http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress provides the latest news from Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research A large, multi-institutional research team involved in the NIH Epigenome Roadmap Project has published a sweeping analysis in the current issue of the journal Cell of how genes are turned on and off to direct early human development. Led by Bing Ren of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Joseph Ecker of The Salk Institute for Biological Studies and James Thomson of the Morgridge Institute for Research, the scientists also describe novel genetic phenomena likely to play a pivotal role not only in the genesis of the embryo, but that of cancer as well. Their publicly available data, the result of more than four years of experimentation and analysis, will contribute significantly to virtually every subfield of the biomedical sciences. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-embryonic-epigenome.html Genetics Thu, 09 May 2013 16:18:29 EST news287335096 Cancer cells are a problem for the body because they multiply recklessly, refuse to die and blithely metastasize to set up shop in places where they don't belong. One protein that keeps healthy cells from behaving this way is a tumor suppressor named p53. This protein stops potentially precancerous cells from dividing and induces suicide in those that are damaged beyond repair. Not surprisingly, p53's critical function is disrupted in most cancers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-reveals-tumor-suppressor-p53-metastatic.html Cancer Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:53:11 EST news286113174 Proteins that control cell growth are often mutated in cancer, and their aberrant signaling drives the wild proliferation of cells that gives rise to tumors. One such protein, the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), fuels a wide variety of cancers—including a highly malignant brain cancer known as glioblastoma. Yet drugs devised to block its signaling tend to work only for a short while, until the cancer cells adapt to evade the therapy. So far, much of the research examining such drug resistance has focused on how mutations of other proteins in cancer cells allow them to resist drugs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-hijacking-healthy-cellular-circuits.html Cancer Mon, 08 Apr 2013 16:26:19 EST news284657171 Glioblastoma, the most common and lethal form of brain tumor in adults, is challenging to treat because the tumors rapidly become resistant to therapy. As cancer researchers are learning more about the causes of tumor cell growth and drug resistance, they are discovering molecular pathways that might lead to new targeted therapies to potentially treat this deadly cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-combination-therapy-route-glioblastoma-tumor.html Cancer Tue, 26 Feb 2013 13:29:15 EST news281107744 Nearly every cell in the human body carries a copy of the full human genome. So how is it that the cells that detect light in the human eye are so different from those of, say, the beating heart or the spleen? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-epigenetic-marker-5hmc-door-role.html Genetics Mon, 04 Feb 2013 16:08:27 EST news279216417 Clear communication between cells is essential to every aspect of the body's internal function. But since cells can't talk, or send emails, how do they communicate? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-tilt-cell-surface-receptor-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 31 Jan 2013 11:18:33 EST news278853501 Tumor metastasis, the ability of cancer cells to migrate from their tissue of origin and colonize elsewhere in the body, accounts for over 90% of cancer deaths. When patients die from cancer, it is usually caused by distant metastases established by malignant cells that split off from the primary cancer and began growing in new settings. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-predictors-cancer-disease-patient-metastasis-directed.html Cancer Tue, 11 Dec 2012 09:14:36 EST news274439666 Cancers arise in the body all the time. Most are nipped in the bud by the immune response, not least by its T cells, which detect telltale molecular markers—or antigens—on cancer cells and destroy them before they grow into tumors. Cancer cells, for their part, evolve constantly to evade such assassination. Those that succeed become full-blown malignancies. Yet, given the right sort of help, the immune system can destroy even these entrenched tumors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-mouse-exposes-cell-melanoma.html Cancer Wed, 24 Oct 2012 12:00:01 EST news270298157 Death plays a big role in keeping things alive. Consider the tightly orchestrated suicide of cells—a phenomenon essential to everything from shaping an embryo to keeping it free of cancer later in life. When cells refuse to die, and instead multiply uncontrollably, they become what we call tumors. An intricate circuitry of biochemical reactions inside cells coordinates their self-sacrifice. Tracing that circuitry is, naturally, an important part of cancer research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-uncovers-mechanism-tumor-suppressor-mig6.html Cancer Mon, 24 Sep 2012 09:41:26 EST news267698476 Despite years of research, glioblastoma, the most common and deadly brain cancer in adults, continues to outsmart treatments targeted to inhibit tumor growth. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-modification-tumor-suppressor-affects-sensitivity.html Cancer Mon, 13 Aug 2012 16:12:10 EST news264093122 The body has a built-in system known as autophagy, or 'self-eating,' that controls how cells live or die. Deregulation of autophagy is linked to the development of human diseases, including neural degeneration and cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-molecular-key-cellular.html Medical research Wed, 01 Aug 2012 15:51:22 EST news263055062