Cancer Research

Flaxseed, an edible seed that is rich in omega 3-fatty acids and fiber-related compounds known as lignans, is effective in halting prostate tumor growth, according to a study led by Duke University Medical Center researchers. The seed, which is similar to a sesame seed, may be able to interrupt the chain of events that leads cells to divide irregularly and become cancerous. "Our previous studies in animals and in humans had shown a correlation between flaxseed supplementation and slowed tumor growth, but the participants in those studies had taken flaxseed in conjunction with a low-fat diet…

Aspirin didn’t pan out. Neither did two other potential anti-aging agents. But a synthetic derivative of a pungent desert shrub is now a front- runner in ongoing animal experiments to find out if certain chemicals, known to inhibit inflammation, cancer and other destructive processes, can boost the odds of living longer. University of Michigan scientist Richard A. Miller reports early results from a mouse study his lab and two others are conducting for the National Institute on Aging. The study, now in its fourth year, will test as many as two dozen possible anti-aging agents in animals in…

The doctoral thesis Potencial terapéutico de nuevos fármacos antitumorales. Estudio sobre líneas celulares epiteliales (Therapeutic Potential of New Antitumor Drugs. A Study on Epithelial Cell Lines) has allowed for the development of six new drugs to fight colon and breast cancer more effectively than other currently used drugs. The study was conducted at the Department of Human Anatomy and Embryology at the University of Granada by Octavio Caba Pérez, member of the research group "Avances en Biomedicina" (Progress in Biomedicine), under the direction of professors Antonia Aránega, Juan…

Scientists have captured on video the intracellular version of a postal delivery service. Reporting in the journal Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications (BBRC), bioengineering researchers at UC San Diego published videos of a key message-carrying protein called paxillin moving abruptly from hubs of communication and transportation activity on the cell surface toward the nucleus. Paxillin was labeled with a red fluorescence marker to make it stand out in live cells. These time-lapse images of a bovine aortic endothelial cell reveal the motion toward the cell's nucleus of a…

The science has long been clear that smoking causes cancer, but new research shows that children could inherit genetic damage from a father who smokes. Canadian researchers have demonstrated in mice that smoking can cause changes in the DNA sequence of sperm cells, alterations that could potentially be inherited by offspring. “Here we are looking at male germline mutations, which are mutations in the DNA of sperm. If inherited, these mutations persist as irreversible changes in the genetic composition of off-spring.” said Carole Yauk, Ph.D., lead author of the study and research scientist…

A new vaccine aimed at preventing cervical cancer is nearly 100 percent effective against the two types of the human papillomavirus (HPV) responsible for most cases of cervical cancerÑstrains 16 and 18. In the current and largest study to date, researchers combined and analyzed the data from four randomized trials that involved 20,583 women ages 15 to 26 from more than two dozen countries across Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia. Participants were randomly assigned to receive the HPV vaccine or placebo and followed for an average of three years. Researchers found that the…

Small changes in agricultural and sanitation practices may eliminate the spread of a disease that affects some 200 million people living in developing nations around the world. Researchers working in remote farming villages in western China report that providing medicine to infected people and animals, along with modifying irrigation and waste treatment practices could reduce, or even eliminate, the long-term transmission of schistosomiasis. Schistosomiasis is a disease that can affect the liver, the gastrointestinal tract or the bladder. The researchers report their findings in a recent…

Researchers exploring the notion that certain nutrients might protect against pancreatic cancer found that lean individuals who got most of these nutrients from food were protected against developing cancer. The study also suggests this protective effect does not hold true if the nutrients come from vitamin supplements. Investigators combined data from four large studies and found that people who were at or below normal body weight decreased their risk for developing pancreatic cancer if they took in high levels of vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and folate from food. The study determined that their…

Northwestern University's Charles Bennett, M.D., is a super sleuth of potentially deadly prescription drug reactions. He leads a national SWAT team of doctors called RADAR (Research on Adverse Drug Events and Reports) based out of Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine. They swoop in to investigate early signs of trouble years before the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) takes notice. A new study by Bennett, the A.C. Buehler Professor in Economics and Aging at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine, and a hematologist and oncologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, found RADAR…

Some months ago, I wrote about Juan Magdaraog who is blogging about his struggle with Pompe disease, a rare, but important genetic condition. He let me know about an essential problem: the diagnostic delay.   The diagnosis often poses a dilemma due to the rarity of the disease, the variable rates of progression and the unspecific phenotypic features… Just take a look at the diagnostic delay diagram, there are from 2 to 4 years between the first symptoms and the diagnosis! Look, we can’t expect physicians (from any kind of medical specialties) to know everything about all the cc. 4000…