May 29, 2018 – Gastric Cancer Screening in High-Risk Groups Cost-Effective

A new modeling study suggests that gastric-cancer screening could be cost-effective in high-risk racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. When diagnosed at an early stage, patients with gastric adenocarcinoma (GA) have a five-year survival rate of 95% to 99%. But, if detected later, the survival rate drops to less than 30%. Thus, it is…

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May 23, 2018 – How gut microbes are joining the fight against cancer

Research has shown that certain gut bacteria appear to boost people’s response to cancer treatment. Some microbes can be adversary and activate inflammatory responses that disrupt the body’s protection mechanisms or make cells resistant to drugs, promoting cancer survival. Other gut bacteria, however, can help defend against tumors. Studies have shown that some cancer treatments…

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May 14, 2018- Medical Marijuana: Efficacy, Toxicity, and Legality

Medical marijuana can exist in a variety of formulations such as dried flowers, resins, extracts and oils. It’s legalization and use for medical purposes is still a developing issue and the perspectives of many health care providers is also following the same path. Medical marijuana can be used to ease chronic pain, chemotherapy-induced nausea and…

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April 2018 – Straight to the Heart

Certain cancers and their treatments can lead to heart problems. Generally this occurs in three ways: 1) cancer can metastasize to the heart or its lining 2) certain rare tumors can release chemicals into the bloodstream that damage the heart’s valves and muscles 3) certain white blood cell tumors secrete proteins that become sticky deposits…

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Janurary 19, 2018 – Single Blood Test Screens for Eight Cancer Types

John Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers developed a single blood test that can detect for eight common cancer types through assessment of the circulating proteins and mutations in cell-free DNA. The test, called CancerSEEK, is a unique noninvasive, multianalyte test that simultaneously evaluates levels of eight cancer proteins and the presence of cancer gene mutations from…

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September 22, 2017 – FDA Approves Merck’s KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) for Previously Treated Patients with Recurrent Locally Advanced or Metastatic Gastric or Gastroesophageal Junction Cancer Whose Tumors Express PD-L1

Today, Merck announced that the FDA has approved the anti-PD-1 therapy, Keytruda (pembrolizumab) for the treatment of patients with recurrent locally advanced or metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma whose tumors express PD-L1. This makes Keytruda the first PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor approved in the United States for previously treated gastric or GEJ cancer. Treatment Options…

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August 04, 2017- Reconstruction Method in Gastric CA Surgery Affects Bone Density

The standard reconstruction method may affect postoperative bone mineral density (BMD) loss in gastric cancer according to a study published in the Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. In multivariate analysis, researchers found that R-Y reconstruction was an independent risk factor for BMD loss after distal gastrectomy. B-I reconstruction was found to have superiority over R-Y…

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