http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Researchers at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) have led a study published in PLoS One showing that the inhibition of a family member of NADPH oxidase enzyme, NOX4, plays an important role in liver fibrosis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-inhibition-enzyme-nox4-liver-fibrosis.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 05 Nov 2012 11:16:36 EST news271336587 Scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and the University of Helsinki in Finland have shown that the "switches" that regulate the expression of genes play a major role in the development of cancer. In a study, published in Science, they have investigated a gene region that contains a particular single nucleotide variant associated with increased risk for developing colorectal and prostate cancers – and found that removing this region caused dramatic resistance to tumor formation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-scientists-gene-important-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 01 Nov 2012 14:00:37 EST news270997228 Investigators at Nationwide Children's Hospital have identified a mouse model that could help evaluate the risk that viral vectors used in gene therapy might promote tumor formation as a side-effect. The study appears in Molecular Therapy.  http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-mouse-viral-vectors-tumors.html Cancer Fri, 26 Oct 2012 09:00:01 EST news270459764 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers from the US and Japan have shown that an aggressive type of brain tumor can arise from normal cells in the central nervous system such as neurons. The cells revert to an earlier, undifferentiated stem cell stage, which can then reproduce prolifically. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-brain-tumors-neurons.html Cancer Fri, 19 Oct 2012 05:50:01 EST news269842779 In recent years investigators have discovered that breast tumors are influenced by more than just the cancer cells within them. A variety of noncancerous cells, which in many cases constitute the majority of the tumor mass, form what is known as the "tumor microenvironment." This sea of noncancerous cells and the products they deposit appear to play key roles in tumor pathogenesis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-discovery-reveals-important-clues-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 11 Oct 2012 13:44:38 EST news269181849 Stomach cancer doesn't get the same publicity as lung or breast cancer, but it is a health threat to be taken very seriously. "Gastric cancer is the second leading cause of worldwide cancer mortality, with an annual death rate of over 700,000 individuals," explains Patrick Tan of the A*STAR Genome Institute of Singapore. He notes that this disease is especially prevalent in Asia; gastric cancer is the fifth most common cancer amongst Singaporean men. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-bonanza-genomic-sequence-valuable-insights.html Genetics Wed, 12 Sep 2012 08:45:51 EST news266658344 A new study shows that the lack of a certain gene occurs in almost 28 percent of human breast cancers, playing a role in some 60,000 breast cancer cases in the United States and 383,000 worldwide this year. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-gene-deletion-quarter-breast-cancers.html Genetics Wed, 15 Aug 2012 04:17:35 EST news264223029 Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center researchers have identified how one of the genes most commonly mutated in lung cancer may promote such tumors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-mechanism-lung-cancer-associated-mutations-therapeutic.html Cancer Mon, 30 Jul 2012 17:03:34 EST news262886608 An EU research project has shed light on the tumor-growth role of a key-signalling pathway in mammary gland stem cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-exploring-stem-cells-tumor-growth.html Cancer Mon, 16 Jul 2012 10:16:34 EST news261652586 Stem cells that come from a specific part of the developing brain help fuel the growth of brain tumors caused by an inherited condition, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-pediatric-tumors-stem-cells-brain.html Cancer Mon, 09 Jul 2012 12:00:14 EST news261052534 (Medical Xpress) -- In cancer cells, normal mechanisms governing the cellular life cycle have gone haywire. Cancer cells continue to divide indefinitely, without ever dying off, thus creating rapidly growing tumors. Swiss scientists have discovered a protein complex involved this deregulated process, and hope to be able to exploit it to stop tumor formation in its tracks. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-demystifying-immortality-cancer-cells.html Cancer Thu, 05 Jul 2012 08:10:01 EST news260692489 Prions, the causal agents of Mad Cow and other diseases, are very unique infectious particles. They are proteins in which the complex molecular three-dimensional folding process just went astray. For reasons not yet understood, the misfolding nature of prions is associated to their ability to sequester their normal counterparts and induce them to also adopt a misfolding conformation. The ever-growing crowd of misfolded proteins form the aggregates seen in diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Once misfolded, a protein can no longer exert its normal functions in the cell. