Researchers have observed for several years that people who have a history of using oral contraceptives are less likely to develop ovarian cancer. A team from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center analyzed those connections more deeply, reporting for the first time that the protective benefit of oral contraceptives is most pronounced with the most aggressive and fatal subtypes of ovarian cancer.

Final results from the first U.S. clinical study of a Cuban immunotherapy show that CIMAvax-EGF, a treatment targeting a particular cancer survival protein, epidermal growth factor (EGF), is safe and showed promising efficacy as part of a treatment combination with nivolumab (Opdivo) in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Principal Investigator Grace Dy, MD, will share these findings in a presentation at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2019 in Atlanta.

Painful sores in the mouth and throat are one of the most common adverse side effects caused by radiation therapy, which is a mainstay of treatment for most cancers of the head and neck. This condition, known as oral mucositis, frequently causes quality-of-life issues such as difficulty swallowing or eating and interrupted sleep, and often necessitates prescription of opioids or other analgesics for pain control. New research from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, to be presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2019 in Atlanta, reports that administering radiation treatments in the morning as opposed to later in the day can significantly reduce severity of mucositis and its related impacts.