Tag Archives: national-cancer

Tipping the balance between senescence, proliferation

In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Abdul Mondal and colleagues at the National Cancer Institute evaluated the expression of these two p53 isoforms in T lymphocytes from healthy donors and donors with lung cancer. In healthy patients, the authors observed an age dependent accumulation of senescent cells and that these cells had an increase in p53β compared to Δ133p53. In lung tumor-associated cells, there was a higher level of the Δ133p53 isoform. …

Proteins that deliver leucine to prostate cancer cells are therapeutic targets

To investigate the function of LATs in prostate cancer, Qian Wang, Ph.D., of the Origins of Cancer Laboratory, Centenary Institute, Sydney, Australia, and colleagues studied LAT3 expression in tissue samples from prostate cancer patients, analyzed the function of LATs in cancer cells in vitro, used microarray data to determine which genes and pathways are associated with LAT function, and assessed the role of LAT1 and LAT3 in tumor formation, growth, and metastasis in mice. The researchers found that LAT3 was expressed at all stages of prostate cancer and that inhibition of LAT proteins inhibits nutrient signaling pathways and over 100 metastasis-related genes, including E2F transcription factors, resulting in cell cycle inhibition. In mice injected with prostate cancer cells, tumor formation, metastasis, and cell cycle progression were all inhibited when the LAT1 or LAT3 gene was knocked out. The authors conclude that "Targeting LAT transporters, thereby inhibiting leucine uptake, may offer a new therapeutic opportunity for metastatic CRPC, affecting tumor growth and metastasis through inhibition of M-phase cell cycle and mTORC1 signaling pathways." Wang et al…

Link between omega-3 fatty acids and increased prostate cancer risk confirmed

Published July 11 in the online edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the latest findings indicate that high concentrations of EPA, DPA and DHA — the three anti-inflammatory and metabolically related fatty acids derived from fatty fish and fish-oil supplements — are associated with a 71 percent increased risk of high-grade prostate cancer. The study also found a 44 percent increase in the risk of low-grade prostate cancer and an overall 43 percent increase in risk for all prostate cancers. The increase in risk for high-grade prostate cancer is important because those tumors are more likely to be fatal. The findings confirm a 2011 study published by the same Fred Hutch scientific team that reported a similar link between high blood concentrations of DHA and a more than doubling of the risk for developing high-grade prostate cancer. …

Single men, smokers at higher risk for oral human papillomavirus infection

The study results appeared in the July issue of The Lancet. HPV infection is known to cause virtually all cervical cancers, most anal cancers and some genital cancers. It has recently been established as a cause of the majority of oropharyngeal cancers, a malignancy of the tonsils and base of tongue. HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer is rare, but rates have been increasing rapidly, especially among men…