If you are a cancer patient, whatever your race — whether you are African American, Hispanic or white — in the USA you would be well advised to seek treatment at a hospital that treats mostly white patients.

So finds a newly published study by researchers at University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. At hospitals that treat more black patients than white, all cancer patients are liable to receive less than optimum care.

Hospitals that treat more black cancer patients, these researchers found, have worse survival rates on average for patients with breast and colon cancer, regardless of race,

The research helps explain, the authors say, why African-Americans with breast or colon cancer are less likely than white patients to survive the disease. The study appears in the Aug. 20 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Results from a Phase 1 study of NEUVENGE, Dendreon’s candidate vaccine for breast cancer, appeared today in Journal of Clinical Oncology. Testing of Neuvenge in clinical trials runs several years behind Provenge, which is in an ongoing Phase 3 trial. Out of 18 patients with advanced breast cancer who received Neuvenge, 1 patient showed partial response for 6 months and 3 patients had stable disease lasting more than a year.

A daily dose of adult-strength aspirin may modestly reduce cancer risk in populations with high rates of colorectal, prostate, and breast cancer if taken for at least five years.

Scientists have found evidence that the stress hormone epinephrine causes changes in prostate and breast cancer cells that may make them resistant to treatment. Learning how to cope well with stress could play a role in preventing and treating the disease.

“This data implies that emotional stress may contribute to the development of cancer and may also reduce the effectiveness of cancer treatments,” said George Kulik of Wake Forest University, the senior researcher on the project.
For full story with links to related research go here….