Tag Archives: boston

Novel non-invasive therapy prevents breast cancer formation in mice

The therapy emerged from a sophisticated effort to reverse-engineer gene networks to identify genes that drive cancer. The same strategy could lead to many new therapies that disable cancer-causing genes no current drugs can stop, and it also can be used to find therapies for other diseases…

Increased survival for metastatic prostate cancer with chemotherapy, hormone therapy together

The independent Data and Safety Monitoring Committee overseeing the trial recommended to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of NIH, that the study results be made public because a recent planned interim analysis showed prolongation in overall survival. Full details from this early analysis will be presented at a scientific meeting in 2014 and in a peer-reviewed publication. The study enrolled 790 men with metastatic prostate cancer between July 2006 and November 2012 in a trial known as E3805. …

International gene therapy trial for ‘bubble boy’ disease shows promising early results

Eight of the nine boys registered to date in the new trial are alive and well, with functioning immune systems and free of infections associated with SCID-X1, between nine and 36 months following treatment, according to Sung-Yun Pai, MD, a pediatric hematologist-oncologist from Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. …

U. S. citizenship linked to whether foreign-born non-citizens receive mammograms, cancer tests

According to the research, foreign-born female non-citizens living in the U.S. for less than five years have 69 percent lower odds of being screened for colorectal cancer within the previous five years and foreign-born non-citizens who have lived in the U.S. for at least five years have 24 percent lower odds, compared to U.S born citizens. Additionally, foreign-born non-citizens have significantly lower odds of receiving breast and cervical cancer screening…

Study finds drug helps against pancreatic cancer

The drug Zybrestat selectively targets and collapses tumor blood vessels, depriving the tumor of oxygen and making its cells die. In experiments involving a mouse model of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, Einstein scientists found that infusing mice with Zybrestat three times per week for four weeks resulted in significant antitumor activity compared with control mice given a placebo. The findings were presented in Boston at the American Association for Cancer Research-National Cancer Institute-European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics…

Newly discovered gene regulator could precisely target sickle cell disease

The researchers — led by Daniel Bauer, MD, PhD, and Stuart Orkin, MD, of Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s — reported their findings today in Science. Prior work by Orkin and others has shown that when flipped off, BCL11A causes red blood cells to produce fetal hemoglobin that, in SCD patients, is unaffected by the sickle cell mutation and counteracts the deleterious effects of sickle hemoglobin. BCL11A is thus an attractive target for treating SCD. …