Medicine & Health

A new program funded through the Cancer Moonshot Initiative has doubled the number of patients at Siteman Cancer Center assessed for smoking — and increased by fivefold the percentage of cancer patients who smoke now taking medication to help them quit. The results have been published in the journal Translational Behavioral Medicine.

Researchers at the School of Medicine in St. Louis and Rush University in Chicago have found a compound that promotes a vigorous immune assault on pancreatic cancer. The findings, in mice, suggest a way to improve immunotherapy for the deadly disease in patients.

Research led by investigators at the School of Medicine has taken a step toward identifying the cysts in the pancreas that are likely to become cancerous.

A new study led by the School of Medicine has found that proton therapy is associated with fewer severe side effects than conventional X-ray radiation therapy for many cancer patients.

Centene Corp. and the School of Medicine announced a partnership April 8 to transform and accelerate research into treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, breast cancer, diabetes and obesity. As part of the partnership, Centene will fund up to $100 million over 10 years in research at the university.

Mistakes in DNA are known to drive cancer growth. But a new study, from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, heavily implicates a genetic phenomenon commonly known as “jumping genes” in the growth of tumors.

Researchers at the School of Medicine may have found a path toward improving the effectiveness of chemotherapy in people with breast or ovarian cancer caused by defects in one of the BRCA genes. The researchers identified a pair of genes that operate in parallel to BRCA and may increase susceptibility to chemotherapy drugs.

Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis plan to use a new imaging technique to get a better look at breast tumors and reduce unnecessary biopsies.

The School of Medicine has received a $9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study the life histories of breast and pancreatic cancers. The grant is part of the NIH’s Human Tumor Atlas Network, a large-scale effort to better understand tumors.