These mutations cause more than 200 diseases and contribute to others such as diabetes, cancer, Parkinson disease,
#Why cancer researchers are excited about this amoeba A type of amoeba that lives in soil has a gene that is very similar to a tumor-fighting gene found in humans.
When it s healthy it stops tumors from growing. But the gene is prone to mutations
when researchers from the University of Iowa conducted a literature review they found that PTEN mutations show up in 40 percent of breast cancer cases up to 70 percent of prostate cancer cases and nearly half of all leukemia cases.
If you look at tumors across the boardâ and that doesn t mean just breast cancer or prostate cancerâ you find that PTEN is the most generally mutated gene.
And when you mutate PTEN in mice you cause tumors says David Soll biology professor
If the hypothesis holds true for human cells it could lead to a new way to treat cancer.
Once a patient is diagnosed with cancer caused by a PTEN mutation the patient could take the drug over-express the PTEN bench player gene
and potentially stop cancer in its tracks Soll says. That could save many cancer patients from undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment for breast and other common cancers.
The finding has led the team to study other human genes that may be able to step in for the mutated PTEN gene
and perform the same tumor-suppressing role. There are at least two close relatives of PTEN the researchers are currently studying.
Somewhere there may be a backup system what we call redundancy that might be the basis for better identifying tumors
and possibly creating cancer-fighting drugs. You have another gene which might be able to step in for the broken gene to keep things normal and that s
#Stop cancer from spreading without chemo Stanford university rightoriginal Studyposted by Tom Abate-Stanford on October 6 2014 Researchers are testing a protein therapy that stops breast
and ovarian cancer from metastasizing in mice. The majority of patients who succumb to cancer fall prey to metastatic forms of the disease says Jennifer Cochran an associate professor of bioengineering at Stanford university.
Today doctors try to use chemotherapy to slow or stop cancer from spreading from the original tumor site to other parts of the body
but these treatments are unfortunately not very effective and have severe side effects. The new therapy doesn't have side effects.
and Gas6 rom interacting to initiate the spread of cancer. Axl proteins stand like bristles on the surface of cancer cells poised to receive biochemical signals from Gas6 proteins.
When two Gas6 proteins link with two Axls the signals that are generated enable cancer cells to leave the original tumor site migrate to other parts of the body and form new cancer nodules.
In collaboration with Amato Giaccia professor of radiation oncology the researchers gave intravenous treatments of this bioengineered decoy protein to mice with aggressive breast and ovarian cancers.
Mice with ovarian cancer had a 90 percent reduction in metastatic nodules when treated with the engineered decoy protein.
It could open up a new approach to cancer treatment. Giaccia and Cochran are scientific advisors to Ruga Corp. a biotech startup in Palo alto that has licensed this technology from Stanford.
and respond in a graduated way##says Wilbur Lam assistant professor in the pediatrics department at Emory University School of medicine and a physician in the Aflac Cancer and Blood disorders Center at Children s Healthcare of Atlanta.
and monitor anemia themselves says Wilbur Lam a physician in the Aflac Cancer and Blood disorders Center at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and the department of pediatrics at Emory University School of medicine.
which can be difficult to obtain##says Wilbur Lam another coauthor and a physician in the Aflac Cancer and Blood disorders Center at Children s Healthcare of Atlanta and the Department of Pediatrics at the Emory University School of medicine.##
and stored for patients recovering from cancer chemotherapy. The other tacrolimus tamps down immune response. Researchers noticed that
Leukemia patients have been treated successfully using HSC transplants but medical experts believe blood stem cells have the potential to be used more widely.
#Coated cells act like camo for deadly brain tumors Brain tumors are able to go undetected by the immune system
The discovery, made in mice and rats, shows the key role the protein galectin-1 plays in some of the most dangerous brain tumors, called high grade malignant gliomas.
They had actually been trying to study how the extra production of galectin-1 by tumor cells affects cancer ability to grow
the tumors were eradicated. That because the irst respondersof the body immune systemalled natural killer or NK cellspotted the tumor cells almost immediately and killed them.
But when the tumor cells made their usual amounts of galectin-1, the immune cells couldn recognize the cancerous cells as dangerous.
That meant that the immune system couldn trigger the body second line of defensealled T cellsntil the tumors had grown too large for the body to beat.
