Health News

Shedding Light On A Gene Mutation That Causes Signs Of Premature Aging

Date: Apr-11-2013
Research from Western University and Lawson Health Research Institute sheds new light on a gene called ATRX and its function in the brain and pituitary. Children born with ATRX syndrome have cognitive defects and developmental abnormalities. ATRX mutations have also been linked to brain tumors. Dr. Nathalie Bérubé, PhD, and her colleagues found mice developed without the ATRX gene had problems in in the forebrain, the part of the brain associated with learning and memory, and in the anterior pituitary which has a direct effect on body growth and metabolism...

Study Identifies A Protein That Helps Trigger Both Normal Fetal Growth And Cancer

Date: Apr-11-2013
Two researchers at the National Institutes of Health discovered a new genetic link between the rapid growth of healthy fetuses and the uncontrolled cell division in cancer. The findings shed light on normal development and on the genetic underpinnings of common cancers. The work, conducted using mouse and human tissue, appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The authors, Julian C. Lui, Ph.D., and Jeffrey Baron, M.D., work at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)...

Understanding How Oncogenes Affect The Body Clock May Help Create Better Cancer Treatments

Date: Apr-11-2013
The Myc oncogene can disrupt the 24-hour internal rhythm in cancer cells. Postdoctoral fellow Brian Altman, PhD, and graduate student Annie Hsieh, MD, both from the in the lab of Chi Van Dang, MD, PhD, director of the Abramson Cancer Center, Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, presented their data in the "Metabolic Pathway Regulation in Cancer" session at the 2013 American Association for Cancer Research meeting, Washington, D.C...

Tool Could Help Discover New Compounds, Combinations; Quickly Identify Most Effective Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor Treatments

Date: Apr-11-2013
A new preclinical technology enables researchers to quickly determine if a particular treatment is effective against gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs), providing a boost to animal research and possibly patient care, according to new findings presented by Fox Chase Cancer Center at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013...

Space Radiation Reduces Ability Of Intestinal Cells To Destroy Oncoprotein, May Increase Colorectal Cancer Risk

Date: Apr-11-2013
Two studies funded by NASA and presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013 help explain why space radiation may increase the risk of colorectal cancer in humans. The researchers, from Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, found that cosmic radiation impairs the ability of cells in the intestines of mice to eliminate oncogenic proteins, thus substantially increasing development of colorectal tumors...

Promising Phase I Clinical Trial Of Rogosertib Leads To Multi-Institutional Phase II Trial

Date: Apr-11-2013
Results of a phase 1 clinical trial reported at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual conference show that orally administered Rigosertib is well tolerated in patients with advanced solid tumors. This is the first trial in which orally administered Rigosertib, a dual kinase inhibitor, was studied in solid tumors. Intravenously rigosertib is already in phase 3 clinical trials for myelodysplastic syndrome and pancreatic cancer and oral rigosertib is being studied in a pair of Phase II trials in lower-risk transfusion dependent MDS patients...

New Target Plus New Drug Equals Death Of Melanoma Cells

Date: Apr-11-2013
Collaborative research presented by the University of Colorado Cancer Center, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Harvard Medical School and the University of Pittsburgh, at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Conference, shows that the protein receptor Mer is overexpressed in melanoma and that the investigational drug UNC1062 blocks Mer survival signaling in these cells, killing them. "It's exciting in that Mer receptor expression correlates so perfectly with disease progression...

In Pediatric Bone Cancer, K9 Osteosarcoma Samples Identify Drivers Of Metastasis

Date: Apr-11-2013
Human osteosarcoma samples are hard to come by, making the disease difficult to study. However, K9 bone cancer is genetically indistinguishable from the human form of the disease, and over 10,000 canine patients develop the disease every year. Research from the University of Colorado Cancer Center and the Colorado State University Flint Animal Cancer Center presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013 used easily available K9 osteosarcoma samples to discover a novel protein that governs metastasis and chemoresistance in pediatric osteosarcoma...

Neuroblastomas Vulnerable To Novel Class Of Drugs May Be Identified By Genetic Biomarker

Date: Apr-11-2013
An irregularity within many neuroblastoma cells may indicate whether a neuroblastoma tumor, a difficult-to-treat, early childhood cancer, is vulnerable to a new class of anti-cancer drugs known as BET bromodomain inhibitors, Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center scientists reported at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Washington, April 6-10. The findings (abstract 4622) were discussed in a minisymposium. The work was published in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association of Cancer Research...

Inhibiting Growth Of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer With Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Date: Apr-11-2013
Researchers from Fox Chase Cancer Center have found that omega-3 fatty acids and their metabolite products slow or stop the proliferation, or growth in the number of cells, of triple-negative breast cancer cells more effectively than cells from luminal types of the disease. The omega-3s worked against all types of cancerous cells, but the effect was observed to be stronger in triple-negative cell lines, reducing proliferation by as much as 90 percent. The findings were presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013...