Tag Archives: study

Surgery beats chemotherapy for tongue cancer

This is contrary to protocols for larynx cancer, in which a single dose of chemotherapy helps determine which patients fare better with chemotherapy and radiation and which patients should elect for surgery. In larynx cancer, this approach, which was pioneered and extensively researched at U-M, has led to better patient survival and functional outcomes. But this new study, which appears in JAMA Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, describes a clear failure. "To a young person with tongue cancer, chemotherapy may sound like a better option than surgery with extensive reconstruction. …

Protein links liver cancer with obesity, alcoholism, hepatitis

In a new study, University of Iowa researchers have identified an unexpected molecular link between liver cancer, cellular stress, and these health problems that increase the risk of developing this cancer. The study, published Dec. 19 in the journal PLOS Genetics, shows that a protein called CHOP, which had previously been thought to generally protect against cancer, actually promotes liver cancer in mice and may do the same in humans. "Obesity, alcoholism, and viral hepatitis are all known independently to cause cellular stress and to induce expression of CHOP," says Thomas Rutkowski, Ph.D., assistant professor of anatomy and cell biology in the UI Carver College of Medicine and senior study author…

Researchers find potential new treatment approach for pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive cancer with poor prognosis and limited treatment options and is highly resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. But researchers believe they have found an effective strategy for selectively killing pancreatic cancer while sparing healthy cells which could make treatment more effective. …

New role for milk: Delivering polyphenols with anti-cancer activity

"These results support a new role for milk as an ideal platform for delivery of bioactive compounds and opens the door to a new generation of dairy products providing additional benefits to human health," say authors Sanaz Haratifar and Milena Corredig, of the Department of Food Science and Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences of the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. The majority of extractable polyphenols in tea are flavan-3-ols, commonly referred to as catechins. EGCG is the major catechin found in tea. Tea polyphenols have been shown to inhibit tumor formation, reduce cancer cell proliferation, increase normal cell death (apoptosis), and/or suppress the formation of new blood vessels feeding tumors (angiogenesis)…

New compound could reverse loss of muscle mass in cancer, other diseases

"Age-related loss of muscle mass is a major contributing factor to falls, broken bones, and the loss of mobility," says co-corresponding author David Glass of Novartis, Cambridge, MA, one of the compound’s developers, along with first author Estelle Trifilieff, also of Novartis. "This study illustrates that we may have a powerful tool to prevent muscle wasting and promote growth." The new compound (BYM338) acts to prevent muscle wasting by blocking a receptor that engages a cellular signaling system that exists to put the brakes on muscle development when appropriate. But sometimes those brakes are activated inappropriately, or are stuck on. "Our goal was to release the brakes," says Glass…

Freezing semen doubles chances of fatherhood for men after treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma

In the first study to investigate the impact on fatherhood of freezing semen prior to cancer treatment, researchers questioned 902 male survivors of Hodgkin lymphoma in five European countries (France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Italy and Switzerland) and found that among the 334 who wanted to have children, the availability of frozen semen doubled their chances of doing so when compared with men who had not frozen their semen. Dr Marleen van der Kaaij (MD), who carried out the work while she was a PhD student at the University Medical Centre in Groningen (The Netherlands), said: "Our study shows that cryopreservation of semen before cancer treatment has a large impact: one in five children born after Hodgkin lymphoma treatment was born using cryopreserved semen. …

Role for sugar uptake in breast cancer revealed

"A dramatic increase in sugar uptake could be a cause of oncogenesis," Bissell says. "Furthermore, through a series of painstaking analysis, we have discovered two new pathways through which increased uptake of glucose could itself activate other oncogenic pathways. This discovery provides possible new targets for diagnosis and therapeutics." Working with Bissell, Yasuhito Onodera, a Japanese postdoctoral fellow in her research group who is now an assistant professor in Japan, examined the expression of glucose transporter proteins in human breast cells. The focus was on the glucose transporter known as GLUT3, the concentrations of which Onodera and Bissell showed are 400 times greater in malignant than in non-malignant breast cells…

Animal vaccine study yields insights that may advance HIV vaccine research

By examining both viral amino-acid sequences and the animals’ immune responses, the scientists could determine the mechanisms of protection from SIV infection. The study demonstrated that antibodies to the virus spikes that SIV uses to infect cells are necessary and sufficient to prevent SIV infection. The study also identified clear measures of immune responses in monkeys that predict protection from SIV infection. Amid the genetically heterogeneous mix of SIV to which the vaccinated monkeys were exposed, vaccine-induced immune responses tended to block infection by those viruses sensitive to neutralization by SIV antibodies, while neutralization-resistant forms of SIV tended to cause infection. …