MD Anderson and UnitedHealthcare launch...
MD Anderson Cancer Center and UnitedHealthcare have launched a pilot program to explore a new cancer care payment model for head and neck cancers that focuses on quality patient care and outcomes. The collaboration is among the first using bundled payments in a large, comprehensive cancer center.
The bundled payment method reimburses a care provider or hospital for a defined episode of care under a single fee or payment. This is...
Experimental gene therapy successful in certain lymphomas, leukemia
Study results of CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) therapy using the Sleeping Beauty non-viral transduction system to...
Diagnostic tool reduces post-surgery chemo rates in women...
In what’s believed to be one of the largest population-based studies of Oncotype DX ever conducted, researchers at MD Anderson Cancer...
Praise for the new HPV vaccine and its power to prevent cancer
The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of a new vaccine that targets five additional strains of human papillomavirus (HPV)...
Discovering an energy source for cancer’s ‘master gene’
It’s hard to believe, but there are similarities between bean sprouts and human cancer.
In bean sprouts, a collection of amino acids...
Research finds answer to long non-coding RNA’s link to...
Molecules known as long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been implicated in breast cancer but exactly why they cause metastasis and...
Colorectal cancer cases expected to double among young...
In the next 15 years, more than one in 10 colon cancers and nearly one in four rectal cancers will be diagnosed in patients younger...
Diabetic drugs may be used to treat tumors
Scientists have found that altering members of the p53 gene family, known as tumor suppressor genes, causes rapid regression of tumors...
Novel regulatory mechanism for cell division found
A protein kinase or enzyme known as PKM2 has proven to control cell division, potentially providing a molecular basis for tumor...
Immunotherapy and cancer's 'super survivors'
A story published last week in the Wall Street Journal reveals how immune checkpoint blockade is overcoming metastatic disease for a...
Envisioning the end of cancer
Why haven't we cured cancer?
Hope for the possibility of a cure has existed as long as the disease. But when will it occur and what...
New Drugs for myeloproliferative neoplasms ease suffering...
A new class of drugs has redefined treatment for patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms by easing their symptom burden while...
Eight members of MD Anderson faculty named AAAS fellows
Their responsibilities may range from exploring the intricacies of biostatistics to bringing new drugs more rapidly to the patient,...
Study sheds light on how tumors progress
New research at MD Anderson Cancer Center has found that oxygen-deprived RNA molecules lead to tumor progression.
As tumors grow,...
MD Anderson leaders elected to Institute of Medicine
Two leaders at MD Anderson Cancer Center have been elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies in recognition...
Focusing on YEATS domain as a therapeutic target
Federal Express and UPS are no match for the human body when it comes to distribution. There exists in cancer biology an impressive...
MD Anderson is serving the underserved through cancer...
“Is it possible to make cancer history?”
That’s a question Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome asked during a recent visit to MD...
Tracking the trajectory: An update on the Moon Shots Program
Improved surgical outcomes for ovarian cancer patients, expanded potential impact for new drugs and a novel family outreach program to...
Dealing with the high cost of cancer drugs
"The only drug that works is a drug that a patient can afford."
That's what Hagop Kantarjian, M.D., told "60 Minutes...
Relapse and the evolution of lung cancer
Known cancer-driving genomic aberrations in localized lung cancer appear to be so consistently present across tumors that a single...
Locating lung cancer faster to boost survival rates
During MD Anderson’s recent Moon Shots Program event, a new clinical trial aimed at detecting lung cancer at an earlier stage was...
Lobectomy shows most benefit for early-stage lung cancer...
Removal of the entire lobe of lung may offer patients with early-stage lung cancer better overall survival when compared with a...
The HPV vaccine, aka the cancer vaccine
Since the 1940s, Pap tests have been successfully detecting cervical cancer in its early stages, before it has a chance to spread....
Biomarker-driven trials may improve personalized treatment...
Innovative clinical trials that assign patients to treatment arms based on tumor biomarkers could lead to increased treatment options...
Nano-sized particles' role in detecting and tracking breast...
Exosomes — tiny, virus-size particles released by cancer cells — can bioengineer micro-RNA (miRNA) molecules resulting in tumor...
We can save lives with lung cancer screening
This fall, officials with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) are debating the pros and cons of using low-dose CT...
