tumors

Shifting from giant accelerators 26 km (16 miles) across to brain surgery theaters, a particle detector first developed by physicists at CERN is being used by scientists in Germany to treat brain tumors with greater precision and safety.Destroying head and neck tumors is relatively simple. You dose them with the right chemicals or blast them with powerful enough radiation, and job done. The problem is figuring out how to kill the cancer cells without killing the patient.One effective way of treating such tumors is by…

In the long and often dispiriting quest to cure cancer, the 1998 approval of the drug Herceptin was a tremendously hopeful moment. This drug for breast cancer was the first to use a tumor-specific protein as a homing beacon to find and kill cancer cells. And it worked. Herceptin has benefited nearly three million people since that time, dramatically increasing the 10-year survival rate—and the cancer-free rate—for what was once one of the worst medical diagnoses. “Honestly, it was sort of earth-shattering,” says…

Researchers have created model tumors using the tissues of patients with advanced bowel cancer and used them to predict how the disease will respond to specific drug therapies – before treatment begins. Found to be 83% accurate, the pioneering approach would increase the chances that patients receive the most effective treatment at the earliest opportunity.Bowel cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide despite an increasing number of treatment options. If caught early enough, the cancer can be…

Researchers have developed a novel way to treat bladder cancer. Powered by urea, a waste substance found in urine, nanobots propel themselves to and penetrate the tumor to deliver their onboard radioactive treatment. After one dose, tumors in mouse models shrank by almost 90%, opening the door to a promising alternative treatment for this cancer, which tends to recur.Current treatments for non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer, which represents approximately 75% of cases, include the administration of immunotherapeutic…

A recent study reveals a novel treatment for bladder cancer using urea-powered nanorobots, which have successfully reduced tumor size in mice by 90%. This innovative approach promises to make treatment more efficient and less burdensome for patients. (Artist’s concept.) Credit: SciTechDaily.comThe research, which was conducted on mice, demonstrates how these tiny nanomachines are propelled by urea present in urine and precisely target the tumor, attacking it with a radioisotope carried on their surface.Bladder cancer has…

Image of novel brain organoid model showing its characteristic convoluted shaped and extended neuroepithelium. The neurons present in the organoid are shown in different colors depending on their location within the tissue. Credit: Benedetta Artegiani, Delilah Hendriks, Anna PagliaroResearchers from the Princess Máxima Center and the Hubrecht Institute have developed advanced brain organoids that closely resemble the human cortex. These organoids, named Expanded Neuroepithelium Organoids (ENOs), mimic the brain’s…

Researchers have developed a liquid gel that solidifies when injected into a solid tumor, is visible on a CT scan, and can slow-release cancer-fighting treatments. Using the gel in combination with immunotherapy improved survival in mice and affected distant, untreated tumors, suggesting it has potential as a therapy for metastatic cancers.Injecting anti-cancer drugs directly into tumors – intratumoral therapy – is a promising way of treating solid cancers. However, clinical trials have highlighted some drawbacks. One is…

Researchers at Harvard Medical School have developed a new AI-powered tool to help brain surgeons combat cancer. CHARM rapidly evaluates tumorous tissue during surgery to help professionals make on-the-spot decisions about how to proceed.Traditionally, during brain cancer surgery, doctors remove a sample of tissue, freeze it, and analyze it to determine the type and aggressiveness of tumor. However, this process tends to warp the way the cells look. It also relies on human observation which, even with high-powered…

Researchers have long known that brain tumors, specifically a type of tumor called a glioma, can affect a person's cognitive and physical function.Patients with glioblastoma, the most fatal type of brain tumor in adults, experience an especially drastic decline in quality of life. Glioblastomas are thought to impair normal brain functions by compressing and causing healthy tissue to swell, or competing with them for blood supply.What exactly causes cognitive decline in brain tumor patients is still unknown. In our…

The U.S. government is launching a wide-ranging effort to study whether combining two drugs matched to molecular weak spots in a patient’s tumor will work better to wipe out the cancer than a single such drug. Although cancer drug combinations are nothing new, the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI’s) ComboMATCH study formally announced today is demanding unusually rigorous evidence—in the form of data showing the drug pairs shrink tumors in mice—before letting…