Retinoblastoma News and Research

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A retinoblastoma is a malignant tumor of the retina, occurring most often in young children below 5 years. In one of three cases it is bilateral i.e., affecting both eyes. About 250-350 new cases occur every year in the USA, in children younger than 15 years.

Cyclin D protein activates key tumor suppressor

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say a protein essential to regulating cell cycle progression - the process of cell division and replication - activates a key tumor suppressor, rather than inactivating it as previously thought.

3 Jul 2014

Johns Hopkins to host 5th annual Graphic Medicine Conference

The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine’s Department of Art as Applied to Medicine is hosting the fifth annual Graphic Medicine Conference, to take place June 26 to June 28 in the Preclinical Teaching Building on the Johns Hopkins medical campus.

17 Jun 2014

CHLA researchers develop novel NextGen sequencing approach for retinoblastoma

Researchers at Children's Hospital Los Angeles have developed a unique next-generation sequencing test for the gene linked to retinoblastoma. The new approach is both more comprehensive and can be conducted in less time than existing tests - enabling early detection of the cancer's genetic cause, which is critical for optimal treatment outcomes.

3 Jun 2014

Scientists uncover key mechanism that regulates nerve cell growth in damaged nervous system

New research published today out of the University of Calgary's Hotchkiss Brain Institute uncovers a mechanism to promote growth in damaged nerve cells as a means to restore connections after injury. Dr. Doug Zochodne and his team have discovered a key molecule that directly regulates nerve cell growth in the damaged nervous system.

22 Apr 2014

Study suggests that screening children for retinoblastoma may not improve outcomes for majority of patients

For the most common form of childhood eye cancer, unilateral retinoblastoma, shortening the time from the first appearance of symptoms to diagnosis of disease has no bearing on survival or stage of the disease, according to a study by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in partnership with the Hospital Infantil de Mexico.

19 Mar 2014

Dysfunction of retinoblastoma enables inhibitory protein to promote pancreatic cancer growth

Indiana University cancer researchers have discovered that a protein that normally suppresses tumors actually promotes the growth and spread of pancreatic cancer.

16 Dec 2013

Two tumor-suppressing genes could play vital role in controlling obesity, cancer, diabetes

The function of two tumor-suppressing genes could play a vital role in helping to control obesity and other diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer, according to researchers in Temple University's Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine.

12 Dec 2013

Director of Scheie Eye Institute honored with WIO's Suzanne Veronneau Troutman Award

Joan M. O'Brien, MD, the George E. de Schweinitz and William F. Norris Professor of Ophthalmology, chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and director of the Scheie Eye Institute at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, was recently presented with the Women in Ophthalmology's Suzanne Veronneau Troutman Award.

26 Nov 2013

Parent's use of digital photography shown as effective tool in diagnosis of retinoblastoma

Can parents use digital cameras and smart phones to potentially screen their children for the most common form of pediatric eye cancer? Baylor University and Harvard Medical School researchers believe so.

7 Nov 2013

Current drugs may harbor small-cell lung cancer promise

Scientists have identified several existing non-oncology drug classes that may have potential as a treatment for small-cell lung cancer, especially for patients with chemoresistant and metastatic disease.

28 Oct 2013

McGill online game expands to connect global scientific community with citizen scientists

Over the past three years, 300,000 gamers have helped scientists with genomic research by playing Phylo, an online puzzle game. Now J-r-me Waldisp-hl, the McGill computer science professor and his colleagues, who developed the game are making this crowd of players available to scientists around the globe.

25 Oct 2013

New small-molecule inhibitor shows promising results in drug-resistant melanoma, breast cancer

LEE011, a small-molecule inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK) 4/6 being developed by Novartis Oncology, showed promising results in drug-resistant melanoma and drug-resistant breast cancer when tested in combination with other targeted therapies, and based on these preclinical results, several phase I clinical trials were launched recently, according to results presented here at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, held October 19-23.

21 Oct 2013

Risk for childhood cancer moderately increased among adolescents with major birth defects

A multistate study led by researchers at the University of Utah has revealed that the risk for childhood cancer is moderately increased among children and young adolescents with certain types of major birth defects.

12 Aug 2013

Tumor suppressor p53 inactivation and restoration: an interview with Dr. Xin Lu, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research

Before we talk about p53, it is important to understand why cancer cells are a problem for the body. Cancer cells multiply recklessly, refuse to die and blithely metastasize to set up shop in places where they don’t belong.

12 Jun 2013

Study: Rb plays critical role in maintaining starvation-induced transcriptome

A particular tumor suppressor gene that fights cancer cells does more than clamp down on unabated cell division -- the hallmark of the disease -- it also can help make cells more fit by allowing them to fend off stress, says a University of Colorado Boulder study.

13 May 2013

Retinoblastoma more invasive at diagnosis in racial, ethnic minority children

When the eye cancer retinoblastoma is diagnosed in racial and ethnic minority children whose families don't have private health insurance, it often takes a more invasive, potentially life-threatening course than in other children, probably because of delays in diagnosis, Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center researchers will report at the 26th annual meeting of the American Society of Pediatric Hematology Oncology being held in Miami, April 24-27.

25 Apr 2013

Exposure to traffic-related air pollution associated with increases in rare childhood cancers

Scientists from UCLA's Fielding School of Public Health led by Julia Heck, an assistant researcher in the school's epidemiology department and a member of UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, have found a possible link between exposure to traffic-related air pollution and several childhood cancers.

10 Apr 2013

American Cancer Society announces new research, training grants for fiscal year 2013

The American Cancer Society, the largest non-government, not-for-profit funding source of cancer research in the United States, has awarded 175 national research and training grants totaling $79,073,250 for fiscal year 2013.

9 Apr 2013

MD Anderson researchers named Fellows to new AACR academy

Five researchers and leaders from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have been named Fellows to a new academy launched by the world's oldest and largest organization dedicated to cancer research, the American Association for Cancer Research.

29 Mar 2013

Researchers discover new type of eye cancer that affects young babies

A team of Canadian and international cancer researchers led by Dr. Brenda Gallie at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, has discovered a new type of retinoblastoma, a rapidly developing eye cancer that affects very young babies- a finding that can immediately change clinical practice and optimize care for these children.

13 Mar 2013