Tag Archives: study

Popular cancer drug target implicated in cardiovascular defects

The study, published September 8 in the journal Developmental Cell, reveals that CXCR7 binds to the ligand adrenomedullin. The UNC research suggests that this relationship is important because CXCR7 has become a popular candidate for cancer-drug developers. The UNC paper also provides a novel and unexpected role for CXCR7 in lymphatic vessels, which are largely understudied, but play critical roles in inflammation, edema, and tumor metastasis. “Our results suggest that inhibiting CXCR7 with a drug is also likely to influence the adrenomedullin peptide and may unexpectedly and negatively affect lymphatic vessels,” said senior study author Kathleen M. …

Dynamic duo takes out cellular trash: Research finds how dead cells are removed from body

Now, Salk scientists have discovered how two critical receptors on these garbage-eating cells identify and engulf dead cells in very different environments, as detailed in Nature Immunology. “To target these receptors as treatments for autoimmune disease and cancer, it’s important to know exactly which receptor is doing what. And this discovery tells us that,” says senior author of the work Greg Lemke, Salk professor of molecular neurobiology and the holder of Salk’s Fran�oise Gilot-Salk Chair. The garbage-disposing cells, known as macrophages, have arrays of receptors on their surface, two of which — called Mer and Axl — are responsible for recognizing dead cells in normal environments and inflamed environments, respectively…

Researchers discover key to making new muscles

There are two important processes that need to happen to maintain skeletal-muscle health. First, when muscle is damaged by injury or degenerative disease such as muscular dystrophy, muscle stem cells — or satellite cells — need to differentiate into mature muscle cells to repair injured muscles. Second, the pool of satellite cells needs to be replenished so there is a supply to repair muscle in case of future injuries. In the case of muscular dystrophy, the chronic cycles of muscle regeneration and degeneration that involve satellite-cell activation exhaust the muscle stem-cell pool to the point of no return. …

New antifungal as effective as existing drugs with fewer adverse events

“There is a growing need for new antifungal therapies like isavuconazole because serious fungal infections caused by Aspergillus and other molds are on the rise due to the increasing numbers of immunosuppressed patients, including those with active cancer. These infections are associated with high morbidity and mortality. If approved, isavuconazole has the potential to be an important new option for the treatment of these life-threatening fungal infections,” says Andrew Ullman of Julius Maximilians University in Wuerzburg, Germany, one of the researchers presenting data. Invasive fungal infections are important causes of morbidity and death for patients with hematological malignancies…

No association found between wearing bra, breast cancer — ScienceDaily

“There have been some concerns that one of the reasons why breast cancer may be more common in developed countries compared with developing countries is differences in bra-wearing patterns,” said Lu Chen, MPH, a researcher in the Public Health Sciences Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and a doctoral student in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Washington School of Public Health. “Given how common bra wearing is, we thought this was an important question to address. …

Soy supplementation adversely effects expression of breast cancer-related genes

The impact of soy consumption on breast cancer prevention and treatment is not clear although many women believe soy supplementation is beneficial based primarily on results from epidemiological studies. Moshe Shike, M.D., from the Department of Medicine at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, NY, and colleagues conducted a randomized placebo-controlled study of the effects of soy supplementation on gene expression and markers of breast cancer risk among women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. The study, run between 2003 and 2007 at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, enrolled a total of 140 patients who were randomized to either soy supplementation (soy protein) or placebo (milk protein), which lasted from the initial surgical consultation to the day before surgery (range=7-30 days). Tumor tissues from the diagnostic biopsy (pre-treatment) and at the time of resection (post-treatment) were then analyzed. …

Study identifies gene network behind untreatable leukemia, possible treatment target

Scientists from the Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute (CBDI) at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center report their results in a study posted online Sept. 4 by Cell Reports. The specific forms of AML and MDS in the current study involve deletions on the arm of a specific chromosome in blood cells (del(5q)…

Blood test for ‘nicked’ protein predicts prostate cancer treatment response — ScienceDaily

The study evaluated two groups of 31 men with prostate cancer that had spread and whose blood levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) were still rising despite low testosterone levels. Investigators gave each man either enzalutamide (Xtandi) or abiraterone (Zytiga) and tracked whether their PSA levels continued to rise, an indication that the drugs were not working. In the enzalutamide group, none of 12 patients whose blood samples tested positive for AR-V7 responded to the drug, compared with 10 responders among 19 men who had no AR-V7 detected. In the abiraterone group, none of six AR-V7-positive patients responded, compared with 17 responders among 25 patients lacking AR-V7. …