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Unusual EGFR mutation should influence advanced NSCLC treatment choice

Non-small-cell lung cancer patients with very unusual epidermal growth factor receptor mutations may be more likely to be benefit from first-line chemotherapy than a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, research suggests.

25 Feb 2014

Small non-coding RNAs can help predict individuals with breast cancer

Small non-coding RNAs can be used to predict if individuals have breast cancer conclude researchers who contribute to The Cancer Genome Atlas project. The results, which are published in EMBO reports, indicate that differences in the levels of specific types of non-coding RNAs can be used to distinguish between cancerous and non-cancerous tissues. These RNAs can also be used to classify cancer patients into subgroups of individuals that have different survival outcomes.

18 Feb 2014

New approach for reducing levels of toxic protein fragments associated with Huntington's disease

An innovative therapeutic strategy for reducing the levels of toxic protein fragments associated with Huntington's disease uses a new approach called exon skipping to remove the disease-causing component of the essential protein, huntingtin.

11 Feb 2014

Researchers find link between mutations in gene called RAB 24 and inherited neurodegenerative disease

Researchers from North Carolina State University have found a link between a mutation in a gene called RAB 24 and an inherited neurodegenerative disease in Old English sheepdogs and Gordon setters. The findings may help further understanding of neurodegenerative diseases and identify new treatments for both canine and human sufferers.

7 Feb 2014

Splicing findings offer lung cancer clues

Researchers from Spain have identified several new splicing events regulated by the oncogenic splicing factor SRSF1 in lung cancer, suggesting that their dysregulation is involved in the pathogenesis of the disease.

4 Feb 2014

South Korean lung SCC genetic secrets revealed

Close examination of DNA taken from squamous cell carcinoma of the lung in South Korean patients has identified a gene fusion that may be targeted by current treatments, scientists say.

27 Jan 2014

Novel HER2 mutation identified in familial lung adenocarcinomas

Researchers have identified a novel germline mutation in the transmembrane domain of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 gene in familial lung adenocarcinomas.

24 Jan 2014

Italian biochemist receives Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine for the year 2014

The 2014 LOUIS-JEANTET PRIZE FOR MEDICINE is awarded to the Italian biochemist Elena Conti, Director of the Department of Structural Cell Biology at the Max-Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Munich (Germany) and to Denis Le Bihan, the French medical doctor, physicist and Director of NeuroSpin, an institute at the French Nuclear and Renewable Energy Commission (CEA) at Saclay near Paris.

22 Jan 2014

European Commission approves update of Erbitux to treat patients with RAS wild-type mCRC

Merck Serono, the biopharmaceutical division of Merck, today announced that the European Commission has approved the Type II variation to amend the Erbitux(cetuximab) product information, updating the indication for Erbitux to the treatment of patients with RAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

23 Dec 2013

New treatment needed for women with HER2- and hormone receptor-positive breast cancer with PIK3CA mutation

Women with breast cancer characterized by high levels of the protein HER2 and hormone receptors gained much less benefit from presurgery treatment with chemotherapy and HER2-targeted therapies if their cancer had one or more mutations in the PIK3CA gene, according to results presented here at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 10-14.

12 Dec 2013

Tackling orphan diseases: an interview with Damian Marron, CEO, TxCell

The exact definition of orphan diseases varies depending on where you are in the world. In the EU it's defined as a prevalence of less than 1 in 2,000, which equates to about 250,000 patients across the EU.

4 Dec 2013

Agilent collaborates with Baylor College of Medicine to provide CGH microarrays to researchers

Agilent Technologies Inc. has announced it is collaborating with Baylor College of Medicine's Medical Genetics Laboratories to provide customized CGH (comparative genomics hybridization) microarrays to researchers worldwide. Six new microarray designs unite the power of Baylor's data-rich expertise in genetics research with Agilent's microarray manufacturing capabilities to enable advanced discoveries in cancer and cytogenetics research.

12 Nov 2013

Study indicates that RNA translation is dictated by translational hotspots

Protein synthesis in the extensions of nerve cells, called dendrites, underlies long-term memory formation in the brain, among other functions. "Thousands of messenger RNAs reside in dendrites, yet the dynamics of how multiple dendrite messenger RNAs translate into their final proteins remain elusive," says James Eberwine, PhD, professor of Pharmacology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and co-director of the Penn Genome Frontiers Institute.

27 Sep 2013

Gentris expands genomic biomarker offering with launch of Affymetrix GeneChip HTA services

Gentris Corporation, a global leader in pharmacogenomics and biorepository solutions, announced today that it is expanding its genomic biomarker offering with the launch of Affymetrix GeneChip Human Transcriptome Array services.

17 Sep 2013

Biomarker analysis of Vectibix for mCRC published in New England Journal of Medicine

Amgen today announced the publication of a biomarker analysis of Vectibix (panitumumab) in combination with FOLFOX, a type of oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy, for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

12 Sep 2013

UTHealth researchers find cause for rare type of bleeding disorder

Fifteen years ago, a hematologist came to Dianna Milewicz, M.D., Ph.D., with a puzzle: Multiple generations of an East Texas family suffered from a moderately severe bleeding disorder, but it wasn't hemophilia.

28 Aug 2013

Life Technologies announces end-to-end sequencing solution for whole human exome CNV analysis

Life Technologies Corporation today announced the first end-to-end sequencing solution for exon-level copy number variation analysis, which combines the Ion Reporter CNV data analysis workflow, the Ion AmpliSeq Exome Kit and the Ion Proton® System.

27 Aug 2013

Study suggests that about 70% of total Alzheimer's risk is hereditary

Alzheimer's, and intervene to reduce the risk of the disease? We may be closer to that goal, thanks to a team at the University of Kentucky. Researchers affiliated with the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging have completed new work in Alzheimer's genetics; the research is detailed in a paper published today in the Journal of Neuroscience.

16 Aug 2013

Eteplirsen offers great hope to patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Results from a clinical trial of eteplirsen, a drug designed to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy, suggest that the therapy allows participants to walk farther than people treated with placebo and dramatically increases production of a protein vital to muscle growth and health.

8 Aug 2013

Cancer-linked mitosis: an interview with Professor Scott Kern, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Mitosis is the process by which a cell gives rise to two daughter cells. It’s the basis behind the growth of the human body, the renewal of the human body as it ages, and unfortunately, the growth of cancers.

7 Aug 2013