Tag Archives: national

Scientists expose molecular secrets of bile duct cancers from different countries

The team’s findings may lead to new cholangiocarcinoma treatments, and have shed light on some of the oldest questions in cancer research. The group is also affiliated with the Genome Institute of Singapore and the Cancer Science Institute in Singapore. This work was published online in the scientific journal Nature Genetics. Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), is a cancer involving uncontrolled growth of the bile ducts, the part of the liver that drains bile into the intestine…

Research shows ability to do next-generation sequencing for patients with advanced cancers

Sequencing spells out, or decodes, the billions of letters of DNA and other genomic data so that clinicians can discover what genetic changes might lead to cancer. Better optics and faster computers, which are the hallmarks of today’s Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), are leading to genomic analysis that enables development of new drugs that target specific genetic mutations. However, because patients’ tumors often contain multiple abnormalities, their cancer often progresses beyond initial targeted therapies…

Researchers discover how cancer hides

"In recent years, several therapeutic medicines have been developed that spur a person’s own immune system to fight cancer," said Raul Torres, PhD, professor of immunology at National Jewish Health, and senior author on the paper, published in the October issue of Cancer Immunology Research. "Our findings suggest new targets and strategies for enlisting the immune system’s help in fighting cancer." Scientists believe the human immune system recognizes and destroys many cancerous cells before they develop into dangerous tumors. However, tumors also employ strategies to evade detection by the immune system…

Researchers identify molecule that could aid lung cancer detection, treatment

According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women in the United States, and 90 percent of lung cancer deaths among men and approximately 80 percent of lung cancer deaths among women are due to smoking. The NCI also estimates that approximately 373,489 Americans are living with lung cancer and its treatment costs approximately $10.3 billion in the United States each year…

Study finds drug helps against pancreatic cancer

The drug Zybrestat selectively targets and collapses tumor blood vessels, depriving the tumor of oxygen and making its cells die. In experiments involving a mouse model of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, Einstein scientists found that infusing mice with Zybrestat three times per week for four weeks resulted in significant antitumor activity compared with control mice given a placebo. The findings were presented in Boston at the American Association for Cancer Research-National Cancer Institute-European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics…

Physicists decode decision circuit of cancer metastasis

The study appears online this week in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "Cancer cells behave in complex ways, and this work shows how such complexity can arise from the operation of a relatively simple decision-making circuit," said study co-author Eshel Ben-Jacob, a senior investigator at Rice’s Center for Theoretical Biological Physics (CTBP) and adjunct professor of biochemistry and cell biology at Rice. "By stripping away the complexity and starting with first principles, we get a glimpse of the ‘logic of cancer’ — the driver of the disease’s decision to spread." In the PNAS study, Ben-Jacob and CTBP colleagues José Onuchic, Herbert Levine, Mingyang Lu and Mohit Kumar Jolly describe a new theoretical framework that allowed them to model the behavior of microRNAs in decision-making circuits…

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. …