Their paper, “Interplay Between VEGF-A and cMET Signaling in Human Vestibular Schwannomas and Schwann Cells,” by Sonam Dilwali, B.S., Daniel Roberts, M.D., Ph.D., and Konstantina M. Stankovic, M.D., Ph.D., FACS, is online in the Feb. 20 issue of Cancer Biology and Therapy. …
In preclinical studies using rodents, they found that stem cells transplanted one week after the completion of a series of chemotherapy sessions restored a range of cognitive functions, as measured one month later using a comprehensive platform of behavioral testing. In contrast, rats not treated with stem cells showed significant learning and memory impairment. The frequent use of chemotherapy to combat multiple cancers can produce severe cognitive dysfunction, often referred to as “chemobrain,” which can persist and manifest in many ways long after the end of treatments in as many as 75 percent of survivors — a problem of particular concern with pediatric patients. “Our findings provide the first solid evidence that transplantation of human neural stem cells can be used to reverse chemotherapeutic-induced damage of healthy tissue in the brain,” said Charles Limoli, a UCI professor of radiation oncology…
Study lead Menashe Bar-Eli, Ph.D., professor of Cancer Biology, reported a previously unknown target for CREB (cAMP response element-binding protein), a transcription factor that regulates other transcription factors involved in melanoma development. …
In an online issue of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, they identify Stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (SCD1) as an oncogenic enzyme that when inhibited and paired with another targeted drug effectively shuts down ATC cell growth and induces cell death. Investigators think that ATC relies on SCD1 to provide the fuel the cancer cells need to rapidly duplicate. The molecule provides this energy by promoting the cancer cell’s ability to generate certain fatty acids that are important for several biological processes such as cell division, survival, drug resistance and migration. …
In a study published in the Feb. 16, 2015, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Duke researchers and their colleagues revealed that mutations in the isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) gene contribute to the formation of benign tumors in cartilage that can be a precursor to malignancies. These benign tumors, known as enchondromas, are associated with severe pain, fractures, and skeletal deformities…
“It was surprising to find that cabazitaxel functions differently than docetaxel in killing cancer cells, even though they’re both taxanes,” says senior author Karen Knudsen, Ph.D., Interim Director of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center and a professor of cancer biology at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University. “It shows that we may not be taking full advantage of this next generation taxane in the clinic.” For years, docetaxel has been the only effective chemotherapy for men whose cancer was no longer responding to hormone treatments…
In a study published in Molecular Metabolism, Saint Louis University researchers have tested in an animal model a promising drug candidate that stopped fatty liver disease from progressing to the stage that causes severe liver damage. …
Sarah Adams, MD, hopes to change this outcome. Adams cares for women with ovarian cancer and studies ways to treat them more effectively…
Cisplatin is one of the most widely used anti-cancer drugs and is a mainstay of treatment for children and adults with many types of brain and other solid tumors. …
A research collaboration between Griffith and the Malaghan Institute in Wellington, New Zealand has made the discovery that mitochondria are capable of passing through the healthy membrane of a host cell into defective tumour cells, possibly kicking off the rapid proliferation of tumour cells which is the hallmark of cancer. Until now each cell was believed to be a unique entity, with mitochondria and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) bound within the cell membrane. …