Tag Archives: school

Newly identified immune receptor may activate B cells in autoimmunity

The research team found that people with a genetic variant present in approximately 15 percent of the world population can express an additional immune system receptor on their B cells, the cells that make antibodies. This additional receptor, called an Fc receptor, binds the antibodies made by B cells and plays a key role in regulating their production. Part of the immune system, antibodies can recognize invaders like bacteria and remove them from the body. …

Retinoblastoma dysfunction promotes pancreatic cancer cell growth, study shows

Murray Korc, M.D., the Myles Brand Professor of Cancer Research at the Indiana University School of Medicine and a researcher at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, and colleagues have shown that the retinoblastoma protein, a tumor suppressor, often malfunctions in pancreatic cancer. That dysfunction enables an inhibitory protein to promote pancreatic cancer growth. The research was published online today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. As a result of the dysfunctional retinoblastoma protein, pancreatic cancer cells lose their ability to be inhibited by transforming growth factor-beta, or TGF-β, which is a key negative regulator of cell proliferation, according to Dr…

Physicians who prefer hospice care for themselves more likely to discuss it with patients

"Having timely discussions with terminally-ill cancer patients to establish goals for end-of-life care is important to maximize the quality of patient care. But by and large we’re not doing a good job at having these discussions early on," says lead author Garrett Chinn, MD, MS, of the Massachusetts General Hospital Division of General Medicine. "We know that patients facing terminal illness often wish to spend their remaining days at home, surrounded by loved ones. Since end-of-life care in the U.S…

Helping cancer researchers make sense of deluge of genetic data

The tool, called the Gene Expression Barcode 3.0, is proving to be a vital resource in the new era of personalized medicine, in which cancer treatments are tailored to the genetic makeup of an individual patient’s tumor. Significant new improvements in the Gene Expression Barcode 3.0 are reported in the January issue of the journal Nucleic Acids Research, published online ahead of print. Senior author is Michael J. Zilliox of Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. …

Deep sequencing of breast cancer tumors predict outcomes after single dose of therapy

Results showed that through deep genome sequencing, a reduction in the most commonly mutated genes in breast cancer could be observed after just one dose of preoperative therapy. Deep sequencing is a process that involves sequencing the same region multiple times to identify mutations within tumors that have an importance in cancer evolution. These new findings were presented during the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. "Genomics is the new frontier of cancer research, and this study shows that we may be able to accurately determine what treatment methods will and will not be effective for individual patients after just one dose of medicine," said Lyndsay Harris, MD, study investigator and Director, Breast Cancer Program, UH Seidman Cancer Center and Professor of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. …

First step of metastasis halted in mice with breast cancer

"Metastasis is what most threatens breast cancer patients, and we have found a way to stop the first part of the process in mice," says Andrew Ewald, Ph.D., assistant professor of cell biology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Before metastasis occurs, single cells on the edge of a tumor, termed leader cells, form protrusions into the surrounding tissue, like someone dipping a toe in to test the water before deciding to venture farther, Ewald says. If the conditions are right, the leader cells act as guides, with many tumor cells following behind, as they escape the confines of the tumor into the healthy tissue beyond. Full metastasis occurs when the cells succeed in migrating to a new location — the lungs, for example — and set up shop, creating a new tumor…

Drug-antibody pair has promising activity in non-Hodgkin lymphoma

The ongoing open-label phase 2 study presented at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting was designed to test the activity of brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) in relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) including B-cell cancers such as diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The antibody-toxin compound has been approved for treatment of relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma and anaplastic T cell lymphoma, and its success prompted the trial in NHL, said Eric Jacobsen, MD, of Dana-Farber, senior author of the study. First author is Nancy Bartlett, MD, of Washington University School of Medicine. …

Can celebrity cancer diagnoses prompt quitting smoking?

In a study published this week in Preventive Medicine, researchers from San Diego State University, the Santa Fe Institute, the University of North Carolina and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that when celebrities publicly discuss their struggles with cancer diagnoses, the resulting media coverage prompts more smokers to search for information on quitting than events like New Year’s Day or World No Tobacco Day. Public health experts have long known these discussions spur others to get screened for cancer or consider the same treatments, but it was unclear whether these discussions also promoted cancer prevention behaviors, like quitting smoking. This question has evaded study because the method most commonly used to assess cancer-related behaviors — annual telephone surveys — isn’t fine-grained enough to tell researchers which events are influencing respondents’ answers. …