Tag Archives: physical

Sedentary behavior linked to recurrence of precancerous colorectal tumors

The majority of colorectal cancers arise from precursors called colorectal adenomatous polyps, or colorectal adenomas, which can be removed during a colonoscopy. Although there is extensive evidence supporting an association between higher overall levels of physical activity and reduced risk of colorectal cancer, few studies have focused on the impact of sedentary behavior on colorectal cancer risk. "Sedentary behavior is emerging as a risk factor for poor health," said Christine L…

Blood-pressure drug may help improve cancer treatment

"Angiotensin inhibitors are safe blood pressure medications that have been used for over a decade in patients and could be repurposed for cancer treatment," explains Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, director of the Steele Laboratory for Tumor Biology at MGH and senior author of the study. "Unlike anti-angiogenesis drugs, which improve tumor blood flow by repairing the abnormal structure of tumor blood vessels, angiotensin inhibitors open up those vessels by releasing physical forces that are applied to tumor blood vessels when the gel-like matrix surrounding them expands with tumor growth." Focusing on how the physical and physiological properties of tumors can inhibit cancer therapies, Jain’s team previously found that losartan improves the distribution within tumors of relatively large molecules called nanomedicines by inhibiting the formation of collagen, a primary constituent of the extracellular matrix…

Step closer to custom-building new blood vessels

The results appear online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "In demonstrating the ability to rebuild a microvascular bed in a clinically relevant manner, we have made an important step toward the construction of blood vessels for therapeutic use," says Sharon Gerecht, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Johns Hopkins University Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Physical Sciences-Oncology Center and Institute for NanoBioTechnology. "Our findings could yield more effective treatments for patients afflicted with burns, diabetic complications and other conditions in which vasculature function is compromised." Gerecht’s research group and others had previously grown blood vessels in the laboratory using stem cells, but barriers remain to efficiently producing the vessels and using them to treat patients. For the current study, the group focused on streamlining the new growth process. …

Cancer is a result of a default cellular ‘safe mode,’ physicist proposes

In this month’s special issue of Physics World devoted to the "physics of cancer," Paul Davies, principal investigator at Arizona State University’s Center for Convergence of Physical Sciences and Cancer Biology, explains his radical new theory. Davies was brought in to lead the centre in 2009 having almost no experience in cancer research whatsoever. …

New understanding of why anti-cancer therapy stops working at a specific stage

The problematic therapy investigated involves suppression of the protein mTOR (mammalian target Of Rapamycin). MTOR plays an important role in regulating how cells process molecular signals from their environment, and it is observed as strongly activated in many solid cancers…