Tag Archives: major

New family of proteins linked to major role in cancer

A major new study in the journal Nature sets out the structure of the new family, called glutamate intramembrane proteases – the founding member of which plays a critical role in transforming healthy cells into cancer cells. The research, funded by Cancer Research UK and conducted by scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, defined the structure of a protein called Rce1, and established it as the first known member of a whole new protein family. …

Cancer-fighting technology progressing well

PNP confirmed that it has completed the first three cohorts of its Phase I clinical trial and is now recruiting for the fourth cohort. The company is looking ahead to Phase II trials and seeking an appropriate partner in the pharmaceutical industry. "We are pleased with the progress made by the product thus far," said William B. Parker, Ph.D., senior research fellow at Southern Research Institute. …

Link between allergies, increased risk of blood cancers in women

Notably, the study did not find the same association in men, which suggests a possible gender-specific role in chronic stimulation of the immune system that may lead to the development of hematologic cancers. The findings are published online ahead of the December print issue of the American Journal of Hematology. "To the best of our knowledge, ours is the first study to suggest important gender differences in the association between allergies and hematologic malignancies," wrote first author Mazyar Shadman, M.D., M.P.H., a senior fellow in the Clinical Research Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. …

Tiny antisense molecules increase ‘good cholesterol’ levels in obese primates

"We have found that targeting both members of the miR-33 microRNA family with a tiny, 8-nucleotide anti-microRNA can increase HDL levels by almost 40 percent," says Anders Näär, PhD, of the MGH Center for Cancer Research, who led the study. "This sets the stage for new therapeutic strategies to treat cardiovascular disease in humans and provides a template for targeting other disease-associated microRNA families." Major regulators of gene expression, microRNAs are segments made up of 20- to 24-nucleotides that bind to complementary strands of messenger RNA, blocking their translation into proteins. A 2010 study led by Näär identified two related microRNAs — miR-33a and miR-33b — that inhibit a protein called ABCA1, which is essential for both the generation of HDL and for the transport of lipids to the liver. …

Obesity a major risk factor in developing basal-like breast cancer

In a study published online by the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, a team led by Liza Makowski, assistant professor with the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Sneha Sundaram, PhD, a post-doctoral fellow in the Makowski Lab, outlined the biological mechanisms where obesity can create a favorable environment for the growth of basal-like breast cancer tumors. "Obesity is widespread and is one of the few risk factors for breast cancer that we may be able to control, hence our intention in this study was to better understand the molecular mechanisms and/or biomarkers of obesity-related basal like breast cancer that could impact disease prevention," said Dr…

Study improves detection of biomarkers to predict lung cancer

One of the biggest challenges in oncological medicine is to detect lung cancer earlier enough to allow treatment because now the location of these tumors implies a metastasis in about 75% of cases. This research has confirmed that the presence of a protein called C4d "is associated with a mortality increase of people whose tumors contain it, and also the levels of this marker are reduced after surgical removal of the cancer," said Carlos Camps, also a researcher of the University General Hospital of Valencia Research Foundation. This protein "may be a biomarker for early detection and treatment of lung cancer because it would diagnose those people at increased risk for this disease, but no symptoms," adds the scientist Eloisa Jantus- Lewintre, co-author of the work and belonging to General Hospital Foundation…

Researchers help make pediatric eye cancer easier to detect

Although children in the United States who are treated for retinoblastoma have a 95 percent survival rate that figure drops below 50 percent for children in developing countries. However, surviving retinoblastoma is just the first hurdle. Typically, "survivors experience moderate to severe vision loss" and in some cases loss of both eyes, but early detection and treatment can increase the chances of survival and vision preservation…