Growth Factor News and Research

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Could Gleevec help stroke victims?

For over a decade, the drug called tPA has proven its worth as the most effective emergency treatment for the most common kind of stroke. But its promise is blemished by two facts: tPA can cause dangerous bleeding in the brain, and its brain-saving power fades fast after the third hour of a stroke.

23 Jun 2008

Patient's own infection-fighting T cells put late-stage melanoma into long-term remission

Researchers describe the first successful use of a human patient's cloned infection-fighting T cells as the sole therapy to put an advanced solid-tumor cancer into long-term remission. A team led by Cassian Yee, M.D., an associate member of the Clinical Research Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, reports these findings in the June 19 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

19 Jun 2008

Scientists identify proteins in mice that might act as biomarkers for growth hormone

Ohio University scientists have identified several proteins in mice that might act as biomarkers for growth hormone. The research could be the first step to finding a more reliable way to detect recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH), which some athletes and teenagers use illegally to boost muscle and reduce fat.

17 Jun 2008

Adult stem cells improve healing of broken bones

Adult stem cells improve healing of broken bones and could eventually serve as a new treatment for the 10 to 20 percent of fractures that fail to heal, according to a new study. The results were presented Monday, June 16, at The Endocrine Society's 90th Annual Meeting in San Francisco, by Froilan Granero-Molto, PhD, research associate of the University of North Carolina.

16 Jun 2008

Smad proteins regulate microRNA processing

Researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine and Tufts Medical Center have found that Smad proteins regulate microRNA (miRNA) processing.

11 Jun 2008

Cancer warning on diabetic ulcer gel

The U.S. watchdog the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says a warning will be added to the label of a topical gel used to treat leg and foot ulcers which refuse to heal in diabetic patients.

9 Jun 2008

FDA announces label changes for Regranex - boxed warning

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced the addition of a boxed warning to the label of Regranex Gel 0.01% (becaplermin) to address the increased risk of cancer mortality in patients who use 3 or more tubes of the product. Regranex is a topical cream indicated for the treatment of leg and foot ulcers that are not healing in diabetic patients.

8 Jun 2008

ThromboGenics and BioInvent report positive results for anti-PlGF cancer therapeutic TB-403

ThromboGenics NV and co-development partner BioInvent International AB today reported that the results from the first Phase l study of novel anti-cancer agent TB-403 showed that it is safe and well tolerated, with pharmacokinetic properties enabling it to be developed for the treatment of cancer

3 Jun 2008

Study looks at the role of metformin as possible anti-tumor agent

Metformin, the common first-line drug for type 2 diabetes, may be effective in increasing pathologic complete response rates in diabetic women with early stage breast cancer who took the drug during chemotherapy prior to having surgery, paving the way for further research of the drug as a potential cancer therapy, according to researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

2 Jun 2008

Celldex Therapeutics vaccine may double survival in patients with deadly brain tumors

A vaccine aimed at inducing immunity to the most common and deadly type of brain tumor may stave off recurrence and more than double survival in patients, according to a new study led by researchers in Duke's Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center.

2 Jun 2008

Yale researchers block transforming growth factor to clear up amyloid plaques in mice

Blocking a common immune system response cleared up plaques associated with Alzheimer's Disease and enabled treated mice to recover some lost memory, Yale University researchers report Friday in the journal Nature Medicine.

1 Jun 2008

New prognostic markers for gastric cancer patients

In standard clinical settings, DNA microarrays are currently unsuitable for routine use. Prognostic classification on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues is required. In this study, we looked for new molecular markers for identifying the prognosis of gastric cancer patients.

20 May 2008

Targeted therapy can improve outcomes for lung tumors

The first U.S. clinical trial using genetic screening to identify lung tumors likely to respond to targeted therapies supports the use of those drugs as first-line treatment rather than after standard chemotherapy has failed.

20 May 2008

Killer competition: neurons duke it out for survival!

The developing nervous system makes far more nerve cells than are needed to ensure target organs and tissues are properly connected to the nervous system. As nerves connect to target organs, they somehow compete with each other resulting in some living and some dying.

6 May 2008

Erythropoietin gene linked to severe diabetic eye, kidney diseases

Researchers at the John A. Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah and collaborative institutions have identified a gene called erythropoietin (EPO) that contributes to increased risk of severe diabetic eye and kidney diseases, called retinopathy and nephropathy.

6 May 2008

Breastfeeding makes for more intelligent children

While it has been recognised for decades that breastfeeding is better for both mothers and babies, scientists are now suggesting that it also benefits a child's intelligence.

6 May 2008

FGFR2 gene increases susceptibility to breast cancer

Much work has been done to identify genetic variations that predispose women to breast cancer. Previous work showed that variants in the gene called fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2) were associated with increased risk of the disease, but how these variants translated into increased risk was unknown.

6 May 2008

Breastfeeding may improve children's IQ scores - other measures of cognitive development

Long-term, exclusive breastfeeding appears to improve children's cognitive development, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

5 May 2008

Epidermal growth factor receptor protects cancer cells from starving

A growth factor receptor found abundantly on the surface of cancer cells and long known to fuel cancer growth also protects tumor cells from starvation by a newly identified mechanism, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the May 5 issue of Cancer Cell.

5 May 2008

New study raises questions about prostate cancer therapies targeting insulin-like growth factor receptor

Therapies under development to treat prostate cancer by inhibiting the ability of insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) to activate its target receptor could have unexpected results especially if a major tumor suppressor gene - p53 - is already compromised, according to new research by investigators at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

1 May 2008