Trying to crash cancer cells' special energy diet
Want to understand why cancer cells metastasize? Think of Sparta.
Ancient Greek warriors were fed a special diet that better...
Fast-tracking immunotherapy to fight leukemia
To speed the development of new cancer drugs, Bristol-Myers Squibb and MD Anderson are teaming up to conduct clinical trials of...
Treating endometrial, colon cancers by targeting a mutated...
MD Anderson scientists have discovered mutations in a gene that allow tumors to form and grow.
In this month’s issue of Cancer Cell...
Outwitting resistant pancreatic cancer
Knock out a mutated gene that’s a driving force behind pancreatic cancer and a few cancer cells quietly remain behind, where they...
Sowing the seeds of tomorrow’s breakthroughs
MD Anderson faculty received more than $25 million last month from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) to...
Protein ZEB1 promotes radioresistance in breast tumors
Twist, Snail, Slug. They may sound like words in a children’s nursery rhyme, but they are actually the exotic names given to proteins...
Biomarker can predict aggressive prostate cancer
When a man is diagnosed with prostate cancer, a host of tools can be used to determine the type and extent of his disease. These tools...
Breast conserving therapy shows greater survival rate than...
Breast conserving therapy (BCT) may offer better survival rates over mastectomy to women with early-stage, hormone-receptor positive...
Immunotherapy shows promise in breast cancer care
A new breast cancer vaccine candidate, (GP2), provides further evidence of the potential of immunotherapy in preventing disease...
Partnering to create custom-made medicine
A tailor-made suit sewn to fit a customer’s exact measurements almost always fits better than one purchased “off the...
MD Anderson names new head of Radiation Oncology
Stephen Hahn, M.D., an international leader in the field of radiation oncology, has been named division head of Radiation Oncology and...
Discovering a more aggressive form of endometrial cancer
Parents of twins often tell them apart through subtle differences such as facial expression, moles, voice tone and gait. Similarly,...
Big plans for MD Anderson's breast cancer program
Summer can be a quiet time at academic institutions, but things have been highly eventful for MD Anderson’s Breast Medical Oncology...
MD Anderson partners with Albert Einstein Hospital in Brazil
MD Anderson Cancer Center has announced a partnership with Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein (HIAE) to pioneer multidisciplinary...
Discovering a new way ovarian cancer spreads
Circulating tumor cells spread ovarian cancer through the bloodstream, homing in on a sheath of abdominal fatty tissue where it can...
Treatment decisions traced back to diagnosing urologists
New research from MD Anderson Cancer Center is shedding light on the important role a diagnosing urologist plays in determining...
Largely overlooked, pseudogenes may help us understand...
Alas, the thankless pseudogene.
Dysfunctional, unloved and seemingly of little use, these poor-cousin relatives...
Examining side effects specific to each targeted drug
The main side effects of cytotoxic chemotherapy are notorious. But the side effects of newer, targeted molecular agents are less well...
Welcome to Cancer Frontline
Dear colleagues,
I’m delighted to share with you Cancer Frontline from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
As...
Molecular clocks’ role in breast cancer tumor growth
Just as no two people possess the same genetic makeup, a recent study has shown that no two single tumor cells in breast cancer...
Hepatitis C expected to be rare by 2036
Effective new drugs and screening would make hepatitis C a rare disease by 2036, according to a computer simulation conducted by MD...
MD Anderson hosts country’s top research trainees
Seven postdoctoral research fellows who represent some of the country’s best cancer research trainees visited MD Anderson in June to...
Harnessing big data in the war on cancer
How can technological innovation help end cancer?
That's the question IBM and MD Anderson Cancer Center recently posed when they...
Taking a united stand against tobacco
More than 50 years after the first Surgeon General’s report on smoking definitively linked cigarettes and lung cancer, the world...
Mining molecular data for cancer prognosis
How will any one patient fare during and after cancer treatment? It’s a question with no easy answer.
But a mega-database known as...
African-Americans are less likely to have recommended biopsy
African-American women with early-stage, invasive breast cancer were 12% less likely than Caucasian women with the same diagnosis to...
Study ties progression of breast cancer to obesity
Scientists have long believed that obese women who develop a form of breast cancer fueled by the female hormone estrogen are more...
