| Burnham researchers discover 'on switch' for cell death signaling mechanism |
(Burnham Institute) Scientists at Burnham Institute for Medical Research have determined the structure of the interactions between proteins that form the heart of the death inducing signaling complex, which is responsible for triggering apoptosis, or programmed cell death.
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| Burnham researchers illuminate mechanisms that regulate DNA damage control and replication |
(Burnham Institute) Scientists at Burnham Institute for Medical Research have demonstrated important new roles for the protein kinase complex Cdc7/Dbf4 or Cdc7/Drf1 in monitoring damage control during DNA replication and reinitiating replication following DNA repair.
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| Cell biologists identify new tumor suppressor for lung cancer |
(University of Cincinnati) Cancer and cell biology experts at the University of Cincinnati have identified a new tumor suppressor that may help scientists develop more targeted drug therapies to combat lung cancer.
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| New hope for cancer comes straight from the heart |
(Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions) Digitalis-based drugs like digoxin have been used for centuries to treat patients with irregular heart rhythms and heart failure and are still in use today. In the Dec. 16 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine now report that this same class of drugs may hold new promise as a treatment for cancer. This finding emerged through a search for existing drugs that might slow or stop cancer progression.
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| Team finds breast cancer gene linked to disease spread |
(Princeton University) A team of researchers at Princeton University and The Cancer Institute of New Jersey has identified a long-sought gene that is fatefully switched on in 30 to 40 percent of all breast cancer patients, spreading the disease, resisting traditional chemotherapies and eventually leading to death. In doing so, the scientists may have answered one of the biggest mysteries in cancer research.
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| Scientists can now differentiate between healthy cells and cancer cells |
(McMaster University) A new study by McMaster University researchers has provided insight into how scientists might develop therapies and drugs that more carefully target cancer, while sparing normal healthy cells.
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| EAU 2nd Eastern Mediterranean Meeting expected to highlight cystectomy |
(European Association of Urology) The 1st Eastern Mediterranean Meeting, which was held in Antalya in 2007, was a great success. The "second edition" will be organized on Jan. 23-24, 2009 in the Pyramisa hotel in Cairo. Approximately 250 participants from the eastern Mediterranean area are expected to participate.
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| 'Relocation' plan of metastatic cancer cells uncovered by Stanford researchers |
(Stanford University Medical Center) Few things are as tiresome as house hunting and moving. Unfortunately, metastatic cancer cells have the relocation process down pat. Tripping nimbly from one abode to another, these migrating cancer cells often prove far more deadly than the original tumor. Although little has been known about how these rogue cells choose where to put down roots, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have now learned just how nefarious they are.
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| Study links obesity to elevated risk of ovarian cancer |
(American Cancer Society) A new epidemiological study has found that among women who have never used menopausal hormone therapy, obese women are at an increased risk of developing ovarian cancer compared with women of normal weight.
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| Gene plays dual role in breast cancers with poor prognosis |
(Cell Press) A new study reveals that the metadherin gene (MTDH) plays a role in both cancer metastasis and resistance to chemotherapy. The research, published by Cell Press in the Jan. 6 issue of the journal Cancer Cell, identifies MTDH as a promising therapeutic target for high risk breast cancers.
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| New insight into aggressive childhood cancer |
(Cell Press) A new study reveals critical molecular mechanisms associated with the development and progression of human neuroblastoma, the most common cancer in young children. The research, published by Cell Press in the Jan. 6 issue of the journal Cancer Cell, may lead to development of future strategies for treatment of this aggressive and unpredictable cancer.
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| Salk researchers develop novel glioblastoma mouse model |
(Salk Institute) Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have developed a versatile mouse model of glioblastoma -- the most common and deadly brain cancer in humans -- that closely resembles the development and progression of human brain tumors that arise naturally.
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| Dormant cancer cells rely on cellular self-cannibalization to survive |
(University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center) A tumor-suppressing gene is a key to understanding, and perhaps killing, dormant ovarian cancer cells that persist after initial treatment only to reawaken later, researchers at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the December Journal of Clinical Investigation. They found that expression of ARHI turns on autophagy, or self-eating, in ovarian cancer cells, which promotes their survival in a dormant state.
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| Family history of prostate cancer does not affect some treatment outcomes |
(American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology) In a first of its kind study, a first-degree family history of prostate cancer has no impact on the treatment outcomes of prostate cancer patients treated with brachytherapy, also called seed implants, and patients with this type of family history have clinical and pathologic characteristics similar to men with no family history at all, according to a Jan. 1 study in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics, the official journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology.
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| Molecular imaging enables earlier, individualized treatment of thyroid cancer |
(Society of Nuclear Medicine) In a study to determine the diagnostic value of molecular imaging in nodal staging of patients with thyroid cancer, researchers were able for the first time to accurately distinguish between cancerous cells in regional lymph nodes and normal residual thyroid tissue directly after surgery.
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| Why prostate cancer patients fail hormone deprivation therapy |
(Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions) The hormone deprivation therapy that prostate cancer patients often take gives them only a temporary fix, with tumors usually regaining their hold within a couple of years. Now, researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered critical differences in the hormone receptors on prostate cancer cells in patients who no longer respond to this therapy.
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| Lung cancer cells activate inflammation to induce metastasis |
(University of California - San Diego) A research team from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, has identified a protein produced by cancerous lung epithelial cells that enhances metastasis by stimulating the activity of inflammatory cells.
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| In lung cancer, silencing one crucial gene disrupts normal functioning of genome |
(American Association for Cancer Research) While examining patterns of DNA modification in lung cancer, a team of international researchers has discovered what they say is a surprising new mechanism. They say that "silencing" of a single gene in lung cancer led to a general impairment in genome-wide changes in cells, contributing to cancer development and progression.
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| Grape-seed extract kills laboratory leukemia cells, proving value of natural compounds |
(American Association for Cancer Research) An extract from grape seeds forces laboratory leukemia cells to commit cell suicide, according to researchers from the University of Kentucky. They found that within 24 hours, 76 percent of leukemia cells had died after being exposed to the extract.
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| Errors involving medications common in outpatient cancer treatment |
(University of Massachusetts Medical School) Seven percent of adults and 19 percent of children taking chemotherapy drugs in outpatient clinics or at home were given the wrong dose or experienced other mistakes involving their medications, according to a new study led by Kathleen E. Walsh, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and published in the Jan. 1, 2009, issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
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