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"NOTTINGHAM, England, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- A drug derived from a mushroom -- cordycepin -- may be used to treat some cancers, British researchers say. Dr. Cornelia de Moor of The University of Nottingham in England and colleagues are investigating the drug originally extracted from a rare parasitic mushroom called cordyceps that grows on caterpillars. The researchers say low-dose cordycepin seems to inhibit the uncontrolled growth and division of cells and at high doses it also inhibits growth by stopping cells from sticking together. Both of these effects, they say, probably have the same underlying mechanism -- interfering with the production of cell proteins.

Copper Control as an Antiangiogenic Anticancer Therapy: Lessons from Treating Wilson's Disease -- Brewer 226 (7): 665 -- Experimental Biology and Medicine

Berberine inhibits human tongue squamous carcinoma cancer tumor growth in a murine xenograft model. Ho YT, Yang JS, Lu CC, Chiang JH, Li TC, Lin JJ, Lai KC, Liao CL, Lin JG, Chung JG. Phytomedicine. 2009 Sep;16(9):887-90. Epub 2009 Mar 20. PMID: 19303753 Our primary studies showed that berberine induced apoptosis in human tongue cancer SCC-4 cells in vitro. But there is no report to show berberine inhibited SCC-4 cancer cells in vivo on a murine xenograft animal model. SCC-4 tumor cells were implanted into mice and groups of mice were treated with vehicle, berberine (10mg/kg of body weight) and doxorubicin (4mg/kg of body weight). The tested agents were injected once per four days intraperitoneally (i.p.), with treatment starting 4 weeks prior to cells inoculation. Treatment with 4mg/kg of doxorubicin or with 10mg/kg of berberine resulted in a reduction in tumor incidence. Tumor size in xenograft mice treated with 10mg/kg berberine was significantly smaller than that in the control group. Our findings indicated that berbeirne inhibits tumor growth in a xenograft animal model. Therefore, berberine may represent a tongue cancer preventive agent and can be used in clinic.

For the first time in the world, on December 7, 2007 we publicly shared our observational data from the treatment of 118 cancer patients with DCA. In March 2008 we updated our data from treating over 175 patients. As of August 2008, we have treated over 265 cancer patients with DCA. Results of the analysis of our latest data are very similar to our two earlier reports.

Targeted cancer therapy and gene therapy have been mentioned in the blue before, but oncolytic viruses are the hot young thing. For consideration in cancer treatment, an virus must replicate in and kill a high number of exclusively cancer cells, while sparing healthy tissue. A Philadelphia-based company called Neotropix has won awards for its research into a prime contender - the Seneca Valley Virus. It has been the subject of Phase I adult clinical trials, with Phase II adult and Phase I pediatric clinical trials to start this year. SVV has advantages over some other contenders in that it is a naturally occurring (lest we create a race of mutant zombies) organism and studies so far suggest it is not harmful to healthy human cells. While a number of other oncolytic viruses are being examined, NTX-010 seems able to treat a very wide range of common and rare forms of cancer, some of which are now considered uniformly fatal. In addition, unlike some other tested viruses, it can travel through the bloodstream to treat metastatic and not just local disease. Compared to the side-effects and late effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatment, and because many of the cancers ideal for treatment with an oncolytic virus have no surgical options, this may be the next big breakthrough.

"SCIENTISTS have shown that a new class of cancer drugs called PARP inhibitors, currently being tested in clinical trials to treat breast and ovarian cancer could have dramatic results when used to treat other solid tumours, according to work presented at the NCRI Cancer Conference today. "

Meta-analysis of vitamin D, calcium and the prevention of breast cancer. Chen P, Hu P, Xie D, Qin Y, Wang F, Wang H. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2009 Oct 23. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19851861 These results provide strong evidence that vitamin D and calcium have a chemopreventive effect against breast cancer.

Patients with less advanced disease might benefit even more, small study suggests.

Patients with larynx cancer who received a three-drug combination of docetaxel, cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil (TPF) during induction chemotherapy were more likely to retain larynx function than were patients treated with cisplatin and 5-fluoruracil (PF) alone, according to data from a randomized controlled trial in the March 24 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The active compound in marijuana, THC, can slow the growth of lung tumours and reduce the spread of the cancer in mice, a preliminary study reveals. Human lung cancer tumours grew less than half as fast in mice that received moderate doses of the compound, the researchers reveal. They hope that drugs mimicking the apparent anti-cancer effects of tetrahydrocanabinol (THC) could one day help treat patients. The team strongly discourage people from self-medicating by smoking marijuana, noting that doing so could potentially encourage tumour growth.

February 14, 2009 - (BRONX, NY) - Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have piggybacked antibodies onto radioactive payloads to deliver doses of radiation that selectively target and destroy microbial and HIV-infected cells. The experimental treatment - called radioimmunotherapy, or RIT - holds promise for treating various infectious diseases, including HIV and cancers caused by viruses. The research was presented today at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world's largest general scientific society and the publishers of the journal Science.

When these cell cultures were treated with red clover isoflavones, the androgenic effects of DHEA were reversed. "Something is happening in the prostate tissue microenvironment that is illustrating a potential cancer prevention effect from this supplement," said Arnold. Red clover isoflavones may modify androgenic effects in the prostate but much more work in the laboratory and clinic is needed to validate these effects.

For the first time, medical groups have issued guidelines that say healthy older men should consider taking a drug that may reduce their risk of developing prostate cancer, even if they're just among the worried well who go in for regular screenings.\n\nThe drug, finasteride, is already used to treat male pattern baldness and to shrink enlarged prostates. The new guidelines suggest that patients who are already taking finasteride for those conditions or who go for regular prostate cancer screening tests should discuss long-term treatment with the drug with their doctors.

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and complementary and integrative medicine (CIM) are therapies of proven or unproven efficacy that have been used to promote wellness, to manage symptoms associated with cancer and its treatment or to treat cancer. When properly combined with standard cancer treatments, some complementary therapies can enhance wellness and quality of life, but others may be harmful during or after treatment for cancer. Most, but not all, are natural products.

A new approach to cancer treatment called immunotherapy could spare patients at least some of the grueling battery of chemotherapy treatments by retraining the body's own defenders--the cells of the immune system--to recognize and destroy tumors. Now researchers at Harvard University have developed a simple way to do this inside the body: a polymer implant attracts and trains immune-system cells to go after cancer. The experimental approach has shown great success in animal studies, increasing the survival rate of mice with a deadly melanoma from 0 to 90 percent. The implant could also be used to treat diseases of the immune system such as arthritis and diabetes, and, potentially, to train other kinds of cells, including stem cells used to repair damage to the body.

Research just published in the American Association for Cancer Research's Cancer Prevention Research identifies a class of flavonoids called anthocyanins in black raspberries that's been shown to inhibit cancer cell growth and stimulate apoptosis (the death of cancer cells) in the esophagus of rats treated with an esophageal carcinogen

The article is written by lay individuals for information purposes only and is not to be used to diagnose or treat any disease. The document outlines therapeutic strategies which have not been clinically proven and may not be effective for lymphoma and ot

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered to their surprise that a drug commonly used to treat toenail fungus can also block angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels commonly seen in cancers. The drug, itraconazole, already is FDA approved for hum

Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kale and kohlrabi - this family of cruciferous vegetables is naturally rich in indole-3-carbinol (I3C), a compound that is quickly becoming recognized as one of the most powerful cancer-fighting compounds that we know of.

It sounds almost too good to be true: a cheap and simple drug that kills almost all cancers by switching off their "immortality". The drug, dichloroacetate (DCA), has already been used for years to treat rare metabolic disorders and so is known to be