Cancer Research
The likelihood of developing bipolar disorder depends in part on the combined, small effects of variations in many different genes in the brain, none of which is powerful enough to cause the disease by itself, a new study shows.
However, targeting the enzyme produced by one of these genes could lead to development of new, more effective medications. The research was conducted by scientists at the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), with others from the Universities of Heidelberg and Bonn and a number of U.S. facilities collaborating in a major project…
The drug trastuzumab (Herceptin) is used to treat HER2-positive breast cancer (a type of breast cancer that overexpresses the HER2 gene and accounts for about 25% of all breast cancers). Trastuzumab therapy improves the chances of survival; however, it has deleterious side effects and is expensive. Thus, it is important to accurately determine the patient’s HER2 status.
The challenge is to develop a testing strategy that is both accurate and economical. A false-negative test result can mean a woman will not receive a life-prolonging drug, and a false-positive result can lead to unnecessary,…
Diabetes researchers, investigating how the body supplies itself with insulin, discovered to their surprise that adult stem cells, which they expected to play a crucial role in the process, were nowhere to be found. Many researchers had proposed that adult stem cells develop into insulin-producing cells, called beta cells, in the pancreas.
Instead, the beta cells themselves divide, although slowly, to replenish their own population.
In animal tissue, insulin-producing beta cells glow red and green with dyes that indicate mulitple rounds of cell division. Credit: Children's Hospital of…
One simple blood test could predict relapse or survival for children and young adults with acute leukemias, researchers from the Children's Cancer Hospital at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reported at the American Society of Pediatric Hematology Oncology's annual meeting Saturday, May 5.
A review of young leukemia patients over the past decade has shown that the absolute lymphocyte count (ALC), a measure of normal immune cells found on every complete blood count report, is a powerful predictor of survival for young patients with leukemia.
According to the American…
Hamilton College researchers have identified molecules that have been shown to be effective in the fight against breast cancer.
The Hamilton researchers used state-of-the-art computational techniques in a novel way to design molecules that they predicted would be effective lead compounds for breast cancer research. Scientists from the Albany Medical College subsequently synthesized the predicted molecules and showed that they were indeed potential anti-breast cancer compounds in animal systems.
A paper detailing the research, "Computational Design and Experimental Discovery of an Anti-…
Imagine taking a vitamin for longevity! Not yet, but a Dartmouth discovery that a cousin of niacin prolongs lifespan in yeast brings the tantalizing possibility a step closer.
The research, reported in the May 4 issue of Cell, shows how a new vitamin extends lifespan in yeast cells, much like calorie restriction does in animals. It could pave the way for developing supplements to benefit humans.
Radical calorie reduction can extend life. Dieting or fasting mice live longer and lowering the glucose that yeast grow on extends their lifespan, according to Dr. Charles Brenner, associate…
A Cornell researcher and his wife have conducted the first comprehensive review of later-life diseases that develop in people who were exposed to environmental toxins or drugs either in the womb or as infants. They have found that most of the diseases have two things in common: They involve an imbalanced immune system and exaggerated inflammatory reactions (at the cellular level).
In an invited, peer-reviewed article on developmental immunotoxicity (DIT), published in a recent issue of Current Medicinal Chemistry, Rodney Dietert, professor of immunotoxicology at Cornell's College of…
Medicinal plants are an integral part of African culture, one of the oldest and most diverse in the world. In South Africa, 21st century drug therapy is used side-by-side with traditional African medicines to heal the sick. While plants have been used in African medicine to treat fever, asthma, constipation, esophageal cancer and hypertension, scientific analyses of the purported benefits of many plants is still scant. A team of researchers has now examined the effectiveness of 16 plants growing in the country’s Kwa-Zulu Natal region and concluded that eight plant extracts may hold value for…
Increasing the testosterone levels of female cancer survivors using testosterone cream did not improve their libido more than a placebo, according to a randomized controlled clinical trial in the May 2 Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Female cancer patients often experience decreased sexual desire, and previous studies have shown an association between testosterone therapy, also called androgen therapy, and increased libido in women with adequate estrogen levels.
Debra Barton, Ph.D., of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and colleagues conducted a randomized phase III clinical trial…
Researchers have found a chemotherapy treatment that targets specific cells, reducing discomfort.
A new class of compounds developed by two University of Kentucky researchers shows promise as a nontoxic treatment of some cancers previously treated with toxic chemotherapy, the researchers report today.
In a study published in the April 30 issue of the academic journal Chemistry & Biology, UK pharmaceutical sciences graduate student Abby Ho mentored by assistant professor Kyung-Bo Kim and ophthalmology and visual sciences assistant professor Royce Mohan describe a compound that acts…