Category: Cancer

Categories : Cancer General InterestTags :

One Mother Beat Blood Cancer Against the Odds. Thousands of Others Are Still Searching for Their Chance.

On By ModernMedia

As a professional photographer and mother of two young children, Claire had always been busy, but the long hours and constant fatigue felt like an occupational hazard. She never imagined that exhaustion could signal something far more serious than a demanding schedule.

Then, in January 2024, it happened: Claire blacked out at her desk while editing videos. It was her body’s final, unmistakable warning. What followed was a hospital stay, a bone marrow biopsy, and a diagnosis that would change her life forever. Claire had been diagnosed with blood cancer, specifically Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), a serious bone marrow condition that, without treatment, can be fatal.

She was just 30 years old. And she was far from alone. Blood cancer remains one of the top five causes of cancer death in South Africa. Despite being potentially curable, countless patients never find their matching donor in time. Claire was determined not to become another statistic.

A Road Full of Obstacles

Claire’s path to diagnosis was not straightforward. Doctors initially attributed her worsening symptoms to iron deficiency, leaving her untreated as her condition quietly progressed. By the time MDS was correctly identified, the only viable path forward was a stem cell transplant.

While awaiting a donor match, Claire endured bi-weekly injections to keep her body stable, a gruelling holding pattern as her family and medical team searched for hope. That hope came through DKMS Africa, which successfully identified a fully matched, unrelated donor for Claire.

The first transplant, using cells from that 100% unrelated matched donor, was performed with great hope. Unfortunately, it was not successful.

Claire’s medical team was not deterred. Turning to family, they proceeded with a haplo-identical transplant, a “half-match” procedure using stem cells donated by Claire’s brother. This second transplant was successful.

Why Every Match Still Matters

Claire’s outcome is cause for deep gratitude and genuine celebration. But her journey also carries an urgent message that must not be lost in the relief of her survival.

Haplo-identical transplants, where stem cells are donated by a family member who is only a partial genetic match rather than a full one, can offer a path forward when a fully matched donor cannot be found. However, this option is not available or ideal for everyone. Not all patients have a suitable family donor, and even when they do, the procedure carries greater medical complexity and risk than a fully matched stem cell transplant.

For most patients, a 100% match from an unrelated donor remains the gold standard: the safest and most effective option. Yet only around 30% of patients find a compatible donor within their own family, meaning the remaining 70% depend entirely on a stranger’s decision to join the registry. The more people who register as potential donors, the greater the chance that every patient in need will find their match.

The critical shortage of registered donors, particularly from diverse ethnic backgrounds, means that for many, the search ends without a match. Despite blood cancer being potentially curable, countless patients never find their matching donor in time.

Every name added to the registry is a potential lifeline for someone, somewhere, waiting for their match.

A Family Restored

Today, Claire is recovering. Her children have their mother. Her family, who stood beside her through diagnosis, uncertainty, and two transplants, now share in a renewed sense of hope and possibility.

Her story does not end with survival. It continues with a plea to every person who has considered registering as a stem cell donor and hasn’t yet done so. “Help save others like me. We need more people to register as potential stem cell donors. Your registration could mean the difference between life and death.”

Categories : CancerTags :

New Drug Doubles One-year Survival in Pancreatic Cancer Trial

On By ModernMedia

Phase 2 randomised trial shows 38% reduction in risk of death with the drug when combined with chemotherapy

Kaplan–Meier estimates of OS in the mITT and ITT populations. Nature Medicine, 2026.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers and among the hardest to treat, with most patients surviving less than a year after diagnosis. But a new drug developed at Northwestern University may soon help patients live longer.

In a randomised phase 2 clinical trial, patients who received the experimental drug elraglusib, alongside standard chemotherapy, were twice as likely to be alive after one year of treatment, compared to those receiving chemotherapy alone. The drug also reduced the risk of death by 38%.

The study is one of only a few successful randomised trials in the last decade to show a survival benefit that would be applicable to a broad population of pancreatic cancer patients, according to the authors.

