A special report published in the October issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons indicates that an alarming 35% of initial diagnostic breast biopsies in the United States are still being done using unnecessary open surgical techniques. This in spite of the fact that it costs as much as three times more than the much less invasive and equally accurate needle biopsy technique.

An increase in cases of a rare type of head and neck cancer appears to be linked to HPV, or human papillomavirus, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) will fund an effort by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center to siphon buckets of meaningful information from an ocean of data about the aberrant genetics that drive human cancers.

Among women with early stage breast cancer, genetic variation of a certain enzyme appears to be associated with clinical outcomes for women treated with tamoxifen, according to a study in the October 7 issue of JAMA.

Results of a phase two clinical trial published October 5th in the Journal of Clinical Oncology show that adding continuous daily doses of a targeted drug called imatinib mesylate to regular chemotherapy more than doubled three-year survival rates for children with a high risk type of blood cancer called Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL).

Theresa M. Reineke, associate professor of chemistry in the College of Science, and colleagues in her lab at Virginia Tech and at the University of Cincinnati have developed a new molecule that can travel into cells, deliver genetic cargo, and packs a beacon so scientists can follow its movements in living systems.

Think of a protective fence that blocks the neighbor's dog from charging into your backyard. The body, too, has fences -- physical and biochemical barriers that keep cells in their place.

Mayo Clinic researchers have found that certain structural features within breast tissue can indicate a woman's individual cancer risk. The findings appear online today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a childhood cancer thought to originate from skeletal muscle. In patients whose disease has spread (metastasized) from the initial tumor site the chance of long-term survival is poor.

Scientists at the University of York have identified and successfully silenced a gene that appears essential to cancer cell survival.