DNA Damage News and Research

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Epigenetic changes due to normal aging process linked to cancer risk

Some scientists have hypothesized that tumor-promoting changes in cells during cancer development--particularly an epigenetic change involving DNA methylation--arise from rogue cells escaping a natural cell deterioration process called senescence.

22 Feb 2018

Fathers maybe passing on ovarian cancer genes to their daughters

According to a team of researchers from the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, a new gene mutation could be responsible for ovarian cancers and this could be passed on from fathers to their daughters.

16 Feb 2018

Specialized cellular structures may hold clues to health effects of psychological stress

How does psychological stress translate into physical health effects? A key piece of the puzzle may be found in specialized cellular structures known as mitochondria, according to a pair of articles in the January issue of Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine, the official journal of the American Psychosomatic Society.

2 Feb 2018

Two bacterial species collaborate to drive development of colon cancers

Patients with an inherited form of colon cancer harbor two bacterial species that collaborate to encourage development of the disease, and the same species have been found in people who develop a sporadic form of colon cancer, a study led by a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy research team finds.

1 Feb 2018

Scientists discover how gene mutation affects T cell function to promote immune disorders

Scientists discovered how a gene mutation affects T cell function to promote immune disorders and then tested a treatment based on the discovery - successfully fixing donated immune cells from a 16-year-old boy with an abnormally low level of white blood cells called lymphopenia.

30 Jan 2018

Scientists decipher molecular mechanism of the cell with relevance for cancer development

Achievement in the field of cancer research: Biologists and chemists at the University of Konstanz decipher a molecular mechanism of the cell with relevance for the development of cancer and the fight against that disease.

27 Jan 2018

Researchers working to fill knowledge gap between DNA damage and cancer

Researchers at The University of Kansas Cancer Center are working to fill the knowledge gap between DNA damage and cancer, including developing approaches to manipulate the DNA damage response to treat and prevent disease.

27 Jan 2018

Researchers identify promising new drug target for Ewing sarcoma

Screening a class of recently-developed drug compounds -- so-called "CDK inhibitors" capable of blocking CDK7/12/13 proteins -- against hundreds of different human cancer cell lines, researchers at Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center have found that CDK12 inhibitors pack a particularly lethal punch to Ewing sarcoma, a rare cancer typically affecting children and young adults.

25 Jan 2018

U.S. FDA approves first drug for patients with germline BRCA-mutated metastatic breast cancer

AstraZeneca and Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved LYNPARZA (olaparib) for use in patients with deleterious or suspected deleterious germline BRCA-mutated (gBRCAm), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative metastatic breast cancer who have been previously treated with chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant, adjuvant or metastatic setting.

12 Jan 2018

Patients with desmoplastic melanoma respond well to immunotherapy

Desmoplastic melanoma is a rare subtype of melanoma that is commonly found on sun-exposed areas, such as the head and neck, and usually seen in older patients.

11 Jan 2018

Biomarkers may help predict prognosis of gastric cancer patients with alcohol consumption habits

Alcohol consumption has been identified as a modifiable risk factor for cancers such as gastric cancer. A new report in the The American Journal of Pathology sheds light on how specific proteins interact with alcohol, and how that interplay impacts survival and response to platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with gastric cancer who may or may not still be drinking.

10 Jan 2018

New discovery could help treat breast cancer through precision medicine

University of Alberta researchers have discovered a mechanism that may make cancer cells more susceptible to treatment. The research team found that the protein RYBP prevents DNA repair in cancer cells, including breast cancer.

9 Jan 2018

Study finds new brainstem changes in Parkinson’s disease

A pioneering study has found that patients with Parkinson's disease have more errors in the mitochondrial DNA within the brainstem, leading to increased cell death in that area.

4 Jan 2018

Study illustrates the role of alcohol in causing damage to DNA and increased cancer risk

A new study conducted by a group of researchers at MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge revealed the significant role of alcohol in causing damage to DNA in stem cells and thereby increasing cancer risks. The study was funded by Cancer Research UK and the results were published in Nature.

4 Jan 2018

Scientists show how alcohol exposure leads to permanent genetic damage

Scientists have shown how alcohol damages DNA in stem cells, helping to explain why drinking increases your risk of cancer, according to research part-funded by Cancer Research UK and published in Nature today (Wednesday).

4 Jan 2018

Experimental diabetes drugs can make cancer cells vulnerable to chemotherapy agents

Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have shown that experimental diabetes drugs can make cancer cells more vulnerable to traditional chemotherapy agents, and they say such combinations should be explored to potentially improve outcomes for cancer patients.

2 Jan 2018

$Study uncovers genomic targets in refractory neuroblastoma$

Study uncovers genomic targets in refractory neuroblastoma

Neuroblastoma (NB) is the most common solid tumor found in children. It starts in some very early forms of nerve cells found in the embryo or fetus.

28 Dec 2017

Nanobiotix receives FDA approval for first immuno-oncology trial

NANOBIOTIX, a late clinical-stage nanomedicine company pioneering new approaches to the treatment of cancer, today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved its Investigational New Drug Application for NBTXR3, a first-in-class nanoparticle designed for direct injection into cancerous tumors, activated by stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) and administered in combination with an anti-PD1 antibody (nivolumab or pembrolizumab).

26 Dec 2017

Stem cells remain healthy following low-dose X-ray exposure, say biophysicists

Biophysicists have shown that following low-dose exposure to X-rays (at 80 milligrays), stem cells remain healthy, proliferate, and do not accumulate DNA damage to be passed on to their progeny. The paper was published in the journal Aging.

20 Dec 2017

Study finds combination therapy as effective strategy to treat ovarian cancers

Researchers at The Wistar Institute have found that combining PARP inhibitors, recently approved for the treatment of BRCA-mutant ovarian cancer, with another small molecule inhibitor was effective to treat ovarian cancers without BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations.

19 Dec 2017