The study, which was led by Northwestern Medicine, was published in Nature Medicine.

“Pancreatic cancer remains one of the most challenging solid tumours to treat, but these findings provide cautious optimism for patients,” said study lead author Dr Devalingam Mahalingam, professor of medicine in the division of Hematology and Oncology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

“While these results will need to be confirmed in phase 3 trials, observing survival benefit in such a difficult-to-treat cancer is encouraging. Given the novel mechanism of this drug, these findings raise the possibility that it could have broader application across other tumour types,” added Mahalingam, who also is the associate director of clinical research at Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.

How the trial was conducted

The phase 2 trial enrolled 233 patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer across 60 sites in six countries in North America and Europe. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either standard chemotherapy or the same chemotherapy combined with elraglusib.

Those who received elraglusib lived a median of 10.1 months, compared to 7.2 months for those who only received chemotherapy. While that three-month difference may appear modest, it’s partly because the trial included patients whose cancer progressed too quickly to benefit from treatment.

Among patients who benefited from the drug, the impact was pronounced. Twice as many patients who received elraglusib were alive at one year (44% vs 22%) and about 13% of patients in the drug group were alive at two years, compared to none in the chemotherapy group.

Side effects were generally consistent with chemotherapy but slightly more common in the elraglusib group. The most frequent included low white blood cell counts, fatigue and temporary vision changes, which were reversible. Overall, the safety profile of the drug was considered manageable, the authors said in the study.

How elraglusib works

Elraglusib was developed nearly 15 years ago inside Northwestern University labs. It targets a protein known as GSK-3 beta, which plays a role in tumour growth and suppression of the immune system.

Unlike traditional chemotherapy, which aims to kill cancer cells, elraglusib seems to act on the tumour microenvironment – the mix of cancer cells, immune cells and surrounding tissue that can either support or weaken tumours.

Pancreatic tumours are hard to treat in part because of their microenvironment, which is particularly adept at suppressing immune response. In the study, patients who received elraglusib showed increases in cancer-fighting cells within their tumours, offering early evidence that the drug may help re-engage the immune system.

In addition, certain immune-related markers in the blood at the start of the trial were associated with longer survival among patients who received the drug. While these findings are preliminary, they suggest that elraglusib may be particularly effective in certain patients whose immune systems are already primed to respond.

Mahalingam and his colleagues are exploring a larger confirmatory phase 3 trial as funding and partnership allow. They are also interested in studying the drug in combination with other novel therapies to determine if broader clinical benefit can be achieved.

Source: Northwestern University

Categories : CancerTags :

Is Depression Being Overdiagnosed in Ovarian Cancer Patients?

On By ModernMedia

Study finds that physical symptoms may disproportionately inflate depression scores in patients. 

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels

In addition to causing mental symptoms such as sadness and despair, depression can cause physical sensations including fatigue, headaches, back pain, gastrointestinal issues, and sleep problems.

New research indicates that individuals with ovarian cancer report more of these physical issues at lower levels of depression than people in the general population. Published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the findings may reflect misattribution of cancer-related symptoms to depression in patients with ovarian cancer.

 Research indicates that more than one-quarter of patients with ovarian cancer develop depressive symptoms. Diagnosis is complicated because physical symptoms of depression overlap with those that can arise from cancer-related causes. Investigators examined how physical symptoms of depression are reported relative to other depression symptoms in patients with ovarian cancer at the time of diagnosis and one-year postdiagnosis, comparing the results with those from people without cancer. 

The team found that at diagnosis, patients reported physical symptoms more frequently than people without cancer and at a lower severity of depression (based on cognitive or emotional symptoms). These differences disappeared at the one-year follow-up, when disease processes no longer drove physical sympto “We intend these findings to help guide assessments of depressive symptoms to discriminate between physical symptoms that are related to cancer and cognitive or affective symptoms that may respond to more traditional interventions for depression,” said lead author Rachel Telles, MA, of the University of Iowa. “We hope that more tailored care will improve outcomes for these patients.”

