US researchers have discovered a genetic trait that shows the strongest link yet to colorectal cancer, the number-two cancer killer in the United States, according to a study published today. If a person inherits this gene, his or her risk of getting colon cancer is 50 per cent higher than the the six per cent risk in the general population, said the research by doctors at Northwestern University, published in the journal Science. Read The Advertiser story.

The tobacco plant - responsible for millions of cancer cases - may actually offer the means to treat one form of the disease, a study suggests. US scientists used the plant to "grow" key components of a cancer vaccine. The National Academy of Sciences study suggests they could be used to tackle a form of lymphoma. Read the BBC story.

A CURE for breast and colon cancer could be a step closer after a scientist deciphered the genetic code of the tumours.

Dr Kenneth Kinzler will tell an Australian cancer conference this week of his revolutionary findings, which will lead to personal, tailor-made methods of treating the disease.

Dr Kinzler, of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, has identified the genetic make-up of tumours, which he believes will help to stop the spread of cancer and save lives. Read the Herald Sun story.

Australia has been given a glowing report in an international cancer review which shows the nation has one of the best disease survival rates in the world.

 

Australian cancer experts have welcomed the report published in The Lancet, but say Australia still has big gains to make in overcoming bowel, breast and lung cancers. Read the Camberra Times story.

Women who undergo fertility treatment are no more likely to develop breast or ovarian cancer than any other female, an international review shows.

Australian fertility experts say the results of the study, presented at conference in Spain on Tuesday, should be reassuring to the 500,000 women who have gone through treatment since the first IVF baby was born in 1980. Read The Age story.

EATING broccoli once a week can reduce a man's chances of developing prostate cancer, and might even slow the tumour growth in sufferers, a new study suggests.

Australian cancer experts have welcomed findings from a British study which has confirmed the benefits of the vegetable on cancer in humans, not just lab rats. Read The Advertiser story.

Bowel cancer patients will soon be able to get a test that predicts how well they will respond to the latest drug therapies following a genetic breakthrough involving Australian oncologists.

An international cancer trial has identified a type of gene that has become the first marker of bowel cancer, a disease that kills about 80 Australians every week. Read The Age story.