Tag Archives: control

Study revises theory of how PTEN, a critical tumor suppressor, shuts off growth signals

Today, scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) publish new evidence explaining precisely how the protein encoded by PTEN (called PTEN) works — specifically, how it is recruited to particular locations in our cells where pro-growth signals need to be shut off. The new evidence, assembled by a team led by CSHL Associate Professor Lloyd Trotman, contradicts a long-held assumption about PTEN function, and could help scientists design more effective drugs to counteract cancer’s hallmark trait, uncontrolled cellular growth…

Early recall rates decline after second round of lung cancer screening

In the United States the National Lung Cancer Screening Trial (NLST) showed that annual lung cancer screening of high-risk individuals with LDCT reduces lung cancer mortality by 20% and overall mortality by 7%. There are now multiple lung cancer screening trials ongoing throughout the world, but one concern is the high number of early repeat scans for suspicious findings that are in fact not lung cancer. …

More than 1.5 million cancer deaths averted during 2 decades of dropping mortality

Each year, the American Cancer Society compiles the most recent data on cancer incidence, mortality, and survival based on incidence data from the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics. The data are disseminated in two reports: Cancer Statistics 2015, published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, and its companion, consumer-friendly publication, Cancer Facts & Figures 2015. The reports also estimate the number of new cancer cases and deaths expected in the United States in the current year. Largely driven by rapid increases in lung cancer deaths among men as a consequence of the tobacco epidemic, the overall cancer death rate rose during most of the 20th century, peaking in 1991. …

Women with atypical hyperplasia are at higher risk of breast cancer

Atypical hyperplasia of the breast is a precancerous condition found in about one-tenth of the over 1 million breast biopsies with benign findings performed annually in the United States. Viewed under a microscope, atypia contains breast cells that are beginning to grow out of control (hyperplasia) and cluster into abnormal patterns (atypical)…

More than 1.5 million cancer deaths averted during 2 decades of dropping mortality — ScienceDaily

Each year, the American Cancer Society compiles the most recent data on cancer incidence, mortality, and survival based on incidence data from the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics. The data are disseminated in two reports: Cancer Statistics 2015, published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, and its companion, consumer-friendly publication, Cancer Facts & Figures 2015. The reports also estimate the number of new cancer cases and deaths expected in the United States in the current year. …

Half of premature colorectal cancer deaths due to socioeconomic inequality

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of cancer death for both men and women in the U.S. Historically, death rates were higher in those with higher socioeconomic status, in whites, and in northern states. Over the past few decades, though, that switched, with death rates now highest in persons with the lowest socioeconomic status, in blacks, and in southern states…

Lung cancer diagnosed before it is detected by imaging

The team of researchers led by Paul Hofman used a blood test developed during French research, which isolates all types of tumour cells from the bloodstream, without any loss, leaving them intact. The team studied a group of 245 people without cancer, including 168 patients at risk of later developing lung cancer because they had Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Participants systematically underwent the blood test and standard diagnostic imaging tests…

Why targeted drug doesn’t benefit patients with early-stage lung cancer

Oncologists use erlotinib to treat lung cancers that have a mutation in a gene called epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). The gene mutation causes EGFR to run like it has a stuck accelerator, and erlotinib blocks the overactive molecule. The study shows that while erlotinib effectively causes tumors to shrink — suggesting that the drug is helping — this drug also increases the aggressiveness of the tumor so that growth is accelerated when therapy ends. This study finds that this is due to a secondary and previously unknown effect of inhibiting EGFR…

Head injury causes immune system to attack brain, new study finds

To date, there are no effective treatments to prevent or reverse the damage sustained after brain injury. The researchers were testing the theory that blows to the head cause brain damage, in part, because of the breakdown of the blood-brain barrier, allowing the immune cells in the blood to come into contact with brain cells and destroy them. They hypothesized that mice missing a vital immune component would have less brain damage from trauma, and that a treatment which blocks a component of the immune system would prevent damage. …