Recurrent and metastatic endometrial and ovarian cancers can be notoriously difficult to treat: They have spread to other organs and typically have developed resistance to chemotherapy; and patients already heavily treated with chemotherapy may not be able to endure more chemo.

One cell…one initial set of genetic changes – that’s all it takes to begin a series of events that lead to metastatic cancer. Now, Johns Hopkins experts have tracked how the cancer process began in 33 men with prostate cancer who died of the disease. Culling information from autopsies, their study points to a set of genetic defects in a single cell that are different for each person’s cancer.

Few things are as tiresome as house hunting and moving. Unfortunately, metastatic cancer cells have the relocation process down pat. Tripping nimbly from one abode to another, these migrating cancer cells often prove far more deadly than the original tumor.

The molecular profile of cancer stem cells that initiate metastatic colon tumors is significantly different from those responsible for primary tumors, according to new research from a team at Weill Cornell Medical College.

Oncolytics Biotech Inc. (“Oncolytics”) (TSX:ONC, NASDAQ:ONCY) announced that an oral presentation covering interim results from a U.K. Phase Ia/Ib combination REOLYSIN® and radiation clinical trial for patients with advanced or metastatic cancers is scheduled to be presented at the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) conference on October 2, 2007 in Birmingham, U.K.

On July 16 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first molecular-based laboratory test for detecting whether breast cancer has spread (metastasized) to nearby lymph nodes.

Gleevec, a pill developed in conjunction with the Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute is again showing excellent results in preventing a cancer recurrence.