Tag Archives: director

Scientists find estrogen promotes blood-forming stem cell function

The research, published in Nature, raises several intriguing possibilities for further investigation that might lead to improved treatments for blood cancers and increased safety and effectiveness of chemotherapy. Before the finding, blood-forming stem cells were thought to be regulated similarly in both males and females, according to the paper’s senior author, Dr. Sean Morrison, Director of CRI, Professor of Pediatrics, and the Mary McDermott Cook Chair in Pediatric Genetics at UT Southwestern Medical Center…

Research reveals structure of master regulator, new drug target for autism, cervical cancer

"Because the assembly of cells is like an elaborate tinker toy set in which the parts can be used in different combinations to serve various roles, E6AP normally functions in nerve cells to direct brain development and in a functionally related process termed neuronal plasticity which allows nerve cells to alter their patterns of communication with neighboring cells during learning," notes Arthur Haas, PhD, the Roland Coulson Professor and Chairman of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans and Director of the laboratory in which the work was performed. The research team included lead investigator Dr. Virginia Ronchi, a postdoctoral fellow, and her colleagues, Jennifer Klein and Dr. Daniel Edwards, all of whom work in Dr…

Researchers discover ovarian cancer biomarker

A CWRU research team led by Analisa DiFeo, an assistant professor of General Medical Science-Oncology at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, found that the biomarker miR-181a is a molecular driver of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). The research team also found that elevated levels of miR-181a in ovarian tumors are associated with chemotherapy resistance and disease progression. "By looking at the expression of this microRNA in tumor samples, we get an idea which women may respond to standard chemotherapy and which are at a high risk for recurrence," DiFeo said. "This helps guide treatment decisions and improve survival rates." In the past, researchers have been unable to predict how EOC patients will respond to treatment…

Systems medicine paves way for improved treatment for leukemia patients

A multi-disciplinary team of researchers at the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, FIMM, and the Helsinki University Central Hospital has developed a novel individualized systems medicine (ISM) strategy which enables selection of potentially effective cancer therapies for individual patients. Furthermore, this strategy helps in understanding and predicting drug resistance and may pave a path for individualized optimization of patient therapies in the clinic for various types of cancers. Many novel targeted drugs have been introduced to the clinic for cancer therapy, often guided by genomic clues on disease pathogenesis. Clinical treatment of cancer patients is, however, challenged by the fact that genomics is often not informative in selecting therapies to individual patients…

Novel agent set for unique clinical test in inflammatory breast cancer

The finding, published online this month in the Journal of Experimental Therapeutics and Oncology, has led to development of a phase 1/2 clinical trial at Kimmel Cancer Center to test the agent, Romidepsin (Istodax™), in combination with nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane™) chemotherapy for advanced inflammatory breast cancer (IBC). …