National Cancer Institute NCI Cancer Bulletin: A Trusted Source for Cancer Research News
August 11, 2009 • Volume 6 / Number 16

News

These CT scans show an HPV-positive tonsil cancer in a patient with no history of tobacco or alcohol use. The arrow in the left panel points to the swollen tonsil with the primary tumor. Arrows in the right panel point to cancerous lymph nodes on both sides of the neck. The patient went into complete remission following concomitant chemotherapy and radiation. HPV Infection Drives Disparity in Head and Neck Cancer Survival

A new study provides what researchers are calling a "missing link" that helps to explain why black patients with head and neck cancer live significantly shorter after treatment than white patients. Unlike several other cancers, where racial disparities in outcomes have been attributed in large part to socioeconomic factors, this new study points directly at a biological difference: infection rates of human papillomavirus type 16. Read more > >

Commentary

Director's Update: ACTNOW Opens the Gate for Timely, Novel Research

I am very pleased to announce a new program that distributes a portion of our ARRA funds to ACTNOW (Accelerating Clinical Trials of Novel Oncologic Pathways), a program that is uniquely poised to advance targeted, personalized cancer treatment in an accelerated timeframe, so that the results benefit patients and the research community as quickly as possible.

The ACTNOW program funds 37 early-phase clinical trials of new treatment regimens that we hope will soon expand our ability to provide targeted, personalized medicine. Read more > >

A Conversation With…Dr. James Doroshow

The director of NCI's Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis explains what the Chemical Biology Consortium is and its intend goals. Read more > >

A Message to Readers

NCI Cancer Bulletin Publication Break

The NCI Cancer Bulletin will not be published on August 25. Our next issue will be released on September 8, when we resume our usual biweekly publication schedule.

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In Depth

Updates

  • NIH Update

    • Senate Confirms Dr. Francis Collins as NIH Director
  • FDA Update

    • Bevacizumab Approved to Treat Metastatic Kidney Cancer
    • Warning Labels on TNF Blockers Cite Cancer Risk

    Notes

    • Dr. William Klein to Lead NCI's Behavioral Research Program
    • Deadline for Immune Response Modifiers RFI is August 24
    • NCI to Host Conference on Emerging Technologies for Circulating Tumor Cells
    • Registration Open for February State-of-the-Science Conference on Colorectal Cancer Screening

The NCI Cancer Bulletin is produced by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), which was established in 1937. Through basic, clinical, and population-based biomedical research and training, NCI conducts and supports research that will lead to a future in which we can identify the environmental and genetic causes of cancer, prevent cancer before it starts, identify cancers that do develop at the earliest stage, eliminate cancers through innovative treatment interventions, and biologically control those cancers that we cannot eliminate so they become manageable, chronic diseases.

For more information about cancer, call 1-800-4-CANCER or visit http://www.cancer.gov.

NCI Cancer Bulletin staff can be reached at ncicancerbulletin@mail.nih.gov.

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