Dealing with a new diagnosis of prostate cancer can be both difficult and confusing. Men often find it difficult to sort through the many treatment choices available to determine their best treatment options. The new Coleman Foundation Comprehensive Cancer Clinic at Rush University Medical Center solves the problem of a patchwork of services by offering patients one center for all their care.At other centers, men are usually seen only by a single specialist. [click link for full article]

Bayer Schering Pharma (BSP) announced that the European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has issued a positive opinion, recommending the approval of Nexavar (sorafenib) tablets for the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The CHMP’s positive recommendation will be reviewed by the European Commission, which has authority to approve medicines for the European Union. BSP anticipates a final decision from the Commission in the coming months. [click link for full article]

“President Bush stated this week that he intends to veto pending legislation that would reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which is set to expire Sept. 30. The bill would extend health coverage to approximately 4 million uninsured children and continue providing coverage to 6 million children. [click link for full article]

Beth Y. Karlan, M.D, director of the Cedars-Sinai Women’s Cancer Research Institute at the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute and a renowned expert in the field of gynecologic oncology, has been named the new Editor-in-Chief of Gynecologic Oncology, the medical journal of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists (SGO). Karlan, who begins her editorship on January 1, 2008, succeeds David M. Gershenson, M.D., who led the journal for the past 17 years. [click link for full article]

Canadian mothers and babies, especially those in northern communities, aren’t getting enough vitamin D, according to a new statement by the Canadian Paediatric Society. Vitamin D deficiency-prevalent among pregnant women, exclusively breastfed infants, and northern Aboriginal populations-can pose serious dangers to the development of a fetus and infant, yet is easily preventable through supplements. [click link for full article]

Huge challenges face healthcare professionals and policy makers in planning for, and providing cancer care over the next decade or so. Chief amongst these will be ensuring that healthcare professionals have the skills and knowledge to treat a greater number of elderly people with cancer, that current inappropriate ageist attitudes towards the elderly cease, and that advances are made in ensuring that cancer patients are able to comply with their treatment. [click link for full article]

Italian scientists will announce today that they have found a new and promising target for anti-tumour therapy in cancer. Professor Saverio Alberti, from the CESI, University of Chieti Foundation, Chieti, will tell the European Cancer Conference (ECCO 14) that he and his team have found a widespread mechanism for the stimulation of tumour growth in man, and that this is leading to the development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. [click link for full article]

All Canadian girls between 9 and 13 years old should receive the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, according to a new statement by the Canadian Paediatric Society. The CPS also recommends that girls at higher risk of early sexual activity-those who are street-involved, or under the care of child welfare-be targeted. “HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection,” said Dr. [click link for full article]

MIT researchers have developed a computer modeling approach that could improve a class of drugs based on antibodies, molecules key to the immune system. The model can predict structural changes in an antibody that will improve its effectiveness. The team has already used the model to create a new version of cetuximab, a drug commonly used to treat colorectal cancer, that binds to its target with 10 times greater affinity than the original molecule. [click link for full article]

A comprehensive, first-of-its-kind study by a team of Israeli researchers has raised the issue of whether all genetic screening programs for unborn fetuses should be offered. Thirty-five years after genetic screening was first used to identify babies at risk of being born with debilitating diseases, the study of a potentially serious but treatable illness among Ashkenazi Jews questions whether such testing has gone too far. [click link for full article]