ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Recent research suggests vitamin D may be able to stop or prevent cancer. Now, a new study finds an enzyme that plays a role in metabolizing vitamin D can predict lung cancer survival.
The study, from researchers at the U…
Tag Archives | comprehensive cancer center
Study links vitamin D to lung cancer survival
Virus might fight brain tumors better if armed with bacterial enzyme, study shows
COLUMBUS, Ohio — New research shows that oncolytic viruses, which are engineered to destroy cancer cells, might be more effective in treating deadly brain tumors if equipped with an enzyme that helps them penetrate the tumor.
The enzyme, called …
Bacteria eyed for possible role in atherosclerosis
Dr. Emil Kozarov and a team of researchers at the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine have identified specific bacteria that may have a key role in vascular pathogenesis, specifically atherosclerosis, or what is commonly referred to as “h…
UNC scientists pinpoint link between light signal and circadian rhythms
Chapel Hill, NC — In a new paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Aziz Sancar, MD, PhD, the Sarah Graham Kenan Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the UNC School of Medicine, and his colleagues ha…
Robotic surgery for head and neck cancer shows promise
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Less-invasive robotic surgery for upper airway and digestive track malignant tumors is as effective as other minimally invasive surgical techniques based on patient function and survival, according to University of Alabama at Bi…
Drug combination shows promise for newly diagnosed blood cancer patients, study finds
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A new three-drug combination used to treat the blood cancer multiple myeloma may be effective as a front-line therapy for newly diagnosed patients, according to a study led by the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Cen…
UNC-led team tests commonly used antibodies
If a strand of your DNA was stretched out completely, it would be more than six feet long. It’s hard to imagine that it can fit inside the nucleus of one of your cells, but that’s exactly how it works.
For much of the last century, scientists h…
Our normal genetics may influence cancer growth, too
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The genes we possess not only determine the color of our eyes and hair and how our bodies grow, they might also influence the changes that occur in tumors when we develop cancer.
A study by researchers at the Ohio State Universi…
Microfluidics-imaging platform detects cancer growth signaling in minute biopsy samples
Inappropriate growth and survival signaling, which leads to the aberrant growth of cancer cells, is a driving force behind tumors. Much of current cancer research focuses on the kinase enzymes whose mutations are responsible for such disregulated si…
Stress accelerates breast cancer progression in mice
Chronic stress acts as a sort of fertilizer that feeds breast cancer progression, significantly accelerating the spread of disease in animal models, researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have found.
Researchers discovered that…
Targeted agent shows promise for chronic lymphoid leukemia
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC-James) have identified an experimental agent that targets chronic lymphocytic l…
New insights provide promise for development of tools to protect damaged tissues
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators have identified a novel structure in cells that serves as a control switch in the body’s system for eliminating damaged cells and also offers new therapeutic potential.
The findings provide fresh…
New model may simplify high-dose radiosurgery planning
COLUMBUS, Ohio — There is yet no straightforward way to determine the optimal dose level and treatment schedules for high-dose radiation therapies such as stereotactic radiation therapy, used to treat brain and lung cancer, or for high-dose brachy…
Sex after cancer
Sex after cancer? Don’t count on it. It’s just not happening for thousands of couples, and neither doctors nor their patients like to talk about it. It is a painful phenomenon, and while researchers may understand why it happens, they’ve only just begun to be able to predict who will – and who won’t – have a successful adjustment to sex after treatment.
Growing Human Skin in Laboratory Can Prematurely Age Cells
Children who receive laboratory-expanded sheets of their own skin to cover severe burns are saved from certain death, but their new skin can have the cellular age of an 80 year old, according to a study at Duke University Medical Center. The process of growing small patches of human skin into larger sheets, called tissue engineering, makes cells divide so many times that the skin becomes prematurely aged at a cellular level.
Death, miscarriage linked to genetic mutation
Scientists have discovered that the genetic mutation that causes the childhood cancer retinoblastoma routinely triggers fetal death and miscarriage in laboratory animals by disrupting the normal functions of the placenta, a finding that may force researchers to reevaluate the powerful Rb gene and the role it plays in causing cancer.
Scientists find stem cells in human breast cancer
Of all the neoplastic cells in human breast cancers, only a small minority – perhaps as few as one in 100 – appear to be capable of forming new malignant tumors, according to just-published research by scientists in the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. The discovery could help researchers zero in on the most dangerous cancer cells to develop new, more effective treatments.
Study may help explain sunlight's role in melanoma development
A strong link exists between lifetime exposure to ultraviolet light, particularly lifetime sunburns, and the development of melanoma ? the most lethal form of skin cancer. Now, for the first time, scientists have identified a specific molecular pathway within cells that becomes mutated by ultraviolet light exposure, thereby speeding up melanoma development.
Technique preserves sexual function for men with prostate cancer
Men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer have typically been faced with “good” news and “bad” news. The “good” news – if there is such a thing when cancer is involved – is that most men are effectively cured of their cancer once the prostate is surgically removed. The “bad” news is that the two most notable side effects of prostate surgery – impotence and incontinence – can be very devastating. Fortunately, significant advances have been made on both fronts, and a Wisconsin urologist has helped develop new techniques to minimize both incontinence and impotence.
Detection procedure can help more melanoma patients than thought
Patients who develop melanoma on their face, head or neck can have the same early-diagnosis surgical procedure to see if their cancer might spread as patients whose cancer is on less delicate areas of the body, a new study finds. The report, from a team at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, opens the door for many more melanoma patients to benefit from a potentially life-saving technique called sentinel lymph node mapping. The results will be published in the Archives of Otolaryngology, a journal of the American Medical Association.
Researchers turn rat stem cells into mouse marrow cells
Researchers in North Carolina have successfully demonstrated that genetically altered stem cells from one species can be turned into a different sort of cell in another. Specifically, the researchers converted adult liver stem cells cloned from a male rat into functional adult bone marrow cells in female mice. The accomplishment, known as hematopoietic transdifferentiation, may prove useful for tapping the potential for tissue repair using human adult stem cells.
Tamoxifen-Resistant Breast Cancers Become Receptive to New Therapies
Breast cancer tumors that stop responding to the drug tamoxifen actually change their cellular characteristics and become responsive to other types of drugs, including Herceptin, according to oncologists at the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center. “In the process of becoming resistant to tamoxifen, the tumors alter their qualities and become receptive to Herceptin and other drugs that target the HER-2 receptor,” said Kimberly Blackwell, M.D., assistant professor of oncology at Duke.
Study helps explain gene silencing in developing embryo
In an embryo, certain genes must turn on to, for example, tell cells to develop into a limb. But just as importantly, the genes must then turn off, or go silent, to prevent abrnomral growth. How the genes do that gets some new light in research released out of North Carolina.