Cancer Research

Mutations in genes governing an important cell-signaling pathway influence human longevity, scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found. The report is the latest finding in the Einstein researchers’ ongoing search for genetic clues to longevity through their study that by now has recruited more than 450 Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jews between the ages of 95 and 110. Descended from a small founder group, Ashkenazi Jews are more genetically uniform than other groups, making it easier to spot gene differences that are present. In 2003, this study…

BRUSSELS, Belgium, March 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Unibioscreen S.A., the Brussels specialist oncology company, is pleased to announce that it has succeeded in the closing of a new financing round of EUR 5 million from existing shareholders (ING, Société Générale Asset Management, E-capital, Brustart, UFG-Group and business angels) and from Hunza Ventures. This round brings the total amount raised since the Company's inception to date to EUR 27 million. It strengthens the company's balance sheet and allows the progression of Unibioscreen's two lead compounds, UNBS1450 and UNBS5162, into clinical…

PRINCETON, New Jersey, March 3 /PRNewswire/ -- BioWa, Inc. announced today that it has expanded the license agreement with Genentech, Inc. providing Genentech additional access to BioWa's POTELLIGENT(R) Technology for the research and development of select antibodies for potential therapeutic applications that require enhancement of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). "BioWa is pleased to extend this license with Genentech, which is a market leader in the field of antibody therapeutics," commented Dr. Masamichi Koike, President and CEO of BioWa. "We feel this alliance will…

BASEL, Switzerland, March 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Physicians from countries worst-affected by the deadly bird flu (H5N1 influenza virus) have reported an increased survival rate in patients treated with the oral antiviral Tamiflu (oseltamivir). These data reinforce the World Health Organization (WHO) advisory that Tamiflu is the only antiviral strongly recommended for the treatment of humans infected with the H5N1 virus. The physicians' report was revealed this week at the International Symposium on Respiratory Viral Infections (ISRVI) in Singapore.(1) According to the WHO the H5N1 virus has…

Adult stem cells may provide an explanation for the cause of a Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS), a rare disease that causes premature aging in children, according to researchers at the National Cancer Institute. These findings, the first to indicate a biological basis for the clinical features of HGPS, also known as progeria, may also provide new insights into the biological mechanisms of normal aging. “Studies like this of the biology of HGPS hold the potential to benefit children suffering this terrible illness and enlighten us as to the medical changes we all experience as we…

Many areas of research and medicine rely critically upon knowing a person’s individual immune system proteins, as they determine an individual’s ability to fight disease or mistakenly attack their own tissues. However, obtaining this information is costly and difficult. In a new study, Listgarten et al demonstrated how statistical modeling can help researchers obtain this information more easily and cost effectively. At the core of the human immune response is the train-to-kill mechanism in which specialized immune cells are sensitized to recognize small pieces of foreign pathogens (e.g.,…

While its known that cigarette smoking can cause cancer it has been unclear how cigarette smoke causes healthy lung cells to become cancerous. Researchers from U.C. - Davis say that hydrogen peroxide (or similar oxidants) in cigarette smoke is the culprit. This finding may help the tobacco industry develop “safer” cigarettes by eliminating such substances in the smoke, while giving medical researchers a new avenue to developing lung cancer treatments. “With the five-year survival rate for people with lung cancer at a dismally low 15.5 percent, we hope this study will provide better insight…

Differences in gene expression levels between people of European versus African ancestry can affect how each group responds to certain drugs or fights off specific infections, say researchers in the American Journal of Human Genetics. They used Affymetrix exon arrays to show that expression levels for nearly five percent of the 9,156 human genes they studied varied significantly between individuals of European and African ancestry. The research team took an unbiased whole genome approach and found significant differences in several unrelated processes, especially among genes involved in…

TOKYO, February 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co., Ltd. President: Dr. Yuzuru Matsuda announced that Kyowa Pharmaceutical, Inc. (New Jersey, United States), its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary, received on February 25, 2008 a Not approvable letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for istradefylline (KW-6002), its investigational drug for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. In the not approvable letter FDA expressed concern if the efficacy findings support clinical utility of istradefylline (KW-6002). The FDA requested an overall summary of nonclinical mineralization…

MELBOURNE, Australia, February 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) announced today that Abbott, a global, broad-based, healthcare company, Genentech, a leading biotechnology company based in South San Francisco and WEHI have joined in a tripartite research collaboration to discover new anti-cancer drugs. "This exciting three party research collaboration among world leaders in this field may increase the chance of translating basic scientific research in apoptosis, the process of programmed cell death, as carried out by our collaborators over…