Cancer

A analysis has found new cancer diagnoses in the United States dropped by nearly 50 percent across the months of March and April. Experts warn these delayed diagnoses could lead to a spike in avoidable cancer deaths over the coming years.

Four terminally ill cancer patients in Canada have been granted a special exemption to legally possess and consume psilocybin. They are the first in the country, outside a clinical trial, allowed to do so since the psychedelic was made illegal in 1974.

Researchers in Canada have diagnosed an advanced, malignant bone cancer – in a dinosaur. Using human diagnostic techniques, a team examined a large growth on the animal’s leg bone, marking the first time such a diagnosis has been made for a dinosaur.

“Synthetic lethality” is where genetic mutations that normally don’t harm a cell become deadly when paired up. Now, scientists have found a way to use this to selectively kill off cancer caused by genetic mutations, without harming healthy cells.

A new cancer-detecting blood test has been found to catch five common types of cancer up to four years before any other conventional diagnostic tool, but further verification is needed before the test is clinically available.

Researchers at Harvard have developed a new platform for producing vaccines. Red blood cells are loaded with antigens to generate a specific immune response, and in tests in mice the team showed that it was effective in slowing the growth of cancer.

Through experiments on roundworms and human cells in the lab, scientists have found a potential new pathway for the treatment of cancer that involves a naturally occurring fatty acid and a recently discovered form of programmed cell death.

A new study out of Pennsylvania State University has offered up an exciting possibility in cancer treatment, demonstrating how a newly developed nanoparticle can target specific tumor tissue after being activated by light.

University of Pennsylvania scientists have demonstrated how a glowing dye can be used to light up cancer cells in tumors and the lymph nodes of dogs, which they say offers hope for improved surgical outcomes in humans.

Adding to the burgeoning potential of ultrasound to treat cancer is a new study that combines the technology with microbubbles, which can be blasted apart like a “targeted warhead” to destroy the majority of tumor cells in breast cancer models.

The results of a trial investigating fasting as an adjunct to chemotherapy have been published, finding the simple dietary intervention can improve the outcome of cancer chemotherapy and potentially reduce cellular damage associated with the therapy.

Immunotherapy is a promising treatment for cancer, but it still has its problems. Now researchers have identified a “jamming signal” that cancer uses to hide from the immune system, and engineered a synthetic immune cell that can fight back.