Tag Archives: scientific

Breast cancer recurrence: Study provides insight

Around 5,000 cases of DCIS, a condition where cancerous cells are contained within the milk ducts of the breast, are diagnosed each year in the UK, with two thirds diagnosed through breast screening. If left untreated, up to half of DCIS cases could progress into invasive breast cancer, but it is not possible to say which ones, so all women are offered treatment. This usually involves breast-conserving surgery (lumpectomy) and, to reduce the risk of the cancer returning, radiotherapy to kill any remaining cancer cells. However, even with treatment up to one in five patients will see their DCIS come back, either as DCIS or as invasive breast cancer. …

Cushing’s syndrome: Researchers characterize new tumor syndrome

The ARMC5 gene was discovered by independent workgroups studying benign tumors — so-called adrenal adenomas — in connection with Cushing’s syndrome. In this disease, the body produces too much of the hormone cortisol. Now, for the first time, a mutation of ARMC5 has been characterized as the cause behind the growth of meningeal tumors. …

Stochastic variations of migration speed between cells in clonal populations

A team of researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston has developed technologies for precision measurement of cell migration speed before and applied the new tool to study the variations of migration speed in population of cancer cells. This tool enabled comparisons between successive generations of cells with single cell resolution…

Immunotherapy could stop resistance to radiotherapy — ScienceDaily

The researchers, based at The University of Manchester and funded by MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, and Cancer Research UK, found that combining the two treatments helped the immune system hunt down and destroy cancer cells that weren’t killed by the initial radiotherapy in mice with breast, skin and bowel cancers. Radiotherapy is a very successful treatment for many forms of cancer, but in cancer cells that it doesn’t kill it can switch on a ‘flag’ on their surface, called PD-L1, that tricks the body’s defences into thinking that cancerous cells pose no threat. The immunotherapy works by blocking these ‘flags’ to reveal the true identity of cancer cells, allowing the immune system to see them for what they are and destroy them…

Immunotherapy could stop resistance to radiotherapy

The researchers, based at The University of Manchester and funded by MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, and Cancer Research UK, found that combining the two treatments helped the immune system hunt down and destroy cancer cells that weren’t killed by the initial radiotherapy in mice with breast, skin and bowel cancers. Radiotherapy is a very successful treatment for many forms of cancer, but in cancer cells that it doesn’t kill it can switch on a ‘flag’ on their surface, called PD-L1, that tricks the body’s defences into thinking that cancerous cells pose no threat. The immunotherapy works by blocking these ‘flags’ to reveal the true identity of cancer cells, allowing the immune system to see them for what they are and destroy them. The approach improved survival and protected the mice against the disease from returning. …

Biochemists solve ‘address problem’ in cells that leads to lethal kidney disease

Led by Carla Koehler, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry in the UCLA College, the researchers identified a compound called dequalinium chloride, or DECA, that can prevent a metabolic enzyme from going to the wrong location within a cell. Ensuring that the enzyme — called alanine: glyoxylate aminotransferase, or AGT — goes to the proper “address” in the cell prevents PH1. The findings were published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and will appear later in the journal’s print edition. …