Sacramento, CA (Scicasts) – A team of UC Davis investigators has found that a vaccine that targets cancer cells in combination with the drug letrozole, a standard hormonal therapy against breast cancer, significantly increased survival when tested in mice.
Columbus, OH (Scicasts) – A study has identified microRNA-3151 as a new independent prognostic marker in certain patients with acute leukaemia. The study involves patients with acute myeloid leukaemia and normal-looking chromosomes(CN-AML).
Chapel Hill, NC (Scicasts) – Cancer therapies targeting specific molecular subtypes of the disease allow physicians to tailor treatment to a patient’s individual molecular profile. But scientists are finding that in many types of cancer the molecular subtypes are more varied than previously thought and contain further genetic alterations that can affect a patient’s response to therapy.
Houston, TX (Scicasts) – The human body does a great job of generating new cells to replace dead ones but it is not perfect. Cells need to communicate with or signal to each other to decide when to generate new cells. Communication or signaling errors in cells lead to uncontrolled cell growth and are the basis of many cancers.
Cambridge, MA (Scicasts) – Melanoma – the deadliest and most aggressive form of skin cancer – has long been linked to time spent in the sun. Now a team led by scientists from the Broad Institute and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has sequenced the whole genomes of 25 metastatic melanoma tumours, confirming the role of chronic sun exposure and revealing new genetic changes important in tumour formation.
Houston, TX (Scicasts) – According to a report by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, prostate cancer cells that defy treatment and display heightened tumour-generating capacity can be identified by levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA) expressed in the tumour cells.
München, Germany (Scicasts) – Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death throughout the world. Standard treatment methods do not usually result in long-term recovery. In addition to the proliferation of the tumour cells, the growth of blood vessels controls tumours development. The blood vessel growth is controlled by several signalling molecules.
San Francisco, CA (Scicasts) – A pioneering approach to imaging breast cancer in mice has revealed new clues about why the human immune system often fails to attack tumours and keep cancer in check. This observation, by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), may help to reveal new approaches to cancer immunotherapy.
Singapore (Scicasts) – Could engineered human stem cells hold the key to cancer survival? Scientists at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) have discovered that neural stem cells possess the innate ability to target tumour cells outside the central nervous system.
Berkeley, CA (Scicasts) – New findings in breast cancer research by an international team of scientists contradict the prevailing belief that only basal-like cells with stem cell qualities can form invasive tumours. Research led by Ole William Petersen at the University of Copenhagen (CU) and Mina Bissell of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and has shown that luminal-like cells with no detectable stem cell qualities can generate larger tumours than their basal-like counterparts.
London, UK (Scicasts) – A major study carried out by Cancer Research UK scientists could revolutionize the way women with breast cancer will be diagnosed and treated in the future, by reclassifying the disease into 10 completely new categories based on the genetic fingerprint of a tumour. [Video]
Burnaby, B.C. Canada (Scicasts) – An international team of scientists, including four at Simon Fraser University, has made a discovery that will change the way the most deadly form of breast cancer is treated.
Tucson, AZ (Scicasts) - A $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health will enable University of Arizona biomedical engineering researchers to improve the way doctors measure the effectiveness of drinking baking soda to fight breast cancer.
Los Angeles, CA (Scicasts) - UCLA scientists studying the ways in which skin cancer becomes resistant to drug treatment have discovered that a second mutation found in the tumours of patients with BRAF-mutated metastatic melanoma does not contribute to resistance to BRAF inhibitor drugs, a finding that runs counter to what they expected.
Providence, RI (Scicasts) – If the fight against breast cancer were a criminal investigation, then the proteins survivin, HDAC6, CBP, and CRM1 would be among the shadier figures.
West Lafayette, IN (Scicasts) – Later-stage cancers thrive by finding detours around roadblocks that cancer drugs put in their path, but a Purdue University biochemist is creating maps that will help drugmakers close more routes and develop better drugs.
La Jolla, CA (Scicasts) – Rapidly dividing cancer cells are skilled at patching up damage that would stop normal cells in their tracks, including wear and tear of telomeres, the protective caps at the end of each chromosome.
Atlanta, GA (Scicasts) - Researchers at Winship Cancer Institute are developing a technique to remove cancer cells' defences against radiation.
Radiation primarily kills cells by inducing DNA damage, so the aim of the technique is to sensitize cells to radiation by disabling their ability to repair DNA. The technique sneaks RNA molecules into cells that shut down genes needed for DNA repair.