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-prions-cancer-story-unfolding.html Cancer Mon, 25 Jun 2012 11:35:41 EST news259842921 A molecule thought to limit cell proliferation also helps cancer cells survive during initial tumor formation and when the wayward cells spread to other organs in the body, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-key-enzyme-roles-friend-foe.html Medical research Thu, 14 Jun 2012 08:55:53 EST news258882913 Melanoma – the deadliest and most aggressive form of skin cancer – has long been linked to time spent in the sun. Now a team led by scientists from the Broad Institute and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has sequenced the whole genomes of 25 metastatic melanoma tumors, confirming the role of chronic sun exposure and revealing new genetic changes important in tumor formation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-melanoma-whole-genome-sequencing-tumors-role.html Cancer Wed, 09 May 2012 13:00:04 EST news255779247 Uncovering the network of genes regulated by a crucial molecule involved in cancer called mTOR, which controls protein production inside cells, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) have discovered how a protein "master regulator" goes awry, leading to metastasis, the fatal step of cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-analysis-mtor-protein-drugs-defeat.html Cancer Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:00:06 EST news249137019 Most research on glioblastoma development, a complicated tumor of the brain with a poor prognosis, has focused on the gene transcription level, but scientists suggest that post-transcriptional regulation could be equally or even more important. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-scientists-uncover-mechanism-glioblastoma.html Cancer Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:46:26 EST news246080765 A new study from the University of Hawaii Cancer Center reveals that PEA-15, a protein previously shown to slow ovarian tumor growth and metastasis, can alternatively enhance tumor formation in kidney cells carrying a mutation in a cancer-promoting gene called H-Ras. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-role-pea-protein-cancer-growth.html Cancer Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:17:51 EST news241114663 Genetic differences in prostate cells seem to be a root cause of the prostate cancer disparities between African-American men and white men, according to findings presented at the Fourth AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities, held here Sept. 18-21, 2011. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-genetic-differences-higher-prostate-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 20 Sep 2011 11:34:45 EST news235737261 (Medical Xpress) -- Johns Hopkins researchers have found a likely explanation for the slow growth of the most common childhood brain tumor, pilocytic astrocytoma. Using tests on a new cell-based model of the tumor, they concluded that the initial process of tumor formation switches on a growth-braking tumor-suppressor gene, in a process similar to that seen in skin moles. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-growth-childhood-brain-tumors.html Cancer Thu, 23 Jun 2011 05:10:08 EST news228024577 Research from the University of Louisville published today (June 6) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences indicates the removal of a tiny RNA molecule in mice suppresses carcinogenic tumor formation. The study appears in the journal's Early Edition online. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-tiny-rna-molecule-inhibit-cancer.html Cancer Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:00:05 EST news226577087 A new study links the intermittent interruption of breathing that occurs in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) to enhanced proliferation of melanoma cancer cells and increased tumor growth in mice, according to researchers in Spain. The study also found tumor cells of OSA mouse models tended to contain more dead cells, indicating a more aggressive type of cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-obstructive-apnea-linked-cancer-growth.html Sleep apnea Tue, 17 May 2011 14:03:24 EST news224859783 Parsley is usually used as a decorative accent to a scrumptious meal, but don't set it aside just yet. In a new study, a University of Missouri researcher has found that a compound in parsley and other plant products, including fruits and nuts, can stop certain breast cancer tumor cells from multiplying and growing. The study was published recently in Cancer Prevention Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-parsley-celery-crucial-component-breast.html Cancer Mon, 09 May 2011 12:30:30 EST news224162997 The proteins that provide cells with a sense of personal space could lead to a therapeutic target for Neurofibromatosis Type 2 (NF2), an inherited cancer disorder, according to researchers at The Wistar Institute. Their findings, which appear in the April 12 issue of the journal Cancer Cell, could have profound implications for NF2 and related cancers, such as mesothelioma. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-path-potential-therapy-nf2-rare.html Cancer Fri, 15 Apr 2011 15:18:57 EST news222099472