Tag Archives: washington

New drug cuts risk of deadly transplant side effect in half

The study, the first to test this treatment in people, combined the drug vorinostat with standard medications given after transplant, resulting in 22 percent of patients developing graft-vs.-host disease compared to 42 percent of patients who typically develop this condition with standard medications alone. …

BROCA sequencing approach evaluates all 24 genes implicated in breast cancer

With the development of modern genomics sequencing tools, the discovery of additional genes implicated in breast cancer and the change in the legal status of genetic testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2, it is now possible to determine how often families in these circumstances actually do carry cancer-predisposing mutations in BRCA1, BRCA2, or another gene implicated in breast cancer, despite the results of their previous genetic tests. This was the challenge addressed by Mary-Claire King, Ph.D., American Cancer Society Professor of Medicine and Genome Sciences, and Tomas Walsh, Ph.D., Associate Research Professor of Medical Genetics, both at the University of Washington, Seattle. They conducted complete genomic sequencing of all genes implicated in breast cancer on DNA samples from breast cancer patients who had normal BRCA1 and BRCA2 commercial test results. …

Lifestyle factors could put college-age women at higher risk of breast cancer

"Unfortunately, college-age women generally do not consider themselves at risk for breast cancer," said Dr. Mercier. "However, there are several risk factors that contribute to the development of breast cancer that need to be understood early in life to prevent the development of breast cancer down the road." By the end of 2013, more than 230,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in the U.S…

Less blood clot risk linked to estradiol than to Premarin pills

"Although oral estrogens are effective for managing menopause symptoms, not enough is known about the cardiovascular safety of different oral hormone therapy products relative to each other," said first author Nicholas L. Smith, PhD. He is a professor of epidemiology at the UW School of Public Health, the director of the Veterans Affairs (VA) Seattle Epidemiologic Research and Information Center (ERIC) at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System, and an affiliate investigator at Group Health Research Institute. To further understand the differences in risk, the researchers also measured clotting (coagulation) factors in the blood of women who did not develop a clot. …

Discovery goes from the lab to the patient

"This approval marks more than a decade of work with my fellow researchers and highlights the growing importance of genomic and genetic tests in the oncology clinic," said Perou. "This test is the result of data coming from modern, cutting-edge genomic technologies, and thus it is exciting to see the bench to bedside story fulfilled." A team of UNC researchers and collaborating researchers from three other institutions — Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Utah and the BC Cancer Agency — designed this test that categorizes breast tumors into one of four main subtypes by looking at the expression of 50 genes. The four types are luminal A, luminal B, HER2-enriched and basal-like. …

Robots could one day help surgeons remove hard to reach brain tumors

A robot that worms its way in The median survival rate for patients with glioblastomas, or high grade primary brain cancer, is less than two years. One factor contributing to this low rate is the fact that many deep-seated and pervasive tumors are not entirely accessible or even visible when using current neurosurgical tools and imaging techniques. But several years ago, J. …

Potent mechanism helps viruses shut down body’s defense system against infection

Published in the August issue of the journal Cell Host and Microbe, the findings describe a novel mechanism that this group of so-called "enveloped viruses" uses to disarm the host’s innate immune response. The mechanism the scientists uncovered is based on these viruses activating a class of molecules, known as TAM receptors, which are located on the outside of certain immune cells…