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Advances in genomic techniques help understand cancer at cellular and molecular level

Cancer is a complex disease and only thanks to advances in genomic techniques have researchers begun to understand, at a cellular and molecular level, the mechanisms which are disrupted in cancer cells. This knowledge is a key prerequisite for developing effective treatment strategies.

23 Nov 2012

Study on effect of glucose on cancer growth in mice

An animal study conducted by researchers at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center raises questions about the consequences of diet - specifically glucose, the plant-based sugar that fuels cell life - on increased activity of an oncogene that drives tumor growth.

15 Nov 2012

CSHL scientists discover new way to specifically target and kill cancer cells

Cancer cells grow fast. That's an essential characteristic of what makes them cancer cells. They've crashed through all the cell-cycle checkpoints and are continuously growing and dividing, far outstripping our normal cells. To do this they need to speed up their metabolism.

1 Nov 2012

Nisin may slow or prevent squamous cell head and neck cancers

Nisin, a common food preservative, may slow or stop squamous cell head and neck cancers, a University of Michigan study found.

1 Nov 2012

DNA damage response contains previously unknown components: Study

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues at the University of South Florida; Duke University; Johns Hopkins University; the Brazilian National Cancer Institute; and the Rio de Janeiro Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology have discovered that an intricate system to repair DNA damage called the "DNA damage response" (DDR) contains previously unknown components, including proteins that could be targeted as sensitizers for chemotherapy.

17 Oct 2012

Tissue test detects oral cancer risk

A molecular diagnostic scoring system based on patients’ FOXM1-associated gene messenger RNA expression levels is able to quantitatively diagnose and stratify oral carcinoma and its aggressiveness, show UK and Norwegian study results.

11 Oct 2012

Treatment with Lfcin4-14 reduces DNA damage in colon cancer cells exposed to UV light

Milk consumption has been linked to improved health, with decreased risks of diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and colon cancer. A group of scientists in Sweden found that lactoferricin4-14 (Lfcin4-14), a milk protein with known health effects, significantly reduces the growth rate of colon cancer cells over time by prolonging the period of the cell cycle before chromosomes are replicated. In a new study, investigators report that treatment with Lfcin4-14 reduced DNA damage in colon cancer cells exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light.

4 Oct 2012

Researchers solve mystery of radial glial cells

Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have solved an important piece of one of neuroscience's outstanding puzzles: how progenitor cells in the developing mammalian brain reproduce themselves while also giving birth to neurons that will populate the emerging cerebral cortex, the seat of cognition and executive function in the mature brain.

24 Sep 2012

Mushroom compound lengthens lives of dogs with cancer, has human potential

Dogs with splenic hemangiosarcoma had significantly delayed metastatic progression and lived longer than any previously recorded time after treatment with an extract of the mushroom Coriolus versicolor, report US investigators.

19 Sep 2012

Novel drug combination for patients with NRAS-mutant melanoma

A new study published online in Nature Medicine, led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, describes the discovery of a novel drug combination aimed at a subset of melanoma patients who currently have no effective therapeutic options.

17 Sep 2012

Pyruvate kinase M2 fuels tumor growth by influencing H3 histone protein

A metabolic protein that nourishes cancer cells also activates tumor-promoting genes by loosening part of the packaging that entwines DNA to make up chromosomes, a team led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reports in the Aug. 16 issue of Cell.

17 Aug 2012

Mammalian cells divide when their growth rate hits a specific threshold

It's a longstanding question in biology: How do cells know when to progress through the cell cycle? In simple organisms such as yeast, cells divide once they reach a specific size. However, determining if this holds true for mammalian cells has been difficult, in part because there has been no good way to measure mammalian cell growth over time.

6 Aug 2012

New role for oncogenic signaling pathway in embryonic stem cell self-renewal

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the University of Manchester, and the MD Anderson Cancer Center have found a new role for an oncogenic signaling pathway in embryonic stem cell (ESC) self-renewal and in reprogramming adult cells into an ESC-state, which will aid in the development of future cancer therapies.

3 Aug 2012

Orc1 mutations may explain pathology in manifestations of Meier-Gorlin syndrome

Research published Aug. 1 by scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) links gene mutations found in some patients with Meier-Gorlin syndrome (MGS) with specific cellular dysfunctions that are thought to give rise to a particularly extreme version of dwarfism, small brain size, and other manifestations of abnormal growth which generally characterize that rare condition.

1 Aug 2012

Chk1 gene alone is sufficient to kill cancer cells

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have discovered a mutant form of the gene, Chk1, that when expressed in cancer cells, permanently stopped their proliferation and caused cell death without the addition of any chemotherapeutic drugs.

1 Aug 2012

Researchers use computational analysis to identify new Achilles heel for drug-resistant breast cancer

Researchers have used computational analysis to identify a new Achilles heel for the treatment of drug-resistant breast cancer. The results, which are published in Molecular Systems Biology, reveal that the disruption of glucose metabolism is an effective therapeutic strategy for the treatment of tumours that have acquired resistance to front-line cancer drugs such as Lapatinib.

31 Jul 2012

TAU researcher reveals link between plant and human biology

Increasingly, scientists are uncovering surprising biological connections between humans and other forms of life. Now a Tel Aviv University researcher has revealed that plant and human biology is much closer than has ever been understood - and the study of these similarities could uncover the biological basis of diseases like cancer as well as other "animal" behaviors.

31 Jul 2012

Researchers identify new behavior for the human macrophage

Researchers at the Institute of Human Virology of the University of Maryland School of Medicine have identified a new behavior for the human macrophage that provides new explanations for several features of HIV biology, including how the virus persists within the body indefinitely, how quiescently infected CD4+ T-cells arise, and how the infection leads to depletion of CD4+ T-cells.

19 Jul 2012

Combination of Dox with MCP shows promise against prostate cancer

Doxorubicin (Dox) is an effective anti-cancer drug, but it's also a very toxic one, causing severe heart and immune damage. The doses needed to impact tumors are not well tolerated by patients, however, researchers may have found an answer through combination therapy.

18 Jul 2012

Research reveals how metformin reduces HCC risk

For every year that a patient with diabetes takes metformin, their risk for hepatocellular carcinoma reduces, say the authors of a study that also sheds light on the cellular pathway it uses.

16 Jul 2012