Cancer patients in Missouri, Southern Illinois and beyond will have access to a new generation of proton therapy in early 2020. Known as pencil-beam scanning, the technology delivers extremely precise treatments of proton therapy, a type of radiation therapy used to treat cancers of the head, chest, spine and other particularly sensitive areas, as well
In a recent paper published in the World Journal of Urology, Saint Louis University researchers reviewed data for patients with a rare type of bladder cancer, examining the treatments they received and the subsequent five-year-survival rates. Zachary Hamilton, M.D., assistant professor of urologic surgery at SLU and a SLUCare urologic oncologist, reports that surgery for
A large genomic analysis has linked certain DNA mutations to a high risk of relapse in estrogen receptor positive breast cancer, while other mutations were associated with better outcomes, according to researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the Baylor College of Medicine and the University of British Columbia. The knowledge could
A natural plant compound exploits a newly identified Achilles’ heel in a cancer of the eye, uveal melanoma. In human cancer cells growing in the lab, the compound shuts down the overactive signaling that drives uveal melanoma cell growth, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The study is published
People diagnosed with the aggressive brain cancer glioblastoma face a grim prognosis. Half die within 14 months of diagnosis. Even if initial treatment with surgery, radiation and chemotherapy is successful, such brain tumors typically recur, leaving patients with few options. Now, a research team at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found
Some 1.75 million new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in the U.S. this year, the National Cancer Institute estimates, and more than 600,000 people will die. But St. Louisans facing cancer often have a fighting chance nowadays, thanks to cutting-edge research and treatment pioneered at local institutions and hospitals. New insights into cancer’s genetic
A program hoping to supercharge a patient’s own immune system cells to attack and kill a treatment resistant form of prostate cancer was today awarded $3.99 million by the governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) In the U.S., prostate cancer is the second most common cause of cancer deaths in men.
Using genetic sequencing, scientists have revealed the complete DNA makeup of more than 100 aggressive prostate tumors, pinpointing important genetic errors these deadly tumors have in common. The study lays the foundation for finding new ways to treat prostate cancer, particularly for the most aggressive forms of the disease. The multicenter study, which examined the
Most people with the deadly brain cancer glioblastoma die less than 18 months after diagnosis. But a multicenter clinical trial of a personalized vaccine that targets the aggressive cancer has indicated improved survival rates for such patients. The study appears May 29 in the Journal of Translational Medicine. The phase three clinical trial included 331
The five-year survival rate for people diagnosed with the most advanced stage of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is between one and 10 percent. To address this devastating condition, the Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) today voted to invest almost $12 million in a team from UCLA that is pioneering a