Tag Archives: work

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. …

Cancer cells propagated from early prostate cancer

The scientists’ findings, suggesting that potentially lethal castration-resistant prostate carcinoma cells already exist in some cancer patients at the very early stages of their disease, will be published by PLOS ONE on September 25, 2013. The work describes the isolation and propagation of the earliest prostate cancer cells yet identified in human prostate cancer biopsy samples, allowing the detailed molecular characterization of these very early-stage cancer cells, including analysis of gene expression and mutations. …

Immune system molecule promotes tumor resistance to anti-angiogenic therapy

The findings by Ferrara — professor of pathology at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and senior deputy director for basic science at the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center — and colleagues at Genentech, a biotechnology firm based in South San Francisco, are published in the August 4 Advance Online Publication of the journal Nature Medicine. Angiogenesis is a physiological process in which new blood vessels form from existing vessels. It is fundamental to early development and wound healing, but some cancer tumors exploit angiogenesis to promote blood vessel growth and fuel a tumor’s transition from a benign to a malignant state. In the late 1980s, Ferrara led efforts to identify a key gene (VEGF) involved in angiogenesis and subsequent development of the first drugs to block VEGF-mediated growth in a variety of cancers, among them lung, kidney, brain and colorectal. …

Breast cancer cells’ sugar craving is target for new type of treatment

The treatment exploits a novel link, identified by the scientists, between sugar processing in the cells and their growth and division. This approach to treating breast cancer offers a real alternative to chemotherapy as it targets the active cancer cells and not normal cells, reducing the risk of side effects that affect thousands of women undergoing treatment. Breast Cancer Campaign funded scientist, Dr Jeremy Blaydes at the University of Southampton, has shown for the first time that chemicals called cyclic peptide inhibitors can stop ‘sweet toothed’ cancer cells from growing and multiplying by blocking proteins in the cells called CtBPs (C-terminal binding proteins). …

Explaining cancer to better prevent it

Understanding the disease at source Cancer is the abnormal and disordered production in the body of cells, known as "malignant." During evolution, living beings have put in place natural mechanisms to control this unwanted proliferation and prevent too frequent development of these tumours. Scientists at the Centre for ecological and evolutionary research (Creec) in Montpellier, are studying how natural selection has designed this resistance to cancer in various species. A yet unexplained paradox To understand how the body’s defences are used, scientists have examined a paradox, known as "Peto’s paradox," named after the biologist who discovered it in the 1970’s. The larger an animal, the more cells it has and the greater the risk of contracting a cancer. …

Flip of mitotic spindle has disastrous consequences for epithelial cells

Stowers Institute for Medical Research Associate Investigator Matt Gibson, Ph.D., and his team use simple animal systems like fruit flies and sea anemones to investigate how epithelial cells maintain order while getting jostled by cell division. New findings from his lab published in the July 21 advance online issue of Nature demonstrate that the way the mitotic spindle — the machinery that separates chromosomes into daughter cells during cell division — aligns relative to the surface of the cell layer is essential for the maintenance of epithelial integrity. It also hints at a surprising way that cells initiate a gene expression program seen in invasive cancers when that process goes awry. The study employs live imaging of fruit fly imaginal discs, simple larval tissues that ultimately give rise to the adult wing…

Physicists offer novel insight into experimental cancer treatment

Magnetic hyperthermia is viewed as an attractive approach for the treatment of certain cancers as it has no known side effects compared to more conventional therapies such as chemotherapy. It is particularly suitable for the treatment of prostate cancer and brain tumours. However, until now there has been no clear theoretical understanding of how it actually works. …