ACS News Today

Men who drink alcohol heavily and on a regular basis may be putting themselves at increased risk for prostate cancer, according to a new study published in Cancer, the American Cancer Society's peer-reviewed medical journal. The study also found that heavy alcohol use may diminish the possible preventive properties of finasteride, a drug that has been shown to reduce the risk of prostate cancer in some men.

New drugs called PARP inhibitors appear to have a lot of promise against hereditary cancers caused by BRCA1 and BRCA2 cell mutations.

A new report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows that some regions of the United States face greater health risks from air pollution than others.

President Barack Obama has signed into law a sweeping tobacco bill that will drastically change how tobacco is regulated and marketed in the United States.

Women with HER2+ inflammatory breast cancer who haven't responded to other cancer treatments may benefit from lapatinib (Tykerb), according to results from a phase II study published this month in The Lancet Oncology.

President Barack Obama says he will sign a sweeping tobacco bill that will drastically change how tobacco is regulated and marketed in the United States.

Top cancer researchers and physicians from all over the world flocked to Orlando for the 45th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), held May 29th through June 2nd.

Cancer death rates are falling steadily, according to the American Cancer Society's annual cancer statistics report, Cancer Facts & Figures 2009, and its companion article "Cancer Statistics, 2009," published in the Society's CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. The drop is driven in large part by better prevention, increased use of early detection practices, and improved treatments for cancer.

The FDA recently approved Avastin (bevacizumab), manufactured by Genentech, to treat glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a type of brain cancer, that hasn't responded to other therapies. The approval is the latest for the drug, which is also used to treat certain types of breast, lung, colon, and rectum cancers.

Dendreon Corporation recently reported encouraging phase III study results for Provenge, a "vaccine" that uses a patient's own immune system to fight advanced pro state cancer. The results offer hope to men with advanced disease, though it may be some time before they see the vaccine, which has yet to be submitted to the FDA for approval.