http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A team of student researchers and their professors from 20 laboratories around the country have gotten a new view of cancer cells. The work could shed light on the transforming physical properties of these cells as they metastasize, said Jack R. Staunton, a Ph.D. candidate at Arizona State University in the lab of Prof. Robert Ros, and the lead author of a paper reporting on the topic. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-battery-cancer-cells-squishy-tactically.html Cancer Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:15:52 EST news286200910 An eight gene 'signature' can predict length of relapse-free survival after chemotherapy, finds new research in Biomed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-gene-signature-survive-chemotherapy.html Cancer Mon, 15 Apr 2013 20:00:01 EST news285246069 Researchers from Fox Chase Cancer Center have found that omega-3 fatty acids and their metabolite products slow or stop the proliferation, or growth in the number of cells, of triple-negative breast cancer cells more effectively than cells from luminal types of the disease. The omega-3s worked against all types of cancerous cells, but the effect was observed to be stronger in triple-negative cell lines, reducing proliferation by as much as 90 percent. The findings will be presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013 on Tuesday, April 9. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-omega-fatty-acids-effective-inhibiting.html Cancer Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:42:43 EST news284719356 Tumor suppression, the family business of the sibling genes p53, p63 and p73, is undermined from within by the split personalities of p63 and p73, which each produce protein forms that not only block the work of the other two genes but also shut down its own cancer-stifling fraternal twin. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-key-back-up-tumor-fighter-p53.html Cancer Mon, 08 Apr 2013 15:00:01 EST news284644382 Scientists have identified biomarkers that may help predict whether patients with KRAS-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) will respond to concurrent treatment with an MEK inhibitor and a PI3 kinase inhibitor, a drug combination currently being investigated in ongoing clinical trials. The discovery was made as part of a study presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013, held in Washington, D.C., April 6-10, by Aaron N. Hata, M.D., Ph.D., a clinical fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-biomarkers-response-drugs-kras-mutated-nsclc.html Cancer Mon, 08 Apr 2013 09:20:08 EST news284629309 Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors may be a novel treatment strategy for patients with cancer that has become resistant to the commonly used chemotherapy drug cisplatin, according to data from a preclinical study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-cisplatin-resistant-cancer-cells-sensitive-experimental.html Cancer Wed, 03 Apr 2013 00:20:01 EST news284141891 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers at the Virginia Commonwealth University Parkinson's and Movement Disorders Center have found that mitochondrial quality and functional capacity play an important role in Parkinson's disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-parkinson-disease-link.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Tue, 19 Mar 2013 08:05:21 EST news282899112 HeLa cells are the world's most commonly used human cell lines, and have served as a standard for understanding many fundamental biological processes. In a study published today in G3: Genes, Genomes and Genetics online, scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, announce they have successfully sequenced the genome of a HeLa cell line. It provides a high-resolution genomic reference that reveals the striking differences between the HeLa genome and that of normal human cells. The study could improve the way HeLa cells are used to model human biology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-havoc-biology-most-used-human-cell.html Genetics Tue, 12 Mar 2013 10:01:04 EST news282301256 Chemists at the University of California, Riverside have developed a compound that holds much promise in the laboratory in fighting renal (kidney) cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-compound-high-kidney-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 19 Feb 2013 16:16:17 EST news280512956 Researchers have identified a pivotal protein in a cellular transformation that makes a cancer cell more resistant to treatment and more capable of growing and spreading, making it an inviting new target for drug development. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-protein-central-cancer-stem-cell.html Cancer Wed, 13 Feb 2013 14:30:01 EST news279987024 An antibody that binds to a molecule on the surface of a rare but deadly tumor of the gastrointestinal tract inhibits the growth of the cancer cells in mice, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-antibody-hinders-growth-gleevec-resistant-gastrointestinal.html Cancer Mon, 04 Feb 2013 15:00:08 EST news279195778 Scientists have long known that the human genome is incredibly complex. However, after almost 10 years of hard work, a team of more than 400 scientists at 32 research institutions worldwide has finally made serious headway in beginning to understand the structure, function and internal logic of the approximately 3.2 billion bases found within every cell of our body. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-staking-unknown-genomic-territory.html Genetics Fri, 04 Jan 2013 09:40:02 EST news276513381 A novel approach to identifying potential anticancer drug combinations revealed that pairing cholesterol-reducing drugs called statins with cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors might provide an effective approach to treating intractable melanomas driven by mutations in the NRAS and KRAS gene. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-screening-approach-potential-drug-combos.html Cancer Thu, 13 Dec 2012 10:44:16 EST news274617850 More than half of all patients with ovarian cancer experience recurrent disease and will eventually fail to respond to chemotherapy. The failure of chemotherapy is usually due to the development of resistance to the two main classes of chemotherapy agents used to fight it – platinating agents and taxanes. Now, a study reported in the open-access Journal of Ovarian Research provides novel information that further adds to clinicians' understanding of the mechanisms involved in the development of resistance to dual-agent chemotherapy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-mechanisms-drug-resistance-dual-agent-chemotherapy.html Cancer Thu, 29 Nov 2012 19:00:01 EST news273434985 Researchers at the Universidade Federal in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil have found that introduction of a normal copy of the p53 gene in p53-defective cancer cell lines makes these cells sensitive to the anti-tumor proprieties of resveratrol, the naturally occurring dietary compound found in red wine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-resveratrol-full-p53-ingredients-successful.html Medical research Tue, 13 Nov 2012 11:25:45 EST news272028333 Scientists in the United States have tested all possible pairings of the 100 cancer drugs approved for use in patients in order to discover whether there are any combinations not tried previously that are effective in certain cancers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-scientists-combinations-cancer-drugs-effective.html Cancer Tue, 06 Nov 2012 18:00:01 EST news271440532 Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center, working with colleagues in Sweden, the Netherlands and Puerto Rico, have validated a radiosensitivity molecular signature that can lead to better radiation therapy decisions for treating patients with breast cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-validate-molecular-signature-therapy-benefit.html Cancer Thu, 16 Aug 2012 02:41:11 EST news264303653 The finding involves the cancer gene RhoC, which has previously been shown to promote metastasis of many types of cancer. RhoC levels increase as breast cancer progresses and high levels of RhoC are associated with worse patient survival. