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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. …

Drug induces morphologic, molecular, clinical remissions in myelofibrosis

"These are early results but they are promising, says the study’s lead author, Ayalew Tefferi, M.D. a hematologist at Mayo Clinic. "Some patients in our clinical trial taking imetelstat obtained dramatic responses and there have been some complete responses which is almost unheard of for drug therapy in this disease." Myelofibrosis is a chronic myeloid cancer in which bone marrow cells that produce blood cells develop and function abnormally. The result is the formation of scar tissue in the bone marrow (fibrosis), severe anemia that often requires transfusion, weakness, fatigue and an enlarged spleen and liver…

Social stigmas may contribute to African-American college students’ hesitation to breast-feed

"We need to start early with our breast-feeding education and exposure because women decide before they have children whether or not they will breast-feed," Urmeka Jefferson, assistant professor at the Sinclair School of Nursing, said. "We need to figure out how to encourage positive breast-feeding attitudes among young Black women and make them aware that breast-feeding is the normal, natural infant-feeding method." Jefferson surveyed African-American college students about their attitudes and exposure to breast-feeding and their intent to breast-feed future children. She found the majority of students knew the benefits of breast-feeding and had some level of previous exposure, such as friends or parents who had breast-fed their infants…

Hallmark for development of testicular tumors found in genes

In human spermatozoa, these tiny RNAs are epigenetically regulated (by changes in the genome that do not alter the DNA sequence, such as DNA methylation) and play a critical role in male germline development. Importantly, these RNAs have also been detected in human cancer cells. In a work published in the January 2014 issue of Epigenetics, which is entirely devoted to "Non-coding RNAs in Epigenetic Regulation," the researchers asked if in their natural functional context (the normal human testis) these small RNAs undergo aberrant epigenetic regulation, compromising their function and contributing to the transformation of cells into testicular tumor cells. …

Linking risk factors, disease origins in breast cancer

The epigenetic changes examined highlight different patterns in DNA methylation, which involves the chemical modification of DNA and acts in the control of gene expression. While DNA methylation is a normal and necessary epigenetic process, breast tumors exhibit altered methylation patterns compared to normal breast tissue. Accordingly, atypical DNA methylation marks are recognized to precede cancer initiation…