Tag Archives: king

Shining the soothing light to reduce canker sores in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

No effective preventative strategy is currently available for canker sore, but prospective trials of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) done in HNSCC patients undergoing chemoradiotherapy showed promising results. However, additional trials detected a high incidence of canker sore among patients, leaving the question of whether LLLT can effectively prevent canker sore still open. Now, a group of scientists led by Dr. Heliton Spindola Antunes at the National Cancer Institute (INCA) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has successfully performed a definitive trial showing that LLLT reduces the occurrence of canker sore in HNSCC patients undergoing concurrent chemoradiotherapy and improves patient’s quality of life…

Scientist uncovers internal clock able to measure age of most human tissues; Women’s breast tissue ages faster than rest of body

While earlier clocks have been linked to saliva, hormones and telomeres, the new research is the first to identify an internal timepiece able to accurately gauge the age of diverse human organs, tissues and cell types. Unexpectedly, the clock also found that some parts of the anatomy, like a woman’s breast tissue, age faster than the rest of the body. "To fight aging, we first need an objective way of measuring it. …

Female hormones key to breast, ovarian cancer in BRCA gene carriers

The study, carried out by researchers at the UCL Department of Women’s Cancer, found that abnormal levels of female hormones in the bloodstream could be the answer. The findings have already led to more research into novel ways of preventing cancers in women at risk. According to the results of the study, women with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations are exposed to different levels of the female hormones oestradiol and progesterone, which are already known to be risk-factors for breast and ovarian cancer. …

Can thermodynamics help us better understand human cancers?

In a new study, UCLA researchers analyzed the gene-expression profiles of more than 2,000 patients and were able to identify cancer-specific gene signatures for breast, lung, prostate and ovarian cancers. The study applied an innovative approach to gene-array analysis known as "surprisal analysis," which uses the principles of thermodynamics — the study of the relationship between different forms of energy — to understand cellular processes in cancer. …

Finding blood clots before they wreak havoc

There is no fast and easy way to diagnose these clots, which often remain undetected until they break free and cause a stroke or heart attack. However, new technology from MIT may soon change that: A team of engineers has developed a way to detect blood clots using a simple urine test. The noninvasive diagnostic, described in a recent issue of the journal ACS Nano, relies on nanoparticles that detect the presence of thrombin, a key blood-clotting factor…

Adolescent’s weight, socioeconomic status may affect cancer later in life

Zohar Levi, MD, MHA, of the Rabin Medical Center in Israel, and his colleagues measured body mass index in one million Israeli adolescent males who underwent a general health examination at an average age of 17 years from 1967 to 2005, and through the country’s cancer registry, identified which of the participants later developed cancer. Participants were followed from 2.5 to almost 40 years, with an average follow-up of 18.8 years. The researchers were amazed to find that events — particularly weight and socioeconomic status — up to the age of 17 years had a tremendous impact upon cancer development later in life. …

Football-shaped particles bolster body’s defense against cancer

"The shape of the particles really seems to matter because the stretched, ellipsoidal particles we made performed much better than spherical ones in activating the immune system and reducing the animals’ tumors," according to Jordan Green, Ph.D., assistant professor of biomedical engineering at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a collaborator on this work. A summary of the team’s results was published online in the journal Biomaterials on Oct. 5. According to Green, one of the greatest challenges in the field of cancer medicine is tracking down and killing tumor cells once they have metastasized and escaped from a tumor mass…