News releases
June 2013
College student to receive scholarship for essay about her Dad's brain tumor on Father's Day
June 13, 2013 — Sacramento State student Kimberly Schmidt and her father, Bobby Schmidt, a brain tumor patient at UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, 23 young athletes running in the 4K for Cancer event from San Francisco to Baltimore, MD to raise money for the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults.
Father's brain tumor treatment sparks essay, then college scholarship
June 12, 2013 — A Sacramento-area college student will receive a $2,500 college scholarship Sunday after being selected from hundreds of applicants based on an essay detailing her family’s experience following her father’s brain tumor diagnosis and treatment.
Reducing unnecessary and high-dose pediatric CT scans could cut associated cancers by 62 percent
June 10, 2013 — A study examining trends in X-ray computed tomography (CT) use in children in the United States has found that reducing unnecessary scans and lowering the doses for the highest-dose scans could lower the overall lifetime risk of future imaging-related cancers by 62 percent. The research by a UC Davis Health System scientist is published online today in JAMA Pediatrics. It is accompanied by a journal editorial. [en español]
May 2013
Father and son to present their respective cancer research at ASCO
May 29, 2013 — What started as a dinner-table conversation between a teen and his father has become a bonafide cancer research study for Matthew Lara, a Davis High School sophomore and the son of UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center medical oncologist and researcher Primo (Lucky) Lara Jr.
Free hepatitis B screenings offered on May 19
May 10, 2013 — Asian Americans and adult children of foreign-born Asian Americans are invited to a free hepatitis B screening event Sunday, May 19 at the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center.
UC Davis radiation oncology chief leads development of new prostate cancer guideline
May 7, 2013 — Based on a major effort co-led by UC Davis prostate cancer expert Richard Valicenti, the nation’s leading urological and radiation oncology organizations today announced a new guideline for radiation therapy after prostatectomy.
April 2013
Health-care worker visits increase hepatitis B screening rates for Hmong Americans
April 23, 2013 — In the first study of its kind, lay health workers increased screening rates for hepatitis B virus (HBV) and knowledge about the disease among a group of Asian Americans, known as the Hmong, UC Davis researchers have found. The study appears online today in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
Mammogram tool improves some breast cancer detection but also increases false alarms
April 15, 2013 — A costly and widely used mammography add-on increases detection of noninvasive and early-stage invasive breast cancer but also makes more mistakes than mammography alone, researchers from UC Davis and the University of Washington have found. [en español]
Small molecule unlocks key prostate cancer survival tactic
April 9, 2013 — The most recent in a series of studies from a team at the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center has shown that a single molecule is at the heart of one of the most basic survival tactics of prostate cancer cells.
Fatty acid metabolite shows promise against cancer in mice
April 2, 2013 — A team of UC Davis scientists has found that a product resulting from a metabolized omega-3 fatty acid helps combat cancer by cutting off the supply of oxygen and nutrients that fuel tumor growth and spread of the disease.
March 2013
UC Davis research advances efforts to prevent dangerous blood clots
March 20, 2013 — New research from the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, published in the Journal of Surgical Research, may help clinicians determine which patients are at highest risk for post-surgical blood clots in the legs or lungs.
UC Davis Medical Center named one of top hospitals with great oncology programs
March 19, 2013 — UC Davis Medical Center has been named one of “100 Hospitals and Health Systems with Great Oncology Programs” by Becker’s Hospital Review, a national publication geared to hospital and health system leaders.
UC Davis scientist wins prestigious grant to explore cancer spread and stem cell function
March 1, 2013 — Frederic A. Troy, II, professor and chair emeritus of biochemistry and molecular medicine, has received a globally competitive research grant from the Mizutani Foundation for Glycoscience to better understand structural changes associated with metastasis of adult cancer cells and stem cells.
February 2013
Mushroom-supplemented soybean extract shows therapeutic promise for advanced prostate cancer
February 20, 2013 — A natural, nontoxic product called genistein-combined polysaccharide, or GCP, which is commercially available in health stores, could help lengthen the life expectancy of certain prostate cancer patients, UC Davis researchers have found.
New radiation oncology device reduces treatment times, increases safety
February 1, 2013 — With radiation oncology treatments, the goal is to hit the tumor with as much ionizing X-ray energy as possible, while sparing adjacent, healthy tissue.
January 2013
UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Joaquin Community Hospital affiliate for cancer care
January 11, 2013 — Residents of Kern County, where cancer rates overall are higher than the state average, will now have access to the expertise and experience of UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers and clinicians through a new hospital affiliation. [en español]
December 2012
The HER2 paradox: HER2-positive stem cells found in HER2-negative breast cancer
December 14, 2012 — A multicenter study led by researchers at UC Davis describes new, paradoxical characteristics of the most common type of breast cancer.
Chong Pan wins national investigator leadership award
December 4, 2012 — Chong Pan has been recognized by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) with a Cancer Clinical Investigator Team Leadership Award. Pan, associate professor of medicine and leader of the cancer center’s urothelial carcinoma initiative, was one of 11 award recipients for FY 2011. Formal recognition of the recipients took place recently at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD.
November 2012
WeCARE! Peer Navigator Program expands to Central Valley
November 28, 2012 — The UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center's WeCARE! Cancer Peer Navigators program is expanding to the Central Valley.
