The Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial which tested the efficacy of finasteride, a drug used for prostate cancer prevention. This study was conducted by SWOG — a cancer research cooperative group that designs and conducts multidisciplinary clinical trials…
There are three predominant cancers that affect women — breast, ovarian and womb cancer. Of the three, ovarian cancer is of the greatest concern as it is usually diagnosed only at an advanced stage due to the absence of clear early warning symptoms. Successful treatment is difficult at this late stage, resulting in high mortality rates. Ovarian cancer has increased in prevalence in Singapore as well as other developed countries recently…
The finding, reported by Whitehead Institute scientists this week in the journal Cell, lends new insights into tumor biology with significant implications for the diagnosis, prognosis, and management of cancer patients. Over the past several years, researchers in the lab of Whitehead Member Susan Lindquist have been investigating the role the transcription factor HSF1 plays in supporting malignancy. In normal cells, stressful conditions, including those caused by heat, hypoxia, and toxins activate HSF1, which serves to maintain protein homeostasis and helps the cells endure tough times. Cancer cells, however, are capable of hijacking this heat-shock response to their own benefit. …
Cancer drugs can be modified to specifically target tumour sites to help personalize cancer treatment. And while it is relatively easy to determine if the drugs have been delivered to the correct location, it is more difficult to monitor their therapeutic success. Now, a team led by Bin Liu from the A*STAR Institute of Materials Research and Engineering in Singapore, in collaboration with Ben Zhong Tang at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, has developed an anticancer drug with an inbuilt mechanism that shows if it is working. Platinum-based drugs are effective against many cancers, killing cells by triggering cellular suicide, or apoptosis…
“Cancer relapses and treatment resistance have always been among the most daunting challenges in cancer care,” said press briefing moderator Gregory Masters, MD, FACP, ASCO Expert and a medical oncologist at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center in Newark, Delaware. “The good news is that genomic medicine is helping to overcome these challenges by revealing new ways to target a cancer cell’s inner workings. …
The discovery is in part due to research into the genetics of humans’ most distant mammalian relative, the platypus. In a paper published today in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers characterize a genetic pathway — involving piRNA genes — that is turned on in ovarian cancer. “This pathway is important for the development of the ovaries in drosophila flies but little is known about its role in the mammalian ovary,” says lead author Associate Professor Frank Grützner, Genetics Lecturer and ARC Research Fellow with the University of Adelaide’s Robinson Research Institute and the School of Molecular and Biomedical Science. …
And with current obesity trends in the United States and especially in South Texas, that’s ominous. “I’m predicting an increase in multiple myeloma,” said Edward Medina, M.D., Ph.D., “and with the obesity problems we see in the Hispanic population, there could be a serious health disparity on the horizon.” Dr. Medina, a hematopathologist and assistant professor in the Department of Pathology at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, is looking at exactly how obesity causes an increased risk for myeloma…
source : http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140630124419.htm
source : http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140624092530.htm
source : http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140618122253.htm