Cancer Research

Melanoma Transcriptome Reveals Genomic Alterations Not Seen Before

Cold Spring Harbor, NY (Scicasts) - Melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, afflicts more than 50,000 people in the United States annually and the incidence rate continues to rise. In a study published online in Genome Research, scientists have delved further into the RNA world of the melanoma tumour and have identified genomic alterations that could play a role in the disease.

New Tool Shows Connections Between Stem Cells and Cancer

Chevy Chase, MD (Scicasts) - According to a report from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, researchers at the Institute have a new tool to understand how cancers grow -- and with it a new opportunity to identify novel cancer drugs. They've been able to break apart human prostate tissue, extract the stem cells in that tissue, and alter those cells genetically so that they spur cancer.

Screening Cancer Genomes for the Driver Mutations in Tumour Suppressor Genes

Hinxton, UK (Scicasts) - A new study of mutations in cancer genomes shows how researchers can begin to distinguish the 'driver' mutations that push cells towards cancer from the 'passenger' mutations that are a by-product of cancer cell development. The study also shows that at least one in nine genes can be removed without killing human cells.

New Computational Tool for Cancer Treatment

New York (Scicasts) - Many human tumours express indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), an enzyme which mediates an immune-escape in several cancer types. Researchers in the Molecular Modelling group at the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics and Dr. Benoît J. Van den Eynde's group at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Ltd (LICR) Brussels Branch developed an approach for creating new IDO inhibitors by computer-assisted structure-based drug design. The study was presented in the January 2010 online issue of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.

The Institute of Cancer Research Selects SGI Altix UV to Support Research

Fremont, CA and Reading, UK (Scicasts) - SGI has announced that the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) has selected SGI Altix UV, based on Intel Xeon processors (codenamed Nehalem-EX), to support its future life-saving research. The ICR joins the growing list of globally significant high performance computing (HPC) facilities embracing Altix UV as the future of open, high performance, big-memory supercomputing.

Unraveling Kidney Cancer

Hinxton, UK (Scicasts) - In a new study, scientists have searched for mutations in the gene regions of more than 100 kidney cancer samples, the largest number of samples from a single tumour type to be sequenced to date.

Comprehensive Analysis of Lung Cancer and Melanoma Announced

Hinxton, UK (Scicasts) - Research teams led by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute have announced the first comprehensive analyses of cancer genomes.

AACR Names Perou 2009 Outstanding Investigator for Breast Cancer Research

Chapel Hill, NC (Scicasts) - Calling his work "one of the most important findings in breast cancer and health disparities in the last decade," the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has named Dr. Charles M. Perou the 2009 Outstanding Investigator Award for Breast Cancer Research, funded by Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Study Identifies New Way to Biopsy Brain Tumours in Real Time

Phoenix, AZ - A new miniature, hand-held microscope may allow more precise removal of brain tumours and an easier recognition of tumour locations during surgery, according to a report from St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix, Arizona.

Study Uncovers Key to How 'Triggering Event' in Cancer Occurs

Ann Arbor, MI (Scicasts) - Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered what leads to two genes fusing together, a phenomenon that has been shown to cause prostate cancer to develop.

Common Weed Could Provide Clues on Ageing and Cancer

TEXAS (Scicasts) - According to a team led by scientists from Texas A&M University and the University of Cincinnati (UC), a common weed and human cancer cells could provide some very uncommon details about DNA structure and its relationship with telomeres and how they affect cellular ageing and cancer.

Brain Tumour Research Gets a Funding Boost

Phoenix, AZ (Scicasts) - The Translational Genomics Research Institute (Tgen) has announced that, SAIC-Frederick under its prime contract with the National Cancer Institute, has named the Tgen as one of five national centres selected to conduct cancer experiments using advanced computer simulations.

Study Unveils No Relationship Between PCR Rate and Race in Women with Breast Cancer

San Francisco, CA (Scicasts) - According to researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, locally advanced breast cancer patients who received the same class of neoadjuvant chemotherapy were found to have no evidence of disease at the time of their surgery, or achieved pathological complete response, at the same rate regardless of race.

Scientists Show How microRNAs Drive Tumour Progression

San Francisco, CA (Scicasts) - According to an announcement by University of California – San Francisco (UCSF), researchers at the Institute have identified collections of tiny molecules known as microRNAs that affect distinct processes critical for the progression of cancer. The findings, they say, expand researchers' understanding of the important regulatory function of microRNAs in tumour biology and point to new directions for future study and potential treatments.

New Sequencing Technique Could Boost Pine Beetle Fight, Improve Cancer Research

Vancouver, BC Canada (Scicasts) - University of British Columbia (UBC) researchers have helped developed a cheaper, faster way to compile draft genome sequences that could advance the fight against mountain pine beetle (MPB) infestation and improve cancer research, according to a report from the Institute.

Unlocking the Body’s Defences Against Cancer

Manchester, UK (OBBeC) - University of Manchester researchers have found that a special type of the chemicals known as ‘kinase inhibitors’ opened up communication channels on the surface of cells that enabled healthy cells to ‘talk’ to the cancer cells, according to a recent report from the Institute.

Researchers Identify Individuals at Risk for Developing Colon Cancer

Cleveland, OHIO (OBBeC) - According to a report from University Hospitals Case Medical Center, a new study, published in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), has identified a group of individuals at increased risk for developing colon cancer and holds the promise for developing new tailored cancer treatments.

Systems Biology Recommended as a Clinical Approach to Cancer

Blacksburg, VA (OBBeC) – According to a press report from Virginia Tech, four researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech and their colleagues at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine are advocating the use of systems biology as an innovative clinical approach to cancer. This approach could result in the development of improved diagnostic tools and treatment options, as well as potential new drug targets to help combat the many potentially fatal types of the disease.

Why Some Tumours are Unresponsive to Radiation and Chemotherapy

Research Reveals What Drives Lung Cancer's Spread

New York, (OBBeC) - A new study by researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) reveals the genetic underpinnings of what causes lung cancer to quickly metastasize, or spread, to the brain and the bone – the two most prominent sites of lung cancer relapse.