Experts recommend closer scrutiny of radiation exposure from CT scans
November 28, 2012 — Amid increasing fear of overexposure to radiation from CT scans, a panel of experts has recommended more research on the health effects of medical imaging and ways to reduce unnecessary CT tests, as well as industry standardization of CT machines.
UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center marks Lung Cancer Awareness Month
November 16, 2012 — The UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center will host a Tweet chat to discuss the latest approaches to lung cancer treatment on Nov. 27 at 1 p.m. in recognition of Lung Cancer Awareness Month. Twitter users are invited to log in and join the conversation about new medical, surgical and radiation oncology approaches to the disease from cancer center experts. To join, follow #UCDcancerchat.
Call for nominations: Knoepfler Lab seeking "Stem Cell Person of the Year"
November 16, 2012 — Borrowing a thematic page from Time magazine and its annual tradition of identifying an individual or idea that has influenced the events during the year, UC Davis stem cell researcher Paul Knoepfler is seeking nominees for what he's dubbed the "Stem Cell Person of the Year" award.
Study finds high exposure to food-borne toxins
November 13, 2012 — In a sobering study published in the journal Environmental Health, researchers at UC Davis and UCLA measured food-borne toxin exposure in children and adults by pinpointing foods with high levels of toxic compounds and determining how much of these foods were consumed.
UC Davis scientists identify new target for lung cancer treatment
November 1, 2012 — A team of UC Davis investigators has discovered a protein on the surface of lung cancer cells that could prove to be an important new target for anti-cancer therapy. A series of experiments in mice with lung cancer showed that specific targeting of the protein with monoclonal antibodies reduced the size of tumors, lowered the occurrence of metastases and substantially lengthened survival time. The findings will be published in the November issue of Cancer Research.
UC Davis Health System's partnership with ValleyCare concludes
November 1, 2012 — UC Davis Health System's Cancer Care Network has concluded its four-year partnership with ValleyCare Health System and Regional Cancer Center.
October 2012
UC Davis researchers develop new drug delivery system for bladder cancer using nanoparticles
October 25, 2012 — A team of UC Davis scientists has shown in experimental mouse models that a new drug delivery system allows for administration of three times the maximum tolerated dose of a standard drug therapy for advanced bladder cancer, leading to more effective cancer control without increasing toxicity.
UC Davis part of Stand Up To Cancer and Prostate Cancer Foundation research dream team
October 9, 2012 — Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) and the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF), along with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), SU2C's scientific partner, announced the formation of a second Dream Team project dedicated to prostate cancer research -- "Targeting Adaptive Pathways in Metastatic Treatment-Resistant Prostate Cancer."
September 2012
Oropharyngeal cancer patients with human papillomavirus (HPV) have a more robust response to radiation therapy
September 25, 2012 — UC Davis cancer researchers have discovered significant differences in radiation-therapy response among patients with oropharyngeal cancer depending on whether they carry the human papillomavirus (HPV), a common sexually transmitted virus.
UC Davis researchers receive grant to test new strategy for advanced prostate cancer treatment
September 21, 2012 — A team of UC Davis investigators, led by Christopher P. Evans, professor and chair of the Department of Urology, has received a $660,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to study a promising new approach for treating advanced prostate cancer.
New study analyzes smoking trends in Mexico and among Mexican-Americans
September 20, 2012 — Led by UC Davis researchers, the first-ever transnational study of Mexico-U.S. migration and smoking has found that U.S.-born Mexican-Americans start smoking at an earlier age but are more likely to quit than their counterparts in Mexico. [en español]
UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center to open major new wing
September 17, 2012 — After 10 years of planning, the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center will open its spacious new wing to patients on Sept. 24. [en español]
August 2012
St. Baldrick's Foundation awards $100,000 to UC Davis scientist
August 21, 2012 — For the second consecutive year, Paul Knoepfler, associate professor of cell biology and human anatomy at UC Davis School of Medicine, has been awarded a $100,000 grant from the St. Baldrick's Foundation to pursue his novel research into the molecular causes of brain tumors in children.
Ramsey Badawi awarded prestigious "Provocative Questions" grant from NCI
August 9, 2012 — Ramsey Badawi, UC Davis associate professor of biomedical engineering, has won a groundbreaking grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to address whether tumors can be detected when they are two to three times smaller than those detectable using current imaging methods.
July 2012
New study reveals racial disparities in voice box-preserving cancer treatment
July 16, 2012 — A new epidemiological study led by UC Davis researchers reveals significant racial disparities in the use of non-surgical larynx-preservation therapy for locally advanced laryngeal cancer.
UC Davis and Yoursphere.com launch online community for kids with cancer
July 12, 2012 — UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center and Yoursphere.com have teamed up to create the first of its kind interactive web community that allows young cancer patients and survivors to connect with peers all over the world. [en español]
UC Davis researchers demonstrate usefulness of a novel PET/CT device in inflammatory arthritis
July 10, 2012 — UC Davis researchers have shown that their specially constructed PET/CT scanner enables better monitoring of the course of inflammatory arthritis - a costly and painful disease.
UC Davis researchers find biomarker that predicts response to chemotherapy for osteosarcoma
July 2, 2012 — Knowing whether a patient's tumor has this protein biomarker could help doctors determine if a patient should undergo standard treatment or if a more aggressive or alternative therapy may be more effective. [en español]
