EurekAlert! - Cancer

Molecular profiling reveals differences between primary and recurrent ovarian cancers

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(The Clearity Foundation) There is a need to analyze tumor specimens at the time of ovarian cancer recurrence, according to a new study published in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. Researchers used a diagnostic technology called molecular profiling to examine the differences in the molecular characteristics of primary and recurrent ovarian tumors and found significant changes for some biomarkers.

New understanding of DNA repair could eventually lead to cancer therapy

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry) A research group in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta is hoping its latest discovery could one day be used to develop new therapies that target certain types of cancers.

Curry spice component may help slow prostate tumor growth

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Thomas Jefferson University) Curcumin, an active component of the Indian curry spice turmeric, may help slow down tumor growth in castration-resistant prostate cancer patients on androgen deprivation therapy, a study from researchers at Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center suggests.

St. Michael's and King Saud University receive first joint patent

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(St. Michael's Hospital) St. Michael's Hospital and King Saud University have received their first joint US patent to use the BRCA1 gene as a therapy for cardiovascular disease.

New avenue for treating colon cancer

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(University of California - Riverside) A research team led by cell biologists at the University of California, Riverside has uncovered a new insight into colon cancer, the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. The team analyzed human colon cancer specimens and found that in nearly 80 percent of them the variants of a gene (HNF4A) are out of balance. This imbalance appears to be the result of a complex, multi-step process by an enzyme (Src kinase).

Nanotube therapy takes aim at breast cancer stem cells

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center) Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center researchers have again proven that injecting multiwalled carbon nanotubes into tumors and heating them with a quick, 30-second laser treatment can kill them.

Researchers find important 'target' playing role in tobacco-related lung cancers

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute) Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., have discovered that the immune response regulator IKBKE (serine/threonine kinase) plays two roles in tobacco-related non-small cell lung cancers. Tobacco carcinogens induce IKBKE and, in turn, IKBKE induces chemotherapy resistance.

First prospective clinical trial of adaptive radiotherapy for head and neck cancer patients

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(North Shore-Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Health System) Researchers at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research released initial findings from a first-of-a-kind clinical trial in adaptive radiotherapy for head and neck cancer. The trial, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, showed most patients benefited from only one or at most two adaptive radiotherapy treatments. These findings were released online in advance of publication in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics.

Metastatic breast cancer hitches a free ride from the immune system

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(BioMed Central) Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is the most lethal form of breast cancer . It spreads easily through the lymphatic and blood vessels, forming metastasis which can lead to multi-organ failure. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Cell Communication and Signaling demonstrates how IBC cells use IL-8, secreted as part of the anti-inflammatory response by a specific set of white blood cells (monocytes), to increase fibronectin expression.

Boston University research suggests new pathways for cancer progression

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Boston University College of Engineering) The relative softness and flexibility of cancer cells appears to accelerate their growth and extend their lifetimes -- a one-two punch that may trigger the rapid growth of malignant tumors, according to research led by Boston University biomedical engineers.

Heavy lifting for cancer research

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Concordia University) Many patients with advanced cancer suffer from cachexia, a condition also called body-wasting or wasting syndrome, which causes significant weight loss, extreme fatigue and reduces quality of life.

Rare subset of diseases involving the lymphatic system

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News) A clinically challenging and under-studied subset of diseases affecting the lymphatic system and grouped under the disease spectrum lymphangiomatosis and Gorham's disease is the focus of a special issue of Lymphatic Research and Biology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert Inc..

Media alert: Society of Interventional Radiology's 37th Annual Scientific Meeting

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Society of Interventional Radiology) Nearly 5,300 physicians, scientists and allied health professionals will be at the SIR 37th Annual Scientific Meeting March 24-29. There will be two scientific press conferences: Sunday, March 25, and Monday, March 26.

Terminally ill cancer patients discuss end-of-life care with physician but often late

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Dana-Farber Cancer Institute) A Dana-Farber Cancer Institute study suggests that many terminally ill cancer patients do talk with a doctor about their preferences for end-of-life care, but those conversations often occur late in the course of their illness. Furthermore, the conversations tended to be with a hospital-based physician and not their oncologist who has been caring for them.

Moffitt Cancer Center teams with Ponce School of Medicine in Puerto Rico

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute) A description of the projects and studies resulting from a research partnership initiated in 2005 between Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., and the Ponce School of Medicine in Ponce, Puerto Rico, has been published in a recent issue of Health Promotion Practice. The partnership included three outreach cancer education projects and two pilot research studies aimed at reducing cancer health disparities in Hispanic populations in both Tampa and Ponce.

ASTRO develops brain metastases guideline

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(American Society for Radiation Oncology) The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has developed a guideline on the radiotherapeutic and surgical management for newly diagnosed brain metastases. It has been published in Practical Radiation Oncology (PRO), ASTRO's official clinical practice journal.

Heart disease may be a risk factor for prostate cancer

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Duke University Medical Center) In a large analysis of men participating in a prostate drug trial, researchers at the Duke Cancer Institute found a significant correlation between coronary artery disease and prostate cancer, suggesting the two conditions may have shared causes.

VIB and BGI organize joint genomics meeting, Feb. 15, 2012, Belgium

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(VIB (the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology)) BGI, the world's premier genomics sequencing company and VIB, a life sciences research institute in Flanders, Belgium, announce a joint genomics meeting, taking place on Feb. 15, 2012. The meeting will feature several talks on BGI's sequencing and computing infrastructure as well as VIB research in human, animal and microbial genomics and collaborative VIB-BGI projects.

Research partnership to improve treatments for cancer patients

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Walter and Eliza Hall Institute) The Australian Cancer Research Foundation has committed $2 million towards the fit-out of two new cancer research laboratories at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute.

How DNA finds its match

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(University of California - Davis) It's been more than 50 years since James Watson and Francis Crick showed that DNA is a double helix of two strands that complement each other. But how does a short piece of DNA find its match, out of the millions of 'letters' in even a small genome? New work by UC Davis researchers shows how it's done.

DNA sequencing helps identify cancer cells for immune system attack

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Washington University School of Medicine) DNA sequences from tumor cells can be used to direct the immune system to attack cancer, according to scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The research, in mice, appears online Feb. 8 in Nature.

Moffitt, Sanford-Burnham and Florida Hospital create Personalized Medicine Partnership of Florida

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute) Moffitt Cancer Center, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute and Florida Hospital have announced they will collaborate on the creation of a Personalized Medicine Partnership of Florida. The partnership will conduct collaborative research to accelerate discovery and develop new treatments in the areas of cancer and metabolic diseases, including obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Fasting weakens cancer in mice

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(University of Southern California) The centuries-old practice of fasting treats several cancers in animals as well as toxic pharmaceuticals. Researchers also find that fasting makes chemotherapy more effective, again in animals. Phase I trial of fasting and chemotherapy in human cancer patients nearly complete.

GLBT adults twice as likely to smoke, half as likely to have plans to quit

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(University of Colorado Denver) A recent study by University of Colorado Cancer Center published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research of 1,633 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered adults found twice the level of smoking and half the level of plans to quit of non-GLBT adults.

Salk scientists use an old theory to discover new targets in the fight against breast cancer

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Salk Institute) Reviving a theory first proposed in the late 1800s that the development of organs in the normal embryo and the development of cancers are related, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have studied organ development in mice to unravel how breast cancers, and perhaps other cancers, develop in people. Their findings provide new ways to predict and personalize the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.