Tag Archives: natural

The scent of cancer: Detecting cancer with fruit fly’s antenna

In an article, published on 6 January in the international scientific journal Scientific Report by the Nature Publishing Group, the researchers of the University of Konstanz and the University La Sapienza in Rome, Italy, describe how characteristic patterns in the olfactory receptors of transgenic Drosophilae can be recorded when activated by scent. Not only could a clear distinction be made between healthy cells and cancer cells; moreover, groupings could be identified among the different cancer cells. "What really is new and spectacular about this result is the combination of objective, specific and quantifiable laboratory results and the extremely high sensitivity of a living being that cannot be matched by electronic noses or gas chromatography," explains Giovanni Galizia. Natural olfactory systems are better suited to detecting the very small differences in scent between healthy cells and cancer cells. …

Immune system development linked to leukaemia: Defences against infection can be weaknesses in causing cancer

Scientists have discovered a genetic signature that implicates a key mechanism in the immune system as a driving force for a type of childhood leukemia. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia or ALL is the most common form of childhood leukemia. A key factor driving this leukemia for one in four ALL patients is a mutation that causes two of their genes, ETV6 and RUNX1, to fuse together. This genomic alteration happens before birth and kick starts the disease. …

Computer-controlled table could direct radiotherapy to tumors while sparing vital organs

Sophisticated computer modelling could be used to slowly move the table — known as a couch — and a radiation source in three dimensions to direct radiation precisely to the patient’s tumor, researchers have suggested. At the moment, a radiotherapy table can be angled during treatment, but there is no way to synchronise its rotation with a moving radiation beam. But with some modifications, an upgraded system could move both the patient and the beam while reducing the radiation dose of healthy tissue…

New means of growing intestinal stem cells

The small intestine, like most other body tissues, has a small store of immature adult stem cells that can differentiate into more mature, specialized cell types. Until now, there has been no good way to grow large numbers of these stem cells, because they only remain immature while in contact with a type of supportive cells called Paneth cells. In a new study appearing in the Dec. …

Genetic variant that increases testicular cancer risk in caucasians evolved to protect light skin

"The genetic risk factor we identified is associated with one of the largest risks ever reported for cancer," says study author Douglas Bell of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences at the National Institutes of Health. "We think it might prove useful for identifying individuals at the highest risk for cancer or who might benefit from preventive or therapeutic treatments." About half of human cancers are associated with mutations in the p53 gene, which regulates vital cell functions as well as tumor formation in many tissues. Because p53 must activate a wide range of genes to influence cancer-related signaling pathways, Bell and Gareth Bond of the University of Oxford and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research speculated that cancer risk could be associated with genetic variation in p53-binding sites. …

Static killers? Natural killer cell activity can be influenced by phosphorylating a protein in NK cells

Since its discovery in the early 1990s, the protein STAT1 (Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 1) has been found to be central in passing signals across immune cells, ensuring that our bodies react quickly and appropriately to threats from viruses or other pathogens. Animals without STAT1 are also prone to develop cancer, suggesting that STAT1 is somehow involved in protection against malignant cells. The STAT1 protein is known to be phosphorylated on at least two positions: phosphorylation of a particular tyrosine (tyr-701) is required for the protein to enter the cell nucleus (where it exerts its effects), while subsequent phosphorylation of a serine residue alters the way it interacts with other proteins, thereby affecting its function. …