Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors are classified into functional and nonfunctional tumors by hormone secretion and clinical symptoms. Functional PNETs are mainly represented by insulinoma, which secrete insulin independent of glucose and cause hypoglycemia. The major genetic alterations in insulinomas are still unknown. …
A new finding by University of Pennsylvania scientists has identified key steps that trigger this disintegration of cellular regulation. Their discovery — that a protein called Exo70 has a split personality, with one form keeping cells under tight control and another contributing to the ability of tumors to invade distant parts of the body — points to new possibilities for diagnosing cancer metastasis. The research, published in the journal Developmental Cell, was conducted by a team of researchers from the School of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Biology; the Perelman School of Medicine’s pathobiology and laboratory medicine, medicine and genetics departments, and China’s Hangzhou Normal University School of Medicine. …
"Metastasis is what most threatens breast cancer patients, and we have found a way to stop the first part of the process in mice," says Andrew Ewald, Ph.D., assistant professor of cell biology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Before metastasis occurs, single cells on the edge of a tumor, termed leader cells, form protrusions into the surrounding tissue, like someone dipping a toe in to test the water before deciding to venture farther, Ewald says. If the conditions are right, the leader cells act as guides, with many tumor cells following behind, as they escape the confines of the tumor into the healthy tissue beyond. Full metastasis occurs when the cells succeed in migrating to a new location — the lungs, for example — and set up shop, creating a new tumor…
Precision medicine constitutes a different method of identifying best treatment options for patients. Instead of prescribing therapy based solely on the organ where the cancer originated, clinicians utilize genomic analysis for a more comprehensive approach. Through a rapid gene sequencing test, the tiniest details of a tumor biopsy are uncovered, sometimes revealing one or more mutations in the patient’s genes. It is the mutations themselves that can be targeted with new or existing drugs. …
The ongoing open-label phase 2 study presented at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting was designed to test the activity of brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) in relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) including B-cell cancers such as diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The antibody-toxin compound has been approved for treatment of relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma and anaplastic T cell lymphoma, and its success prompted the trial in NHL, said Eric Jacobsen, MD, of Dana-Farber, senior author of the study. First author is Nancy Bartlett, MD, of Washington University School of Medicine. …
The gene-gene interactions underlying CM had not been fully explored. The usual functional model uses substitution of alleles for estimating genetic effects but the estimators are confounded. The NOIA model estimates population effects of alleles and the resulting estimators are orthogonal and no longer confounded. In simulation studies, the NOIA model had higher power for finding interactions and main effects than the usual model. …
It is not uncommon for influenza viruses to develop genetic mutations that make them less susceptible to anti-flu drugs. However, these mutations usually come at a cost to the virus, weakening its ability to replicate and to spread from one person to another…
Oxidative stress is caused when oxygen-free radicals and other byproducts of cell metabolism build up in cells. …
People with type 2 diabetes have a higher rate of cancer development and recurrence compared to the general population. This study — published online by the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism — shows that widely prescribed anti-diabetes drugs can be linked to either an increased or decreased risk of cancer, depending on the type of medication prescribed. A team of researchers led by Sangeeta Kashyap, M.D., an endocrinologist and associate professor of medicine at Cleveland Clinic’s Endocrinology & Metabolism Institute, compared two groups of drugs commonly used to treat type 2 diabetes — insulin sensitizers and insulin secretagogues…
Previous studies suggest a role for the gut microbiota in colorectal cancer (CRC), but comprehensive epidemiological studies comparing samples from case and control subjects that also consider potential confounders and adjust for multiple comparisons inherently involved in microbiome analysis have not been reported. Jiyoung Ahn, Ph.D., from Department of Population Health at New York University School of Medicine in New York, NY, and colleagues compared samples and data from participants enrolled in a case-control study…