Tag Archives: italy

The scent of cancer: Detecting cancer with fruit fly’s antenna

In an article, published on 6 January in the international scientific journal Scientific Report by the Nature Publishing Group, the researchers of the University of Konstanz and the University La Sapienza in Rome, Italy, describe how characteristic patterns in the olfactory receptors of transgenic Drosophilae can be recorded when activated by scent. Not only could a clear distinction be made between healthy cells and cancer cells; moreover, groupings could be identified among the different cancer cells. "What really is new and spectacular about this result is the combination of objective, specific and quantifiable laboratory results and the extremely high sensitivity of a living being that cannot be matched by electronic noses or gas chromatography," explains Giovanni Galizia. Natural olfactory systems are better suited to detecting the very small differences in scent between healthy cells and cancer cells. …

Most common gene mutation in human pigmentation in Mediterranean countries linked to increased skin cancer

This mutation, called "V60L," is at present the most common among people from Mediterranean regions such as Spain, Portugal, Italy and Israel. It is present in about 10-20% of the population, according to the study carried out by researchers at the Universitat Jaume I and the University of the Basque Country performed on over 1,000 individuals from different areas of Spain. …

Researchers discover ovarian cancer biomarker

A CWRU research team led by Analisa DiFeo, an assistant professor of General Medical Science-Oncology at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, found that the biomarker miR-181a is a molecular driver of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). The research team also found that elevated levels of miR-181a in ovarian tumors are associated with chemotherapy resistance and disease progression. "By looking at the expression of this microRNA in tumor samples, we get an idea which women may respond to standard chemotherapy and which are at a high risk for recurrence," DiFeo said. "This helps guide treatment decisions and improve survival rates." In the past, researchers have been unable to predict how EOC patients will respond to treatment…

Potential new treatments for acute myeloid leukemia

Both research teams, comprising international scientists from Singapore, United States, Austria, Italy, Netherlands, United Kingdom and Sweden and the Czech Republic, were led by Professor Daniel Tenen, Director, Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (CSI Singapore) at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Breakthrough study validates Sox4 as potential therapeutic target In this breakthrough study, the researchers discovered, for the first time, a molecular target for CEBPA mutations by demonstrating that targeting Sox4 effectively perturbs the major leukemogenic phenotypes in human patient samples of mutated CEBPA AML. These findings were first published in the leading scientific journal Cancer Cell on 11 November 2013. …