Source: Wiley

Categories : CancerTags :

New Drug with Fewer Side Effects Reduces Breast Density

On By ModernMedia
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

Low doses of the investigational medicinal product endoxifen reduce breast density to the same extent as the standard treatment tamoxifen, but without causing such troublesome side effects. These are the findings of a new study from Karolinska Institutet which appears in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The results may have implications for future preventive treatment of breast cancer.

Tamoxifen is a well-established drug that has been used for more than 40 years to reduce the risk of recurrence in patients with breast cancer. The drug is also approved for prevention of breast cancer in women at increased risk.

However, the side effects of tamoxifen are a major problem. Many women experience menopausal-like symptoms, such as hot flushes, which means that many do not complete the treatment.

Endoxifen is the most active metabolite formed when tamoxifen is broken down in the body. The new study investigated whether endoxifen in tablet form could provide the same biological impact and a more predictable effect than tamoxifen.

A total of 240 healthy, premenopausal women were randomised to receive a placebo or 1 or 2 mg of endoxifen daily for six months. The researchers then measured mammographic breast density. High mammographic density can contribute to an increased risk of breast cancer but a reduction during treatment can be a good measure of therapeutic outcome.

”Both 1 and 2 milligrams of endoxifen resulted in a clear reduction in breast density compared with the placebo,” says Mattias Hammarström, co-author and PhD candidate at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Karolinska Institutet.

The results show that 1mg of endoxifen reduced breast density by an average of 19% and 2mg by 26%. Data from a previous study show that 20mg of tamoxifen reduces density by approximately 18.5%. The effect of low-dose endoxifen thus corresponded to that seen with tamoxifen.

Participants who received 2mg of endoxifen reported a greater worsening of hot flushes and night sweats compared with the lower-dose group, whilst the 1 mg group had a safety profile similar to that of the placebo with respect to serious side effects and biomarkers.

”Our results suggest that a lower dose may be sufficient to affect breast density, whilst also appearing to be better tolerated,” says Mattias Hammarström.

The study is a so-called proof-of-concept trial, meaning it is designed to demonstrate that a treatment produces the expected biological effect before larger and longer trials are conducted. However, the study cannot show whether endoxifen reduces the risk of breast cancer or recurrence.

Source: Karolinska Institutet

Categories : CancerTags :

Drugging the Undruggable: A Million-fold Leap in Targeting Elusive Cancer Proteins

On By ModernMedia

Few medications can target disordered proteins, but new research outlines an enhanced approach that could lead to treatments for prostate cancer and other diseases

Photo by Louis Reed on Unsplash

Researchers at the University of British Columbia and BC Cancer have developed a new way to target proteins long considered ‘undruggable’, opening the door to new treatments for prostate cancer and other serious diseases.

Known as intrinsically disordered proteins, these molecular shapeshifters are extremely difficult to target with medication due to their flexible and ever-changing structure. They play a central role in a wide range of diseases, including cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, heart disease and autoimmune conditions, yet only a handful of medications currently exist that can target them.

In a study published today in Nature Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy, the researchers demonstrate a new approach for designing drugs that bind more strongly to these proteins and block their disease-causing activity. In some cases, the compounds they developed bound up to a million times more tightly than any previously reported.

“This study shows that proteins previously thought to be undruggable can be drugged with remarkable efficacy,” said principal investigator Dr Marianne D. Sadar, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the UBC faculty of medicine and distinguished scientist at BC Cancer. “The findings could have profound implications for the treatment of cancer and other diseases, providing a roadmap for the development of new treatments.”

A long-standing challenge in drug discovery

Unlike most proteins, which fold into stable three-dimensional shapes, disordered proteins contain flexible regions that change as they interact with molecules inside cells. Because they lack fixed binding sites, they are extremely difficult to target with traditional drugs.

“Most drug discovery is like designing a key for a very specific lock,” said Dr Sadar. “But disordered proteins don’t behave like locks at all, they’re more like moving strands of spaghetti.”

