Carcinogenesis News and Research

RSS

Study explores innovative approach to identifying successful treatment for HER2+ breast cancer

Ahmad M. Khalil, PhD, knew the odds were against him -- as in thousands upon thousands to one. Yet he and his team never wavered from their quest to identify the parts of the body responsible for revving up one of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer, HER2+. This month in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, Khalil and his colleagues at Case Western Reserve University proved the power of persistence; from a pool of more than 30,000 possibilities, they found 38 genes and molecules that most likely trigger HER2+ cancer cells to spread.

25 Apr 2015

UC Davis researchers unravel how micro RNA could potentially lead to novel cancer therapies

The micro RNA miR-22 has long been known for its ability to suppress cancer. However, questions remain about how it achieves this feat. For example, which molecules are regulating miR-22, and which are miR22 targets?

6 Apr 2015

BCM-95 Curcumin improves chemotherapy's effectiveness in killing chemoresistant cancer cells

Cancer cell resistance to chemotherapy is a major cause of death in patients with colorectal cancer. In a first-of-its-kind study, BCM-95 Curcumin was found to improve chemotherapy's effectiveness in killing chemoresistant cells via a mechanism not previously identified.

19 Mar 2015

New research identifies promising drug therapy target for breast cancer

The genome of a cell is under constant attack, suffering DNA damage that requires an army of repair mechanisms to keep the cell healthy and alive. Understanding the behavior of the enzymes defending these assaults helps determine how - and where - cancer gets its foothold and flourishes.

18 Mar 2015

Researchers use game theory to predict interactions of cancer cells

Researchers at the University of Basel and the University of East Anglia were able to predict the interactions of cancer cells using game theory. Their results have been published by the scientific journal PNAS.

28 Jan 2015

Researchers examine how terpenes can inhibit growth of liver cancer cells

As main component of essential oils, terpenes can inhibit the growth of different cancer cells. Researchers from the Ruhr-University Bochum headed by Prof Dr Dr Dr Hanns Hatt have analysed this process in liver cancer cells in detail.

19 Jan 2015

Atmospheric oxygen may play role in lung carcinogenesis, new study suggests

The ancient physician/alchemist, Paracelsus, said: "The dose makes the poison." According to a new study published in PeerJ, even oxygen may fall prey to the above adage. While essential to human life, aspects of oxygen metabolism may promote cancer. Capitalizing on the inverse relationship of oxygen concentration with elevation, researchers found lower rates of lung cancer at higher elevations, a trend that did not extend to non-respiratory cancers, suggesting that carcinogen exposure occurs via inhalation.

14 Jan 2015

Researchers identify mutations that destabilize DNA structure that turns a gene off

Researchers at the University of Louisville's James Graham Brown Cancer Center have identified for the first time mutations that destabilize a DNA structure that turns a gene off. These mutations occur at four specific sites in what is known as the "hTERT promoter" in more than 75 percent of glioblastomas and melanomas.

24 Dec 2014

SIRT6 protein inhibits liver and colon cancers, but promotes skin cancer caused by ultraviolet light

A new study published in Cancer Research shows SIRT6—a protein known to inhibit the growth of liver and colon cancers—can promote the development of skin cancers by turning on an enzyme that increases inflammation, proliferation and survival of sun-damaged skin cells.

16 Oct 2014

Sequencing the Asian liver fluke genome: an interview with Dr Neil Young

Opisthorchis viverrini is a parasitic flatworm (or liver fluke) endemic throughout Thailand, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Vietnam and Cambodia. Humans are infected with this parasite when they eat a fluke encysted in inadequately cooked/preserved freshwater fish.

21 Sep 2014

New project aims at delivering innovative test to improve safety of chemical products, drugs

The Genotrace project, combining targeted research and technology transfer, aims at delivering an innovative test to improve the safety of chemical products, drugs, human and animal food and the environment.

10 Sep 2014

Study shows new role for protein APC in suppressing colorectal cancer

A study recently published in the journal Carcinogenesis by researchers at the University of Kansas shows a new role for the protein adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) in suppressing colorectal cancer - the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S.

22 Aug 2014

Dasatinib: Leukemia drug shows promise for treating skin, breast and other cancers

A leukemia drug called dasatinib shows promise for treating skin, breast and several other cancers, according to researchers at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

20 Aug 2014

Viewpoints: Va. GOP's 'Medicaid charade'; Paul Ryan's health Rx for poverty; giving the sick unapproved drugs

Virginia lawmakers will convene in a special session next month to address the question of expanding Medicaid and, more broadly, the fact that hundreds of thousands of poor and disabled people in the state have no health insurance coverage. Democrats and some moderate Republicans have advanced a variety of ideas to tackle that problem. Conservative Republicans, who control the legislature in Richmond, have rejected those solutions while proposing no alternative. Does the GOP intend for the special session to be anything more than a charade at taxpayers' expense? (8/15).

19 Aug 2014

Diabetes linked to increased head and neck cancer risk

People with diabetes mellitus have a significantly increased risk of developing head and neck cancer compared with those without the condition, show results of a large study conducted in Taiwan.

1 Aug 2014

Researchers devise new method for extracting molecules from live cells

University of Houston researchers have devised a new method for extracting molecules from live cells without disrupting cell development, work that could provide new avenues for the diagnosis of cancer and other diseases.

18 Jul 2014

Chemoprevention and colon cancer: an interview with Dr. John Letterio, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

The basic idea of cancer chemoprevention is to arrest or reverse the progression of premalignant cells towards full malignancy, using physiological mechanisms that do not kill healthy cells.

16 Jul 2014

Research finding paves way for targeted approaches to treating cancer patients

Twelve years ago, UNC School of Medicine researcher Brian Strahl, PhD, found that a protein called Set2 plays a role in how yeast genes are expressed - specifically how DNA gets transcribed into messenger RNA. Now his lab has found that Set2 is also a major player in DNA repair, a complicated and crucial process that can lead to the development of cancer cells if the repair goes wrong.

9 Jun 2014

Gene regulation responsible for normal breast tissue may also play role in cancer development

About one in eight women in the United States will contract breast cancer in her lifetime. Now new research from Tel Aviv University-affiliated researchers, in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University, has provided another tool to help women, clinicians, and scientists searching for a cure to the one of the most widespread yet incurable diseases on the planet.

30 May 2014

Biologists show bioelectrical signals control tumors arising from cancer-causing genes, fatty acid

Developmental biologists at Tufts University, using a tadpole model, have shown that bioelectrical signals from distant cells control the incidence of tumors arising from cancer-causing genes and that this process is impacted by levels of a common fatty acid produced by bacteria found in the tadpole and also in humans.

28 May 2014