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-driver-breast-cancer-stem-cell.html Cancer Tue, 24 Jul 2012 13:04:45 EST news262353878 Modern cancer therapies start in cells – researchers compare cancer samples to healthy cells to discover how cancer is genetically different, and use cell lines to test promising new drugs. However, a University of Colorado Cancer Center study published this week in the journal Gynecologic Oncology shows that due to a high rate of contamination, misidentification and redundancy in widely available cell lines, researchers may be drawing faulty conclusions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-misidentified-contaminated-cell-lines-faulty.html Cancer Thu, 21 Jun 2012 09:18:16 EST news259489084 The cells that slough off from a cancerous tumor into the bloodstream are a genetically diverse bunch, Stanford University School of Medicine researchers have found. Some have genes turned on that give them the potential to lodge themselves in new places, helping a cancer spread between organs. Others have completely different patterns of gene expression and might be more benign, or less likely to survive in a new tissue. Some cells may even express genes that could predict their response to a specific therapy. Even within one patient, the tumor cells that make it into circulating blood vary drastically. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-tumor-cells-equal-reveals-huge.html Cancer Mon, 07 May 2012 17:00:01 EST news255614256 Testing patients with non-small cell lung cancer for both mutations and amplifications of the KRAS gene prior to therapy may help to predict response to treatment with antifolates, according to the updated results of a preclinical study presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-kras-gene-mutation-amplification-status.html Cancer Wed, 04 Apr 2012 10:12:41 EST news252753151 The goal of cancer treatment is to match the right drug to the right target in the right patient. But before such "personalized" drugs can be developed, more knowledge is needed about specific genomic alterations in cancers and their sensitivity to potential therapeutic agents. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-volume-cancer-cell-line-encyclopedia.html Cancer Wed, 28 Mar 2012 13:00:09 EST news252150949 Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the most common form of lung cancer, is usually treated with surgery and chemotherapy. However, a small group of patients can also be helped by treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI). New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine, shows that blocking production of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) using RNAi, alongside TKI (or antibody therapy), could enhance the effect of TKI on NSCLC cell death, and slow cell growth. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-whammy-rnai-lung-cancer-therapy.html Cancer Tue, 20 Mar 2012 20:00:01 EST news251481908 (Medical Xpress) -- An intra-tumor injection of a virus prevented further growth of some pancreatic tumors and eradicated others in mouse models of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. However, some tumors continued growing despite this treatment, proving resistant to the viruses. The research is published in the March Journal of Virology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-viruses-pancreatic-tumors-preclinical.html Medical research Tue, 20 Mar 2012 16:11:05 EST news251478654 Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center's VCU Massey Cancer Center and Harold F. Young Neurosurgical Center (Richmond, VA) and Old Dominion University (Norfolk, VA) have discovered that suppression of Wilms tumor 1 protein (WT1) results in downregulation of CD97 gene expression in three glioblastoma cell lines and reduces the characteristic invasiveness exhibited by glial tumor cells. This finding is announced in the article, "Novel report of expression and function of CD97 in malignant gliomas: correlation with Wilms tumor 1 expression and glioma cell invasiveness," by Archana Chidambaram, Ph.D., and colleagues, published online ahead of print today in the Journal of Neurosurgery. Although further studies must be performed, the authors propose that CD97 may prove to be a new target for anti-glioma therapies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-cd97-gene-function-wt1-protein.html Neuroscience Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:30:01 EST news247832331 Combination drug therapy may be needed to combat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a study by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Van Andel Research Institute (VARI). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-combination-drug-therapy-urged-lung.html Cancer Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:00:02 EST news247414030 Patients with non-small cell lung cancer who have mutations in the KRAS gene should respond well to the antifolate class of drugs, according to results of a recent study conducted by Quintiles comparing human lung cancer cell lines and patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-antifolates-nsclc-subtype.html Cancer Mon, 14 Nov 2011 04:03:52 EST news240465805 (Medical Xpress) -- A team of UWA researchers have found they may be able to alter the club drug ‘ecstasy’ to kill certain types of blood cancers at the same time boosting the potency and reducing the psychoactivity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-ecstasy-derivative-blood-cancers.html Cancer Thu, 06 Oct 2011 08:10:01 EST news237105382 Cancer is not invincible but its weaknesses can be difficult to detect. An effort known as Project Achilles — named after the Greek warrior whose one vulnerability led to his undoing — was launched to develop a systematic way of pinpointing these weak spots. In their largest and most comprehensive effort to date, researchers from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute examined cells from over 100 tumors, including 25 ovarian cancer tumors, to unearth the genes upon which cancers depend. One of these genes, PAX8, is altered in a significant fraction of ovarian tumors — nearly one-fifth of those surveyed in the study. Their results appear online July 11 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-genome-scale-cell-lines-vulnerabilities-ovarian.html Cancer Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:00:23 EST news229614934 The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is presenting two key studies, including one today, at the 14th World Conference on Lung Cancer, July 3-7 in Amsterdam. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-tgen-lung-cancer-amsterdam-conference.html Cancer Thu, 07 Jul 2011 03:41:35 EST news229228873