Cancer Research
Using Chinese herbs either alone or in conjunction with chemotherapy may help protect a breast cancer patient's bone marrow and immune system, as well as improving the woman's overall quality of life.
Sixty per cent of women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer experience a range of significant short term side effects. These include nausea, vomiting and fatigue, as well as inflammation of the gut lining, decreased numbers of red and white blood cells and decreased numbers of blood platelets.
Chinese medicinal herbs include mixtures of herbal compounds or extracts from herbs, and they…
Chemicals in cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, watercress, cabbage and cauliflower, appear to not only stop human prostate cancer cells from growing in mice but also may cut off the formation of blood vessels that "feed" tumors, says a University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute study.
"The contribution of diet and nutrition to cancer risk, prevention and treatment has been a major focus of research in recent years because certain nutrients in vegetables and dietary agents appear to protect the body against diseases such as cancer," said Shivendra Singh, Ph.D., lead investigator and…
A vaccine for treating a recurrent cancer of the central nervous system that occurs primarily in the brain has shown promise in preliminary data from a clinical trial at the University of California, San Francisco.
Known as a glioma, this cancerous tumor is always fatal. Findings from a group of 12 study patients showed that vitespen vaccination (trademarked as Oncophage) was effective in stimulating the patient’s immune system to attack the tumor cells, a function that is known medically as tumor-specific immune response. All the patients had recurrent, high-grade glioma, and all showed…
We all know that eating fruits, vegetables and soy products provides essential nutrition for a healthy lifestyle, while obesity leads to the opposite. Yet proving the effect of nutrition, or obesity, on cancer is an experimental challenge and a focus for scientists. According to emerging evidence, eating well might still be one of the more pleasurable ways to prevent cancer and promote good health.
Abstract 4217: A novel mechanism for the chemoprotection by 3,3-diindolylmethane (DIM) and genistein for breast and ovarian cancer.
Eating such foods as broccoli and soy are believed to offer…
In the May 1st issue of Genes & Development, Drs. Yong Sun Lee and Anindya Dutta (UVA) reveal that microRNAs can function as tumor suppressors in vitro.
"Overexpression of HMGA2 is an important feature of many medically important tumors like uterine fibroids,” explains Dr. Dutta. “It is very exciting to realize that microRNAs have an important role in suppressing the overexpression of HMGA2, and so may have a role in the causation and perhaps the cure of a disease that is responsible for the vast majority of hysterectomies in the Western world."
Studying chromosomal HMGA2 translocations…
In recent years, researchers have worked to develop a number of vaccines to help the immune system fight tumors. Cancer vaccines are not intended to prevent cancer; rather, they are used to boost immune responses to preexisting tumors. Unlike traditional chemotherapy, vaccines have relatively low toxicity and, potentially, a high degree of efficacy.
To date, these vaccines have rarely been designed to directly stimulate one of the body's most critical immune responders, the helper T cells. Though helper T cells contain receptors on their cell surfaces that are capable of recognizing and…
Researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health have discovered a means for early detection of liver cancer. Using DNA isolated from serum samples as a baseline biomarker, the scientists examined changes in certain tumor suppressor genes that have been associated with the development of liver carcinomas. This is the first study to prospectively examine potential biomarkers for early detection of liver cancer in high-risk populations, including those with chronic hepatitis B and C virus infections.
Since most hepatocellular or liver carcinomas (HCC) are diagnosed at an…
A drug under study to treat various cancers selectively kills cancer cells because of its affinity for a modified version of a critical heat shock protein they contain, researchers have found.
They found in cancer a modified version of heat shock protein 90, or hsp90, which like most heat shock proteins, promotes cell survival.
They then showed that in breast cancer and leukemia, this modification, called acetylation, confers a strong attraction to investigational drug 17-AAG, says Dr. Yonghua Yang, postdoctoral fellow in molecular oncology in the laboratory of Dr. Kapil Bhalla, director of…
For the growing number of people with diminished immune systems - cancer patients, transplant recipients, those with HIV/AIDS - infection by a ubiquitous mold known as Aspergillus fumigatus can be a death sentence.
The fungus, which is found in the soil, on plant debris and indoor air, is easily managed by the healthy immune system. But as medical advances contribute to a growing population of people whose immune systems are weakened by disease or treatment, the opportunistic fungus poses a serious risk.
Now, however, scientists may have found a master switch, an über gene, that seems to…
Maybe not, but they get hot flashes related to genital changes.
Men who have undergone chemical castration for conditions such as prostate cancer experience hot flashes similar to those experienced by menopausal women, says a new study in Psychophysiology.
Using a technique called sternal skin conductance, doctors were able to positively identify hot flashes in males, a positive step toward providing therapy for those patients in need.
"Most people are unaware that men can have hot flashes," says study author Dr. Laura Hanisch. "Even the patients themselves are often unaware that they are…