Cancer Research

Electromagnetic fields do not pose a health hazard to workers in the electrical energy supply industry, suggests a large study of 28,000 people, published ahead of print in Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Exposure to low frequency electromagnetic fields of 50 to 60 Hz has been implicated in an increased risk of leukaemia, brain and breast cancers. The researchers used the health and employment records of more than 22,000 utility workers at 99 different electrical energy supply companies in Denmark.  All the employees had been employed at the companies for a minimum of three…

Tungsten began increasing in trees in Fallon, Nev. several years before the town's rise in childhood leukemia cases, according to a new research report. The amount of tungsten in tree rings from Fallon quadrupled between 1990 and 2002, whereas the amount in tree rings from nearby towns remained the same, according to a research team led by Paul R. Sheppard of The University of Arizona's Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research. This is the first study that has examined changes in levels of heavy metals in Fallon over time. "Trees take up metals from the environment and those metals show up in the…

The heart is one of the most energy demanding organs of the human body. Its failure to function properly accounts for 600,000 deaths each year. Similarly, the rainbow trout, native to the Pacific Northwest and beloved as a sport- and food fish, requires dynamic and sustained cardiac function to maintain its health and swimming activity. Previous studies of trout cardiac performance and energy metabolism have been conducted under hypoxic (oxygen shortage) conditions, but gender was not specifically examined. Nor were comparisons made between male and female fish (the largest group of…

A recent describes a new agent, called "Zorro-LNA," which has the potential to stop genetic disorders in their tracks. In the study, researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, describe how they developed Zorro-LNA to bind with both strands of a gene’s DNA simultaneously, effectively disabling that gene. This development has clinical implications for virtually every human condition caused by or worsened by dominant defective genes. Examples include: Huntington’s disease, familial high cholesterol, polycystic kidney disease, some instances of glaucoma and colorectal cancer…

Fish oil, it's been touted as an answer to Alzheimers, arthritis and even weight-loss but now a Queensland University of Technology researcher will test its health benefits in people with chronic kidney disease. Dietitian Rachel Zabel, from QUT's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation in Brisbane, Australia, will investigate the effects of fish oil on patients with kidney disease undergoing dialysis. Ms Zabel said daily doses of fish oil in the form of a tablet or liquid had been shown to decrease inflammation - a common problem in people with kidney disease. "Research shows that…

Triptolide is derived from a Chinese medicinal herb, named Lei Gong Teng, which has been used in traditional medicine to treat cancer, inflammation, and auto-immune diseases and, more recently, also has been tested in Phase I clinical trials as an anti-tumor agent. Using a compound from Triptolide, Yale University researcher Dr. Craig Crews has been able to prevent the formation of kidney-destroying cysts in a mouse model of polycystic kidney disease. This ability holds out hope for what would be the first treatment, other than kidney transplant or frequent dialysis, for one of the most…

Northwestern University scientist Mary J.C. Hendrix and colleagues discovered that aggressive melanoma cells (but not normal skin cells nor less aggressive melanoma cells) contain specific proteins similar to those found in embryonic stem cells. This groundbreaking work led to the first molecular classification of malignant melanoma and may help to explain how, by becoming more like unspecialized stem cells, the aggressive melanoma cell gained enhanced abilities to migrate, invade and metastasize while virtually undetected by the immune system. First, a quick primer on the shared…

For the first time, scientists have used a laboratory mouse model to mimic the development of human alcohol-induced breast cancer. Alcohol (EtOH) consumption -- even moderate -- is a well-established risk factor for breast cancer in women. A recent study showed that 60 percent of female breast cancers worldwide were attributable to alcohol consumption. Nevertheless, the mechanisms of alcohol-induced breast cancer are poorly understood. The definitive biological effects and molecular mechanisms of EtOH on progression and malignancy of breast cancer have not been investigated using a…

Vitamin C is possibly the most important small molecule whose biosynthetic pathway remained a mystery. That is until now. A group of Dartmouth and UCLA researchers, who normally work on genes involved in aging and cancer in animals, discovered the last piece of the puzzle, they report in a study published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Dr. Steven Clarke of the UCLA Molecular Biology Institute and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry explains, “We were working on an interesting gene in worms.” One insight led to another until, “We uncovered the last unknown enzyme in the…

A role for a microRNA in the immune system has been shown by study of one of the world’s first microRNA knockout mouse. The microRNA acts as a lynchpin to balance the response of immune defences and the researchers suggest the corresponding human gene will have a similar vital role. MicroRNAs (also known as siRNAs - short, interfering RNAs) are short (22-25 base) sequences that do not code for protein, but can lead to destruction of other RNA molecules or can interfere with their translation. They bind to corresponding bases in the target RNA. The mature microRNAs are derived from larger…