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Oncology
Cancer costs thwart treatment for SA patents
An Eastern Cape man with a rare cancer who was due to have his last immunotherapy session this week – after an expensive battle...
Chemo-free combo leukaemia treatment hailed – phase 3 UK trial
A combination of targeted drugs, offering a chemotherapy-free approach to leukaemia, has been hailed as a milestone in cancer care by scientists after a...
Cancer’s most promising treatments constrained by lack of action
Despite some extraordinary cancer treatment innovations, some experts are baffled and frustrated by the conservative approach of pharmaceutical companies and biotech investors in taking...
Appendix cancer spikes among Gen Xers, millennials – US review
Recent data show that cancer of the appendix, while rare, has been dramatically increasing among younger generations, making it part of a troubling trend...
Older breast cancer patients using oestrogen cream lived longer – US study
American researchers have suggested that oestrogen creams may improve survival rates, despite previous fears they could stimulate cancer cell growth.
This after their recent study...
US study supports lowering colon cancer screening age
Findings from a single-centre study in the United States has supported recommendations to lower the colorectal cancer screening age from 50 to 45, with...
Phase 3 stomach cancer treatment trial shows positive results
AstraZeneca’s immunotherapy Imfinzi can help certain patients with early-stage stomach cancer, the company has said, buoyed by the data from the results from its...
Family in battle with medical scheme to cover rare cancer drug
The family of an Eastern Cape man is squaring up to take on the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS), after an unsuccessful struggle to have...
New prostate cancer risk gene identified – US study
Scientists have recently identified MMS22L as a potential major gene associated with prostate cancer (PCa) susceptibility, with implications for both risk prediction and personalised treatment, they say.
Building on...
Exercise cuts cancer return by more than a third – CHALLENGE trial
For decades, doctors have recommended adopting a healthy lifestyle to lower the risk of developing cancer. But until now there has been little evidence...
Cancer researchers edge closer to cures, better treatment
Experts are confident that although it is unlikely that there will ever be a single cure for cancer, developments in medical science in recent...
Optimism over multiple myeloma, breast cancer breakthroughs
Two significant research developments, presented in the US last week, are being hailed as major breakthroughs in the search for cures for multiple myeloma...
Child cancer survivors have higher disease risk – US study
Although children are much more likely to survive cancer today than 50 years ago, as adults, unfortunately, many of them develop cardiovascular disease, secondary...
US cuts affect vital cervical cancer screening, research in SA
More than 1 400 cervical cancer patients in Gauteng will be transferred to already overstretched public hospitals after the abrupt closure of several cervical...
Common weed shows potential to fight cancer – SA study
South African researchers have discovered that a common weed – usually dismissed as an invasive plant – might have the potential to fight cancer,...
Donor with genetic mutation fathers 67 children; 10 have cancer
The sperm of a man carrying a rare genetic mutation linked to cancer was used to conceive scores of children across Europe, prompting calls...
US doctors’ concern over Biden's late cancer diagnosis
An announcement on Sunday that former US President Joe Biden (82) has aggressive incurable prostate cancer has raised concern among the medical fraternity, with...
FDA approves new drug for lung cancer
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new medication from biotech company AbbVie that treats adults with a type of lung cancer who...
Activists to oppose Gauteng Health's appeal on oncology ruling
SECTION27 and other health activists were disappointed that Gauteng Health had been granted leave to appeal a judgment in favour of the Cancer Alliance...
Late first birth and weight increases breast cancer risk – UK study
A British study has suggested a link between weight gain and having children later in life with a heightened risk of breast cancer, finding...
Wits study IDs breast cancer genes in black SA women
Genetic factors contribute to some 30% of breast cancer cases in SA, say leading scientists, necessitating investment in genomic research in African contexts.
Their seminal...
Weight-loss jabs could halve obesity-linked cancer risks – Israeli study
Weight-loss jabs could almost halve the risk of obesity-related cancers, a landmark study has suggested, with experts calling the findings “transformational”, and saying they...
Eating chicken may raise cancer risks – Italian study
Regularly eating chicken could double the risk of dying from gastrointestinal cancers, suggest scientists who followed the diets of nearly 5 000 people over...
More exercise advised for cancer patients – Chinese meta-analysis
Doctors should prescribe exercise to more patients who are being treated for cancer, suggest researchers who recently looked at the links between physical activity and treatments –...
Immunotherapy a safe alternative to surgery for early cancers – US trial
American researchers say their recent phase 2 trial has shown that PD-1 blockade (neoadjuvant programmed cell death 1) can safely replace surgery for many...
Gut E coli may have role in under-50s bowel cancer – global study
Researchers have suggested that childhood exposure to a toxin produced by bacteria in the bowel could be contributing to the worrying rise of colorectal...
UK radiological group calls for male nurses to do mammograms
Male health workers should be allowed to perform breast screening examinations to help relieve staff shortages, says Britain’s Society of Radiographers (SoR), which has...
Controversial Cape Town oncologist may continue to practise, rules judge
A group of cancer patients who took legal action when a private hospital terminated a 15-year relationship with a controversial oncologist has triumphed in...
CT scan cancer risk warning – US study
A group of American physicians has warned that CT scans commonly taken to help detect injury and disease may be accompanied by an alarming...
At-home prostate cancer spit test effective – UK study
British researchers have found that a new at-home spit test for prostate cancer is more accurate than current screening methods, and so effective it...
Five US nurses on same hospital floor all have brain tumours
A US nursing union is calling for further investigation after an internal probe found no environmental risks within a Boston hospital where five nurses,...
Gauteng Health appeals 'cancer backlog' court order
The Gauteng Department of Health has applied for leave to appeal an order – issued by the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) recently – compelling it...
Court orders urgent action to address Gauteng cancer treatment backlog
The unacceptable, unlawful delay in providing treatment to Gauteng cancer patients, which has resulted in some of them dying, has been slammed by the...
Pioneering project to build first cancer database in Africa
Less than 2% of human genomes analysed so far have been those of Africans, but Yemaachi Biotech’s Africa Cancer Atlas aims to fill the...
Technique helps with erectile function after prostate surgery – UK trial
A nerve-sparing technique to guide robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) for prostate cancer eased the surgery’s negative effects on erectile function, a phase 3 study...
Ovarian cancer screening test less effective for black women, review finds
A common test for ovarian cancer may be less effective on black and Native American patients, a review of more than 200 000 patients...
Male breast cancer predicted to rise in Africa – large Chinese analysis
Cases of male breast cancer (MBC) are likely to rise over the next quarter century in certain regions – including southern sub-Saharan Africa –...
Child cancer risk tied to multiple pesticide exposure – US study
In a first-of-its-kind study – undertaken in the agricultural heartland of the United States – researchers found that being exposed to multiple common pesticides...
Hope for blood test to ID 50 cancers
The makers of a blood screening test that is able to detect 50 types of cancers say it could be rolled out by the...
US university loses patent fight with SA generics company
The University of California’s (UC) governing board has suffered a legal setback in South Africa after a High Court revoked its patent over a...