Cancer Treatment

The use of mouse models is an essential part of the drug development process. Much has been learned about the human cancer condition, and many drugs have been developed to treat cancer through testing with mice. However, the results of mouse studies should be treated with caution, and conclusions not drawn until human clinical trials are completed.

Nov 1, 2005 - David Olle

constituents. Cancer stimulates autoantibody production due to the presence of unusual proteins or excessive quantities of normal proteins. Due to the great sensitivity of the immune response, researchers are actively engaged in the discovery of autoantibodies as detection tools for cancers.

Sep 30, 2005 - David Olle

Cancer is largely a disease of older people. As a person ages, molecular, cellular, and physiological changes in the body influence the development of cancer. These factors also influence responses to treatment. Sociological factors also influence decisions to treat the older patient.

Aug 30, 2005 - David Olle

The regrowth of cancer cells following radiation or chemotherapy is a major cause of treatment failure. Treatments based on modifying the dose or schedule of treatment as well as the use of cytostatic molecular-targeting agent hold promise to overcome this process.

Jul 30, 2005 - David Olle

Tumors are notable for having a vascular system that has physical abnormalities as well as being highly active compared with a normal vascular system. Researchers are taking advantages of these differences to develop drugs that disrupt the functioning of the tumor vascular system leading to starvation and death of the tumor.

Jun 29, 2005 - David Olle

Indirubin is the active ingredient in a Chinese herbal medicine used to treat chronic myelocytic leukemia. Researchers have determined how this compound and its derivatives exert their effects against various cancers.

May 30, 2005 - David Olle

Cancer stem cells constitute only a very small portion of tumors yet play a key role in the proliferation of cancer. Cancer stem cells may be inherently resistant to chemotherapeutic drugs. Cancers that result from chronic tissue injury may be due to excessive activation of stem cells.

May 4, 2005 - David Olle

Screening tests for colorectal cancer seek to detect the cancer while it is at a stage where it is still very treatable. New procedures have been developed that are highly accurate but less invasive than procedures presently in use.

Mar 31, 2005 - David Olle

Helicobacter pylori infection in the stomach is a primary cause of ulcers and has been implicated in the development of gastric cancer. Conversely, new studies indicate that eradication of the bacterium may increase the risk for esophageal cancer.

Feb 26, 2005 - David Olle

Epidermal growth factor receptors are found in the cell membranes. When activated, these receptors initiate a signaling process that regulates cell growth. Since many cancers have excessive activation of these receptors, drugs have been developed to inhibit their functioning.

Feb 4, 2005 - David Olle

The traditional cancer therapies of radiation, chemotherapy and surgery can have permanent adverse effects on the patient. The scientific community is now aware of these problems, and has published a large body of studies on the subject. An ongoing study of cancer survivors seeks to establish programs for the prevention and early detection of long-term effects of cancer treatments.

Dec 29, 2004 - David Olle

Cancer treatment is often handicapped by poor delivery of chemotherapeutic drugs to the tumors. Using agents to lower tumor interstitial fluid pressure concomitantly with the drugs can improve patient outcome.

Nov 30, 2004 - David Olle

The p53 gene performs an essential function in its normal role as a tumor suppressor. However, it is found in a mutated form in over half of all types of cancers. A fuller understanding of p53’s activities can lead to novel approaches to cancer treatment.

Nov 4, 2004 - David Olle

Great advances in radiation oncology have been made in recent years. This cancer treatment is now more effective and less harmful than in previous years.

Sep 30, 2004 - David Olle

Recent studies have shown conclusively the influence of excess body weight on the increased risk of death from a large variety of cancers.

Aug 31, 2004 - David Olle

Anemia is a common occurrence in cancer patients, and can be due to the cancer condition itself, or because of treatments for the disease. Treating the anemia can have a beneficial effect on cancer outcome.

Jul 31, 2004 - David Olle

The development of vaccines to fight cancers is an attractive concept, since it is viewed as a natural process. Although the field has been marked with dismal failures, increased understanding of the immune process has led to newer, potentially more effective vaccines.

Jun 30, 2004 - David Olle

. Proteomics is the study of all the proteins expressed by a given cell, tissue, or organism at a given time or condition. Recent advances in analytical techniques are greatly enhancing the value of proteomics in cancer diagnosis

May 31, 2004 - David Olle

Thalidomide has undergone a remarkable transformation from a notorious cause of birth defects to a potent treatment for many cancers as well as other diseases.

Apr 30, 2004 - David Olle

Robustness is the ability of cancers to adapt to changes in its environment and is a major cause of treatment failures. Viewing cancer as a robust system provides a more logical framework for the development of cancer therapies.

Mar 30, 2004 - David Olle

Activation of STAT proteins by cancer cells has been shown to be an essential feature of cancer progression. A further understanding of the process can lead to novel methods of cancer therapy.

Feb 29, 2004 - David Olle

Effective cancer pain management requires a combination of pharmaceutical treatments and the assessment and treatment of psychosocial factors affecting the patient.

