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Twenty hematology and hematology/oncology fellows and junior faculty will begin a unique year-long education and mentoring program this summer as part of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Clinical Research Training Institute. Each year, the Clinical Research Training Institute provides aspiring hematologists with the necessary tools to begin careers in clinical research.

An article published in The Lancet finds that cancer patients who received a care package called “Depression Care for People with Cancer” (DCPC) had lower levels of depression than those who received the usual care (antidepressants and mental health services recommended by the cancer team).

ORLANDO, FL (UroToday.com) - Abstract 1791 showed the importance of a repeat TURBT for T1 grade 3 tumors. If there is no residual tumor (NRT) on the repeat TURBT patients do much better than if there is residual tumor (SRT). NRT - Recurrence 17% - Progression 10% - DFS 78% SRT - Recurrence 45% - Progression 23% - DFS 50% Abstract 1695 showed that 60% of all bladder cancer deaths occur within the first 2 years of diagnosis.

ORLANDO, FL (UroToday.com) - (Reported from the Annual Meeting of the American Urological Association) Researchers showed that KAI-1 can differentiate chromophobe renal cancers from oncocytoma. Papillary renal cancer with clear cell components is worse than pure papillary tumors. There was a general trend toward watching small renal masses rather than surgery. Small renal tumors that are destined to be metastatic have a growth rate of 0.74cm/year compared to 0.

A randomized trial that studied the impact of the new vitespen vaccine, administered after surgery for kidney cancer, failed to demonstrate an increase in recurrence-free survival (RFS). More research is needed, according to the study authors, in order to know whether the vaccine can increase RFS if given to patients during the early stages of the disease.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced additional updates to the information it uses in determining which drugs may be covered under Medicare Part B when used to treat patients undergoing cancer treatment through chemotherapy. CMS will add Elsevier Gold Standard’s Clinical Pharmacology compendium to the list of Medicare anti-cancer treatment compendia.

Insightful updates on onco-urological issues were the focus of the 3rd ESU masterclass, which started in Barcelona on Friday 27 June. There were 150 participants who listened to a faculty of 12 internationally renowned experts in urological cancers. The European Board of Urology (EBU) organised a written examination following the masterclass which is accredited within the EU-ACME programme.

Thyroid cancer that has spread to distant sites has a poor prognosis, but an experimental drug that inhibits tumor blood vessel formation can slow disease progression in some patients, a research team led by investigators from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports in the July 3rd edition of The New England Journal of Medicine.

A study by an international team of researchers found that an experimental drug that stops blood vessels that feed tumors from forming was able, in a small number of patients, to slow down the progression of advanced thyroid cancer that has spread to other sites.

Virginia Commonwealth University and VCU Massey Cancer Center researchers have uncovered how a gene, melanoma differentiation associated gene-7/interleukin-24 (mda-7/IL-24), induces a bystander effect that kills cancer cells not directly receiving mda-7/IL-24 without harming healthy ones, a discovery that could lead to new therapeutic strategies to fight metastatic disease.