With a new technique, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have established a new strategy to help surgeons see the entire tumor in the patient, increasing the likelihood of a positive outcome. This approach relies on an injectable dye that accumulates in cancerous tissues much more so than normal tissues…
In a July 25, 2014, article in The Journal of Clinical Investigation online, the researchers show that when the proteasome, which is a protein complex that breaks down the proteins that regulate cellular processes, is pharmaceutically inhibited platelet production in human and mice cells was blocked. Platelets are cells that bind together and help induce clotting to stop bleeding. The researchers also show that Fasudil, a drug approved for use outside of the United States but not in this country, restored platelet counts in adult mice whose proteasome activity had been suppressed by administering bortezomib and by knocking out a particular gene. …
The test will enable doctors to rule out cancer in patients presenting with certain symptoms, saving time and preventing costly and unnecessary invasive procedures such as colonoscopies and biopsies being carried out. Alternatively, it could be a useful aid for investigating patients who are suspected of having a cancer that is currently hard to diagnose. Early results have shown the method gives a high degree of accuracy diagnosing cancer and pre-cancerous conditions from the blood of patients with melanoma, colon cancer and lung cancer. …
Researchers from Boston University School of Public Health and School of Medicine conducted a cross-sectional study of 235 women age 21 to 30 undergoing routine cervical cytology testing. HPV status and demographic and behavioral characteristics were self-reported and verified with electronic medical records. “Although data clearly indicate better immune responses and vaccine efficacy against both genital warts and cervical dysplasia when vaccination occurs before age 14, this study suggests that HPV vaccination may be effective in reducing abnormal Pap test results even after sexual debut,” explained co-author Rebecca Perkins, MD, MSc, assistant professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Boston University School of Medicine and a gynecologist at Boston Medical Center. At the time of the study, 41 percent had received at least one HPV vaccination; 97 percent of women were vaccinated after sexual debut. …
The findings come from a study that looked at squamocolumnar junction cells, or SCJ cells. These cells reside in the cervical canal and have been implicated as the origins of cervical cancer…
Researchers at the USDA/ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital have now created a mouse model providing the first in vivo evidence that epigenetic alterations alone can cause cancer. Their report appears in the Journal of Clinical Investigation…
In the past, surgical treatment for liver metastases was not considered an option for most patients, as the disease typically spreads to other organs. However, advances in surgical techniques along with new systemic therapies have made existing therapies more effective and opened the door to new therapeutic approaches. “Although there has been a great deal of excitement about the new medical therapies, which are clearly enormous advances, those are still not the answers for everyone,” said lead investigator Mark Faries, MD, FACS, Director of the Donald L. …
Encouraging sun exposure to get vitamin D to try to live longer is highly irresponsible. It is a well-established fact that UV radiation from sun or indoor tanning can cause cancer and numerous studies have demonstrated that exposure to UV radiation causes DNA damage in skin cells that can lead to skin cancer (melanoma and non-melanoma). 1,2 In fact, the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine (IOM) has concluded that while evidence links a person’s vitamin D level to their bone health, the evidence linking vitamin D with other health benefits is inconsistent, inconclusive, and insufficient.3 Vitamin D can be safely and easily obtained from a healthy diet that includes foods naturally rich in vitamin D, foods/beverages fortified with vitamin D, and/or vitamin D supplemets. …
Locally advanced pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate of any solid tumor, with a cumulative five-year survival rate of only 4 percent for all stages of disease. Surgery is rarely an option for patients because tumors often involve vital blood vessels. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy given concurrently remain the mainstay treatment, yet to-date, no treatment has had a significant impact on improving outcomes. “To move the needle forward toward prolonged survival and better treatment outcomes, our research team created a combined investigational regimen for patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer,” said Richard Tuli, MD, PhD, a radiation oncologist in the Department of Radiation Oncology and a member of the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute. …
The discovery is in part due to research into the genetics of humans’ most distant mammalian relative, the platypus. In a paper published today in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers characterize a genetic pathway — involving piRNA genes — that is turned on in ovarian cancer. “This pathway is important for the development of the ovaries in drosophila flies but little is known about its role in the mammalian ovary,” says lead author Associate Professor Frank Grützner, Genetics Lecturer and ARC Research Fellow with the University of Adelaide’s Robinson Research Institute and the School of Molecular and Biomedical Science. …