Cancer News - Treatment Options

(Link to the update in the article.)

NCCN Updates Breast Cancer And Breast Cancer Risk Reduction Guidelines

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) announces important updates to the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology(TM) for Breast Cancer and Breast Cancer Risk Reduction. These changes reflect leading developments in the treatment of patients with breast cancer and represent the standard of clinical policy in oncology in both community and academic settings.

http://www.medilexicon.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=137722

New Promise For Improved Breast Cancer Treatment

ScienceDaily (Feb. 1, 2009) — Mount Sinai Hospital researchers have unveiled a new technology tool that analyzes breast cancer tumours to determine a patient's best treatment options. The tool can predict with more than 80 per cent accuracy a patient's chance of recovering from breast cancer.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090201141557.htm

Treatment Regimens Equally Effective for Larynx Cancer
Chemotherapy and radiation regimens give similar survival and larynx preservation

FRIDAY, Jan. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Sequential and alternating chemotherapy and radiation are equally effective for survival and larynx preservation in patients with larynx cancer, according to an article published in the Feb. 4 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

http://www.modernmedicine.com/modernmedicine/Pathology/Treatment-Regimen...

'Mouth swab' test for cancer clue

Scientists say they have devised a mouth swab test which could provide insight into your genetic risk of developing breast cancer.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7854072.stm

Medicare Widens Drugs It Accepts for Cancer

Medicare, with little public debate, has expanded its coverage of drugs for cancer treatments not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/health/27cancer.html?_r=2&scp=9&sq=hea...

Breast cancer chemoprevention: Medicines that reduce breast cancer risk

Preventive medications (chemoprevention) reduce breast cancer risk for women at high risk of developing the disease. Find out how these medications work plus associated side effects and health risks.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/breast-cancer/WO00092/rss=1

Older Drug Effective in Treating Pediatric Nerve Cancer

TUESDAY, Jan. 20 (HealthDay News) -- An anti-cancer drug shelved because it was thought to be too toxic may be effective in small doses against a devastating pediatric cancer, a new study found.

http://www.kpsplocal2.com/Global/story.asp?S=9704176

(Well, diagnostic rather than treatment, really.)

Diagnose skin cancer without biopsies

Biopsies may so be a thing of the past for patients with suspected skin cancers, say US researchers, who have developed a non-invasive handheld laser device they claim can identify malignant skin lesions within seconds.

http://www.6minutes.com.au/articles/z1/view.asp?id=435065

Perhaps a drug activated by light-emitting diodes can dissolve tumors.

Drugs toxic enough to kill cancer cells are toxic enough to kill healthy ones, too. How can the poison be targeted? One possibility that has long fascinated scientists is to administer a drug that becomes activated only when exposed to radiation

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/0202/044.html

Unique Surgery Creates Fully Usable Tongue Following Tongue Cancer

"Tongue reconstruction in the past would have limited a patient to a soft diet -- mostly liquids, some soft solids. At present with the tongue reconstructions that we're performing, patients are able to take a nearly full diet," says Douglas Chepeha, M.D., M.S.P.H., director of microvascular reconstructive surgery and associate professor of otolaryngology at the U-M Medical School.

Chepeha and his team have developed many of the techniques used in tongue reconstruction, including innovative patterns, much like a dress pattern, that help the surgeons determine the size and shape of the skin tissue they'll cut for transplanting. The tissue is taken from another part of the patient's body, often the forearm, so there is not a risk of rejection.

http://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,15116,00.htm?rss=y