Posts by author
Janet Fricker
Ovarian cancer population screening study signals need for additional biomarkers
Annual screening for ovarian cancer detects cancer earlier but does not save lives, concludes the largest ovarian cancer screening trial up to now. On the basis of the UK study, published in The Lancet (13th May 2021), general population screening…
Study suggests tackling loneliness could help reduce cancer in middle-aged men
Loneliness among middle-aged men is associated with increased risks of developing cancer. The longitudinal Finnish study, published in the May issue of Psychiatry Research, additionally found mortality was higher among male cancer patients who were unmarried, widowed or divorced than…
Drug repurposing approaches offer hope for squamous cell carcinoma and Alzheimer’s disease
Two recent publications highlight the growing interest of drug repurposing in oncology. A study in Cancer Prevention Research (published online 12 April) shows how dopamine can stop the development and progression of ultraviolet B (UVB)-induced precancerous squamous skin cancers; while…
Prostate cancer: new leads for deterring progression
Future prospects for tackling aggressive prostate cancer emerged from two presentations at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual meeting, held virtually in mid-April. One identified how the risk of prostate cancer progressing to lethal disease might be mitigated by…
Immunotherapy plus chemo: benefits in lung cancer neoadjuvant treatment
Adding a check point inhibitor to chemotherapy as neoadjuvant treatment for resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) produced significant improvements of pathological complete response (pCR) in comparison to chemotherapy alone. The CheckMate-816 study, presented at the American Association for Cancer…
Machine learning holds key to personalised cancer drugs
Researchers have developed a machine learning (ML) algorithm that can be used to rank the effectiveness of different drugs in reducing cancer cell growth for individual patients. In Nature Communications (25 March 2021), the UK investigators report the feasibility of…
Updated MINDACT results reveal chemotherapy benefit in some breast cancers varies by age
Updated results of the MINDACT trial confirm that women with early-stage breast cancer, who were assessed to be at high clinical but low genomic risk for recurrence, and did not receive chemotherapy, continue to have excellent distant metastasis free survival…
European vision for universal access to oncology precision medicine biomarker tests
Current access to high quality oncology biomarker testing across Europe is inconsistent and contributes to health inequalities. To address barriers to biomarker testing, the ‘Unlocking the potential of precision medicine in Europe’ report (published February 23 2021) proposes 12 policy…
EC probe sets precedent for cancer drug price reduction
The European Commission (EC) has made commitments offered by Aspen Pharmacare Holding, to reduce prices for six critical cancer medicines by around two thirds, legally binding. In the acceptance agreement (10 February) Aspen will additionally retrospectively reimburse member states by…
Study brings mass biparametric MRI screening for prostate cancer a step closer
Using biparametric (bp) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to screen for prostate cancer identified twice as many clinically significant cancers as standard prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests. Moreover, the UK study, reported in JAMA Oncology (11 February), found bpMRI improved detection of…