Tag Archives: council

New breast cancer test links immune ‘hotspots’ to better survival

Researchers used statistical software previously used in criminology studies of crime hotspots to track the extent to which the immune system was homing in and attacking breast cancer cells. The test, described in the journal Modern Pathology, could assess whether a woman’s immune system is holding a cancer at bay — and pick out those who will need intensive treatment to combat their more aggressive disease. Scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, analysed tumour samples from 245 women with a type of breast cancer called oestrogen receptor negative (ER negative), which is particularly hard to treat. …

New tool provides maps of protein interactions for 2,800 diseases

Scientists working in the Structural Bioinformatics and Network Biology Lab have included the more than 23,000 documented genetic mutations that affect the function of 2,000 proteins in an open-access web tool, and have positioned them on the map of known interactions between human proteins. dSysMap can be accessed free of charge at http://dsysmap.irbbarcelona.org, and scientists from around the world can add their data in an anonymous manner. Developed entirely at IRB Barcelona, dSysMap (“Disease-mutations Systemic Mapping”) provides molecular details about how mutations in certain proteins alter interactions with other proteins, thus affecting the correct funcion of cellular processes. The tool has explained, for example, why mutations in a single protein can cause two distinct diseases or why mutations in different proteins can trigger the same condition. …

New prostate cancer screening guideline recommends not using PSA test — ScienceDaily

“Some people believe men should be screened for prostate cancer with the PSA test but the evidence indicates otherwise,” states Dr. Neil Bell, member of the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care and chair of the prostate cancer guideline working group. “These recommendations balance the possible benefits of PSA screening with the potential harms of false positives, overdiagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer.” For men with prostate cancer diagnosed through PSA screening, between 11.3% and 19.8% will receive a false-positive diagnosis, and 40% to 56% will be affected by overdiagnosis leading to invasive treatment…

New ‘designer proteins’ in fight against Alzheimer’s, cancer

The team has developed an innovative process allowing them to generate a particular type of synthetic amino acid — and a particular type of designer protein — that has not been done before. The advance is announced by the Jamieson Research Group in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Leicester…

Are you as old as what you eat? Researchers learn how to rejuvenate aging immune cells

The two new studies, supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), could help to enhance our immunity to disease through dietary intervention and help make existing immune system therapies more effective. As we age our immune systems decline. Older people suffer from increased incidence and severity of both infections and cancer…

Scientists unlock key to blood vessel formation

Professor David Beech, of the School of Medicine at the University of Leeds, who led the research, said: “Blood vessel networks are not already pre-constructed but emerge rather like a river system. Vessels do not develop until the blood is already flowing and they are created in response to the amount of flow. This gene, Piezo1, provides the instructions for sensors that tell the body that blood is flowing correctly and gives the signal to form new vessel structures. …

Gene increases risk of breast cancer to one in three by age 70

In a study run through the international PALB2 Interest Group a team of researchers from 17 centres in eight countries led by the University of Cambridge analysed data from 154 families without BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations, which included 362 family members with PALB2 gene mutations. The effort was funded by the European Research Council, Cancer Research UK and multiple other international sources. Women who carried rare mutations in PALB2 were found to have on average a 35% chance of developing breast cancer by the age of seventy…

Sunscreens do not fully protect against the development of melanoma, mouse study suggests

The study demonstrates that sunscreen, even with a sun protection factor (SPF) 50, may not fully protect against the development of melanoma. According to the researcher at the UMH Berta López Sánchez-Laorden, sunscreen protects against immediate radiation damage including sunburn, but the radiation can still penetrate and damage the DNA of cells and cause cancer. Through the use of genetically modified mice particularly susceptible to melanoma, the researcher discovered that ultraviolet light causes mutations in the DNA of melanocytes in a gene called p53. …