Drug effectively fights infection in stem cell patients
Receiving donor stem cells can be a life-saving treatment for patients with cancers of the blood or bone marrow such as leukemia,...
Diabetic drug may reduce chemo-induced pain, numbness
Researchers at MD Anderson believe the diabetes drug metformin, the most widely used prescription drug in the world, can protect...
Allison wins Tang Prize for his research in immunotherapy
An MD Anderson researcher has been awarded for his work leading to an entirely new way to treat cancer.
James Allison, Ph.D., chair...
Taking a united stand against tobacco
More than 50 years after the first Surgeon General’s report on smoking definitively linked cigarettes and lung cancer, the world...
Making prostate brachytherapy less of a shot in the dark
When Steven Frank, M.D., tackled a decades-old problem plaguing the field of prostate brachytherapy, he found himself in unchartered...
Proton therapy leaves patients cancer-free, with fewer side...
Researchers from the MD Anderson Cancer Center found that 93% of head and neck cancer patients treated with multi-field optimization...
Study identifies hospitalization risks of specific chemo...
Oncologists have a new understanding of the toxicity levels of specific chemotherapy regimens used for women with early stage breast...
Fibrous tissue believed to block therapy actually blocks...
Fibrous tissue that was long suspected of making pancreatic cancer worse actually supports an immune attack that slows tumor...
New technology may improve predicting cancer risk
Researchers at MD Anderson Cancer Center, in collaboration with the University of Utah and other institutions, have developed a...
MD Anderson discoveries presented at ASCO meeting
Findings presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s recent annual meeting offer new hope for preserving fertility in a...
Online database informs precision medicine
An annotated database of actionable cancer genes, compiled by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, has...
Peptide antibodies hit MDSCs without harming vital cells
Scientists have found a way to target elusive cells that suppress immune response by depleting them with peptides that spare other...
Preventing infections caused by central catheters
Each year, roughly 200,000 blood transfusions are given at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Some patients experience negative reactions to...
Pain Management Center is a repeat winner
For the second time in five years, MD Anderson’s Pain Management Center has been awarded the American Pain Society’s highest honor,...
A worldwide effort to eliminate cancer
Collaborations are crucial to making significant advancements toward ending cancer. Creating a worldwide network of basic,...
MD Anderson adopts tobacco-free hiring
MD Anderson Cancer Center is expanding its efforts to combat lung cancer and other diseases. And an important piece of this initiative...
Taming the 'wild, Wild West' of e-cigarettes
The following opinion piece includes the collective thoughts of several MD Anderson prevention researchers
Recently, the Food and...
Are we over imaging?
Advancements in imaging have dramatically altered all aspects of cancer care — from diagnosis and treatment to surveillance and...
The cancer leaders of tomorrow
While many times, the achievements of senior faculty members receive the greatest attention, MD Anderson is also taking steps to...
An alternative to chemo?
A newly approved drug for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), studied in clinical trials at MD Anderson, is showing...
Building a personalized approach to cancer therapy
In 2011, the MD Anderson Cancer Center received a $150 million gift — the largest in the history of the institution — from the Khalifa...
Immunotherapy gets top billing at AACR
The G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award is the oldest honor bestowed on a researcher by the American Association for Cancer Research. It's...
Our immunotherapy allies
The promise of immunotherapy, drugs that stimulate the body's immune system to fight cancer, can be witnessed by observing the string...
Additional AACR highlights
Additional presentations of note at this year's American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting:
Reclassifying low-grade...
MD Anderson experts share updates at AACR Annual Meeting
The 54th annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research opens this morning in San Diego with educational sessions and...
Breast reconstruction rates increase following mastectomies
Women who underwent a mastectomy as part of their treatment for breast cancer are increasingly opting for reconstructive surgery,...
Researchers find new potential drug target in triple-negative...
The goal of harnessing the power of one's immune system to target and kill cancer cells just got a boost. New research from MD...
A step beyond chemo: MD Anderson's key roles in CLL drug approved...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved ibrutinib as a single treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients with...
Protein duo thwarts chromosomal scrambling and DNA breakage
Over the past few decades it has become increasingly clear that epigenetic changes - heritable changes in the cell that do not result...
Expressive writing reduces cancer-related symptoms and improves...
In the largest expressive writing trial conducted on an oncology population, researchers from MD Anderson found those patients who...