http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A new oral targeted drug, idelalisib (GS-1101), has the potential to stave off the need for additional treatments for relapsed or treatment-resistant chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to a study led in part by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators. In a phase 1 clinical trial, the drug produced rapid and long-lasting tumor shrinkage in about two-thirds of patients, stalling disease progression for 17 months, on average. The activity of the drug is noteworthy, given that the patients had an average of five prior therapies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-protein-targeting-drug-early-trial-patients.html Cancer Fri, 17 May 2013 08:50:01 EST news287996211 Researchers using patients' own immune cells in an immunotherapy approach called "anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy," achieved responses in children whose acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) had returned after a bone marrow transplant, according to preliminary results presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013, held in Washington, D.C., April 6-10. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-immunotherapy-antileukemia-pediatric-patients.html Cancer Sun, 07 Apr 2013 17:14:23 EST news284573651 The powerful master regulatory transcription factor called Bcl6 is key to the survival of a majority of aggressive lymphomas, which arise from the B-cells of the immune system. The protein has long been considered too complex to target with a drug since it is also crucial to the healthy functioning of many immune cells in the body, not just B cells gone bad. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-shutdown-cancer-powerful-master-protein.html Immunology Sun, 03 Mar 2013 13:00:24 EST news281519760 Cancer is thought to arise from DNA damage at fragile sites in the genome. A study published by Cell Press on January 24th in the journal Cell reveals a new class of fragile sites that contributes to DNA alterations in a type of blood cancer called B cell lymphoma The findings could lead to the development of more effective treatments for B cell lymphoma and potentially other cancers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-discovery-class-damage-prone-dna-regions.html Cancer Thu, 24 Jan 2013 12:00:11 EST news278249780 Marked for death with molecular tags that act like a homing signal for a cell's protein-destroying machinery, a pivotal enzyme is rescued by another molecule that sweeps the telltale targets off in the nick of time. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-scientists-protein-reins-runaway-network.html Medical research Tue, 22 Jan 2013 16:57:03 EST news278096211 How do you annihilate lymphoma without using any drugs? Starve it to death by depriving it of what appears to be a favorite food: HDL cholesterol. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-golden-nanoparticles-lymphoma-chemotherapy.html Cancer Mon, 21 Jan 2013 15:00:10 EST news277985716 An international study of ibrutinib in people with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) continues to show unprecedented and durable results with few side effects. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-ibrutinib-unprecedented-impact-mantle-cell.html Cancer Fri, 14 Dec 2012 16:40:01 EST news274724897 A potent chemotherapy agent wrapped within a monoclonal antibody selectively destroys the malignant cells responsible for acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) in either weekly or monthly dosing, researchers report at the 54th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-weekly-dose-drug-side-effects.html Cancer Tue, 11 Dec 2012 13:05:55 EST news274453533 By reprogramming a 7-year-old girl's own immune cells to attack an aggressive form of childhood leukemia, a pediatric oncologist has achieved a complete response in his patient, who faced grim prospects when she relapsed after conventional treatment. The innovative experimental therapy used bioengineered T cells, custom-designed to multiply rapidly in the patient, and then destroy leukemia cells. After the treatment, the child's doctors found that she had no evidence of cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-immune-cells-response-child-aggressive.html Cancer Sun, 09 Dec 2012 23:50:01 EST news274318776 The process of blood cell development, known as hematopoiesis, gives rise to numerous different immune cell subtypes. Each of these in turn matures through a stepwise process governed by the action of transcription factors—specialized proteins that coordinate activation and deactivation of specific target genes.  http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-complicated-network-maturation-cells-immune.html Medical research Thu, 22 Nov 2012 07:49:34 EST news272792961 Many observational epidemiologic studies have found an inverse association between alcohol consumption and hematological cancers (such as lymphoma and leukemia). This study, based on the Million Women's Study in the UK, is large enough to permit an evaluation of associations with various types of such cancers. Further, it takes into account newer coding systems for morphology so that diseases associated with the lymphatic system can be separated from those of the myeloid system. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-effects-alcohol-lymphoma-leukemia-hematological.html Cancer Tue, 13 Nov 2012 13:12:38 EST news272034674 In the first broad genetic landscape mapped of a Burkitt lymphoma tumor, scientists at Duke Medicine and their collaborators identified 70 mutations, including several that had not previously been associated with cancer and a new one that was unique to the disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-genome-sequencing-burkitt-lymphoma-reveals.html Genetics Mon, 12 Nov 2012 11:03:27 EST news271940597 A new clinical study published in BioMedCentral's open access journal Arthritis Research and Therapy provides preliminary evidence that vitamin D supplementation could be considered an immunomodulatory agent for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a debilitating autoimmune disease characterized not only by skin, joint, neurological and renal symptoms, but also by inflammation of tissue linings in the body. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-vitamin-d-supplements-benefit-lupus.html Arthritis & Rheumatism Tue, 16 Oct 2012 20:00:01 EST news269626017 Leukaemia arises as a result of genetic or epigenetic alterations in blood cells, leading to an aberrant accumulation of undifferentiated blasts. Understanding the molecular pathogenesis and aetiology of infant leukaemia induced by the MLL-AF4 fusion gene was the subject of the Leukaemogenesis project. