Word: tumors
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Back in 1983, when Dr. John Mendelsohn applied for a National Cancer Institute grant to study growth-factor receptors in tumors, he was flatly rejected. His idea--to create antibodies that would find and bind to tumor cells, blocking their ability to recruit the nutrients they need to flourish--was considered unproved and risky. "He had a vision going way back that antibodies might have an important role in the treatment of cancer," says Dr. Stuart Kornfeld, one of Mendelsohn's mentors at Washington University in St. Louis...
Most cancer specialists, though, believe that while Erbitux and the science behind its development are radical, both are solid. Erbitux can home in on a protein beacon found on 80% of tumors, making it a promising candidate for treating a range of cancers, from breast to lung to colon. "Nobody has ever questioned the value or the trustworthiness of the science," says Dr. Larry Norton, head of solid tumor oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City...
...ovaries and Fallopian tubes removed. Harsh medicine indeed, but women with the genetic mutation face a 50% to 85% lifetime risk of developing breast cancer and a 15% to 40% risk of ovarian cancer. Removing the ovaries helps prevent breast cancer by stemming the flow of estrogen, which spurs tumor growth; the procedure helps prevent ovarian cancer by eliminating the organs, though tumor cells may still exist nearby. Doctors think ovary removal may be an easier choice--especially for women who have completed childbearing--than the other surgical alternative: a prophylactic double mastectomy...
...another study, women with early-stage breast cancer that had spread to several lymph nodes significantly cut the risk of recurrence simply by replacing one of the standard chemotherapy agents with a drug called docetaxel (Taxotere). By blocking cancer cells' division and growth process, docetaxel reduces the risk of tumor recurrence...
...finding in lung cancer, doctors discovered that a special form of vitamin A might reverse some of the changes in lung tissue caused by smoking. In a small study, former smokers who took the vitamin A derivative produced higher levels of a protein thought to be important in suppressing tumor growth than ex-smokers who took a placebo...