Jan 30, 2004 - David Olle

The use of live bacteria for the treatment of cancer has a long history, but problems with toxicity have limited its value in medicine. The field has recently been revitalized with the introduction of genetically modified bacteria, as well as the use of isolated toxins and proteins from the bacteria. These bacterial components are being studied individually and in combination with chemotherapeutic drugs in the treatment of cancer.

Dec 29, 2003 - David Olle

Phytochemicals are plant chemicals that are not nutrients but have been shown to be active in prevention of diseases. This article focuses on their roles in cancer prevention.

Nov 29, 2003 - David Olle

Medical marijuana is a highly contentious subject, and laws greatly restrict its use in patients. However, it has proven benefits in palliative care, and research is showing that it has great potential as an anticancer agent.

Oct 31, 2003 - David Olle

The association between long-term symptoms of acid reflux (heartburn) and the development of esophageal adenocarcinoma is the focus of this article. Adenocarcinoma is a predominant form of esophageal cancer involving glandular cells of the lower esophagus.

Sep 29, 2003 - David Olle

Although there are many causes of colon cancer, this article focuses on the role of calcium, vitamin D and folic acid in the prevention of this disease.

Aug 31, 2003 - David Olle

Proteasomes are enzyme complexes responsible for the breakdown of regulatory proteins in the cell. These regulatory proteins are essential for the growth, survival and spread of cancer cells, so the proteasome is an attractive target for the development of new cancer drugs called proteasome inhibitors.

Jul 30, 2003 - David Olle

The press has recently given a lot of prominence to the results of a large clinical study that showed that the use of estrogen and progestin in post-menopausal women results in an increased risk for breast cancer. This report discusses the background of the study and its conclusions.

Jun 30, 2003 - David Olle

The body utilizes tumor-suppressor proteins to inhibit cancer formation. Although this action would seem to increase longevity, and in many cases it does, paradoxically there are situations in which it may accelerate the ageing process.

Jun 1, 2003 - David Olle

The media is replete with stories of new cancer therapies coming out of the lab that have high promise. All too often, these drugs fail when they enter clinical trials. This article will describe a few reasons for this phenomenon.

Apr 28, 2003 - David Olle

Photodynamic therapy is a non-invasive treatment for cancer that involves the administration of a photosensitive drug to the patient, followed by the application of laser light to the tumor. This type of therapy has been most effective in the treatment of epithelial linings of the body, including the throat, esophagus, bronchi of the lungs, skin and the bladder.

Mar 24, 2003 - David Olle

Hypoxia is the deficiency of oxygen frequently found in tumors, and is a frequent cause for treatment failures with radiation and chemotherapy. New treatments under development are more effective against the hypoxic cell.

Feb 27, 2003 - David Olle

Evidence is emerging that the loss of function of metastasis suppressor genes is an important factor in the development of metastasis (the spread of cancer from a primary site). Developing drugs that restore metastatic suppressor gene expression represents a new therapeutic approach to cancer treatment.

Jan 29, 2003 - David Olle

Signal transduction is any biochemical communication from one part of a cell to another in order to initiate processes such as growth or cell division. Since signal transduction is over stimulated in many cancers, the development of inhibitors of the process represents promising new therapies.

Dec 28, 2002 - David Olle

Cachexia is the progressive loss in body weight that occurs in many patients with advanced cancer. Although controlling cachexia will not cure the cancer, it can be very beneficial in ameliorating the morbidity and high mortality seen in the patients.

Nov 29, 2002 - David Olle

Angiogenesis inhibitors have shown mixed results in initial clinical trials. However, emerging knowledge of their actions is leading to broad applications in cancer treatment.

Oct 28, 2002 - David Olle

The role of nutrient deficiencies in the development of cancer is complex and can be controversial. Vitamin and trace mineral deficiencies can cause cancer by DNA damage.

Sep 29, 2002 - David Olle

The main cause of treatment failure and death in cancer patients is metastasis, the spread of the tumor from a primary site to new tumors in distant organs. A more detailed understanding of the metastatic process is providing researchers with the means to develop more effective treatments.

Aug 28, 2002 - David Olle

Chemoprevention is the use of natural or synthetic compounds to reverse, suppress or prevent the progression of cancer from its early stages to invasive cancer. This article describes the latest developments in the field, as well as controversies regarding the use of chemoprevention.

Jul 31, 2002 - David Olle

Cancer cells have a high affinity for the vitamin folic acid in order to grow and divide. esearchers have taken advantage of this haracteristic to develop highly targeted cancer treatnments.

Jun 28, 2002 - David Olle

Psychotherapy treats the patient’s emotional and mental states as they relate to the cancer condition. Although psychotherapy can be very beneficial to the cancer patient, can it improve cancer survival?

May 31, 2002 - David Olle

Free radicals are a chemical species characterized by unpaired electrons. Since free radicals are very unstable and highly reactive, they are very damaging to cellular structures. Researchers are using these very characteristics of free radicals as weapons against cancer.

Apr 29, 2002 - David Olle

Cancer screening procedures developed in response to the need for an early diagnosis of cancer when treatment methods are more successful. This article provides current recommendations for screening.

Mar 28, 2002 - David Olle

Natural products continue to perform an essential role in the search for new cancer drug treatments. These products often serve as a starting point for researchers in pharmaceutical and biotech companies in preparing improved synthetic compounds.

