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.

New study shows tiny RNAs intimately associated with cancer

In discoveries that may open a new chapter in understanding and diagnosing cancer, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigators and their colleagues have established that tiny microRNAs provide a novel genetic route to the initiation of some forms of cancer.

9 Jun 2005

Disease progression model of pancreatic cancer developed

Building on previous work, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have developed an animal model of pancreatic cancer that closely mimics disease progression in humans. From this, they hope to develop new treatments for this deadly disease.

20 May 2005

Scientists inhibit tumor formation

By studying mice with skin cancer, researchers at the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah discovered a way to inhibit a mutant gene found in up to 30 percent of human tumors.

9 May 2005

Smad7 protein levels may predict prostate cancer therapy response

Levels of the Smad7 protein may predict therapeutic response in patients with prostate cancer according to research published by investigators at the Uppsala Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR).

23 Apr 2005

Chronic inflammation caused by too little stomach acid leads to gastric cancer

When it comes to gastric cancer, too little stomach acid can be just as dangerous as too much, according to scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School. Both extremes create inflammatory changes in the stomach lining and a condition called chronic atrophic gastritis, which over time often leads to cancer.

4 Apr 2005

Exposure to organochlorine compounds increases the risk of suffering colorectal cancer

A team of researchers at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, The Catalan Institute of Oncology and the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) have published a study indicating that exposure to organochlorine compounds, which we ingest in our diets, increases the risk of suffering colorectal cancer.

3 Apr 2005

Gene named ATBF1 may contribute to the development of prostate cancer

A gene named ATBF1 may contribute to the development of prostate cancer through acquired mutations and/or loss of expression, according to research at Emory University School of Medicine and its Winship Cancer Institute.

23 Mar 2005

Scientists find microRNA regulates Ras cancer gene

Research in the laboratory of Assistant Professor Frank J. Slack at Yale University has identified a new way that a familiar gene is regulated in lung cancer, presenting new possibilities for diagnosis and treatment. The work is reported in March issues of the journals Cell and Developmental Cell.

21 Mar 2005

Important advance in our understanding of colorectal cancer

An international team of medical scientists has made an important advance in our understanding of the second most fatal form of cancer in the industrialized world. Professor Jeremy R. Jass, who holds a Canada Research Chair in Gastrointestinal Pathology at McGill University in Montreal

3 Mar 2005

Protein called CK2 plays a deadly role in colorectal carcinoma

A protein called CK2 plays a deadly role in colorectal carcinoma by blocking the ability of these tumors to activate a natural self-destruct mechanism that would clear this cancer from the body. This finding, by researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, is currently published in the online edition of Oncogene.

24 Feb 2005

Evaluation of BAY 43-9006 (Sorafenib) for pancreatic cancer

Oncologists from USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center are running tests on a new pancreatic cancer drug that targets the cancer from two directions.

13 Jan 2005

Potential new therapies for cancer and bleeding disorders

Lexicon Genetics announced today that it has advanced two of its drug discovery programs into preclinical development in preparation for investigational new drug (IND) applications.

10 Jan 2005

Scientists identify genes that promote the growth and recurrence of skin cancer

Andrzej Dlugosz, M.D., a professor of dermatology in the U-M Medical School, and colleagues at the University of Michigan and the National Cancer Institute examined the functions of the Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway in basal cell carcinoma – the most common form of cancer – and uncovered a subset of tumor cells that were resistant to inhibition of the Hedgehog pathway.

10 Jan 2005

Why the Mediterranean diet appers to protect against breast cancer

U.S. researchers have uncovered reasons why the Mediterranean diet, with its high intake of oleic acid-rich olive oil, seems to protect against breast cancer. They have also found evidence that oleic acid may have a future role in treatment. The findings are reported (Monday 10 January) in Annals of Oncology.

9 Jan 2005

Novel Structure Proteins (NSP) could help predict the possibility of tumor growth in a patient

A new family of genes called Novel Structure Proteins (NSP) discovered by researchers in the Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine in Temple University’s College of Science and Technology could have the potential for predicting the possibility of tumor growth in a patient.

9 Jan 2005

Scientists have identified genes that promote the growth and recurrence of skin cancer

Dr. Andrzej Dlugosz and colleagues at the University of Michigan and the National Cancer Institute have examined the functions of the Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway in basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of cancer, and have uncovered a subset of tumor cells that are resistant to inhibition of the Hh pathway.

28 Dec 2004

Significant advance in understanding the human genome

An Oregon Health & Science University-led development of a technique for identifying control elements that drive the expression of genes in brain cells could unleash the disease-fighting potential of the much-hailed human genome.

28 Dec 2004

Celebrex like gene suppresses the growth of colon cancer

Cancer researchers at the Case Western Reserve University (Case) School of Medicine, University Hospitals of Cleveland (UHC) and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have found a "Celebrex-like" gene that suppresses the growth of colon cancer.

13 Dec 2004

Class of cells that arises in mammary glands during maternity has stem cell-like properties

These parity-induced mammary epithelial cells (PI-MEC) have the ability to self-renew over many generations and to differentiate into numerous cellular subtypes.

7 Dec 2004

Bcl-6 oncogene - genetic target for lymphoma treatment

Results from a pre-clinical study show that the gene designated Bcl-6 is an oncogene -- that is, one with the potential to cause a normal cell to become cancerous -- but that certain peptide inhibitors can in effect inactivate it, according to a study to be presented today during the 46th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).

5 Dec 2004