Published online in the journal, Cancer Research, the findings open the door to research on the effect of blocking galectin-1 in patients with gliomas,
says team leader Pedro Lowenstein, professor of neurosurgery at University of Michigan. his is an incredibly novel and exciting development,
and shows that in science we must always be open-minded and go where the science takes us;
TUMOR TENDRILS n this case, we found that over-expression of galectin-1 inhibits the innate immune system,
and this allows the tumor to grow enough to evade any possible effective T cell response.
because glioma researchers everywhere had assumed the extra protein had more to do with the insidious ability of gliomas to invade the brain,
Gliomas which make up about 80 percent of all malignant brain tumors, include anaplastic oligodendrogliomas, anaplastic astrocytomas,
and glioblastoma multiforme. More than 24,000 people in the US are diagnosed with a primary malignant brain tumor each year.
The tiny tendrils of tumor that extend into brain tissue from a glioma are what make them so dangerous.
Even when a neurosurgeon removes the bulk of the tumor, small invasive areas escape detection and keep growing, unchecked by the body.
Helping the innate immune system to recognize early stages of cancer growth, and sound the alarm for the body defense system to act
while the remaining cancer is still small enough for them to kill, could potentially help patients.
EARLY WARNING SENTINELS While the new discovery opens the door to that kind of approach, much work needs to be done before the mouse-based research could help human patients,
Galectin-1 may help other types of tumor evade the innate NK cells, too. The new research suggests that in the brain unique environment,
galectin-1 creates an immunosuppressive effect immediately around tumor cells. The brain cancer cells seem to have evolved the ability to express their galectin-1 genes far more than normal
to allow the tumor to keep growing. Most brain tumor immune research has focused on triggering the action of the adaptive immune systemhose cells control the process that allows the body to kill invaders from outside or within.
But that system take days or even weeks to reach full forcenough time for incipient tumors to grow too large for immune cells to eliminate solid tumor growth.
The new research suggests the importance of enhancing the ability of the innate immune system arly warningsentinels to spot glioma cells as early as possible.
Maria Castro is a co-team leader of the study. Graduate student Gregory J. Baker is the first author.
or a human tumor biopsy? we have to slice the tissue very thin, separately image each slice with a microscope,
especially if you look to map long axons or sparse cell populations such as stem cells or tumor cells,
BIOPSY CANCER The Cell paper focuses on the use of PACT and PARS as research tools for studying disease and development in research organisms.
Using the techniques on a biopsy from a human skin tumor, the researchers were able to view the distribution of individual tumor cells within a tissue mass.
In the future, Gradinaru says, the methods could be used in the clinic for the rapid detection of cancer cells in biopsy samples.
potentially minimizing dangerous side effects such as blood clots and uterine cancer. The gel was tested on women diagnosed with noninvasive cancer ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) in
which abnormal cells multiply and form a growth in a milk duct. Because of potential side effects
says lead author Seema Khan, professor of surgery and professor of cancer research at Northwestern University Feinberg School of medicine.
which should avoid potential blood clots as well as an elevated risk for uterine cancer. Women who have completed surgery
For a new study published in Clinical Cancer Research, researchers conducted a phase II clinical trial to compare the effects of the gel, 4-OHT, with oral tamoxifen.
The National Cancer Institute of the National institutes of health and BHR Pharma, LLC supported the research
#Test eliminates need for second thyroid surgery A new test increases the odds by 30 percent that people with thyroid cancer will undergo the correct initial surgery. efore this test,
about one in five potential thyroid cancer cases couldn be diagnosed without an operation to remove a portion of the thyroid,
says Linwah Yip, assistant professor of surgery in the University of Pittsburgh School of medicine. Yip says without the test a second surgery to remove the thyroid was required often
if the portion removed during the first surgery came back positive for cancer. he molecular testing panel now bypasses that initial surgery,
allowing us to go right to fully removing the cancer with one initial surgery. This reduces risk
Cancer in the thyroid, which is located in the dam applearea of the neck, is now the fifth most common cancer diagnosed in women.
Thyroid cancer is one of the few cancers that continues to increase in incidence, although the five-year survival rate is 97 percent.
Previously, the most accurate form of testing for thyroid cancer was a fine-needle aspiration biopsy
where a doctor guides a thin needle to the thyroid and removes a small tissue sample for testing.