Dr Sadar and her team have spent decades studying how to target these proteins. In 2008, they developed the first compound capable of binding to them, and have since advanced two such drugs into clinical trials – another world-first milestone for the field.

Despite these advances, achieving strong and consistent binding has remained a central challenge.

A new strategy against prostate cancer

The new study focused on a specific protein, the androgen receptor, which fuels the growth of most prostate cancers.

Rather than fitting into a single fixed spot, the researchers developed compounds that interact with the moving region of the protein, freeze it in an inactive state, and prevent it from turning on genes that drive cancer growth.

“It’s a major achievement. Our target drugs had binding affinity a million times greater than existing drugs targeting these regions,” said Dr Natalie Strynadka, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the UBC faculty of medicine.

By systematically modifying the compounds at the molecular level, the researchers identified several promising candidates that effectively shut down the receptor. In animal studies, several compounds slowed prostate cancer growth more effectively than a commonly used prostate cancer treatment.

“What surprised us was how effectively these molecules could attach to a protein that doesn’t have a fixed structure,” said Dr Raymond Andersen, professor in UBC’s department of chemistry. “We were able to shut down the androgen receptor even in situations where current prostate cancer drugs stop working.”

The researchers now aim to advance the most promising candidates toward clinical trials, with the goal of developing prostate cancer drugs that can be used earlier in treatment and with fewer side-effects. Because disordered proteins are involved in many diseases, they say the approach could have a much broader impact.

“If the approach continues to prove successful, it could dramatically expand the number of proteins that scientists can target with medicines – turning what was once considered a dead end into a promising new frontier for drug discovery,” said Dr Sadar.

Source: University of British Columbia

Categories : CancerTags :

Secondary Blood Cancers from Chemo- and Radiotherapy are Increasing

On By ModernMedia

Study from Japan finds rising rates, especially after breast cancer treatment

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels

Some therapies used to treat cancer may increase the risk of later developing cancers that affect the blood. A population-based study in Japan has revealed a gradual increase in the rates of therapy-related acute myeloid leukaemia (tAML) in recent years, especially after breast cancer treatment. The findings are published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

tAML is an aggressive cancer of the blood and bone marrow that develops after prior chemotherapy or radiation for an earlier, primary cancer, likely arising in part due to DNA damage from these treatments. To assess whether tAML is increasing as a post-cancer therapy complication as the number of cancer survivors increases, investigators analysed data from the Osaka Cancer Registry pertaining to patients in Japan who were diagnosed with AML between 1990 and 2020.

Among 9,841 patients with AML, 636 (6.5%) had tAML. The annual tAML incidence increased from 0.13 per 100,000 population in 1990 to 0.36 per 100,000 population in 2020. The proportion of tAML cases in overall AML cases almost doubled.

The most common primary cancer that was treated before tAML developed was another form of blood cancer (23.1%), followed by breast cancer (14.6%), colorectal cancer (11.5%), and gastric cancer (8.7%). The distribution of primary cancers changed over time, with a prominent increase in breast cancer and a decrease in gastric cancer.

“The study provides an important step towards better understanding how the nature of tAML is changing with the increasing number of cancer survivors,” said lead author Kenji Kishimoto, MD, PhD, of the Osaka International Cancer Institute.

Source: Wiley

Categories : CancerTags :

Do Prostate Cancer Drugs Interact with Certain Anticoagulants?

On By ModernMedia

Study finds similar safety regardless of anticoagulant type

Photo by Kampus Production

In a study of adults with advanced prostate cancer taking androgen-receptor pathway inhibitors and different types of anticoagulants, investigators found no evidence of an increase in patients’ bleeding or clotting risks, despite previous lab results that raised alarms. The findings are published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

Thromboembolism, caused by a circulating blood clot that gets stuck and causes an obstruction, is the second leading cause of death in people with cancer, surpassed only by progression of the cancer itself. Anticoagulants (blood thinners) are standard therapy to treat or prevent thromboembolism. For individuals with advanced prostate cancer, thromboembolism can be especially worrisome because lab experiments have indicated that androgen-receptor pathway inhibitors, which are recommended for nearly all patients with advanced prostate cancer, can interact with certain anticoagulants – specifically, direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs).

