Tag Archives: hopkins

Blood vessel growth in brain relies on a protein found in tumor blood vessels

A summary of the research appears in the journal Developmental Cell on Oct. 27. The mystery of the gene, TEM5, began in 2000 with research conducted by Brad St. Croix, Ph.D., working in the laboratory of Bert Vogelstein, M.D., a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and the Clayton Professor of Oncology, and Kenneth Kinzler, Ph.D., professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine…

Real-time tracking system developed to monitor dangerous bacteria inside body

“What we have produced is essentially a system that localizes the epicenter of infection and provides real-time tracking of bacterial activity, giving us rapid feedback on how the bacteria respond to antibiotics,” says principal investigator Sanjay Jain, M.D., an infectious disease specialist at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and director of the Center for Inflammation Imaging and Research at Johns Hopkins. Describing their work in the Oct. …

Drug regimen enough to control immune disease after some bone marrow transplants

Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists first used cyclophosphamide to prevent severe graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after bone marrow transplant involving haploidentical or “half-matched” transplants, a treatment first used in 2000 at the Cancer Center to treat leukemias and other blood cancers. The scientists began to use post-transplant cyclophosphamide in clinical trials of fully matched bone marrow transplants in 2004. Now, the new multi-center study confirms that the post-transplant cyclophosphamide is safe and effective for people who have received fully-matched bone marrow transplants. The shortened regimen, described online Sept. …

‘Prepped’ by tumor cells, lymphatic cells encourage breast cancer cells to spread — ScienceDaily

Writing in the Sept. 2 issue of Nature Communications, the researchers describe animal and cell-culture experiments that show increased levels of so-called signaling molecules released by breast cancer cells. These molecules cause lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) in the lungs and lymph nodes to produce proteins called CCL5 and VEGF. CCL5 attracts tumor cells to the lungs and lymph nodes, and VEGF increases the number of blood vessels and makes them more porous, allowing tumor cells to metastasize and infiltrate the lungs. …

Blood test for ‘nicked’ protein predicts prostate cancer treatment response — ScienceDaily

The study evaluated two groups of 31 men with prostate cancer that had spread and whose blood levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) were still rising despite low testosterone levels. Investigators gave each man either enzalutamide (Xtandi) or abiraterone (Zytiga) and tracked whether their PSA levels continued to rise, an indication that the drugs were not working. In the enzalutamide group, none of 12 patients whose blood samples tested positive for AR-V7 responded to the drug, compared with 10 responders among 19 men who had no AR-V7 detected. In the abiraterone group, none of six AR-V7-positive patients responded, compared with 17 responders among 25 patients lacking AR-V7. …

Blood test for ‘nicked’ protein predicts prostate cancer treatment response

The study evaluated two groups of 31 men with prostate cancer that had spread and whose blood levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) were still rising despite low testosterone levels. Investigators gave each man either enzalutamide (Xtandi) or abiraterone (Zytiga) and tracked whether their PSA levels continued to rise, an indication that the drugs were not working. In the enzalutamide group, none of 12 patients whose blood samples tested positive for AR-V7 responded to the drug, compared with 10 responders among 19 men who had no AR-V7 detected. In the abiraterone group, none of six AR-V7-positive patients responded, compared with 17 responders among 25 patients lacking AR-V7. …

Blood and saliva tests help predict return of HPV-linked oral cancers

“There is a window of opportunity in the year after initial therapy to take an aggressive approach to spotting recurrences and intensively addressing them while they are still highly treatable,” says Joseph Califano, M.D., professor of Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery, member of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, and medical director of the Milton J. Dance Jr. Head and Neck Center at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center. “Until now, there has been no reliable biological way to identify which patients are at higher risk for recurrence, so these tests should greatly help do so,” he adds. …