environment that the tumor cells provide.  Continue reading →

20 Year Follow-Up of Surgery vs Active Surveillance for Early Prostate Cancer

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Timothy Wilt, MD MPH
Core Investigator: Minneapolis VA Center for Chronic Disease Outcomes Research
Staff Physician: Section of General Internal Medicine, Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Professor: Medicine, University of Minnesota School of Medicine 

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Prostate cancer is common and potentially serious. However, the comparative benefits and harms of surgery versus observation in men with localized prostate cancer are not known.

After nearly 20 years, surgery did not significantly reduce all-cause or prostate cancer mortality compared to observation, particularly in men with low risk disease. Surgery was associated with more harms than observation, causing complications within 30 days in about 20% of men and large long term increases in urinary incontinence, sexual dysfunction and dissatisfaction, as well as treatment related bother and reductions in daily functioning.

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Phase III Study of Stivarga (Regorafenib) For Progressed Hepatocellular Carcinoma

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Jordi Bruix, MD Professor of Medicine University of Barcelona Director of the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) Group Liver Unit Hospital Clinic of Barcelona

Dr. Bruix

Dr. Jordi Bruix, MD
Professor of Medicine
University of Barcelona
Director of the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) Group Liver Unit
Hospital Clinic of Barcelona

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: The RESORCE Phase III pivotal trial is an international, multicenter, placebo-controlled trial which investigated the efficacy of Stivarga (regorafenib) in adults with Child-Pugh A and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer Stage Category B or C hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who had documented disease progression following first-line treatment with Nexavar (sorafenib).

Trial participants were administered a daily oral 160mg dose (three weeks on/ one week off) of regorafenib plus best supportive care (BSC), or placebo plus BSC.

Results from the trial demonstrated that participants treated with regorafenib experienced a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in the study’s primary endpoint—overall survival (OS). Participants treated with regorafenib demonstrated a median overall survival of 10.6 months vs. 7.8 months with placebo.

At ASCO 2017, an exploratory analysis evaluated the impact of baseline alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and c-Met as predictors of poor prognosis in patients enrolled in the RESORCE trial (Abstract #4078).

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Overweight, Tall Men Have Greater Risk of Aggressive Prostate Cancer

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Aurora Perez-Cornago, PhD Cancer Epidemiology Unit Nuffield Department of Population Health University of Oxford

Dr. Perez-Cornago

Aurora Perez-Cornago, PhD
Cancer Epidemiology Unit
Nuffield Department of Population Health
University of Oxford

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Greater height and adiposity have been suggested as possible prostate cancer risk factors, but these associations are not clear, probably
because most previous studies have not looked separately at different tumour subtypes.

For this reason, we wanted to look at these associations splitting tumours into subtypes according to tumour stage and histological grade, looking as well at death from prostate cancer.

We found a marked difference in risks looking at low and high risk tumours. Taller men and men with greater adiposity had an elevated of high-grade prostate cancer and prostate cancer death.

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Cancer Death Rates Higher in Rural America

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Lisa C. Richardson, MD, MPH, Oncologist Director,Division of Cancer Prevention and Control CDC

Dr. Richardson

Lisa C. Richardson, MD, MPH, Oncologist
Director,Division of Cancer Prevention and Control
CDC

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: This MMWR report is the first complete description of cancer incidence and mortality comparing rural and urban America.  From previous reports we know that rural residents are more likely to be older, have more comorbid conditions and participate in high risk behaviors that can lead to cancer. CDC researchers were interested in how these factors were related to new cancers and cancer deaths in rural counties compared to metropolitan counties.

Researchers found that rates of new cases for lung cancer, colorectal cancer, and cervical cancer were higher in rural America. In contrast, rural areas were found to have lower rates of new cancers of the female breast, and prostate. Rural counties had higher death rates from lung, colorectal, prostate, and cervical cancers.

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Clinical Perineural Invasion of Cutaneous SCC May Warrant Adjuvant Treatment

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Chrysalyne D. Schmults, MD, MSCE
Associate Professor of Dermatology, Harvard Medical School
Director, Mohs and Dermatologic Surgery Center and
Mr. Pritesh S. Karia, MPH
Department of Epidemiology
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland

Department of Dermatology
Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital
Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130-3446 

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Perineural nerve invasion (PNI) is a well-recognized risk factor for poor prognosis in patients with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC). Most cases of CSCC with PNI are identified on histologic examination at the time of surgery and the patient has no clinical symptoms or radiologic evidence of PNI. These cases are classified as incidental PNI (IPNI). However, some patients with PNI present with clinical symptoms and/or radiologic evidence of PNI. These cases are classified as clinical PNI (CPNI). A few studies have shown differences in disease-related outcomes between CSCC patients with IPNI and CPNI but consensus regarding adjuvant treatment and detailed guidelines on follow-up schedules have not yet materialized.

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