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Treatment with IL-12 triggers T cell exhaustion in cancer patients

Rather than stimulating immune cells to more effectively battle cancerous tumors, treatment with the protein interleukin-12 (IL-12) has the opposite effect, driving these intracellular fighters to exhaustion, a Mayo Clinic study has found.

10 May 2012

NCKU student receives Graduate/Postdoctoral Travel Award from ASBMB

Wan-Pei Su, a graduate student of Molecular Medicine at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), southern Taiwan, has received a Graduate/Postdoctoral Travel Award from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) to attend the annual conference on Experimental Biology (EB) in San Diego in April 2012.

10 May 2012

Botanical formula inhibits breast to lung cancer metastasis in mice

Scientists at Indiana University Health's Cancer Research Laboratory have found that a sophisticated botanical formula slows human breast cancer growth and inhibits breast to lung metastasis in mice. The formula contains extracts from medicinal mushrooms, medicinal herbs and purified nutritional compounds, and showed no toxic side-effects.

9 May 2012

Researchers develop potent new drug that can kill tumor cells

All cells have the ability to recycle unwanted or damaged proteins and reuse the building blocks as food. But cancer cells have ramped up the system, called autophagy, and rely on it to escape damage in the face of chemotherapy and other treatments. Now, researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine; the Abramson Cancer Center; and the School of Arts and Sciences, at the University of Pennsylvania, have developed a potent new drug that clogs up the recycling machinery and kills tumor cells in mouse models.

9 May 2012

IBN develops biochip for investigating the effect of drugs on cancer stem cells

Researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), the world's first bioengineering and nanotechnology research institute, have developed a miniaturized biochip for investigating the effect of drugs on cancer stem cells (CSCs). Published recently in Nano Today, this new technology could boost the development of more effective cancer drugs.

9 May 2012

Regulatory T cell diversity provides cumulative protective effect against RA

Untangling the root cause of rheumatoid arthritis has been a difficult task for immunologists, as decades of research has pointed to multiple culprits in our immune system, with contradictory lines of evidence. Now, researchers at The Wistar Institute announce that it takes a diverse array of regulatory T cells (a specialized subset of white blood cells) to prevent the immune system from generating the tissue-specific inflammation that is a hallmark of the disease. Regulatory T cell diversity, the researchers say, provides a cumulative protective effect against rheumatoid arthritis. When that diversity is not present, it allows the immune system to attack joints.

9 May 2012

Advaxis commences enrollment in ADXS-HPV Phase 1/2 study for head and neck cancer

Advaxis, Inc.,, a leader in developing the next generation of immunotherapies for cancer and infectious diseases, announced that two patients have been enrolled into REALISTIC, a Phase 1/2 study being sponsored by Cancer Research UK (CRUK) to investigate the use of ADXS-HPV for the treatment of HPV positive head and neck cancer. HPV is associated with 40-70% of head and neck cancers.

8 May 2012

Breast brachytherapy with strut-based applicator effective for women with DCIS

Breast brachytherapy with a strut-based applicator appears to be an effective treatment for women who have ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast, according to a groundbreaking study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Breast Surgeons, held in Phoenix May 2-4.

8 May 2012

Researchers discover CD19 pathway that leads to lymphoma

Researchers studying the molecular signals that drive a specific type of lymphoma have discovered a key biological pathway leading to this type of cancer. Cancerous cells have been described as being "addicted" to certain oncogenes (cancer-causing genes), and the new research may lay the groundwork for breaking that addiction and effectively treating aggressive types of B cell lymphoma.

8 May 2012

Latest science from area of network biology

This week experts from around the world will meet to discuss how network models can be applied to the study and targeting of complex diseases such as cancer, diabetes and neurological disorders.

7 May 2012

CNV in prostate cancer tumors may accurately predict relapse

While active monitoring of serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels in men over 50 has greatly improved early detection of prostate cancer, prediction of clinical outcomes after diagnosis remains a major challenge.

7 May 2012

Researchers separate low and high-PSA prostate cancer cells

Prostate cancer cells that defy treatment and display heightened tumor-generating capacity can be identified by levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA) expressed in the tumor cells, a research team led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reports in the May 3 edition of Cell Stem Cell.

7 May 2012

Interdisciplinary treatment of breast cancer benefits most patients

How successful is the interdisciplinary treatment of breast cancer? Since 2003, the Breast Center at Heidelberg University Hospital has systematically tracked the course of breast cancer in more than 3,000 patients and, as the first center in Germany, has published these significant prospective results: Eighty-six percent of the patients survived the first five years after onset of treatment, with 80 % of them remaining disease-free during this period.

7 May 2012

Radiofrequency ablation during breast cancer surgery can provide effective alternative to XRT

Radiofrequency ablation of the lumpectomy site during breast cancer surgery can provide an effective alternative to post-operative external radiation therapy (XRT) and reduce repeat surgeries to achieve clear tumor margins, according to one of the first published long-term studies to examine this new treatment protocol.

5 May 2012

iCAD, Breastlink announce agreement to offer Xoft brachytherapy system

iCAD, Inc., an industry-leading provider of advanced image analysis, workflow solutions and radiation therapy for the early identification and treatment of cancer, and Breastlink Medical Group in Southern California, today announced an agreement that will make the Xoft Axxent Electronic Brachytherapy System available to breast cancer patients treated at Breastlink.

5 May 2012

Research identifies molecular trigger of fibroid uterine tumors

Fibroid uterine tumors affect an estimated 15 million women in the United States, causing irregular bleeding, anemia, pain and infertility. Despite the high prevalence of the tumors, which occur in 60 percent of women by age 45, the molecular cause has been unknown.

5 May 2012

MicroRNAs in breast cancer play a role in development of resistance to tamoxifen

Many breast cancer patients are treated with a drug called tamoxifen. The substance blocks the effect of estrogen and thus suppresses the growth signals of this hormone in cancer cells. When resistance to the drug develops, tumor cells change their growth program: They change their behavior and shape, become more mobile and also adopt the ability to invade surrounding tissue. Scientists working with PD (Associate Professor) Dr. Stefan Wiemann of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have now also observed these changes in tamoxifen resistant breast cancer cells.

5 May 2012

New light on many biological differences between individual breast cancers

New findings presented at Europe's leading breast cancer translational research conference this year shed new light on the many biological differences between individual breast cancers.

4 May 2012

Presence of fetal cells is a double-edged sword for women

For the first time, scientists have found what could be a causative link between the concentration of circulating Y-chromosome fetal cells in women who gave birth to children of either sex and their risk of later developing breast cancer and colon cancer.

4 May 2012

Potential breast cancer patients for new immune-targeting therapies

Breast cancer patients whose tumors express high levels of genes related to immune response are more likely to have their tumor completely eradicated by pre-operative chemotherapy compared to patients with low expression of these genes, Belgian researchers report at the 4th IMPAKT Breast Cancer Conference in Brussels, Belgium.

4 May 2012