Lymph Node News and Research

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Lymph is clear or white fluid that travels through vessels, moves within tissues and work to keep all the parts of the body clean. After passing through the channels of the lymphatic system they drain into the lymph nodes. The lymph nodes act as filters along the lymphatic system. These nodes trap germs like bacteria, viruses, toxins as well as cancer cells and ensure that these are removed from the body.

New strategy to identify differences between non-metastatic and highly metastatic breast cancer cells

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego have used a new strategy to identify differences between non-metastatic and highly metastatic breast cancer cells. The article by Valerie Montel et al., "Expression profiling of primary tumors and matched lymphatic and lung metastases in a xenogeneic breast cancer model," appears in the May 2005 issue of The American Journal of Pathology and is accompanied by a commentary.

22 Apr 2005

Clinical trial of gefitinib for advanced lung cancer closes early

Researchers have closed a randomized clinical trial comparing gefitinib (Iressa) vs. placebo following chemotherapy and radiation for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that had spread only to nearby tissues or lymph nodes. Review of interim data indicated that gefitinib would not improve survival.

19 Apr 2005

Stress can give the immune system a beneficial boost

New research in mice provides more evidence that a brief bout of stress can give the immune system a beneficial boost – under certain conditions.

19 Apr 2005

New invention can easily spot whether cancer has spread

German researchers have come up with a test that measures how stretchy cells are, which could revolutionise the way doctors spot whether cancers have spread, Inventors at the University of Leipzig have produced a laptop-sized gadget which can give a diagnosis using as few as 50 cells and avoids the need to cut out tissue and say it is 1,000 times more accurate than traditional tests.

12 Apr 2005

New test for cancer, more sensitive than any existing techniques

Speaking at the Institute of Physics conference Physics 2005 in Warwick, scientists will reveal a new test for cancer, more sensitive than any existing technique and capable of predicting for the first time whether a tumour has spread.

12 Apr 2005

Natural killer cells could lead to new Hepatitis treatments

Researchers have discovered that natural killer T (NKT) cells, the immune system's sentinels, patrol the labyrinthine blood vessels of the liver for invaders or signs of tissue damage and demonstrate a dogged behavior not seen before in other T cells.

4 Apr 2005

cT3 prostate cancer is operable

New findings from Mayo Clinic indicate that cT3 prostate cancer, a disease in which the cancer has spread locally from inside the prostate to immediately outside it, is operable and has 15-year cancer survival rates of almost 80 percent.

3 Apr 2005

Stress may enhance the body's ability to fight the flu

Short bouts of intense social stress improved the ability in the mice to recover from the flu. The stress apparently did so by substantially boosting the production of specialized immune cells that fought the virus.

3 Apr 2005

How does the body keep the number of neutrophils produced constant in the blood?

Every day, the human body manufactures and destroys about 100 billion neutrophils- the most common type of white blood cell and one of the most highly-produced cells. Neutrophils live about eight hours, are bacteria-eaters and are a key component of the immune system. Without them, the body can be subject to life-threatening infection.

23 Mar 2005

Discovery that sheds new light upon the growth and development of human natural killer (NK) cells

Scientists here have made a major discovery that sheds new light upon the growth and development of human natural killer (NK) cells, powerful but somewhat mysterious components of the body’s immune system that are the first line of defense against cancer and infectious diseases.

23 Mar 2005

Genetic factors may play a significant role in the racial differences encountered in the epidemiology of breast cancer

A new review finds similarities between the clinical presentation and course of breast cancer in Africans and African-Americans, suggesting that genetic factors may play a significant role in the racial differences encountered in the epidemiology of breast cancer in America.

14 Mar 2005

Africa faces potential increases in breast cancer rates

9 Mar 2005

Combining PET and CT scans leads to more accurate radiation therapy for lung cancer patients

Using Positron Emission Tomography in addition to Computed Tomography can reduce the amount of radiation exposure to normal tissue in some lung cancer patients

8 Mar 2005

Important player in the development of colon cancer

Cancer growth is a long, complex, multi-stage process involving a variety of different "players." This complexity is part of the difficulty facing cancer researchers. Meanwhile, each discovery or identification of a new "player," or previously unknown stage in the process, offers new opportunities for blocking the disease.

3 Mar 2005

Older women benefit from chemo to treat breast cancer

Age alone should not prohibit the use of chemotherapy regimens in older women with breast cancer who are otherwise in good general health, according to a study in the March 2 issue of JAMA.

1 Mar 2005

Biologic therapies are changing the way dermatologists treat psoriasis

Recently approved and investigational biologic therapies are changing the way dermatologists treat psoriasis, a chronic disease that physically and emotionally challenges 4.5 million Americans. As more research is conducted into the effectiveness of these biologics, they are showing great promise for improving the health and well-being of patients with psoriasis.

20 Feb 2005

Genetic signature that can identify breast cancer patients at high risk of distant recurrence

Researchers have discovered a genetic signature that can identify breast cancer patients at high risk of distant recurrence, reporting their results in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

20 Feb 2005

Screening for toxoplasmosis for all pregnant women and newborns is necessary

Physicians found that signs, symptoms and identifiable risk factors are absent in more than half of the mothers of infants with congenital toxoplasmosis in a national study of children with this disease.

9 Feb 2005

Prions, previously thought to accumulate mainly in the brain can also infect other organs

Prions, infectious proteins associated with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or Mad Cow Disease, were previously thought to accumulate mainly in the brain, but Yale and University of Zurich researchers report in Science that other organs can also become infected.

7 Feb 2005

Activate dendritic cells turn on biological clock

A molecule specially modified by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine can reset the biological clock for cancer vaccines, potentially making them more potent.

24 Jan 2005