Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Important news for men with prostate cancer: first, the cancer tends to grow so slowly that only a fraction of patients actually die from it. Second, men with low-grade cancer who opt for close monitoring instead of surgery to remove the prostate do not seem to suffer anxiety and distress from living with ''untreated'' cancer. Those are the take-home messages of two studies appearing in medical journals this week. Prostate cancer, the second most common cancer in men after lung cancer, is increasingly being diagnosed at earlier stages, mainly because of more widespread screening programs. While many prostate tumors ... Read Full Story

An influential doctors group is backing off its call for annual tests after age 50 to screen for prostate cancer. "Many men do not need yearly screening," but each man's risk should be individually assessed, said Dr. Peter Carroll, who led the panel that wrote the American Urological Association's new guidelines. They are being issued Monday at the group's annual meeting in Chicago. The new stance brings the group more in line with advice from other experts, who say annual screening is leading to unnecessary biopsies and treatment with little proof that it saves lives. Screening involves a physical exam and a blood test ... Read Full Story

Women who carry mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes have a dramatically increased risk of developing breast cancer: a 36 to 85 percent chance of developing the disease during their lifetime, which is three to five times greater than the average risk rate. Ken Offit, chief of the clinical genetics service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, in New York, wants to know how the other 15 to 64 percent escape unscathed. Genetic microarrays that allow scientists to quickly screen the genomes of thousands of patients are finally bringing that question within reach. In a new study, scientists around the globe are collecting DNA ... Read Full Story

* Obama will state support for "scientific integrity" * Scientists hail decision * Religious conservatives unhappy By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will lift controversial restrictions on human stem cell research Monday and sign a pledge to take politics out of science, the White House says, a clear repudiation of the approach taken by his predecessor George W. Bush. The decision, which fulfills a campaign promise, pits Obama against many religious conservatives who oppose such research because they say it involves destroying life. Aides said Obama would not dictate details about how stem cell research should be overseen but would give ... Read Full Story

Early trials of a new drug for advanced prostate cancer are showing some success, researchers report. Of the first 30 patients treated with MDV3100, 13 showed declines of more than 50 percent in the levels of chemicals in the blood that indicate the presence of the cancer. However, the tests are only in phase 1 and 2, where drugs are checked for safety, side effects and early indications of effectiveness. The drug still faces a larger phase 3 tests of effectiveness before it can be proposed for use. The preliminary findings, by a team led by Charles L. Sawyers of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center ... Read Full Story