It is still difficult to gauge the probability that a low-risk prostate cancer patient may be upgraded to a higher prostate cancer stage. Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have now determined that smaller prostates were more likely to evolve into more serious, aggressive disease.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the approval of vismodegib (Erivedge), for the treatment of advanced basal cell carcinoma, the most common type of skin cancer, for patients who are not eligible for surgery or radiation, and for metastatic disease.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the angiogenesis blocker axitinib (Inlyta), a twice daily oral drug, as a second-line treatment for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.

Metastatic melanomas that harbor the V600E mutation in the BRAF gene respond rapidly to vemurafenib (Zelboraf), the BRAF V600E inhibitor. But While vemurafenib results in a response in about 80% of melanoma patients, the clinical response among CRC patients is not greater than 5%.

A study published earlier this month identifies specific colorectal tumors that are less responsive to chemotherapy. Researchers at the University of Magdeburg show that the hypermethylation of the transcription factor AP-2 epsilon (TFAP2E) gene results in lower expression of the TFAP2E protein and upregulation of the DKK4 gene, a gene which has been previously associated with resistance to the chemotherapy fluorouracil.

Breast cancer survivorship continues to rise, but the long-lasting psychosocial and quality-of-life changes that occur after treatment need to be studied, as treatment outcomes can lead to negative side effects that outlast the treatment.

In a rare case where the side effect of a cancer treatment can be explained through molecular studies, researchers have identified the reason behind the frequent skin lesion side effect among metastatic melanoma patients that take the newly approved drug vemurafenib.

A new study has made a step forward toward better characterization of sporadic ovarian tumors by identifying their DNA repair protein expression profile.

Researchers in Sweden who analyzed several prospective studies found an increased risk of pancreatic cancer associated with processed meat consumption. They also found that eating red meat is linked to pancreatic cancer among men.

The results of the 2-year follow-up of the dasatinib DASISION phase III trial show the continued superiority of the drug compared to imatinib. The results provide further support for treatment of first-line chronic phase chronic myeloid leukemia patients that harbor the Philadelphia chromosome.

A large cohort study shows that women on antiestrogen therapy have a lower risk of melanoma. In a study of 7360 women diagnosed with breast cancer between 1980 and 2005, 54% were given supplemental antiestrogen therapy. The rate of cutaneous melanoma was 60% higher for those women not taking antiestrogen supplements compared with the expected rate of melanoma incidence based on age and other factors.

Inherited mutations in the ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) gene increase the odds of developing pancreatic cancer according to a new study. While there is predisposition for pancreatic cancer with up to 10% of cases occurring among families with a history of the disease, the genetic basis for this had not been previously discovered.

A new finding suggests that inhibiting the cytokine interleukin-17A, produced by inflammatory cells of the immune system, may be a novel approach in the treatment of lung tumors.

A study has identified a gene fusion from a never-smoker lung cancer patient that may act as a driver in a subset of lung cancer cases. The results suggest that the newly identified fusion is not that rare and that the mutation exists in primary lung adenocarcinomas.

A study published in the journal Cancer shows that breast cancer survivors can experience problems with specific mental abilities up to several years after treatment.

Researchers from Wellspring, a Canadian nonprofit organization that supports and educates people with cancer, together with a team of patient-support consultants, have developed a 1-day program that appears to have reduced emotional exhaustion and burnout in oncology nurses.

Epidemiologist Jack Cuzick, PhD, and colleagues, writing in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in April, concluded that “tamoxifen-induced reductions in breast density can be used to identify women who will benefit the most from prophylactic treatment with this drug.”

A team of researchers from the University of Connecticut at Storrs and the National Cancer Institute, analyzing US national health data on more than 4,000 racially diverse adults aged 75 years and older, has concluded that despite “ambiguity of recommendations for this group,” cancer screening rates are high in this population.

The results of a study presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) prompted enough controversy to warrant a statement from 3 major medical societies and an expert panel teleconference on December 14, 2011 to discuss the analysis of data presented by the MD Anderson Cancer Center physicians.

Results of the phase III SWOG S0016 trial comparing 2 chemotherapy regimens for follicular lymphoma (FL), presented this week at ASH, show no statistically significant differences in either progression-free survival (PFS) or overall survival. Both regimens produced “excellent” results, according to the presenter.