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Gene study could result in personalized therapies for patients with deadly brain cancer

New findings by researchers at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center suggest that the most common form of malignant brain cancer in adults, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is probably not a single disease but a set of diseases, each with a distinct underlying molecular disease process.

20 Jan 2010

TCGA study reveals four distinct molecular subtypes of GBM

The most common form of malignant brain cancer in adults, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is not a single disease but appears to be four distinct molecular subtypes, according to a study by the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network. The researchers of this study also found that response to aggressive chemotherapy and radiation differed by subtype.

20 Jan 2010

Scientists study fruit fly to identify key molecular signal in cancer metastasis

Scientists trying to understand how cancer cells invade healthy tissue have used the fruit fly's metamorphosis from maggot to flying insect as a guide to identify a key molecular signal that may be involved in both processes.

20 Jan 2010

New minimally invasive surgery for lung cancer reduces post-operative pain

Generally, after traditional open-chest surgery for lung cancer, patients may experience a significant amount of pain and spend up to a week in the hospital followed by months recovering.

20 Jan 2010

New heating therapy reduces mastectomies, kills large tumors

A new treatment developed and tested by University of Oklahoma researchers not only killed large breast cancer tumors, but reduced the need for mastectomies by almost 90 percent. The latest results appear in an upcoming issue of the Annals of Surgical Oncology.

20 Jan 2010

Researchers show how gliomas can evade drugs aimed at blocking EGFR

Researchers at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Moores UCSD Cancer Center have shown one way in which gliomas, a deadly type of brain tumor, can evade drugs aimed at blocking a key cell signaling protein, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR),that is crucial for tumor growth.

20 Jan 2010

Fc engineering enhances antibody half-life

A Nature Biotechnology article published online January 17 reveals that Xencor Inc.’s proprietary Fc engineering extends the half-life of antibodies while maintaining their potency and extending duration of action. These results, published in an article entitled, “Enhanced antibody half-life improves in vivo activity” demonstrate the potential of Fc engineering to impact the flexibility of route, schedule and dose for nearly any antibody.

20 Jan 2010

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals presents data on multiple therapeutic programs at RNAi Symposium

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, today announced that it presented data from multiple pre-clinical and clinical programs at the “RNA Silencing: Mechanism, Biology, and Application” Keystone Symposium held January 14-19, 2010 in Keystone, Colorado. Alnylam and its collaborators presented data from Alnylam’s therapeutic programs including transthyretin (TTR)-mediated amyloidosis and Huntington’s disease, as well as new data on delivery approaches for the systemic delivery of RNAi therapeutics.

20 Jan 2010

Combination treatment strategies may benefit patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Even when their tumors are shrinking in response to therapy, some non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients have a scattering of cancer cells that are undeterred by the drug, causing the tumor to resume its growth, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center scientists report in the January issue of Cancer Cell.

20 Jan 2010

New research at Rhode Island Hospital identifies a treatment for glioblastomas

New research at Rhode Island Hospital has identified a treatment in animal models for glioblastomas - deadly brain tumors which, once diagnosed, offer a poor prognosis and relatively short life expectancy.

20 Jan 2010

Study shows an intriguing relationship between cancer-related genes and schizophrenia susceptibility

People who inherit a specific form of a gene that puts them on a road to schizophrenia may be protected against some forms of cancer, according to a new study by scientists at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research.

20 Jan 2010

Researchers propose a new model for breast cell differentiation

A study by researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine, the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts, and Tufts Medical Center improves our current understanding of the origins of breast cancer. The

19 Jan 2010

Repeated exposure to tobacco smoke makes lung cancer much worse

Repeated exposure to tobacco smoke makes lung cancer much worse, and one reason is that it steps up inflammation in the lung. Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have found that mice with early lung cancer lesions that were repeatedly exposed to tobacco smoke developed larger tumors - and developed tumors more quickly - than unexposed animals.

19 Jan 2010

Blocking release of VEGFs may inhibit tumor growth

Researchers at the University of Helsinki, Finland, and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Villigen, Switzerland, have determined the crystal structure of the ligand binding domain of a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor in complex with one of its ligands (VEGF-C).

19 Jan 2010

Boehringer Ingelheim, Priaxon announce collaboration in development of mdm2/p53 inhibitors for cancer

Boehringer Ingelheim and Priaxon entered into a worldwide collaboration to research and develop mdm2/p53 inhibitors for the treatment of cancer. Priaxon is providing its innovative and proprietary small molecule drug discovery expertise which is particularly suited to investigate inhibition of protein-protein interactions. p53 is a human tumor suppressor protein.

18 Jan 2010

Neurosurgical journals influence neurosurgeons and their patients

A compendium of articles in the Journal of Neurosurgery (JNS) provides evidence that specialty medical journals are not only an invaluable resource to physicians and researchers, but to the media and public. Clinical and basic science papers do not have to be published in large, high-impact publications to garner attention, and in fact when it comes to specialized areas of medicine such as neurosurgery, publications devoted to the subspecialty produce many citation classics. "Citation classic" is a term given to articles that have been cited more than 400 times.

18 Jan 2010

Treatment for metastatic tumor based on its unique protein makeup

Imagine if treatments for disease could be based not on a patient's diagnosis but instead on the characteristics of their tissue. By identifying and decoding the cryptic messages hidden deep inside the human proteome, scientists and physicians who study personalized medicine are seeking more effective treatments and disease management for patients.

18 Jan 2010

Stress induces signals that cause cells to develop into tumors

Stress induces signals that cause cells to develop into tumors, Yale researchers have discovered. The research, published online Jan. 13 in the journal Nature, describes a novel way cancer takes hold in the body and suggests new ways to attack the deadly disease.

18 Jan 2010

Over-the-counter medications can help manage minor ailments

Nonprescription medications in the home medicine cabinet could save a trip to the doctor. The January issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter lists more than a dozen over-the-counter medications that can help manage minor ailments.

18 Jan 2010

New technique can restore facial movements in paralytic patients

Surgeons from UC Davis Medical Center have demonstrated that artificial muscles can restore the ability of patients with facial paralysis to blink, a development that could benefit the thousands of people each year who no longer are able to close their eyelids due to combat-related injuries, stroke, nerve injury or facial surgery.

18 Jan 2010