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-infant-leukaemia.html Cancer Mon, 15 Oct 2012 07:32:21 EST news269505136 National Institutes of Health scientists have identified how a kind of immature immune cell responds to a part of influenza virus and have traced the path those cells take to generate antibodies that can neutralize a wide range of influenza virus strains. Study researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of NIH, were led by Gary Nabel, M.D., Ph.D., director of NIAID's Vaccine Research Center. Their findings appear online in advance of print in Nature. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-broadly-neutralizing-antibodies-aid-universal.html Medical research Wed, 29 Aug 2012 13:00:04 EST news265463638 After the SARS-CoV (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus) outbreak in 2003, academia experts in immunology and molecular biology joined forces with industrial vaccine production experts in order to develop preventive and therapeutic measures for SARS. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-sars.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 28 Aug 2012 09:20:58 EST news265364451 Inhibition of pre-B Cell Colony-Enhancing Factor (PBEF) could be a potential therapeutic target for pulmonary hypertension (PH), according to a preclinical study in an animal model of PH. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-inhibition-pbef-therapeutic-pulmonary-hypertension.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 22 May 2012 09:53:44 EST news256899219 Researchers studying the molecular signals that drive a specific type of lymphoma have discovered a key biological pathway leading to this type of cancer. Cancerous cells have been described as being "addicted" to certain oncogenes (cancer-causing genes), and the new research may lay the groundwork for breaking that addiction and effectively treating aggressive types of B cell lymphoma. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-protein-cell-lymphoma.html Cancer Mon, 07 May 2012 16:02:43 EST news255625320 B cell lymphomas are a group of cancers of that originate in lymphoid tissue from B cells, the specialized immune cell type that produces antibodies. The development of B cell lymphoma is associated with several known genetic changes, including increased expression of MYC, a transcription factor that promotes cell growth and division. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-lymphoma-therapy.html Cancer Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:35:34 EST news255011679 A new genetic signature identified by Spanish researchers may provide doctors with robust and objective information about which patients with early stage lung cancer are at low or high risk of relapse following surgery, investigators report at the 3rd European Lung Cancer Conference in Geneva. Their work also opens new avenues for immunotherapy for lung cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-gene-signature-relapse-lung-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:16:56 EST news253966608 An international team of scientists in Japan, Switzerland, and the United States has confirmed that combining chemotherapy and immunotherapy in cancer treatment enhances the immune system's ability to find and eliminate cancer cells, even when the cancer-associated proteins targeted by the immune system are hidden behind the cancer cell membrane. In a study published in Cancer Research by Noguchi et al., the scientists show that antibodies, which have been successful in treating certain types of cancers, can effectively reach elusive intracellular targets, delaying tumor growth and prolonging survival when combined with chemotherapy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-antibodies-intracellular-cancer-antigens-combined.html Cancer Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:58:35 EST news248367503 A new, targeted approach to treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia has produced durable remissions in a Phase I/II clinical trial for patients with relapsed or resistant disease, investigators report at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-cell-receptor-inhibitor-chronic-lymphocytic.html Cancer Sun, 11 Dec 2011 14:56:41 EST news242837789 Younger patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma given a more intensive regimen of chemotherapy combined with rituximab survive significantly longer, and are approximately twice as likely to remain in remission 3 years later, compared with patients given standard chemotherapy treatment plus rituximab, according to an article published Online First in the Lancet. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-intensive-chemotherapy-recurrence-survival-younger.html Cancer Thu, 24 Nov 2011 18:30:03 EST news241362774 Researchers at The University of Western Ontario have identified genes that may be important for preventing childhood leukemia. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a cancer of the blood that occurs primarily in young children. It's frequently associated with mutations or chromosomal abnormalities that arise during embryonic or fetal development. Working with mice, researchers led by Rodney DeKoter identified two key genes that appear essential in the prevention of B cell ALL, the most common form of ALL in children. The study is published online in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-genes-vital-childhood-leukemia.html Genetics Mon, 18 Jul 2011 14:38:00 EST news230218661 The Max Cure Foundation and the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation have partnered to establish a fund in pediatric cancer research. With that goal in mind, the two Foundations are proud to announce the award of $100,000 to Erwin G. Van Meir, Ph.D., of Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. Van Meir's research aims to reprogram Ewing sarcoma using a small molecule that will target the Ewing sarcoma family of tumors (ESFT) oncoprotein. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-ewing-sarcoma-family-tumors.html Cancer Fri, 01 Jul 2011 05:24:04 EST news228716635 Researchers from the University of Sheffield have discovered valuable insight into how people develop B-cell lymphoma, one of the most common cancers in the UK. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-breakthrough-common-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 09 Jun 2011 05:03:00 EST news226814491