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New insights into 100-year-old mystery open novel possibilities for breast cancer treatment

New insights into how cancer cells fuel their growth are opening novel possibilities for cancer treatment. A team of researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center has identified a long sought after connection between how cancer cells use the sugar glucose to generate energy - the Warburg pathway - and cancer growth.

3 Apr 2018

Ionizing radiation can reduce stiffness of tumor cell microenvironment

Nearly half of all cancer patients receive radiation therapy to curb the growth of malignant cells. But little is known about how ionizing radiation affects the extracellular matrix (ECM), a patchwork of proteins and other biomolecules that surrounds cells and plays a vital role in their shape, movement and signaling functions.

3 Apr 2018

MIT researchers develop new portable device to monitor white blood cell levels

One of the major side effects of chemotherapy is a sharp drop in white blood cells, which leaves patients vulnerable to dangerous infections. MIT researchers have now developed a portable device that could be used to monitor patients' white blood cell levels at home, without taking blood samples.

3 Apr 2018

BWH bioengineers develop flare-responsive hydrogel to treat arthritis

Arthritis flares - the unpredictable and often sudden worsening of arthritis symptoms -- can be debilitating. These episodes can make the management of inflammatory arthritis, which includes rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis, challenging for patients and physicians.

3 Apr 2018

Resistance exercise may improve indicators of type 2 diabetes, study suggests

A new study suggests that resistance exercise may improve indicators of type 2 diabetes by increasing expression of a protein that regulates blood sugar (glucose) absorption in the body.

3 Apr 2018

Researchers discover how muscles regulate oxygen consumption

A new study by researchers from Karolinska Institutet shows that an enzyme called FIH determines how muscles consume oxygen. Without the enzyme, the need for oxygen increases during physical exercise. The finding is of potential significance to elite athletes, who have been found to have higher levels of FIH in their muscles than others.

3 Apr 2018

Binge eating in Parkinson's disease patients associated with working memory deficit

Binge eating, as if the impulse of the moment could not be contrasted by a deeper thought, which would lead to maintaining a healthier eating behavior.

3 Apr 2018

Lipodystrophy: The Importance of Awareness

An interview with Rebecca Sanders, Lipodystrophy UK co-founder, discussing the importance of awareness campaigns for patients and society at large.

3 Apr 2018

Genetic testing could help guide blood-thinner treatment after stent placement

Using genetic testing to inform which blood thinner to use following a procedure to open narrowed blood vessels resulted in significantly fewer complications among patients, according to new research in Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine, an American Heart Association journal.

3 Apr 2018

Stable proteins in the brain offer clues to long-term memory and learning in mice

In the tiny brain space where two nerve cells meet, chemical and electric signals shuttle back and forth, a messaging system that ebbs and flows in those synaptic spaces, sometimes in ways that scientists believe aid and abet learning and memory.

3 Apr 2018

'Molecular scissors' could play pivotal role in fighting diseases including HIV infection

One way to fight diseases including HIV infection and autoimmune disorders could involve changing how a naturally occurring enzyme called SAMHD1 works to influence the immune system, new research suggests.

3 Apr 2018

Gut bacteria may hold clues to predict effectiveness of cancer immunotherapies

The composition of bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract may hold clues to help predict which cancer patients are most apt to benefit from the personalized cellular therapies that have shown unprecedented promise in the fight against hard-to-treat cancers, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

3 Apr 2018

Study uncovers mechanism causing chronic GVHD after bone marrow transplant

Allogeneic bone marrow transplant (BMT) is an essential treatment to cure patients with blood cancers such as leukemia. In patients who have undergone chemotherapy and radiation, a small number of cancer cells can remain in the bloodstream and allow the malignancy to recur.

3 Apr 2018

Researchers fabricate injectable bandage to promote wound healing

A penetrating injury from shrapnel is a serious obstacle in overcoming battlefield wounds that can ultimately lead to death.Given the high mortality rates due to hemorrhaging, there is an unmet need to quickly self-administer materials that prevent fatality due to excessive blood loss.

3 Apr 2018

Researchers identify 200 mutations in non-coding DNA that play role in cancer

Most of the human genome - 98 percent - is made up of DNA but doesn't actually encode genes, the recipes cells use to build proteins.

2 Apr 2018

Iowa State University researcher is searching for new way to fight superbugs

Vincenzo Venditti, an assistant professor of chemistry at Iowa State University, is searching for a new kind of antibiotic in the fight against superbugs.

2 Apr 2018

Combined treatment prolongs survival in mouse models of malignant mesothelioma

Combined treatment with two cancer immunotherapy drugs - one a novel immune modulator and one that focuses and activates the antitumor immune response - significantly prolonged survival in mouse models of the aggressive cancer malignant mesothelioma.

2 Apr 2018

Scientists identify new function for colon cancer gene

Colon cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths. The APC protein has long been known for its critical role in preventing colorectal cancer. When APC is inactivated, the development of colorectal cancer is triggered.

2 Apr 2018

Researcher finds that shape of misfolded proteins may contribute to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease

Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's disease may have more in common than their effects on the functions of the brain and spinal cord. And finding that common thread could lead to a treatment that could work for all three.

2 Apr 2018

Researchers create new compound that appears to activate cancer-fighting T cells

Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells are powerful weapons our body's immune systems count on to fight infection and combat diseases like cancer, multiple sclerosis, and lupus. Finding ways to spark these potent cells into action could lead to more effective cancer treatments and vaccines.

2 Apr 2018