Tag Archives: california

Radiation exposure linked to aggressive thyroid cancers, researchers confirm for the first time

Researchers examined thyroid cancers diagnosed up to two decades after the Chernobyl accident and found that higher thyroid radiation doses estimated from measurements taken shortly after the accident were associated with more aggressive tumor features. “Our group has previously shown that exposures to radioactive iodine significantly increase the risk of thyroid cancer in a dose-dependent manner. The new study shows that radiation exposures are also associated with distinct clinical features that are more aggressive,” said the paper’s first author, Lydia Zablotska, MD, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at UC San Francisco (UCSF). The paper will be published online in the journal Cancer…

With three first-in-human trials, therapeutic stem cell science takes a bold step

The procedure, conducted on Sept. 30 under the auspices of the Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center at UC San Diego Health System and in collaboration with Neuralstem, Inc., a Maryland-based biotechnology firm, is the first of four in the Phase I clinical trial. …

Genetic variant protects some Latina women from breast cancer — ScienceDaily

The variant, a difference in just one of the three billion “letters” in the human genome known as a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), originates from indigenous Americans and confers significant protection from breast cancer, particularly the more aggressive estrogen receptor-negative forms of the disease, which generally have a worse prognosis. …

Human cancer prognosis related to newly identified immune cell

The research is published online October 16, 2014 in the journal Cancer Cell. Molecules associated with these cells, newly identified by the UCSF researchers, could be the focus of new immunotherapies that are more precisely targeted than current immunotherapies now in clinical trials, said Matthew Krummel, PhD, professor of pathology at UCSF and the leader of the study. In fact, the UCSF researchers concluded that the presence of these cells may be the reason current immunotherapies aimed at boosting T lymphocyte responses have any effectiveness whatsoever. Krummel’s lab team depleted the population of these already rare cells in mice and demonstrated that the immune system was then unable to control tumors, even when the mice were given immunotherapeutic treatments…

Better way to track emerging cell therapies using MRIs

In a paper published September 17 in the online journal Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh and elsewhere describe the first human tests of using a perfluorocarbon (PFC) tracer in combination with non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to track therapeutic immune cells injected into patients with colorectal cancer. “Initially, we see this technique used for clinical trials that involve tests of new cell therapies,” said first author Eric T. Ahrens, PhD, professor in the Department of Radiology at UC San Diego…

Radiation therapy does not increase risk of lymphedema in node-negative breast cancer patients, study suggests — ScienceDaily

The original NSABP B-32 study was a randomized trial of sentinel node biopsy (SNB) versus SNB + axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) in 5,611 women with clinically node-negative breast cancer. The study was initiated to determine if SNB was as effective as ALND with fewer side effects. Although designed to assess the impact of type of axillary surgery specifically on lymphedema risk, the NSABP B-32 trial also provided the opportunity to evaluate the impact of radiation therapy (RT) on lymphedema risk. …

Enzyme controlling metastasis of breast cancer identified

“The take-home message of the study is that we have found a way to target breast cancer metastasis through a pathway regulated by an enzyme,” said lead author Xuefeng Wu, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at UC San Diego. The enzyme, called UBC13, was found to be present in breast cancer cells at two to three times the levels of normal healthy cells. Although the enzyme’s role in regulating normal cell growth and healthy immune system function is well-documented, the study is among the first to show a link to the spread of breast cancer…

Enzyme controlling metastasis of breast cancer identified — ScienceDaily

New mouse model points to therapy for liver disease

Development of effective new therapies for preventing or treating NASH has been stymied by limited small animal models for the disease. In a paper published online in Cancer Cell, scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine describe a novel mouse model that closely resembles human NASH and use it to demonstrate that interference with a key inflammatory protein inhibits both the development of NASH and its progression to liver cancer. “These findings strongly call for clinical testing of relevant drugs in human NASH and its complications,” said senior author Michael Karin, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology in UC San Diego’s Laboratory of Gene Regulation and Signal Transduction. “Our research has shown that, at least in this mouse model, chemical compounds that include already clinically approved drugs that inhibit protein aggregation can also be used to prevent NASH caused by a high fat diet.” The increasing prevalence of NAFLD is linked to the nation’s on-going obesity epidemic. …

Prostate cancer diagnosis improves with MRI technology — ScienceDaily

An ultrasound machine provides an imperfect view of the prostate, resulting in an under-diagnosis of cancer, said J. Kellogg Parsons, MD, MHS, the UC San Diego Health System urologic oncologist who, along with Christopher Kane, MD, chair of the Department of Urology and Karim Kader, MD, PhD, urologic oncologist, is pioneering the new technology at Moores Cancer Center. “With an ultrasound exam, we are typically unable to see the most suspicious areas of the prostate so we end up sampling different parts of the prostate that statistically speaking are more likely to have cancer,” said Parsons, who is also an associate professor in the Department of Urology at UC San Diego School of Medicine. “The MRI is a game-changer…