Tag Archives: cancer-research

Fundamental differences found between human cancers, genetically engineered mouse models

These genetically engineered mouse models (which usually either overexpress a cancer-causing gene — or "oncogene" — or carry a deletion for a "tumor suppressor" gene) have been extensively used to understand human cancer biology in studies of drug resistance, early detection, metastasis, and cancer prevention, as well as for the preclinical development of novel targeted therapeutics. Cancer is a multistep process that involves a complex interplay between genetic and epigenetic alterations. Epigenetic modifications mediate changes in gene expression without altering the DNA sequence. …

Scientists create first large catalog of interactions between drugs, proteins

A Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) work, led by Alfonso Valencia, Vice-Director of Basic Research, and Michael L. Tress, a researcher on his team, brings together the biggest collection of interactions between pharmacological molecules, including other compounds, and proteins, in the latest edition of the journal Nucleid Acids Research…

Mouse study finds gut microorganisms may determine cancer treatment outcome

NCI scientists found that tumors of germ-free mice (mice completely lacking these microorganisms), or mice treated with antibiotics to deplete the gut of bacteria, were largely impaired in their ability to respond to immunotherapy that slows cancer growth and prolongs survival. The mice were also impaired in their ability to respond to mainstay chemotherapy drugs such as oxaliplatin and cisplatin. These findings in mice may underscore the importance of microorganisms in optimal cancer treatment outcomes in humans. …

Cancer treatment: A step towards personalized chronotherapy

An international study conducted on mice and coordinated by researchers from Inserm, CNRS and Universit Paris-Sud has paved the way towards personalized chronotherapy treatments. In an article published in the journal Cancer Research, the team has shown that the timing of optimal tolerance to irinotecan, a widely used anti-cancer drug, varies by 8 hours depending on the sex and genetic background of mice…

Scientists fingerprint single cancer cells to map cancer’s family tree

The technique can identify the founding mutations from which a tumour evolved and then uses computer software to draw a map of the cancer’s family tree. Scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute used DNA sequencing to identify a panel of mutations present across thousands of cancer cells in three patients with leukaemia…

Oxygen levels in tumors affect response to treatment

tumors with lower levels of oxygen — known as hypoxia — often respond less well to radiation therapy. There are several agents that can be given to patients before radiotherapy to reduce hypoxia, but these are not given as standard. Being able to measure how well-oxygenated an individual’s tumor is would give doctors a valuable way of identifying which patients might benefit from treatment with hypoxia reducing agents before radiotherapy. Hypoxia has previously been investigated by looking at the expression of certain genes, and Manchester researchers have come up with a genetic profile for tumors that should indicate the overall level of oxygenation…

Small RNA molecule in blood could help diagnose pancreatic cancer

In research published recently in the journal Oncogene, Murray Korc, M.D., the Myles Brand Professor of Cancer Research at the Indiana University School of Medicine and a researcher at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, showed that an RNA molecule — microRNA-10b, or miR-10b — is present at high levels in the blood of most pancreatic cancer patients. Consequently, miR-10b could serve as a diagnostic marker as well as help physicians determine the disease’s aggressiveness…

Researchers delve into the behavior of cohesins

Cohesins are protein complexes that join the two copies of each chromosome — called sister chromatids — to ensure that they are shared fairly between the daughter cells during cell division. In this way, each daughter cell receives exactly the same genetic information from the parent cell. Pds5 is a protein associated with cohesins; it binds cohesins along different chromosome regions. In vertebrates there are two variants of Pds5, Pds5A and Pds5B, not very well characterised to date…

New imaging technique can identify breast cancer subtypes, early treatment response

"The process of targeted drug development requires assays that measure drug target engagement and predict the response (or lack thereof) to treatment," said Alex Walsh, a graduate student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. "We have shown that optical metabolic imaging (OMI) enables fast, sensitive, and accurate measurement of drug action. Importantly, OMI measurements can be made repeatedly over time in a live animal, which significantly reduces the cost of these preclinical studies." Human cells undergo extensive chemical reactions called metabolic activity to produce energy, and this activity is altered in cancer cells. When cancer cells are treated with anticancer drugs, their metabolic activity changes. …