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Gold nanoparticles improve gene regulation

Investigators at Northwestern University have found that packing small interfering RNA (siRNA) molecules onto the surface of a gold nanoparticle can protect siRNAs from degradation and increase their ability to regulate genes involved in cancer. As a result of this discovery, cancer researchers have at their disposal a relatively straightforward method of delivering these potent gene-regulating agents into targeted cells.

23 Feb 2009

Targeted nanospheres find, penetrate, then fuel burning of melanoma

Hollow gold nanospheres equipped with a targeting peptide find melanoma cells, penetrate them deeply, and then cook the tumor when bathed with near-infrared light. When heated with lasers, the actively targeted hollow gold nanospheres did eight times more damage to melanoma tumors in mice than did the same nanospheres that gathered less directly in the tumors.

23 Feb 2009

Radiolabeled nanoparticles boost PET-CT combination imaging

In an attempt to decrease the amount of cancer-targeting nanoparticle needed to image tumors, a team of investigators at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School has developed a simple method for creating iron oxide nanoparticles labeled with 18F, a radioisotope that is easily detected using positron emission tomography (PET). The result is a nanoparticle that can be imaged using PET, computerized tomography (CT), and fluorescence imaging.

23 Feb 2009

Nanoparticles detect dying cancer cells

Two years ago, researchers at the University of South Australia discovered a new molecular marker specific for chemotherapy-induced cancer cell death. Now, those same investigators have used this marker to develop an imaging agent that can pinpoint tumor cell death using magnetic resonance imaging.

23 Feb 2009

Microfluidic device mimics tumor microenvironment, helps drug discovery

One of the challenges that cancer researchers face in designing new antitumor agents is that of predicting how drug molecules will behave in the complex microenvironment that surrounds a tumor. In particular, tumors create all sorts of chemical and physical barriers that limit how much drug is able to enter a tumor, let alone reach cells deep within a tumor.

23 Feb 2009

Suppressing cancer with a master control gene

Starting with the tiny fruit fly and then moving into mice and humans, researchers at VIB and K. U. Leuven show that expression of the same gene suppresses cancer in all three organisms. Reciprocally, switching off the gene - called Ato in flies and ATOH1 in mammals - leads to cancer.

23 Feb 2009

Tiny cell cultivation chamber of silicon plastic opens new potential in tumor research

Researchers at Uppsala University have developed a new tool that makes it possible to study the signals in the body that control the generation of blood vessels.

22 Feb 2009

Tiny flakes of silicon spotlight tumors, deliver drugs

Small is promising when it comes to illuminating tiny tumors or precisely delivering drugs, but many worry about the safety of nano-scale materials.

22 Feb 2009

Mice with "superhealing" powers provide clues to treating arthritis caused by traumatic injury

A strain of laboratory mice that has "superhealing" powers has been found to resist inflammation after a knee injury, and also to avoid developing arthritis at the injury site in the long term, according to researchers at Duke University Medical Center.

22 Feb 2009

Radioactive bone cement may be a new treatment option for breast cancer

For orthopaedic researcher Joyce Keyak, Ph.D., finding ways to battle breast cancer is a personal as well as a professional mission.

22 Feb 2009

B-cell clones as early markers for chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Testing of blood specimens may detect abnormal white blood cells in patients years before the chronic form of lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) develops, according to research published in the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

22 Feb 2009

Blood pressure drug losartan may benefit brain tumor patients

A widely used blood pressure medication may be the key to preventing brain function loss common after radiation treatment, according to a newly published study by researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

20 Feb 2009

Tumor suppressor may weaken fibrotic disease

New research reveals a critical cellular signaling pathway that is responsible for generating excess connective tissue in multiple organs, similar to what is seen in human patients with scleroderma.

18 Feb 2009

Genetic ID of marker in lymph nodes may be linked to colorectal cancer recurrence risk

A preliminary report suggests that genetic testing may help identify a marker in lymph nodes that is associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer recurrence among patients in whom conventional testing indicates that those lymph nodes show no evidence of cancer spread, according to a study in the February 18 issue of JAMA.

18 Feb 2009

Targeting the protein AEG1 impairs human liver cancer growth in mice

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly aggressive form of liver cancer and one of the 5 most common cancers worldwide.

17 Feb 2009

New device decreases wait times for patients needing immunotherapy

Researchers from the Children's Cancer Hospital at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have created a device that significantly decreases the time needed to produce genetically manipulated T cells in preclinical tests for leukemia.

16 Feb 2009

Discovery of new prostate cancer marker

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have identified a new biological marker present in the urine of patients with prostate cancer that indicates whether the cancer is progressing and spreading.

15 Feb 2009

Platinum-based anti-tumor compounds

Researchers in the Department of Chemistry at Wake Forest University in collaboration with colleagues at the Wake Forest University Health Sciences Comprehensive Cancer Center have developed a new class of platinum-based anti-tumor drugs that animal studies have shown to be 10 times more effective than current treatments in destroying certain types of lung cancer cells.

15 Feb 2009

Compound can distinguish between benign tissue and localized and metastatic prostate cancer

Researchers have determined that a molecule produced by the bodys metabolism could be used to differentiate between benign prostate tissue vs. localized and metastatic prostate cancer.

11 Feb 2009