Tag Archives: study

Killing cancer by protecting normal cells

“It was a stroke of luck that the drug that most effectively protected normal cells and tissues against radiation also has anti-cancer properties, thus potentially increasing the therapeutic index of radiation therapy,” says Ulrich Rodeck, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology and Radiation Oncology at Thomas Jefferson University, and senior author on the study. Together with first author Vitali Alexeev, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology, Dr. …

Expression of SIP1 protein indicates poor prognosis in pharyngeal cancer

Although pharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (PSCC) is a rather rare disease, its incidence has been increasing over the past three decades, now accounting for 130,000 new cases and 80,000 cancer deaths worldwide. The prognosis is one of the poorest of all the head and neck squamous cell carcinomas and it has not improved to any significant extent, despite the availability of multimodal therapies. …

Novel cancer vaccine approach for brain tumors

“In recent years, researchers and the public have begun to realize the role that the immune system plays in both cancer prevention and treatment,” says senior author Craig Hooper, Ph.D., a Professor in the Department of Cancer Biology at Thomas Jefferson University. “The immune system has great potential for helping fight cancer. This study helps give us a roadmap for future brain cancer vaccines.” The study reports on the results of a second phase 1 clinical trial, after the first phase 1 trial in 2001 lead by David Andrews, M.D., Professor of Neurological surgery at Jefferson, saw tumor shrinkage in eight out of 12 patients tested. …

Furin: The answer to the ebola crises?

Furin is responsible for activating certain proteins and is involved in the processing and maturation of viral and bacterial preproteins. Indeed, the strength of Furin activity has already been recognised, and used previously by scientists to propose broad anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-cancer treatments. This study used the binding site of human Furin in molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. Author of the study, Omotuyi Olaposi, a lecturer in Biochemistry at the Adekunle Ajasin University, Nigeria, explains that the experiment ‘may provide further insight to the design of novel drugs for Ebola virus disease treatment’…

Common chemotherapeutic agent reduces resistance to virus therapy in brain tumor patients

Preclinical studies of oncolytic virus therapy in malignant glioma are promising; however, a potential problem with this approach is that the body’s own immune system can recognize the virus and clear the infection, resulting in reduced therapeutic effects. For this study, researchers used a mouse model with an intact immune system to mimic what would occur in humans to determine how the immune system clears the oncolytic virus. They found that the area surrounding malignant gliomas has a high number of immune cells called microglial cells and macrophages…

Novel molecular imaging drug offers better detection of prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed non-skin cancer in the United States, and it is second only to lung cancer as the leading cause of cancer deaths in American men. An estimated 233,000 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in the United States in 2014, and an estimated 29,000 will die of the disease. More than 2 million men are currently living with prostate cancer in the United States…