To investigate whether these lab-based findings correlate to real concerns in patients, researchers evaluated outcomes in patients taking both anticoagulants and androgen-receptor pathway inhibitors, including enzalutamide, apalutamide, and abiraterone.

In the retrospective population-based analysis of 2997 Canadian adults with prostate cancer who were prescribed anticoagulants (DOACs or non-DOACs) and enzalutamide or apalutamide between 2012 and 2023, investigators found no increased risks of clotting in the DOAC versus non-DOAC groups. Similarly, investigators compared DOAC and non-DOAC groups combined with abiraterone and did not find an increased risk of bleeding.

“As clinicians, we are faced with the question of choosing the best anticoagulant option for patients on a daily basis, and the complexity further increases in patients with cancer taking many other medications including anticancer therapies that could cause concerning drug–drug interactions,” said lead author Tzu-Fei Wang, MD, of the University of Ottawa at The Ottawa Hospital and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. “Our findings suggest that pharmacokinetic drug–drug interaction concerns may not translate into adverse clinical outcomes in the real world. These results can help clinicians and patients feel more confident when managing anticoagulation alongside modern prostate cancer treatments.”  

Source: Wiley

Categories : CancerTags :

Exercise and Ibuprofen Lessen Cancer-related Brain Fog

On By ModernMedia

Phase II trial reveals that both – alone or in combination – can improve cognitive function in patients receiving chemotherapy.

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels

Up to 80% of people who receive chemotherapy experience cancer-related cognitive impairment, which most commonly involves mild-to-moderate changes such as difficulty paying attention, memory lapses, and struggles with multitasking. A new Phase II trial found that exercise and low-dose ibuprofen can each help to lessen cognitive problems and help protect patients’ cognitive function. The findings are published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

Both exercise and anti-inflammatory medications can improve cognitive outcomes in a variety of disease settings, but little is known in the setting of cancer. Because exercise and ibuprofen both reduce inflammation through different pathways, their combined use could potentially have additive or synergistic effects on lessening cancer-related cognitive impairment. 

To investigate, researchers randomized 86 patients with cancer receiving chemotherapy who reported cognitive problems to four study arms for six weeks: Exercise for Cancer Patients (EXCAP) + low-dose ibuprofen, EXCAP + Placebo, low-dose ibuprofen only, and Placebo only. (EXCAP is a home-based, low-to-moderate intensity, progressive walking and resistance exercise prescription.) 

After six weeks, participants in the EXCAP + Placebo group demonstrated significantly better attention performance compared with the Placebo group. The ibuprofen-only group also showed greater improvements than the Placebo group. Compared with Placebo participants, both EXCAP + ibuprofen and EXCAP + Placebo participants exhibited improvements on a measure that assessed how often friends, family, or coworkers have commented on or noticed the patient’s cognitive difficulties. However, the ibuprofen group showed less improvement on a measure of short-term verbal memory compared with those not on ibuprofen, which needs to be further investigated.

The findings suggest that exercise can positively impact cognitive function in individuals receiving chemotherapy. Ibuprofen may also help improve some cognitive functions, but perhaps to a lesser (and less consistent) extent. Phase III trials are needed to explore these findings further.

“We are encouraged by the findings of this trial that suggest possible benefits of both interventions for some cognitive domains. Clearly, we saw a more pronounced effect with exercise, which is notable considering the multiple health benefits of exercise for cancer survivors,” said lead author Michelle C. Janelsins, PhD, MPH, of the University of Rochester and the Wilmot Cancer Institute. “This is one of the first studies specifically designed to assess these interventions for cancer-related cognitive impairment during chemotherapy in patients with multiple diseases using both performance-based cognitive assessments and patient-reported outcomes.”

Dr Janelsins noted that future studies should consider modifying the duration and dose of both the exercise and low-dose ibuprofen interventions. She also stressed that any intervention for cognitive problems should be discussed with a health care provider to ensure there are no contraindications.