Feb 28, 2002 - David Olle

Plants contain many active compounds that have the potential to treat cancer conditions. This article discusses the scientific methods used to isolate, modify and evaluate these compounds.

Jan 28, 2002 - David Olle

Pharmacogenetics is the study of how genetic variations affect drug response.Knowledge of these variations, termed polymorphisms, can lead to individualized treatments of patients that are more effective with less adverse side effects than current methods.

Dec 24, 2001 - David Olle

Oncolytic viruses are used to preferentially infect and kill cancer cells, while not harming normal tissues. Recent advances in virology and molecular biology have revitalized the field which now holds great promise.

Nov 29, 2001 - David Olle

This article provides an update on the field of cancer gene therapy, particularly with regard to the capability of infecting cancer cells selectively.

Oct 30, 2001 - David Olle

The completion of the human genome project has provided the means for a vastly improved understanding of our genes and their location in the chromosomes. How will this aid in cancer research

Sep 28, 2001 - David Olle

This article describes the latest research in the develpment of drugs to overcome resistance to anticancer drugs

Aug 31, 2001 - David Olle

The development of resistance to anticancer drugs is a major failure in cancer therapies. This article examines the reasons for this phenomenon.,The development of resistance to anticancer drugs is a major failure in cancer therapies. This article examines the reasons for this phenomenon.

Jul 31, 2001 - David Olle

The COX-2 Inhibitors werer developed as a new generation of drugs for the treatment of arthritis. Fortunately, researchers have found that they also appear to have beneficial effects for the preventin and treatment of cancers.,The COX-2 Inhibitors werer developed as a new generation of drugs for the treatment of arthritis. Fortunately, researchers have found that they also appear to have beneficial effects for the preventin and treatment of cancers.

Jul 1, 2001 - David Olle

Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that is becoming much more common. This article provides the latest developments in the treatment of this all too often deadly disease.

Jun 1, 2001 - David Olle

Estrogen hormone is a primary stimulus for the growth of breast cancers.This article provides a background and the latest developments in drugs that inhibit the action of estrogen.

May 1, 2001 - David Olle

Apoptosis is programmed cell death in which damaged or defective cells commit suicide for the benefit of the body as a whole. This article provides a description of the process, how it fails to take place in cancer cells, and the latest research aimed in activating apoptosis to treat cancer.

Apr 11, 2001 - David Olle

The cell cycle is a carefully choreographed series of events that lead to cell division. In cancer, a mutated gene results in the loss of normal control over this process, leading to uncontrolled cell division. this article focuses on one of the principal players in this process, the ras protein. A mutation i the ras gene leads to about 30% of all cancers.

Mar 13, 2001 - David Olle

Antisense therapy is a novel new means of drug action. Antisense is a short section of nucleic acid (an "oligonucleotide")that is complimentary in structure to a cancer gene or its RNA transcript.Antisense combines with the cancer gene and thereby prevents the formation of a protein that is usually involved in runaway cell division.

Feb 13, 2001 - David Olle

This article concludes an introduction to cancer gene therapy. There are three broad categories for applying gene therapy to cancer treatment: (1)restoring proper gene function, (2)stimulating the body's immune system to destroy the cancer, and (3)introduce a gene that converts an inactive drug into a toxic drug.

Feb 6, 2001 - David Olle

Gene therapy is much in the news today. This article describes the principles behind the technology, and the criteria that must be satisfied in order for gene therapy to be successfully applied to the treatment of cancer. One of the major challenges facing the researcher is to find an effective delivery vehicle; therefore, I have presented the most common methods.

Jan 30, 2001 - David Olle

There has been a recent upsurge of research effort toward developing cancer vaccines.This article describes the rationale behind cancer vaccines, the types of vaccines under development, and some of the problems that have to be overcome before they can be successfully used.

Jan 23, 2001 - David Olle

Twenty years after the development of monoclonal antibodies they are finally proving their worth in cancer treatment. This article describes their use in treating non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and breast cancer. I also describe their evolution from mouse antibodies to fully human antibodies.

Jan 16, 2001 - David Olle

This conclusion to an introduction to immunology describes the functioning of the various components of the immune system and how they are interrelated.

Jan 2, 2001 - David Olle

Treatment of cancer by activating an immune response in the body holds intriguing possibilities.This article (and a following one next week) provides a brief discussion of immunology that will serve as a background to descriptions of recent progress in the field.

Dec 26, 2000 - David Olle

A new method of cancer classification and diagnosis is evolving based on the use of DNA microarrays.It gets to the heart of the causes of cancer by detecting the responsible defective genes.

Dec 19, 2000 - David Olle

The enzyme telomerase has been found to be active in almost 90% of all cancers. This article describes how telomerase permits cancer cells to continue to divide and multiply, and efforts to develop telomerase inhibitors that promise to halt its progress.

Dec 12, 2000 - David Olle

This article describes the process of angiogenesis and how it relates to cancer. The development of angiogenesis inhibitors that promise to limit the growth of tumors is then described.

Nov 12, 2000 - David Olle