Recommended cancer screenings have been shown to increase early diagnosis and save lives in at-risk patient populations. A government initiative called Healthy People 2020 includes targets for increasing screening levels for breast and colorectal cancer over the next five years to improve cancer survival and overall public health, but progress updates are necessary to ensure that such targets are within reach. 

The lifetime risk of developing cancer following parathyroid imaging using either 4D CT or scintigraphy is negligible and should not deter doctors from utilizing the modalities for preoperative assessments, according to study results published in the May issue of the American Journal of Roegentology.

Pancreatic cancer presents an imposing foe. Mortality is high, owing to the fact that many cases are diagnosed late stage, yet routine screening of those at average risk is not practical. The key will be targeting screening to those at high risk, and one of this week’s top stories featured the short-term results of a small screening program that did just that.

Short-term results of an MRI-based screening program for patients at high risk of pancreatic cancer, published online in JAMA Surgery, showed the program was able to identify pancreatic lesions in 40 percent of patients, ultimately leading to surgery in five patients.

Tumor paint, a substance derived from scorpion venom that can cross the blood-brain barrier, can make brain tumors glow under near-infrared light, making them easier targets for surgeons.

Overall rates for cancer deaths are decreasing among all demographics nationwide, according to “The Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975-2011.” The report, published Mar. 30 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, also analyzed breast cancer subtypes for the first time ever. 

Imaging tests like mammograms or CT scans can detect tumors, but figuring out whether a growth is or isn’t cancer usually requires a biopsy to study cells directly. Now results of a Johns Hopkins study suggest that MRI could one day make biopsies more effective or even replace them altogether by noninvasively detecting telltale sugar molecules shed by the outer membranes of cancerous cells.

Consuming herring, mackerel, or certain dietary supplements containing fish oils can induce resistance to chemotherapy and limit the impact treatment has on tumor growth, according to a study published online in JAMA Oncology.