Tag Archives: king

Gene can predict aggressive prostate cancer at diagnosis

The results reported in the journal of Clinical Cancer Research, a publication of the American Association of Cancer Research, indicate the KLK3 gene — a gene on chromosome 19 responsible for encoding the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) — is not only associated with prostate cancer aggression, but a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) on it is more apparent in cancer patients with GS7. Researchers have linked Gleason score, an important predictor of prostate cancer outcomes, to several clinical end points, including clinical stage, cancer aggression and survival. There has been much research associated with prostate cancer outcomes as well as GS7 prostate cancers, which is an intermediate grade of cancer accounting for 30 to 40 percent of all prostate cancers. “This is the first report that I am aware of that indicates a genetic variant can stratify GS7 prostate cancer patients,” said Jian Gu, Ph.D., associate professor at MD Anderson, and a key investigator on the study. …

Stochastic variations of migration speed between cells in clonal populations

A team of researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston has developed technologies for precision measurement of cell migration speed before and applied the new tool to study the variations of migration speed in population of cancer cells. This tool enabled comparisons between successive generations of cells with single cell resolution…

New molecule fights oxidative stress; May lead to therapies for cancer and Alzheimer’s

“Oxidative stress can cause damage to the building blocks of a cell, resulting in excessive cell proliferation, in the case of cancer or cell death, in the case of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s,” said Mark Hannink, a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and an investigator at the Bond Life Sciences Center at MU. “Finding the right balance is like walking a tightrope; our work has focused on finding ways to keep oxidative stress at bay.” Hannink partnered with High Point Pharmaceuticals LLC, a North Carolina-based firm, to find the right combinations of molecules to create an effective drug that fights free radicals. Using tools developed in his lab, Hannink and Kim Jasmer, a graduate student in Hannink’s lab, analyzed a group of molecules developed by the pharmaceutical company that could be good candidates for treating oxidative stress…

Immunotherapy could stop resistance to radiotherapy — ScienceDaily

The researchers, based at The University of Manchester and funded by MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, and Cancer Research UK, found that combining the two treatments helped the immune system hunt down and destroy cancer cells that weren’t killed by the initial radiotherapy in mice with breast, skin and bowel cancers. Radiotherapy is a very successful treatment for many forms of cancer, but in cancer cells that it doesn’t kill it can switch on a ‘flag’ on their surface, called PD-L1, that tricks the body’s defences into thinking that cancerous cells pose no threat. The immunotherapy works by blocking these ‘flags’ to reveal the true identity of cancer cells, allowing the immune system to see them for what they are and destroy them…

Immunotherapy could stop resistance to radiotherapy

The researchers, based at The University of Manchester and funded by MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, and Cancer Research UK, found that combining the two treatments helped the immune system hunt down and destroy cancer cells that weren’t killed by the initial radiotherapy in mice with breast, skin and bowel cancers. Radiotherapy is a very successful treatment for many forms of cancer, but in cancer cells that it doesn’t kill it can switch on a ‘flag’ on their surface, called PD-L1, that tricks the body’s defences into thinking that cancerous cells pose no threat. The immunotherapy works by blocking these ‘flags’ to reveal the true identity of cancer cells, allowing the immune system to see them for what they are and destroy them. The approach improved survival and protected the mice against the disease from returning. …

Eighty percent of bowel cancers halted with existing medicines

The study found that medicines called ‘JAK inhibitors’ halted tumour growth in bowel cancers with a genetic mutation that is present in more than 80 per cent of bowel cancers. Multiple JAK inhibitors are currently used, or are in clinical trials, for diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, blood cancers and myeloproliferative disorders. Bowel cancer is the second-most common cancer in Australia with nearly 17,000 people diagnosed every year, accounting for almost one out of 10 cancer-related deaths. Dr Toby Phesse, Dr Michael Buchert, Associate Professor Matthias Ernst and colleagues from Melbourne’s Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, in collaboration with Australian and international researchers, commenced the study while at the Melbourne-Parkville branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research…

Nivolumab shows signs of superior response rate compared to standard chemotherapy in advanced melanoma

“Previously-treated advanced melanoma patients have limited options,” says the study’s principal investigator, Professor Jeffrey Weber, Director of the Donald A. Adam Comprehensive Melanoma Research Center of Excellence at the Moffitt Cancer Centre, Tampa, Florida. Nivolumab is an antibody in a class of drugs called ‘checkpoint inhibitors’, that act to relieve a critical brake placed on the immune system by the tumour itself. The drug then reinvigorates patients’ anti-tumour immune response and promotes shrinkage of the tumour…

Novel compound prevents metastasis of multiple myeloma in mouse studies

The research involves a new approach to the challenge of cancer metastasis, the process by which tumors spread to and colonize distant parts of the body. Whereas research has traditionally focused on cancer cells themselves, scientists are increasingly studying the interactions between tumor cells and the tissues around them — the so-called microenvironment. …

Early Sign of Pancreatic Cancer identified by researchers

Although the increase isn’t large enough to be the basis of a new test for early detection of the disease, the findings will help researchers better understand how pancreatic cancer affects the rest of the body, particularly how it can trigger the sometimes deadly muscle-wasting disease known as cachexia. “Most people with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) [by far the most common form of cancreatic cancer] are diagnosed after the disease has reached an advanced stage, and many die within a year of diagnosis,” said Brian Wolpin, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber, co-senior author of the new study with Matthew Vander Heiden, MD, PhD, of MIT and Dana-Farber. “Detecting the disease earlier in its development may improve our ability to treat it successfully. In this study, we asked whether PDAC produces metabolic changes – changes in the way the body uses energy and nutrients – that can be detected before the disease is diagnosed.” The researchers utilized blood samples collected years earlier from 1,500 people participating in large health-tracking studies. …