As technologies and treatments advance, the number of childhood cancer survivors is growing. In fact, it is estimated that there are more than 350,000 survivors in the U.S. As these children grow into adulthood and their care is transitioned to adult medicine providers, Suh’s study has shown that many internists don’t feel prepared to provide the care and monitoring necessary for these patients. …
"For the first time, we know what it will take to draw the complete genomic picture of human cancer," said Broad Institute founding director Eric Lander, a senior co-author of the paper. "That’s tremendously exciting, because the knowledge of genes and their pathways will highlight new, potential drug targets and help lead the way to effective combination therapy." Over the past 30 years, scientists had found evidence for about 135 genes that play causal roles in one or more of the 21 tumor types analyzed in the study. The new report not only confirms these genes, but, in one fell swoop, increases the catalog of cancer genes by one-quarter. It uncovers 33 genes with biological roles in cell death, cell growth, genome stability, immune evasion, as well as other processes…
Scientists have sequenced the genome of the world’s oldest continuously surviving cancer, a transmissible genital cancer that affects dogs. This cancer, which causes grotesque genital tumors in dogs around the world, first arose in a single dog that lived about 11,000 years ago. The cancer survived after the death of this dog by the transfer of its cancer cells to other dogs during mating…
The researchers investigated cancer stem cell numbers in oral cancers associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) and in oral cancers not associated with the virus. Typically, patients with HPV-positive oral cancer respond better to therapy and have a more promising prognosis than patients with HPV-negative tumors. The latter are usually associated with tobacco and alcohol use…
The landscape of genetic testing has broadened to include a range of diseases, and demand for testing and counseling has greatly increased because of direct-to-consumer marketing, says the study’s lead investigator, Marc Schwartz, PhD, co-leader of Georgetown Lombardi’s Cancer Prevention and Control Program. "It’s important that all people interested in testing have access to thorough information so they can consider the implications of test results and interpret them in the context of family history," says Schwartz, who is also co-leader of the Fisher Center for Familial Cancer Research at Georgetown. "Counseling on the phone reduces costs and expands genetic counseling and testing access to rural areas, where counseling isn’t always available." While this study was conducted with women considering testing for mutations in the breast or ovarian cancer genes BRCA1 and/or BRCA2, the findings "may extend to genetic counseling for other hereditary cancers and complex conditions in adults such as heart disease," says co-author Beth N. …
source : http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140109175454.htm
source : http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140117090133.htm
“In previous findings published over the past 10 years, our teams have described key mechanisms in these critical proteins,” said Khalid Sossey-Alaoui, PhD, Department of Molecular Cardiology, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic. “A key component in the deadly metastatic potential of TNBC tumors is that they spread through tissues outside the breast very quickly. The two proteins that we studied, WAVE3 and TGF-β, when together, promote tumor aggressiveness.” “We found important biological implications,” said William Schiemann, PhD, an associate professor, Division of General Medical Sciences-Oncology, Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, and co-leader of the Breast Cancer Program at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center…
Cytology screening to prevent cervical cancer is a medical success story and examinations have proven to be an effective way to reduce deaths from cervical cancer. However, the risk of cervical cancer is not eliminated when abnormal cells are detected and removed and as such women are asked to participate in follow-up programs. No prior study has investigated how aging affects the risk of death from cervical cancer after treatment of CIN3. Researchers from Sahlgrenska University Hospital and Karolinska Institute in Sweden therefore aimed to investigate how age affected this risk…
"We have made steady progress against the burden of many cancers for decades," said principal investigator Samir Soneji, PhD, assistant professor for Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, a member of Norris Cotton Cancer Center. "As fewer and fewer people die from heart disease, stroke, and accidents, more and more people are alive long enough to be at risk of developing and dying from cancer." Between 1970 and 2008, mortality rates from heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and accidents declined 62 percent, 73 percent, and 38 percent, respectively. In the same period, cancer mortality rates declined just 12 percent…