At-home urine test spots bladder cancer in nine of ten cases
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In an NHS trial of nearly 1,000 patients across seven hospitals in England and Scotland, an at-home urine test detected 92 percent of bladder cancer cases. When the result came back negative, there was better than a 99 percent chance the patient was in the Read More...
Bioengineered gum could expand treatment options for oral cancer patients
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM A bioengineered chewing gum cut HPV levels by 93 percent in oral samples from head and neck cancer patients, in new research from the University of Pennsylvania. The same formulation, when loaded with an antimicrobial peptide called protegrin, brought two Read More...
Scientists trial a painless brush test for oral cancer that returns results in 60 minutes
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM A brush swab of the mouth. Four genes. Results in under an hour. Researchers from Queen Mary University of London, working with partners in India, have shown that this simple approach can match the diagnostic accuracy of a surgical biopsy, without a scalpel Read More...
Could this popular gym supplement strengthen cancer immunotherapy?
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Cancer immunotherapy has transformed treatment for some patients. For the 60 to 80 percent who don’t respond, the problem often isn’t the killer T cells at the end of the immune chain. It’s the cells responsible for training them. A new UCLA study Read More...
A daily pill just doubled survival time for advanced pancreatic cancer
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In a 500-patient trial at American Society of Clinical Oncology's (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago, a daily pill called daraxonrasib doubled average survival time in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. Those on the drug lived for an average of 13.2 Read More...
Australia is on track to eliminate a form of cancer entirely
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM For the first time in history, a country is on the verge of eliminating a form of cancer entirely. Australia is on track to reach that milestone by 2035, and possibly sooner, through a combination of widespread HPV vaccination and a screening system that has Read More...
How screening and vaccines drove UK cancer deaths to record lows
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Between 2022 and 2024, roughly 247 people per 100,000 in the UK died from cancer each year. That number matters most when you compare it to 1989, when the rate stood at 355 per 100,000. It is, by every measure, a historic decline. But the headline number Read More...
A new drug is producing "stunning" results in men with advanced prostate cancer
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Immunotherapy has reshaped cancer treatment over the past decade. It has worked for melanoma, lung cancer, and several other tumor types. Prostate cancer, though, has largely been left out. Researchers classify it as "immune-cold," meaning the body's immune Read More...
Study shows how genetically engineered bacteria can find and destroy tumors
Cancer tumors are very effective at avoiding the immune system, making intervention difficult. A common gut bacterium has been genetically altered to seek out and destroy cancer tumors from within, as shown in a new study. Why are tumors so hard to treat? Tumors can thrive by escaping the body's Read More...
Rectal cancer trial sees tumor disappear in all patients
A drug study involving people with rectal cancer has remarkably eradicated the tumor in all 18 patients. Though small, the trial astounded practitioners in the field, touting the results as an unprecedented achievement in cancer treatment, reports The New York Times. Cancer disappeared in all Read More...