In a proof-of-concept study performed in primates, frozen immature testicular tissue has been successfully used for the conception and birth of a baby monkey. Although human trials are needed before the technique can be approved for people, the study’s results point to potential options for preserving fertility among prepubescent boys being treated for cancer. “Showing that something works in nonhuman primates is the last and critical step to demonstrate safety and feasibility,” said Kyle Orwig, Ph.D., of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, who led the study. “This is now a very mature technology, and I believe it’s ready to…
Author: Brett Johnson
As cancer progresses, it often leads to physical disability and pain that can threaten a person’s independence and devastate their quality of life. Yet most people with advanced cancer don’t receive physical therapy or engage in exercise that can help maintain function, said Andrea Cheville, M.D., a rehabilitation physician at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. For these patients, she said, small changes in physical fitness can mean the difference between being able to live independently and losing one’s independence, and may also affect their ability to receive certain treatments. An NCI-funded clinical trial led by Dr. Cheville found that a 6-month physical rehabilitation program…
For patients with a brain tumor, the first step in treatment is often surgery to remove as much of the mass as possible. A tumor sample obtained and analyzed during surgery can help to precisely diagnose the tumor and define the margins between tumor and healthy brain tissue. However, such intraoperative pathology analysis takes time—the sample must be processed, stained, and analyzed by a pathologist while the surgeon and patient wait for the results. Now, a new study shows that a process combining an advanced imaging technology and artificial intelligence (AI) can accurately diagnose brain tumors in fewer than 3 minutes during…
Medical professionals and researchers are continuously finding incredible breakthroughs in cancer treatment. As treatment options continue to progress, Linda Giardinello founder of New York Institute of Beauty, has identified a major gap in the spa and salon industry. The New York Institute of Beauty has been training salon and spa professionals, or Cosmetologists and Estheticians, since 1998. The curriculum seemed to be all-inclusive, until a student began expressing specific interest in providing quality services specifically for oncology patients and cancer survivors. Without hesitation, Linda leapt at the opportunity to partner with Oncology Spa Solutions to ensure her students could feel confident treating any…
Pancreatic cancer made headlines throughout 2019 after both Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek and U.S. Congressman John Lewis were diagnosed with the devastating illness. Although curable when caught early, pancreatic cancer often does not cause symptoms until the disease has reached an advanced stage and spread to other areas of the body (metastasized), making treatment more challenging. However, a new medication recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may bring hope to patients fighting this serious illness and their families. Lynparza® (Olaparib) has received approval from the FDA for use as a first-line maintenance therapy for patients diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic…
A new study in mice suggests that a biological process known as cellular senescence, which can be induced by cancer treatments, may play a role in bone loss associated with chemotherapy and radiation. Senescence occurs when a cell permanently stops dividing but does not die. Senescent cells release a variety of substances into their environments that may affect neighboring cells. “Senescent cells release many molecules,” said Sheila Stewart, Ph.D., of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, who led the study. “We found that some of the molecules released by senescent cells drive bone loss in mice receiving…
Over the course of several decades, NCI scientists laid extensive groundwork for a novel treatment that would eventually go on to become axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta), a CAR T-cell therapy for adults with lymphoma. While the therapy can lead to long-lasting remissions for some patients with very advanced cancer, it can also cause neurologic side effects such as speech problems, tremors, delirium, and seizures. Some side effects can be severe or fatal. So, in 2017, NCI researchers tweaked their original CAR T-cell design with the goal of creating a safer and more effective therapy. Now results from the first clinical trial of the remodeled CAR T cells suggest that they…
In the United States, African American men are more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer than white men, tend to be diagnosed at younger ages and with more advanced disease, and are more than twice as likely to die of the disease. The reasons for these disparities have not been clear. “There is a perception among some in the medical community that prostate cancer is inherently more aggressive among African American men, and that there’s nothing we can do about” disparities in deaths from the disease, said Brent Rose, M.D., a radiation oncologist at the University of California at San Diego.…