Depression can affect a cancer patient's likelihood of survival. That is the finding of an analysis published in the November 15, 2009 issue of Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. The results highlight the need for systematic screening of psychological distress and subsequent treatments.

Among unmarried cancer patients, those who are separated at the time of diagnosis do not live as long as widowed, divorced, and never married patients. That is the conclusion of a new study to be published in the November 1, 2009 issue of Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. The authors of the study say its results suggest that the stress associated with marital separation may compromise an individual's immune system and lead to a greater susceptibility to cancer.

Successful test of electronic decision support on applying international therapy guidelines / Clinical pharmacologists from Heidelberg publish results in "Pain".

Cancer patients often suffer from severe pain that cannot be effectively treated with conventional medication. Researchers at the Pharmacology Institute of the University of Heidelberg have found the possible reasons for this – tumors release two signal substances that make nerve cells especially sensitive and enhance tumor growth.

A study in the April 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine suggests that sleep problems lead to increased pain and fatigue in cancer patients. The results indicate that interventions aimed at trouble sleeping would be expected to improve both pain and fatigue in this patient population.

A recent discovery by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine could clear the way for a new drug that inhibits tumor growth in cancer patients and could potentially help in the healing of wounds.

Oncologists, geriatricians, primary care providers increasingly challenged to provide timely and appropriate post-treatment care to older cancer survivors

Cancer patients who receive stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT) for the treatment of metastatic brain tumors have more than twice the risk of developing learning and memory problems than those treated with SRS alone, according to new research from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Quality assurance programs like the one at the Quality Assurance Review Center (QARC) in Worcester, Mass., strengthen the quality of clinical trials, including cooperative groups conducting National Cancer Institute-supported clinical trials, thereby improving the standard of care in cancer patients, according to a study presented September 21, 2008, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology's 50th Annual Meeting in Boston.

Many cancer patients lose a lot of weight during their disease: Fat and muscle mass are reduced, free fatty acids accumulate in the liver, and this eventually leads to fatty liver in affected patients. What is called tumor cachexia appears to be caused by signals emitted by the tumor itself.

New data show that CAPHOSOL, an advanced electrolyte solution, relieves painful oral mucositis (OM) and improves quality of life for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiation therapy. These data will be reported in two separate presentations, one today in an oral podium presentation and one tomorrow as a poster session, at the 33rd Annual Congress of the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS).

A new study reveals that many cancer survivors are inactive and obese, which may negatively affect the control of their disease. The findings, which come from a study of cancer survivors in Canada, show that a cancer diagnosis does not appear to prompt significant behavior change and that interventions to increase physical activity and promote better eating habits among cancer survivors are warranted.