Researchers at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson in Philadelphia have devised a novel method to expand the number of immune system "natural killer (NK)" cells from blood cells outside the body. They have found that adding such cells to anti-cancer therapies involving monoclonal antibody drugs is more effective in killing cancer cells, and perhaps someday may improve treatments.
Get the full story...
A research team at Columbia University has designed a novel viral-based gene therapy they say blasts through a body, targeting both primary and distant tumors, while leaving normal cells untouched. In the 15 mice they tested, injections of the therapy in tumors on one side of the mouse eliminated those cancers as well as tumors on the other side of the animal's body, producing a cure in all of the mice.
Get the full story...
A study led by scientists from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill may have identified a molecular mechanism involved in the development of schizophrenia.
Get the full story...
Oral fluids hold promise as a potential alternative to blood as a diagnostic fluid. Currently, diseases like HIV, hepatitis, and certain cancers can be detected through the analysis of oral fluids. In the past, it has been difficult to detect meaningful amounts of disease markers in oral fluids, because they are not always found in the same abundance as in blood.
Get the full story...
Survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukemia have a significantly increased risk of secondary cancers developing over 30 years after leukemia treatment when compared to the general population, according to a study in the March 21 issue of JAMA.
Get the full story...
"Eat your vegetables" has been heard at the dinner tables of America for a long time. Has the message gotten through? Since 1990 the Dietary Guidelines for Americans has recommended consuming at least two servings of fruits and three servings of vegetables daily. However, two studies published in the April issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine clearly show that Americans are not meeting the mark.
Get the full story...
Many researchers are developing ways in which to harness the immune response to treat patients with cancer. However, many results have not been as successful as hoped, largely because tumors develop ways in which to suppress the immune system. For example, before immune cells known as CD8+ T cells can destroy tumors cells they must receive signals through 2 receptors on their cell surface and many tumors do not express the molecules that trigger the second signal, through CD28.
Read the full story
The cause of one notorious childhood disease, poliovirus, could be used to treat the ongoing threat of another childhood disease, neuroblastoma. In the March 15 issue of Cancer Research, researchers from Stony Brook University report that an attenuated - or non-virulent -- form of poliovirus is effective in obliterating neuroblastoma tumors in mice, even when the mice had been previously vaccinated against the virus.
Read the full story
Protein interactions direct cellular functions and their responses to pathogens and are important therapeutic targets. Scientists from the GSF Research Centre for Environment and Health have recently developed a method enabling simultaneous visualization of individual proteins and their interactions in living cells. This is achieved by engineering the proteins to constantly emit red or blue fluorescent signals and to produce an additional yellow fluorescent signal upon interaction (see image below).
Read the full story
New findings by a Queen's University research team dispel the popular notion that eating so-called "natural" foods will protect against cancer.
Read the full story
Researchers from Harvard Medical School, Boston, have found that most individuals with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) inappropriately express a protein known as CDX2 in their leukemic cells. CDX2 regulates the expression of a number of genes that encode members of the HOX family of proteins, which might provide a new set of targets for the treatment of individuals with AML.
Read the full story
The response of tumors to anticancer drugs has been observed in real-time 3-D images using technology developed at Purdue University.The new digital holographic imaging system uses a laser and a charged couple device, or CCD, the same microchip used in household digital cameras, to see inside tumor cells. The device also may have applications in drug development and medical imaging.
Read the full story
