Oncogene News and Research

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An oncogene is a gene that, when mutated or expressed at high levels, helps turn a normal cell into a tumor cell.

GeoVax Labs to update its HIV/AIDS vaccine status at World Vaccine Conference

Harriet Robinson, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer at GeoVax Labs, Inc., will provide an update on the status of the Company's therapeutic and preventative HIV vaccines at the 2011 World Vaccine Conference at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center in Washington DC on Thursday, April 14.

8 Apr 2011

Nicotine has no effect on lung cancer tumor incidence, frequency or size

Nicotine at doses similar to those found in most nicotine replacements therapies did not increase lung cancer tumor incidence, frequency or size, according to results of a mouse study presented at the AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011, held here April 2-6.

5 Apr 2011

Scientists uncover genetic characteristic of metastatic prostate cancer

Scientists have uncovered a genetic characteristic of metastatic prostate cancer that defines a rare sub-type of this disease. These findings are published in Cancer Discovery, the newest journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, which will debut at the AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011, held April 2-6.

4 Apr 2011

Study provides insight into kidney cancer

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered genetic pathways to starve selectively kidney cancer cells.

31 Mar 2011

APC-300 drug significantly inhibits pancreatic cancer cell growth: Adamis

Adamis Pharmaceuticals Corporation announced today that in addition to its activity in prostate cancer, its drug APC-300 significantly inhibits the growth of pancreatic cancer cells.

25 Mar 2011

Researchers discover 'broad spectrum' cancer suppressor gene

Portuguese researchers have discovered a "broad spectrum" cancer suppressor gene - called LRP1B - which acts by removing proteins crucial for cancer development from the tumour environment. The fact that LRP1B does not act on the tumour itself (in this study thyroid tumours) but, instead, on molecules which are known to be important to many different cancers is what makes it so interesting.

21 Mar 2011

Researcher argues against use of Cop1-inhibitory drugs for cancer treatment

Jean-Christophe Marine strongly argues against the use of Cop1-inhibitory drugs. The protein Cop1 has -for a long time - been seen as an attractive drug target for cancer. But Jean-Christophe Marine found out that Cop1 acts as a tumor suppressor, and thus inhibits tumor formation. His new data will have direct implications for the development of cancer drug targets.

16 Mar 2011

Malaria drug shrinks, slows resistant pancreatic tumors

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists report they have shrunk or slowed the growth of notoriously resistant pancreatic tumors in mice, using a drug routinely prescribed for malaria and rheumatoid arthritis.

16 Mar 2011

Scientists identify strategy for targeted molecular therapy in liver cancer

In a research study appearing in the journal Cancer Cell on March 14, scientists from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and four other institutions have identified a strategy for targeted molecular therapy in liver cancer, which currently has limited treatment options and one of the worst one-year survival rates of any cancer type.

15 Mar 2011

Gene that causes rare breast cancer identified

Researchers have found that a rare but hard-to-treat form of breast cancer is driven by a newly discovered gene. The gene ZNF703 is the first oncogene to be discovered in five years, and it could lead to more effective treatments down the road, Cancer Research UK said.

20 Feb 2011

Researchers discover new 'driver gene' in oestrogen receptor positive breast cancer

CANCER RESEARCH UK scientists have pinpointed a key cancer-causing gene that, when overactive, triggers a particularly aggressive type of breast cancer to develop.

18 Feb 2011

Presence of jumping genes, amplified oncogenes may be key to tumor progression: Researchers

The Massachusetts General Hospital research team that first discovered tumor-associated RNA in tiny membrane-enclosed sacs released into the bloodstream by cancer cells has now found that these microvesicles also contain segments of tumor DNA, including retrotransposons - also called "jumping genes" - that copy and insert themselves into other areas of the genome.

10 Feb 2011

Research unmasks long sought stem cell origin of carcinoma

A constellation of different stem cell populations within our skin help it to cope with normal wear and tear. By constantly proliferating, the stem cells allow skin to replenish itself, allowing each cell to be replaced by a new one about once a month. But the normal cycle of division and death within one or more of these stem cell types can sometimes be derailed by genetic mishaps. Such events are believed to spawn carcinomas and other deadly skin cancers, which are the mostly frequently diagnosed cancers in the United States.

4 Feb 2011

PET imaging may play a role in early evaluation of vandetanib response in thyroid cancer

Positron emission tomography can image metabolic changes following treatment with the protein kinase inhibitor vandetanib, helping to define the therapy response or the effectiveness of the therapeutic agent, according to research published in the February issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

1 Feb 2011

Blocking rogue gene may stop cancer spread: Study

In a new breakthrough British scientists have discovered a “rogue gene” which helps cancer spread around the body and add that this could mean specific therapy, if developed against the gene, could stop cancer spread.

24 Jan 2011

Rogue gene blocked by right drugs could stop cancer

Scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have discovered a rogue gene which - if blocked by the right drugs - could stop cancer in its tracks.

24 Jan 2011

Researchers discover how Ras oncogene chooses a signaling pathway

The National Cancer Institute estimates that more than 43,000 Americans were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year and more than 36,000 died from the disease. Despite advances in genetic science showing that the Ras oncogene is mutated in virtually all pancreatic cancers, scientists have been frustrated by the complexity of the signaling pathways in humans, which make it difficult to pinpoint potential therapeutic targets.

20 Jan 2011

UQAM student identifies gene linked to B-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia

Cyndia Charfi, a Ph. D student in biology at Universit- du Qu-bec - Montr-al (UQAM), supported by her thesis supervisors, Professor -ric Rassart, and Adjunct Professor Elsy Edouard, UQAM, Department of Biological Sciences and BIOMED Research Centre, made a major breakthrough in research on B-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia, a disease that occurs most commonly in children.

19 Jan 2011

NIH awards VistaGen and NuPotential $500,000 grant to advance iPS stem cell technology

VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc. and NuPotential, Inc. today announced that the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded to the companies a grant of approximately $500,000 to accelerate development of novel and safer approaches to generate patient-specific induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells for regenerative medicine, drug discovery and drug rescue.

13 Jan 2011

Researchers discover protein that suppresses melanoma progression

In a breakthrough that could lead to new treatments for patients with malignant melanoma, researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have discovered that a particular protein suppresses the progression of melanoma through regulation of an oncogene, or gene responsible for cancer growth. The study is published in the December 23 issue of Nature.

23 Dec 2010