Source: Wiley

Categories : CancerTags :

Common Genetic Marker May Guide New Treatment for Acute Leukaemia

On By ModernMedia
SAG Leukaemia. Credit: Scientific Animations CC0

A genetic alteration that is already routinely analysed in patients with acute myeloid leukaemia can be used to identify patients who respond to a new targeted therapy, according to a study published in the journal Discover Oncology.

Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is an aggressive blood cancer in which treatment outcomes vary widely between patients. In the new study, the researchers have identified a way to better select which patients may benefit from a drug that blocks the enzyme DCPS.

Some patients respond better to the treatment

The researchers show that AML patient samples with low levels of the protein FHIT are sensitive to DCPS inhibition. The proportion of patients with low FHIT levels varies between 5 and 24%, with the highest proportion seen in children. In the related blood disorder myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), around 36% of patients showed silencing of the FHIT gene.

The key finding is that patients with a mutation in the IDH2 gene often have low FHIT levels and respond better to DCPS-targeted treatment. Since IDH2 is already part of routine diagnostic testing at AML diagnosis, the marker can be used without introducing any additional tests.

“Many promising cancer drugs fail in clinical trials because they are tested in very broad patient groups,” says Francesca Grassi, doctoral student at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge and first author of the study. 

“By using a biomarker that is already available in healthcare, patient selection can be made both simpler and more precise,” says Francesca Grassi.

May lead to more targeted cancer treatment

The researchers tested 24 primary AML samples with the compound RG3039, which inhibits DCPS, and also analysed publicly available patient data to explore the link between FHIT levels and different genetic alterations.

“The IDH2 mutation captures the information we need to identify the right patients, without additional analyses. This could facilitate the planning of future clinical trials, particularly for patient groups with limited treatment options,” says Francesca Grassi.

The next step is to validate the findings in larger patient cohorts and to gain a deeper understanding of the biological link between IDH2 mutations and FHIT expression. In the longer term, the researchers hope that the results will support the design of a clinical trial of DCPS-targeted therapy in AML.

Source: Karolinska Institutet

Categories : CancerTags :

Age, Sex, and Cancer Type Influence Risk of Subsequent Cancers Among Survivors

On By ModernMedia

Findings may have implications for long-term cancer survivorship surveillance

Researchers assess the risk of developing a subsequent primary cancer based on demographic factors and cancer characteristics. Tara Winstead, Pexels (CC0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)

Risk of developing a subsequent primary cancer varied significantly by age at initial diagnosis, sex, and type of first cancer, according to a study by Oxana Palesh and Susan Hong and colleagues at Virginia Commonwealth University, U.S., published April 28th in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine.

Advances in cancer detection and treatment have led to a growing population of cancer survivors. In the U.S., the number of cancer survivors is expected to grow by 22% over the next decade – from 18 million in 2025 to more than 22 million by 2035. Survivors remain at higher risk for developing new primary cancers distinct from their original diagnosis. This risk may be influenced by factors such as older age, exposure to radiation and/or chemotherapy and ongoing lifestyle factors like smoking, obesity and poor diet. Understanding who is at greater risk and how this risk changes over time can help to inform prevention and monitoring strategies.

Using retrospective data from more than 3 million cancer survivors in the U.S., researchers examined how demographic factors and cancer characteristics correlate with subsequent cancer risk. Several factors were associated with developing a subsequent cancer, including older age at initial diagnosis and male sex. In addition, survivors of lung, bladder, and skin melanoma were at higher risk of developing new cancer.

These findings reinforce the importance of long‑term survivorship care and risk‑based monitoring. By identifying survivor groups at heightened risk, studies like this can help to inform tailored prevention strategies, surveillance guidelines, and survivorship care planning as the cancer survivor population continues to grow.

First author Hui Cheng adds, “By examining nearly five decades of national data, we found population-level shifts in subsequent primary cancer risk, with several survivor groups experiencing rising risks. These findings can help design more tailored surveillance and prevention strategies.”

Provided by PLOS