EurekAlert! - Cancer

DNA variations linked to brain tumors

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Mayo Clinic) Mayo Clinic researchers and colleagues at the University of California San Francisco have found a connection between DNA alterations on human chromosome 9 and aggressive brain cancer known as glioblastoma.

Gladstone scientists identify genetic factors that hold promise for treatment of vascular diseases

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Gladstone Institutes) Researchers at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease have discovered a key switch that makes stem cells turn into the type of muscle cells that reside in the wall of blood vessels. The same switch might be used in the future to limit growth of vascular muscle cells that cause narrowing of arteries leading to heart attacks and strokes, limit formation of blood vessels that feed cancers or make new blood vessels for organs that are not getting enough blood flow.

GUMC discovery highlights new direction for drug discovery

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Georgetown University Medical Center) In a discovery that rebuffs conventional scientific thinking, researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have discovered a novel way to block the activity of the fusion protein responsible for Ewing's sarcoma, a rare cancer found in children and young adults.

Variations in 5 genes raise risk for most common brain tumors

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center) Common genetic variations spread across five genes raise a person's risk of developing the most frequent type of brain tumor, an international research team reports online in Nature Genetics.

Study identifies how tamoxifen stimulates uterine cell growth and cancer

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(University of California - San Francisco) University of California - San Francisco researchers have identified a new "feed-forward" pathway linking estrogen receptors in the membrane of the uterus to a process that increases local estrogen levels and promotes cell growth.

Prostate cancer patients disease free after 5 years likely to be disease free after 10 years

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(American Society for Radiation Oncology) Prostate cancer patients who receive brachytherapy and remain free of disease for five years or greater are unlikely to have a recurrence at 10 years, according to a study in the July 1 issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics, the official journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology.

Ben-Gurion U. researchers reveal connection between cancer and human evolution

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev) Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have discovered that gene mutations that once helped humans survive may increase the possibility for diseases, including cancer. The findings were recently the cover story in the journal Genome Research.

Gene's novel role may provide key to treating liver and neurodegenerative diseases

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore) Singapore scientists have made a novel discovery about how gene, "Fas-apoptosis inhibitory molecule", protects both immune and liver cells from programmed cell death. Their research is published in Cell Death and Differentiation.

JNCI news brief: Improving the biomarker pipeline for early cancer detection

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Journal of the National Cancer Institute) Several statistical and biological issues need to be addressed in order to improve biomarker identification for early detection of cancer, according to a commentary published online July 2 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Study shows PET can measure effectiveness of novel breast cancer treatment

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Society of Nuclear Medicine) A new study published in the July issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine shows that positron emission tomography scans in mice can be used to determine whether a novel type of breast cancer treatment is working as intended.

JNCI news brief: Hepatitis B virus mutations may predict risk of liver cancer

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Journal of the National Cancer Institute) Certain mutations in the DNA of the hepatitis B virus are associated with the development of liver cancer and may help predict which patients with HBV infections are at increased risk of the disease, according to a large meta-analysis in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, published online July 2.

Research reveals what drives lung cancer's spread

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center) A new study by researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center reveals the genetic underpinnings of what causes lung cancer to quickly metastasize, or spread, to the brain and the bone -- the two most prominent sites of lung cancer relapse. The study will be published online in the journal Cell on July 2.

New targeted therapy finds and eliminates deadly leukemia stem cells

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Cell Press) New research describes a molecular tool that shows great promise as a therapeutic for human acute myeloid leukemia, a notoriously treatment-resistant blood cancer. The study, published by Cell Press in the July 2 issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell, describes exciting preclinical studies in which a new therapeutic approach selectively attacks human cancer cells grown in the lab and in animal models of leukemia.

Predicting the return of prostate cancer: New Johns Hopkins study betters the odds of success

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions) Cancer experts at Johns Hopkins say a study tracking 774 prostate cancer patients for a median of eight years has shown that a three-way combination of measurements has the best chance yet of predicting disease metastasis.

Researchers testing virus-gene therapy combination against melanoma

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(University of California - San Diego) Researchers at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center are injecting a modified herpes virus into melanoma tumors, hoping to kill the cancer cells while also bolstering the body's immune defenses against the disease.

Axel Ullrich named winner of 2009 Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Porter Novelli) Johnson & Johnson announced that Axel Ullrich, Ph.D., director of the Department of Molecular Biology at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Germany, whose discoveries have led to novel cancer therapies including Herceptin (trastuzumab), is the winner of the 2009 Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research. An independent committee of world-renowned scientists selected Dr. Ullrich, who on Sept. 8 will receive a $100,000 prize during a ceremony in Beerse, Belgium.

Newly appreciated membrane estrogen receptor important therapeutic target for breast cancer

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Lifespan) New research at Rhode Island Hospital has uncovered the biological effects of a novel membrane estrogen receptor, a finding that has potential implications for hormonal therapy for breast cancer.

Both good/bad movie characters who smoke influence teens to do the same

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Dartmouth College) Dartmouth researchers have determined that movie characters who smoke, regardless of whether they are "good guys" or "bad guys," influence teens to try smoking.

Genetically engineered mice yield clues to 'knocking out' cancer

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)) Researchers from NIST, Oregon Health and Science University and the New York University School of Medicine have demonstrated that deleting two genes in mice responsible for repairing DNA strands damaged by oxidation leads to several types of tumors, providing additional evidence that such stress contributes to the development of cancer. The work may lead to the development of new measurement methods and reference materials for accurate and reproducible assessments of DNA damage and repair.

Double success for Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia scientists working on chromosome segregation

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia) Lars Jansen's work on the formation of the centromere, a key cellular structure in powering and controlling chromosome segregation and accurate cell division, has just earned him a paper in Nature Cell Biology and a prestigious EMBO installation grant, of 50,000 euro per year, for a maximum of five years, to be carried out at the IGC, in Portugal.

New e-science service could accelerate cancer research

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(University of Manchester) The University of Manchester and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory's European Bioinformatics Institute have launched a major new e-science resource for biologists -- which could accelerate research into treatments for H1N1 flu and cancer.

Colorectal cancer

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres) Previously, only a few genes had been associated with the formation of metastases in colorectal cancer. Now, researchers of the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine Berlin-Buch and Charite -- University Medicine Berlin, Germany, have identified 115 genes that are disregulated both in the primary tumor and in its metastases. In the future, their findings may help identify patients with aggressive tumors at an earlier stage.

Researchers find clear difference in quality, type of lung cancer info available in US and Japan

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer) A study published in the July 2009 issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology revealed that internet-based lung cancer information was of a higher quality in the United States than in Japan. Dr. Yasushi Goto of the National Cancer Center Hospital in Tokyo and his team of researchers evaluated 150 Web sites, and determined noticeable differences in the quality and type of information on lung cancer available over the Internet in the two countries.

UNC study rewrites textbook on key genetic phenomenon

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(University of North Carolina School of Medicine) A new UNC study appearing online July 1 in the journal Nature disputes current scientific belief by showing that X-inactivation can occur even in the absence of a gene previously thought to be the trigger of the process.

Cancer survivors at greater risk of birth complications; special monitoring needed

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

(European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology) Survivors of childhood cancer run particular risks when pregnant and should be closely monitored, say Dutch researchers. Although such women may have conceived spontaneously and considered themselves to be perfectly healthy, their deliveries should always take place in a hospital.