UCSF researchers have identified a new "feed-forward" pathway linking estrogen receptors in the membrane of the uterus to a process that increases local estrogen levels and promotes cell growth.

The search for cancer genes is increasingly a matter of molecular “To Tell the Truth,” as scientists seek to distinguish genes actually involved in the disease from those that are imposters. Powerful gene-scanning technology often reveals hundreds or thousands of genetic irregularities in tumor tissue, making it critical for investigators to winnow out the true culprits.

Researchers at the University of Bath have been awarded more than £450,000 by Cancer Research UK to investigate a new way of preventing the division and growth of tumour cells.

In early 2007, Northwestern University chemist Karl Scheidt’s interest was piqued when marine chemist Amy Wright reported in the Journal of Natural Products that a new natural compound derived from an uncommon deep-sea sponge was extremely effective at inhibiting cancer cell growth.

University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) researchers have discovered a key cell-signaling pathway that regulates cell progression and switches on front-to-back body patterning in tadpoles.

An in-depth understanding of the mechanisms that trigger cancer cell growth is vital to the development of more targeted treatments for the disease. An article published in the August 3 issue of Molecular Cell provides a key to these mechanisms that may prove crucial in the future.