However, in 20 percent of these biopsies, cancer cannot be ruled out. A lobectomy, which is a surgical operation to remove half of the thyroid,
or rule out thyroid cancer. In the case of a postoperative cancer diagnosis, a second surgery is required to remove the rest of the thyroid.
Researchers have identified certain gene mutations that are increased indicative of an likelihood of thyroid cancer, and the new molecular testing panel can be run using the sample collected through the initial,
minimally invasive biopsy, rather than a lobectomy. When the panel shows these mutations, a total thyroidectomy is advised.
a professor in the pathology department. hyroid cancer is usually very curable, and we are getting closer to quickly
and treating all cases of thyroid cancer. a
#Cancer drug helps some women get pregnant A new fertility drug, originally developed to prevent the recurrence of breast cancer,
#Vaccine triggers alarm to fight dust mite allergy A new vaccine uses a booster normally found in cancer vaccines to combat dust-mite allergies by naturally switching the body immune response.
The booster has been used successfully in cancer vaccines but never had been tested as a vaccine for dust-mite allergies.
The National institutes of health and the American Cancer Society partly funded the research. Source: University of Iow S
#2 drugs work better than 1 to stop cancer A new combination drug dramatically slows tumor growth in mice with few side effects.
either individually or together. y combining the two molecules into one we got much greater potency against several diseases and completely unique effects in terms of blocking tumor growth and metastasis. LUNG AND BREAST TUMORS Both
They then tested it against human lung and breast tumors, both in vitro and in mice.
This reduced lung and breast tumor growth by 70 to 83 percent. MINIMAL SIDE EFFECTS his represents a new mechanism to control blood vessel and tumor growth,
Hammock says, who notes that there were minimal side effects, including no cardiovascular or gastrointestinal effects. his is particularly important
Though the research was focused exclusively on cancer, the dual compound could benefit other conditions, such as macular degeneration,
Hammock says. f we move beyond cancer, this drug combination could block a number of pathologies,
#Depression can be deadly for older Americans Older adults in the US who suffer from major depression face a 43 percent increased risk of death, especially from cardiovascular disease or cancer, according to a new study. here a major link
and killed tumors grown from these cells in mice, report researchers. Understanding how the virus kills cancer may lead to new treatments.
Adeno-associated virus type 2 (AAV2) infects humans but is known not to cause sickness. In prior studies, the researchers tested the virus on a variety of breast cancers that represent degrees of aggressiveness and on human papillomavirus-positive cervical cancer cells.
The virus initiated apoptosisatural cell deathn cancer cells without affecting healthy cells. TRIPLE-NEGATIVE BREAST CANCER reatment of breast cancer remains difficult
because there are multiple signaling pathways that promote tumor growth and develop resistance to treatment, says Craig Meyers, professor of microbiology and immunology at the Penn State College of Medicine.
Treatment of breast cancer differs by patient due to differences in tumors. Some tumors contain protein receptors that are activated by the hormones estrogen or progesterone.
Others respond to another protein called human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, or HER2. Each of these is treated differently.
They report their results in Cancer Biology & Therapy. The AAV2 killed 100 percent of the cells in the laboratory by activating proteins called caspases,
AAV2 mediated cell killing of multiple breast cancer cell lines representing both low and high grades of cancer
The researchers then injected AAV2 into human breast cancer cell line-derived tumors in mice without functioning immune systems.
Tumor sizes decreased in the treated mice, areas of cell death were visible and all AAV2 treated mice survived through the study,
since tumor necrosisr deathn response to therapy is used also as the measure of an effective chemotherapeutic,
a drug designed to improve the lives of people with certain forms of cancer, to stimulate the production of new
not only for aging but also for cancer says Sherwood. One of the biggest mysteries in cancer is how cancer cells metastasize early
and then lie dormant for years before reawakening. My guess is that the pathways in worms that are arresting these cells
and waking them up again are going to be the same pathways that are in human cancer metastases.
The American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship Award and the National institutes of health supported the research. Source: Duke Universityyou are free to share this article under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noderivs 3. 0 Unported license n
It also has the potential to inspect food and even scan for tumors. Junichiro Kono a physicist at Rice university says the potential to replace magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology in screening for cancer
and other diseases is one of the most exciting possible applications. The potential improvements in size ease cost and mobility of a terahertz-based detector are phenomenal Kono says.
With this technology you could conceivably design a handheld terahertz detection camera that images tumors in real time with pinpoint accuracy.
Prolonged fasting also lowered levels of IGF-1, a growth-factor hormone that Longo and others have linked to aging, tumor progression,
and cancer risk. KA is the key gene that needs to shut down in order for these stem cells to switch into regenerative mode.
assistant professor of clinical medicine at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Hospital. ore clinical studies are needed,
The V Foundation and the National Cancer Institute of the National institutes of health funded the clinical trails I
Applications for HIV and cancer In a random access memory chip, similar logic circuits manipulate electrons on a nanometer scale, controlling billions of compartments in a square inch.
As an example, Yellen points to cells afflicted by HIV or cancer. In both diseases, most afflicted cells are active
ur technology can offer new tools to improve our basic understanding of cancer metastasis at the single cell level,
and preventing tumor growth. Fu says his findings could also provide insights into how embryonic stem cells differentiate in the body. ur work suggests that physical signals in the cell environment are important in neural patterning,
And because the PAK protein itself can initiate cancer and cell growth PAK inhibitors have also been tested for cancer.
Working with mice that mimic schizophrenia and related disorders, the researchers were able to partially restore disabled neurons
#Melanoma in families linked to mutations in one gene The discovery that mutations in a specific gene are responsible for a hereditary form of melanoma could make it easier to detect and treat,
are extremely likely to develop melanoma, new research shows. These mutations deactivate the POT1 gene. his finding significantly increases our understanding of why some families have a high incidence of melanoma,
says Tim Bishop of the School of medicine at the University of Leeds and a senior co-author of the study published in Nature Genetics. ince this gene has previously been identified as a target for the development of new drugs, in the future,
Known genetic mutations account for approximately 40 percent of all occurrences of inherited forms of melanoma. The team set out to identify the hereditary mutations that account for the other 60 percent by sequencing part of the genome of 184 patients with hereditary melanoma caused by unknown mutations.
They found that the inactivation of POT1 caused by these mutations leads to longer and potentially unprotected telomeres
The team found that there were also cases of other cancer types in families with these hereditary mutations such as leukemia
and brain tumors. ur research is making a real difference to understanding what causes melanoma and ultimately therefore how to prevent
and treat melanoma and is a prime example of how genomics can transform public health, says Julia Newton Bishop,
and patience from the families that suffer from these devastating, inherited forms of melanoma. Cancer Research UK and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute funded the work.
Source: University of Leed e
#To study bipolar disorder, start with skin Scientists investigating what makes a person vulnerable to bipolar disorder took skin cells from people with the condition
if chemo kills liver cancer New 3d scans of liver cancer quickly show if chemotherapy is working,
precisely measuring living and dying tumor tissue, researchers report. The findings are the first roof of principlethat 3d MRI technology accurately measures tumor viability and death.
Researchers hope to prove that the technology, when used before and after chemotherapy, is faster and better than current tools for predicting patient survival.
Liver cancer kills nearly 20,000 Americans each year, and is much more prevalent outside the United states,
where it is among the top-three causes of cancer death in the world. ur high-precision 3d images of tumors provide better information to patients about
whether chemoembolization has started to kill their tumors so that physicians can make more well-informed treatment recommendations,
A series of studies involved 140 patients with either primary liver cancers or metastatic tumors that were caused by cancers spreading from elsewhere in the body.
chemotherapy aimed directly at a tumor. Dead and live tissue Unlike standard methods to assess tumor response, based on two-dimensional images and tumor size,
the 3d technology distinguishes between dead and live tissue, giving an accurate assessment of tumor cell death.
The new technology builds on standard two-dimensional imaging and uses computer analytics to evaluate the amount of so-called contrast dye absorbed by tumor tissue.
The dye is injected into patients before their MRI scan to enhance image production. Researchers say live tissue will absorb more dye than dead tissue, affecting image brightness,
Geschwind, a professor of radiology, says that knowing the true extent of tumor response to chemoembolization is particularly important for patients with moderate to advanced disease,
whose liver tumors might initially be too large or too numerous to surgically remove. In the first study, researchers compared the standard imaging method and the newly developed technology in 17 Baltimore men and women with advanced liver cancer.
All were treated with surgery or liver transplantation after chemoembolization. Low error margin The research team used existing MR analysis techniques
as well as the new 3d method, to compare the radiologistsanalyses with pathologic review of tumor samples after therapy and surgical removal.
when predicting the amount of dead tumor tissue found by pathologists. The standard 2d method deviated by as much as 40 percent from actual values.
In a series of additional studies, researchers used the standard and new imaging techniques to analyze the MRI scans of more than 300 liver tumors in some 123 other men and women
and each received pre-and post-chemoembolization MRI scans to assess the effects of therapy on the tumors.
such as labeling targets outside the bloodstream, detecting tumors, and monitoring the gastrointestinal system. To create the nanoscale organisms,
Diets rich in fruit and vegetables have been linked to important health outcomes including reductions in cardiovascular disease type 2 diabetes and some forms of cancer.
and has been shown to cause cancer. ecause biochar can be produced from various waste biomass including agricultural residues this new technology provides an alternative and cost-effective way for arsenic removalsays Bin Gao associate professor of agricultural
If cancer markers are found in a cell the circuit could for example activate a cellular suicide program.
Healthy cells without cancer markers would remain unaffected by this process. Biocomputers differ significantly from their counterparts made of silicon
#Algae cell switch also controls tumor growth Original Studyposted by Layne Cameron-Michigan State on October 15 2014 Scientists have discovered that a protein called CHT7 is a likely repressor of cellular quiescence
and oil production also wields control of cellular growth and tumor growth in humans. Christoph Benning professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Michigan State university and his colleagues unearthed the protein's potential
Its application in cancer research however was a surprise finding that is leading Benning's lab in a new direction. lgae provide us with model organisms that rival
In terms of human medicine this discovery gives scientists a promising new model to study tumor suppression and growth.
and grow uncontrollably that's exactly what we want to understandsays Benning. hat is the first step of tumor growth. he study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences h
or a human tumor biopsy#e have to slice the tissue very thin separately image each slice with a microscope
or sparse cell populations such as stem cells or tumor cellsshe says. The new approach builds off a technique known as CLARITY that was developed previously by Gradinaru
Using the techniques on a biopsy from a human skin tumor the researchers were able to view the distribution of individual tumor cells within a tissue mass.
cancer therapies, and nutritional diagnostics. The new method also has the potential to enhance our national security.
Dantusâ##initial spark came from a collaboration with Harvard university that developed a laser that could be used to detect cancer
The knowledge of how mutations drive evolution can inform our understanding of how tumors resist chemotherapeutics
#We ve also started exchanging ideas and information with scientists facing related challenges such as herbicide resistance in weeds and resistance to drugs in bacteria HIV and cancer.#
map cerebral activity to help identify tumors in preparation for surgery, or even create better brain-computer interfaces.
and bone cancer pain suggesting a promising new approach to pain relief. The scientific efforts led by Salvemini,
whose main use case is letting surgeons physically eelanomalies such as tumors in CT SCANS, could also revolutionize everything from advertising to architecture.
The discovery has implications for understanding age-related diseases including cancers, neurodegenerative disorders and diabetes.##One way all mammalian cells produce energy is via aerobic respiration, in
##Doctors will use your DNA to keep you well Global cancer rates are expected to jump by 75 percent by 2030.
IBM wants computers to help doctors understand how a tumor affects a patient down to their DNA.
They could then figure out what medications will best work against the cancer, and fulfill it with a personalized cancer treatment plan.
The hope is that genomic insights will reduce the time it takes to find a treatment down from weeks to minutes.##
Scientists have predicted the end of chemotherapy after launching a landmark project to map 100,000 genomes to find the genes responsible for cancer and rare diseases.
In rare congenital disease, in cancer and in infections, genomic insights are already transforming diagnosis and treatment.
Over the next four years, about 75,000 patients with cancer and rare diseases, plus their close relatives, will have their whole genetic codes,
Cancer patients will have the DNA of both healthy and tumour cells mapped, making up the 100,
An obvious benefit of this technology would be cancer treatments, because these must be cell-specific and current treatments are targeted not well.
#High-tech glasses help surgeons see cancer The glasses are designed to make it easy for surgeons to differentiate cancerous cells from healthy cells.
The usual procedure for surgery requires doctors to remove tumors and neighboring tissue which may or may not have cancer cells.
a second surgery is recommended usually to remove additional tissue that is also tested for the presence of cancer.
but it has already been used during surgery at the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of medicine.
Dr. Achilefu, who also happens to be co-leader of the Oncologic Imaging Program at Siteman Cancer Center,
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