When turned on, the gene p53 turns off cancer. However, when existing drugs boost p53, only a few tumors die - the rest resist the challenge. A study published in the journal Cell Reports shows how: tumors that live even in the face of p53 reactivation create more of the protein p21 than the...
A study led by researchers from Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry has for the first time revealed how the loss of a particular tumour suppressing protein leads to the abnormal growth of tumours of the brain and nervous system. The study is published in Brain: A...
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have identified a gene that, when repressed in tumor cells, puts a halt to cell growth and a range of processes needed for tumors to enlarge and spread to distant sites. The researchers hope that this so-called "master regulator" gene may be the key to developing a...
Cancer vaccines that attempt to stimulate an immune system assault fail because the killer T cells aimed at tumors instead find the vaccination site a more inviting target, scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report in Nature Medicine. A common substance used in many...
New research from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center finds that the protein HER2 plays a role even in breast cancers that would traditionally be categorized as HER2-negative - and that the drug Herceptin, which targets HER2, may have an even greater role for treating breast...
In a remarkable example of interdisciplinary teamwork, astronomers are helping cancer researchers use computerized stargazing algorithms developed for spotting distant galaxies to identify biomarkers in tumors to determine how aggressive they are...
More...
Researchers conducting a preclinical study in mice successfully used targeted molecular therapy to block mostly untreatable nerve tumors that develop in people with the genetic disorder Neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1). Scientists from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center report their...
Researchers at St. Michael's hospital have identified 29 proteins that are likely to be involved in the spread of kidney cancer. The discovery will help physicians recognize which tumours are going to behave more aggressively and provide those patients with more intensive treatment and closer...
Brain cancer researchers have successfully treated mice with malignant gliomas, a type of aggressive and deadly brain tumor, with a unique combination of radiation therapy and ketogenic diet, a high fat, low carbohydrate and minimal protein regime that forces the body to use fat instead of...
Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have tracked down a cancer-promoting protein's pathway into the cell nucleus and discovered how, once there, it fires up a glucose metabolism pathway on which brain tumors thrive. They also found a vital spot along the protein's...
New research has found there are several different ways that kidney tumours can achieve the same result - namely, grow. Scientists have been trying to figure out how different people have kidney tumours with the same histology, or shape, although the genetic changes can vary among individual...
Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center have identified metabolic signatures that may pave the way for personalized therapy in glioma, a type of tumor that starts in the brain. The study appears online in Cancer Research, a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research. According to...
Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center have discovered a unique immune gene signature that can predict the presence of microscopic lymph node-like structures in metastatic melanoma. The presence of these immune structures, the researchers said, appears to be associated with better survival and may...
A new video protocol in Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) details an assay to identify brain tumor initiating stem cells from primary brain tumors. Through flow cytometry, scientists separate stem cells from the rest of the tumor, allowing quick and efficient analysis of target cells...
Scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden describe in a new study how so-called DNA origami can enhance the effect of certain cytostatics used in the treatment of cancer. With the aid of modern nanotechnology, scientists can target drugs direct to the tumour while leaving surrounding healthy...
People who carry a "G" instead of an "A" at a specific spot in their genetic code have roughly a six-fold higher risk of developing certain types of brain tumors, a Mayo Clinic and University of California, San Francisco study has found. The findings, published online in the journal Nature...
Scientists in the US have developed a laser that can locate, map, and then precisely destroy cancer tumors non-invasively. Using a "femtosecond laser" that pulses at speeds of one-quadrillionth of a second, the new "seek and destroy" device focuses on a specific tissue region to find and...
Currently, large doses of chemotherapy are required when treating certain forms of cancer, resulting in toxic side effects. The chemicals enter the body and work to destroy or shrink the tumor, but also harm vital organs and drastically affect bodily functions. Now, University of Missouri...
A pioneering approach to imaging breast cancer in mice has revealed new clues about why the human immune system often fails to attack tumors and keep cancer in check. This observation, by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), may help to reveal new approaches to...
The largest study of its kind finds that a history of frequent dental x-rays, particularly at a young age, is tied to an increased risk of developing meningioma, the most common type of primary brain tumor in the United States. Dr Elizabeth Claus, a neurosurgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital...