A major 20-year study led by the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System has found more evidence that surgery for early-stage prostate cancer does not help men live longer than observation. Observation, sometimes called watchful waiting, means doctors monitor a man’s prostate cancer over time to make sure it’s not getting worse, and only then consider surgery or other active treatment. This is a good option for many men because most prostate cancers grow very slowly and may never cause health problems.
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​This year nearly 1.7 million Americans will learn they have cancer. Our head-to-toe guide to the latest research can help.
By Catherine Winters

JUNE 18 2017

Here's some good news: Death rates from cancer have dropped 25 percent over the past two decades, according to the American Cancer Society. And across the country and around the world, researchers are studying new ways to prevent, detect, diagnose and treat the disease. "We already cure a lot of cancers," says Daniel F. Hayes, M.D., president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), which presented new research at its annual meeting this month. "There is so much more hope than there used to be." Here is a sampling of the latest news in cancer research gathered from the ASCO meeting, medical journals and labs.

Head and Neck Cancer
People with head and neck cancer whose tumors have grown may live longer if they continue treatment with an immunotherapy drug that blocks a molecule that prevents T cells in the immune system from going after cancer cells, according to a recent study. Researchers are optimistic that immunotherapy, already showing promise for melanoma and lung cancer, could also lead to better outcomes for head and neck cancer patients. 

Skin Cancer
Basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma are on the rise, especially in women, according to a recent study. From 2000 to 2010, diagnoses of basal cell skin cancer jumped 145 percent and those of squamous cell cancer soared by 263 percent compared to rates from 1976 to 1984—and the increase of basal cell carcinoma among women in their 30s and 40s was especially high. Sun exposure and tanning bed use are the likely culprits—even if UV exposure occurred years earlier.

"There is typically a delay between UV exposure and the development of skin cancer, so we may be starting to see the effects now," says researcher John G. Muzic, M.D., a dermatology resident at the Mayo Clinic. -We know what causes skin cancer, and preventive strategies are easy to implement, but we need to get everyone on board.- In the pipeline is a noninvasive
imaging test that may one day let doctors diagnose basal cell carcinoma as well as deadlier melanoma right away without a biopsy. The procedure, called multiphoton microscopy, uses short
pulses of laser light to obtain high-resolution images so a physician can quickly and accurately identify abnormal cells. While more research is needed, -we hope that in the next five years
this type of microscopic imaging at the bedside will become widely used,- says researcher Irene Georgakoudi, Ph.D., of the department of biomedical engineering at Tufts University.

Colorectal Cancer
People treated for stage III colon cancer who ate two or more ounces of almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, cashews or pecans per week lowered their chance of a recurrence by 42 percent and the likelihood of dying by 57 percent compared to people who didn't eat nuts, researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston reported.

In another study, researchers found that over seven years, people who exercised the most and had the healthiest diets during and after treatment lowered their risk for death by 42 percent and for recurrence by 22 percent.

Pancreatic Cancer
About one-fifth of pancreatic cancers evolve from cysts, but there's no easy way to determine if a cyst is benign, pre-cancerous or malignant. Even if a doctor suspects cancer, a biopsy detects only about half of pancreatic cancers. Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston have developed a tool called light scattering spectroscopy that bounces light off the cyst, analyzing it for structural changes that may signal cancer. While more testing is needed, the technology "could potentially transform the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer by enabling doctors to confirm a malignancy quickly, early and noninvasively and follow cysts that could potentially become cancerous," says Lev T. Perelman, Ph.D., director of the Center for Advanced Biomedical Imaging and Photonics at Beth Israel.

Prostate Cancer
A new blood test called IsoPSA is more accurate than the PSA test—which measures levels of a blood protein called prostate specific antigen—at finding prostate cancer and detecting more
advanced cancer, according to preliminary research. 

While PSA levels are elevated in men with prostate cancer, PSA also can climb if a man has a benign condition, such as an inflamed or enlarged prostate, leading to unnecessary procedures including a biopsy. By contrast, the IsoPSA test detects structural changes in PSA protein that are associated with cancer. Though more research is needed, IsoPSA has the potential to slash the rate of unnecessary biopsies by almost half, say the researchers.

Visit Parade.com/cancer for more news about cancer.

The US and Drug Administration (FDA) this week convened a panel of outside experts to weigh in on the readiness of a first-of-its-kind cancer therapy. The treatment, which works by tweaking a patient’s own cells, is a type of immunotherapy called CAR T-cell therapy and has been in clinical trials for several years. One drug maker is now seeking FDA approval to use the treatment in pediatric and young adult patients ages 3 to 25  with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) that has not responded to standard care. 

After the July 12 day-long meeting, the FDA panel unanimously recommended that the agency approve the treatment. But what does this mean for patients? And is CAR T-cell therapy going to play an increasing role in cancer treatment in general? In this interview, Leonard Lichtenfeld, MD, MACP, American Cancer Society deputy chief medical officer, gives us his take.
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Bladder cancer can sometimes be found early. Finding it early improves your chances that it can be treated successfully.
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Screening for bladder cancer
Screening is the use of tests or exams to look for a disease in people who have no symptoms. At this time, no major professional organizations recommend routine screening of the general public for bladder cancer. This is because no screening test has been shown to lower the risk of dying from bladder cancer in people who are at average risk.
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Deep inside our cells, genetic information, encoded in DNA, is coiled into bundles wrapped around proteins. These tidy parcels of genetic material are called chromosomes. At the tips of our chromosomes are protective structures called telomeres – acting much like the plastic bits at the ends of shoelaces.
But telomeres don’t work forever. As we grow older, our telomeres get shorter. If they are too short, they can no longer protect our genetic information. Shortened telomeres are linked to aging and various diseases, including cancer.

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Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States and the third most common cancer in men and women. Every day, 400 people in the U.S. are newly diagnosed with the disease. Researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center are working to reduce the number of cases, and their efforts look promising...
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A man with deadly brain cancer that had spread to his spine saw his tumors shrink and, for a time, completely vanish after a novel treatment to help his immune system attack his disease — another first in this promising field.

The type of immunotherapy that 50-year-old Richard Grady received already has helped some people with blood cancers such as leukemia. But the way he was given it is new, and may allow its use not just for brain tumors but also other cancers that can spread, such as breast and lung.
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When people undergo chemotherapy, it can be traumatic to lose their hair. This can be especially tough for children. Marlie Hall introduces a little girl fighting cancer who received a special gift to make her feel better about herself.
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DUARTE, Calif. (KABC) -- A woman who has battled end-stage breast cancer for several years appears to be making a miracle recovery.

Susan Young's fight with the aggressive form of breast cancer caused malignant lesions to cover 70 percent of the 69-year-old's body.

"I was told that I had it, it was terminal and I just figured I was going to die with it. You know, with my body all ugly," Young said.

She was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. After a while, most treatments stopped working. Four months ago, Young was out of options.

"There wasn't much else that medicine could offer her," said vaccine researcher Dr. Don Diamond.

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Attention smokers: For every year that you continue your pack-a-day habit, the DNA in every cell in your lungs acquires about 150 new mutations.

Some of those mutations may be harmless, but the more there are, the greater the risk that one or more of them will wind up causing cancer.

The threat doesn’t stop there, according to a study in Friday’s edition of the journal Science. After a year of smoking a pack of cigarettes each day, the cells in the larynx pick up roughly 97 new mutations, those in the pharynx accumulate 39 new mutations, and cells in the oral cavity gain 23 new mutations.

Even organs with no direct exposure to tobacco smoke appear to be affected. The researchers counted about 18 new mutations in every bladder cell and six new mutations in every liver cell for each “pack-year” that smokers smoked.

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