Montreal, October 28, 2010 — A team of scientists at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM) led by Dr. Jean-François Côté, Director of the Cytoskeletal Organization and Cell Migration research unit, identified a novel molecula…
(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — — A potent drug derived from an evergreen tree may soon save the lives of some patients with the deadliest form of breast cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, breast cancer will claim approximately 40,…
The way melanoma cells use the immune system to spread and develop into lung tumors may lead to a therapy to decrease development of these tumors, according to Penn State researchers.
“Melanoma is the most aggressive and metastatic form of skin ca…
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Sept. 14, 2010) — A new investigational drug designed to penetrate and attack pancreatic cancer cells has been administered to a patient for the first time ever at the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare.
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Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have discovered that a gene critical for programmed cell death is also important in the loss of adult stem cells, a finding that could help to improve the health and well-being of patients underg…
CORVALLIS, Ore. — New research on how skin cancer begins has identified adjacent cancer cells that scientists are calling “co-conspirators” in the genesis of melanoma, in findings that could someday hold the key to predicting, preventing and stoppi…
The best cancer drugs in the world are not much good if they cannot get to tumor cells. That problem has been challenging cancer physicians and researchers for years because the physical structure of many tumors can prevent anticancer agents from reaching their targets. In a study appearing in the June issue of Nature Medicine, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) describe a new technique for assessing the permeability of tumors and a promising new way of improving tumors’ accessibility to drugs.
Research into the health-promoting properties of green tea is yielding information that may lead to new treatments for skin diseases and wounds.
Dr. Stephen Hsu, a cell biologist in the Medical College of Georgia Department of Oral Biology, has uncovered a wealth of information about green tea in the last few years. Most importantly, he helped determine that compounds in green tea called polyphenols help eliminate free radicals, which can cause cancer by altering DNA. He also found that polyphenols safeguard healthy cells while ushering cancer cells to their death.
Researchers have, for the first time, identified the molecular pathway by which a commonly prescribed arthritis medication inhibits the growth of cancer. Before this study, scientists had linked use of celecoxib capsules (commonly known as Celebrex) to prevention of cancer, but the way in which the medication acted in cancer cells was unknown. Now, investigators have found that celecoxib capsules stop a key transcription factor known as Sp1 from turning on multiple genes in cancer cells known to be associated with cancer growth.
Researchers have identified a gene that promotes metastases, the spread of cancer cells through the body. This new understanding of how cancer metastasizes, linking a gene product and migration of cancer cells, may lead to therapies to stop this spread. The results of the study are published in the May 2003 issue of the journal Molecular Biology of the Cell. Richard G. Pestell, M.D., Ph.D. and his research team have been studying the cyclin D1 gene and the protein it produces for the past decade. Now they have found that by “knocking out” this gene, the migration of cells can be halted. The migration of cancer cells through the body is a major reason why cancer is deadly.
Researchers have found that a recently discovered gene plays an essential role in mediating apoptosis, or cell death, in colorectal cancer cells. The gene, PUMA, or p53 up-regulated modulator of apoptosis, is controlled by p53 ? a tumor-suppressing gene that prevents normal cells from turning into life-threatening tumor cells. Previous research has determined that damage to p53 is fundamental to the development of a vast majority of cancers, and inactivation of the growth-controlling function of p53 is critical to the growth and spread of most cancers.
New research suggests that combining the chemotherapy drug paclitaxel with very low doses of the HIV-fighting drug AZT may shrink or even eradicate certain types of cancer tumors. Using both drugs in mice helped inhibit the enzyme telomerase, a component critical to the livelihood of some cancer cells. Telomerase helps to build and maintain telomeres ? protective strands of DNA at each end of a chromosome.