During the four-year Ella Binational Breast Cancer Study, scientists assessed the association between reproductive factors and tumors subtypes in 1,041 Mexican and Mexican-American female cancer patients. …
The study, published August 23, 2013 in the online version of the journal Cancer by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), is the first to compare the spectrum of cancer-related gene mutations in the two main subtypes of cervical cancer — adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. In tests on 80 cervical tumor samples, the investigators found high rates of mutations in two genes: PIK3CA and KRAS. While PIK3CA mutations appeared in both subtypes, KRAS mutations were found only in adenocarcinomas. By linking their findings to data on patients’ treatment and survival, researchers found that PIK3CA mutations are associated with a shorter survival period: patients whose tumors carried these mutations lived a median of 67 months after diagnosis compared with 90 months for patients whose tumors lacked the mutations…
“Local delivery of therapeutic agents into the breast, through intra-nipple injection, could diminish the side effects typically observed with systemic chemotherapy—where the toxic drugs pass through all of the tissues of the body,” said Dr. Silva Krause, one of the researchers behind the experiment, “It also prevents drug breakdown by the liver, for example, which can rapidly reduce effective drug levels.” According to Silva, she and her colleagues have already begun experimentation in applying the method. “The authors have utilized this technique to inject a new nanoparticle-based therapeutic that inhibits a specific gene that drives breast cancer formation,” said Silva, “This targeted treatment was shown to prevent cancer progression in mice that spontaneously develop mammary tumors, [and] is currently in review in Science Translational Medicine.” In order to better communicate their procedure, Silva and her colleagues decided to publish with JoVE. …
The device, believed to be the first to pair these functions, uses the advanced electronics material graphene oxide. In clinics, such a device could one day help doctors diagnose cancers, give more accurate prognoses and test treatment options on cultured cells without subjecting patients to traditional biopsies. "If we can get these technologies to work, it will advance new cancer drugs and revolutionize the treatment of cancer patients," said Dr…
Cells are able to degrade damaged molecules as well as entire areas of cells by self-digestion and use the resulting degradation products to gain energy and to produce new molecules or parts of cells. This process of self-digestion is called autophagy and can be considered a renovation of the cell. Energy production through autophagy plays an important role for cells when they are lacking nutrients, oxygen or growth factors. A team of researchers of the University of Bern under the direction of Hans-Uwe Simon of the Institute of Pharmacology has now found out that a reduced self-digestion of tumour cells may contribute to the development of a melanoma…
RNA interference is a natural process by which RNA molecules inhibit gene expression, but it can also be used by scientists to block a gene’s function and look for those that contribute to certain diseases. "For years, fruit flies and worms have been great model organisms because of the ability to carry out rapid genetic screens," says Elaine Fuchs, Rebecca C…
Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have found that epigenetic factors play a role in senescence. Epigenetic factors act on the structures in which genes reside, called chromatin. They found that senescent cells appear to undergo changes in their chromatin and find similar changes in cells that are prematurely aging. Their observations take place deep within cells — inside the chromatin of a cell’s nucleus. …
Genes that suppress tumors can be deactivated by the attachment of a methyl group to a specific DNA sequence — cytosine next to guanine — in their promoter region. The methyl group prevents the gene from being used as a template for protein synthesis and reduces the capacity of the cell to control its own proliferation…
Researchers from the University of Nottingham have shown that H. …
The new research, performed in animals, is not ready for clinical use in humans. However, the approach, making use of a key protein to control immune function, lends itself to further study using candidate drugs that employ the same mechanisms…