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Exposing young girls to ionizing radiation can raise risk of breast cancer later in life

Exposing young women and girls under the age of 20 to ionizing radiation can substantially raise the risk of their developing breast cancer later in life. Scientists may now know why. A collaborative study, in which Berkeley Lab researchers played a pivotal role, points to increased stem cell self-renewal and subsequent mammary stem cell enrichment as the culprits.

12 Sep 2013

Hydroxyurea treatment prevents complications, lowers medical care costs in children sickle cell disease

The benefits of hydroxyurea treatment in people with sickle cell disease are well known -- fewer painful episodes, fewer blood transfusions and fewer hospitalizations. Now new research from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center and other institutions reveals that by preventing such complications, the drug can also considerably lower the overall cost of medical care in children with this condition.

12 Sep 2013

Levels of certain fats in cerebral spinal fluid can predict patients with HIV, say scientists

Johns Hopkins scientists have found that levels of certain fats found in cerebral spinal fluid can predict which patients with HIV are more likely to become intellectually impaired.

12 Sep 2013

New technique provides better understanding of factors causing Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome

The first proteomic analysis of an animal model of a rare, sometimes deadly birth defect, Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome (SLOS), has revealed that the molecular mechanisms that cause it are more complex than previously understood.

12 Sep 2013

Astrazeneca Licenses Merck's Cancer Candidate MK-1775

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11 Sep 2013

Hedgepath, Mayne Repurposing Fungal Infection Drug For Cancer

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11 Sep 2013

Study suggests new path to make protective malaria vaccine

This study suggests that genetically engineered malaria parasites that are stunted through precise gene deletions (genetically attenuated parasites, or "GAP") could be used as a vaccine that protects against malaria infection. This means that the harmless (attenuated) version of the parasite would interact with the body in the same way as the infective version, but without possibility of causing disease.

11 Sep 2013

Professor to develop DNA sequencing technologies to search for long-range genome interactions

Why do some people develop disease while others with the same genetic mutation don't? For example, the National Cancer Institute estimates that women who inherit a harmful BRCA2 mutation have a 45 percent chance of developing breast cancer by age 70.

11 Sep 2013

Personalized treatment may be effective in wild type cancers

As a woman in her mid-forties who didn't smoke, Elizabeth Lacasia never expected to be diagnosed with lung cancer. But in 2006, after she developed a persistent and serious cough, a chest X-ray and CT scan revealed several tumors in her lower left lung.

11 Sep 2013

Researchers study potential role of two risk factors in preeclampsia

Although preeclampsia occurs in about 3 percent of pregnancies, it's still unforeseen in many cases. A report of new research, now in press at the Journal of Reproductive Immunology, documents how two distinct risk factors combine to affect the odds that a first-time mother could develop the sometimes life-threatening pregnancy complication.

11 Sep 2013

Researchers discover 4 novel gene variations linked with blood pressure

Case Western Reserve University is part of a landmark study that has discovered four novel gene variations associated with blood pressure. The 19-site meta-analysis, involving nearly 30,000 African-Americans, also found that the set of genetic mutations are also associated with blood pressure across other populations.

11 Sep 2013

Study: More than 70% of bladder tumors display somatic mutations in TERT gene

Researchers from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) have discovered that more than 70% of bladder tumours display somatic mutations in the TERT gene (telomerase reverse transcriptase).

11 Sep 2013

Researchers discover inherited gene mutation linked to childhood leukemia

Researchers have discovered the first inherited gene mutation linked exclusively to acute lymphoblastic leukemia occurring in multiple relatives in individual families. The discovery of the PAX5 gene mutation was led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and others. The work appears in the current advance online edition of the scientific journal Nature Genetics.

11 Sep 2013