“Regardless of the type of solid tumor, the pattern of methylation is much different on the genomes of cancerous cells than in healthy cells,” says Andrew Feinberg, M.D., M.P.H., a professor of medicine, molecular biology and genetics, oncology, and biostatistics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. …
The study, published online August 24 in Nature Genetics, was authored by Michael Gatza, PhD, lead author and post-doctoral research associate; Grace Silva, graduate student; Joel Parker, PhD, director of bioinformatics, UNC Lineberger; Cheng Fan, research associate; and senior author Chuck Perou, PhD, professor of genetics and pathology. These researchers studied a variety of cancer causing pathways, which are the step-by-step genetic alterations in which normal cells transition into cancerous cells, including the pathway that govern cancer cell growth rates. A high growth rate of cells, also known as cell proliferation, is recognized to be associated with poor prognosis for breast cancer patients. Analyzing multiple types of genomic data, UNC Lineberger researchers were able to identify eight genes that were amplified on the genomic DNA level, and necessary for cell proliferation in luminal breast cancer, which is the most common sub-type of breast cancer…
Duke University assistant professor Emily Derbyshire and colleagues identified more than 30 enzyme-blocking molecules, called protein kinase inhibitors, that curb malaria before symptoms start. By focusing on treatments that act early, before a person is infected and feels sick, the researchers hope to give malaria — especially drug-resistant strains — less time to spread. The findings appear online and are scheduled to appear in a forthcoming issue of the journal ChemBioChem. Malaria is caused by a single-celled parasite called Plasmodium that spreads from person to person through mosquito bites. …
“There is no effective surveillance technique for the detection of early stage ovarian cancer, so the only effective way to prevent it and save lives is to identify women at risk,” said David A. Fishman, MD, Director of the Mount Sinai Ovarian Cancer Risk Assessment Program and Professor and Fellowship Director in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He recommends that women with a family history of ovarian and breast cancers get a formal genetic evaluation by a board-certified genetic counselor. For women who have tested positive for a BRCA mutation or are identified to be at a high risk for developing ovarian cancer, preventive surgery should be considered to remove the ovaries and fallopian tubes before ovarian cancer can develop…
The new study suggests that treatment with poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors, together with standard chemotherapy drugs, could be more effective in combating leukemia. In the same study, researchers found that the inactivation of RUNX genes causes DNA repair defects and promotes the development of leukemia and other cancers…
The study, published online August 24 in Nature Genetics, was authored by Michael Gatza, PhD, lead author and post-doctoral research associate; Grace Silva, graduate student; Joel Parker, PhD, director of bioinformatics, UNC Lineberger; Cheng Fan, research associate; and senior author Chuck Perou, PhD, professor of genetics and pathology. These researchers studied a variety of cancer causing pathways, which are the step-by-step genetic alterations in which normal cells transition into cancerous cells, including the pathway that govern cancer cell growth rates…
Work happening in a University of Alberta chemistry lab could help find new and more selective therapies for cancer. …
The discovery could help doctors identify people who are at the greatest risk for the highly contagious and potentially fatal lung disease, and it could point the way toward new treatment strategies for TB. The study, conducted in partnership with researchers from Harvard University School of Public Health and the University of Michigan School of Medicine, was published in the Aug. 20 online edition of the journal Science Translational Medicine…
Using breast cancer patient data taken from The Cancer Genome Atlas, molecular biologists Curt M. Horvath and Robert W. Tell used powerful computational and bioinformatics techniques to detect patterns of gene expression in two cancer subtypes. …
Cancer Research UK scientists have discovered that acral melanomas — the rare type of skin cancer that caused reggae musician Bob Marley’s death — are genetically distinct from other more common types of skin cancer, according to a study published in the journal Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research. Acral melanoma most often affects the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, nail-beds and other hairless parts of the skin. Unlike other more common types of melanoma, it’s not caused by UV damage from the sun. The team, from the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute at The University of Manchester, sequenced the tumours of five patients with acral melanoma and combined this with data from three other patients. …