Cancer Research
Blocking a specific protein, ABCC10, renders tumors more vulnerable to treatment in mice
ABCC10 is a type of ATP-binding cassette drug efflux pumps, known more simply as ABC proteins. These proteins sit on the membranes of cells, where they act just like pumps—removing cancer drugs from the cell, thereby making them less effective. The body contains close to 50 such proteins but only 3 appear capable of evading the effects of cancer drugs, including common types used to treat lung, ovarian, and breast cancers.
ABCC10 has not been studied in as much detail as some other ABC proteins, say…
The early results of a trial to treat leukemia with a WT1 DNA vaccine looks promising, according to a presentation at the DNA Vaccines 2012 conference in California by Christian Ottensmeier, the trial's principal investigator and Professor of Experimental Cancer Research at the University of Southampton.
The interim results, from eight patients, are part of a phase II trial that will enroll 31 patients in its chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) arm. Ottensmeier
noted robust vaccine-specific antibody responses in all vaccinated patients evaluated to date. Furthermore, T cell immune…
Arthrobotrys oligospora doesn't live a charmed life; it survives on a diet of roundworm, which isn't all that appealing, but the discovery of a team led by Mingjun Zhang, an associate professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, could give the fungus's life more purpose—as a cancer fighter.
They discovered that nanoparticles produced by A. oligospora hold promise for stimulating the immune system and killing tumors.
Zhang commonly looks to nature for solutions to the world's challenges. He and research associate Yongzhong Wang were examining A.…
Various drugs companies have tried to produce antibodies that bind to the type 1 insulin-like growth factor, or IGF-1, receptor on the cell surface, which has a critical part to play in the development of cancer - but have had little success.
Understanding more about how these antibodies work may help explain why only some cancer patients are helped by IGF-1 blockers during clinical tests.
Every cell contains thousands of tiny receptors that help it communicate with other cells. These receptors are involved in countless physiological processes, such as taste and smell perception and…
New research found a more than four-fold increase in the incidence of breast cancer in women with neurofibromatosis-1 (NF1), which adds to evidence that women with this rare genetic disorder may benefit from early breast cancer screening (mammograms) beginning at age 40, and manual breast exams as early as adolescence.
The normal NF1 gene is one of a number of so-called tumor suppressor genes. Roughly one in 3,000 Americans (equal numbers of males and females) has a mutated copy that no longer functions properly and allows tumors to grow unchecked. About half of people with NF1 inherit…
Of about 250,000 women enrolled in an integrated healthcare delivery system, increased CT utilization between 2000 and 2010 could mean an increase in the risk of breast cancer for certain women, including younger patients and those who received repeat exams. According to the study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), nuclear medicine examinations may also contribute to increased breast cancer risk.
CT uses ionizing radiation in the form of X-rays to produce cross-sectional images of the body. In nuclear medicine imaging, a…
Though breast cancer death rates have been in decline for 20 years, black women had higher death rates than other demographics in the newest Centers for Disease Control report covering 2005-2009. Breast cancer remains the most common cancer and is the second leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women, about 40,000 deaths annually.
Earlier detection and better treatment are the biggest reason for the recent drop in breast cancer deaths overall but black women who develop breast cancer still have a 9% greater chance of dying than white women. The biggest factor in the…
Pancreas is an organ situated between the stomach and the backbone. Pancreas secretes juices into the first part of the small intensitne and thereby helps in the digestion of food. Addionally, Islet cells of the pancreas secrete the hormone insulin into the blood stream therby playing a major role in glucose homoeostasis.
Cancer refers to abnormal and uncontrolled proliferation of normal cells that results in the formation of a localized primary tumor. In some cases these primary tumor cells detatch themselves from the tumor, enter the…
Entertainer Andy Williams died this week following his year-long battle with bladder cancer. Over 10,000 people are diagnosed with bladder cancer every year in the UK but recent research from Action Bladder Cancer showed that one quarter (25%) of UK men and women wouldn't know what a sign of possible bladder cancer might be.
"Bladder cancer is the 4th most common cancer in men and the 11th most common in women in the UK[1]," commented Dr Alison Birtle, Consultant Clinical Oncologist, Rosemere Cancer Centre, Preston, Lancashire and Trustee of Action on Bladder Cancer. "We don…
New research may offer some hope to women whose fertility has been compromised by the side-effects of cancer therapy or by premature menopause.
In a new study, researchers from Monash University and Prince Henry's Institute of Medical Research found that two proteins, PUMA and NOXA, cause the death of egg cells in the ovaries.
Blocking the activity of the proteins may lead to new strategies to protect women's fertility.
They focused their studies on primordial follicle oocytes, egg cells which provide each woman's lifetime supply of eggs. Low numbers of these egg cells can also cause early…