Efforts to treat cancers using vaccines have seen many false dawns. Now the first therapeutic cancer vaccine has won approval for treating prostate cancer, with more waiting in the wings. Could compounds that teach the [more]
The counterfeit drugs trade, once largely confined to the developing world, is now firmly established in western countries. Greater vigilance from the cancer community is need. Download full article
Many cancer nurses are still undervalued and underused, with few opportunities for specialist training and little guidance on best practice. Sara Faithfull is working to change all that. Download full article
Cancer of unknown primary origin is difficult to manage because, even when the primary can be detected, it behaves differently to cancers of the same type and location that are discovered as primaries. Download full [more]
Steering the right course between simplistic talk of wonder drugs’ and baffling readers with unnecessary scientific detail can be tricky. Mark Henderson, of the UK national daily The Times, won a Best Cancer Reporter Award [more]
Half the staff at the Clinical Centre left and 50 were killed during the siege of Sarajevo. But Hiba Basic stuck to her post and took over the oncology department. Download full article
Though well-intended, the European Clinical Trials Directive severely impeded clinical research. The Commission is now trying to revise the Directive, and is inviting researchers, patient groups and others to submit concrete suggestions. Download full article
Palumbo and co-authors report on the results of a randomised trial comparing two doses of melphalan in patients with symptomatic multiple myeloma. Overall complete response rates, median progression-free survival and projected five-year overall survival were [more]
Listening and learning remains the key to personalising therapy, says Jan Vermorken, who spent a career specialising in the cruellest of cancers. Download full article
In the NOAH clinical trial, trastuzumab treatment for locally advanced breast cancer, given prior to surgery, was associated with increased complete and overall response rate and improved event free survival.The ability to identify this advantage [more]
Prognostic models for patients with Hodgkin lymphoma are imperfect and do not allow a precise individualised therapy. A recent gene-expression profiling study, translated into a routine immunohistological test, identified genes of tumour-associated macrophages as being [more]
Selected reports edited by Janet Fricker Download full article
For would-be parents rendered infertile by cancer or its treatment, adoption can offer a happy future for them and their child. This article looks at varying attitudes and practices in different countries, and offers tips [more]