Researchers from the Breast Cancer Clinical Research Unit at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) have just published an important finding regarding antiangiogenic drugs, one of the most commonly used drugs to treat cancer. In a paper published in Cell Reports they describe a resistance mechanism to these compounds and, more importantly, a way to reverse it. Working on mice with breast and lung cancer, they noted that when they added an antidiabetic agent to the antiangiogenic drug regimen, tumour growth was inhibited by 92%.
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Cancer stem cells are like zombies -- even after a tumor is destroyed, they can keep coming back. These cells have an unlimited capacity to regenerate themselves, making more cancer stem cells and more tumors. Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have now unraveled how pre-leukemic white blood cell precursors become leukemia stem cells. The study, published June 9 in Cell Stem Cell, used human cells to define the RNA editing enzyme ADAR1's role in leukemia, and find a way to stop it.
Biomarkers play an important role in modern cancer medicine. They are used as tools to diagnose cancers more precisely and to better predict the course of the disease. One marker that is frequently associated with leukemia is a chromosomal abnormality called t(8;21) translocation, in which a part of chromosome 8 connects with chromosome 21. Back in the 1970s, researchers already recognized that in a substantial percentage of patients suffering from acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the transformed cells exhibited this chromosomal abnormality.
Incorrectly folded proteins can cause a variety of diseases. Danish researchers have found a solution for preventing this misfolding.
Chicago, IL, June 9, 2016 - A single breath may be all it takes to identify the return of lung cancer after surgery, according to a study posted online today by The Annals of Thoracic Surgery.
Key findings in this study show that breath analysis offers an option for primary screening and post-surgery monitoring of lung cancer patients. Certain carbonyl volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath indicate the presence of lung cancer. Researchers hope to get FDA approval for this new process.
Scientists have found past El Niño oscillations in the Pacific Ocean may have amplified global climate fluctuations for hundreds of years at a time.
The team uncovered century-scale patterns in Pacific rainfall and temperature, and linked them with global climate changes in the past 2000 years.
For example, northern hemisphere warming and droughts between the years 950 and 1250 corresponded to an El Niño-like state in the Pacific, which switched to a La Niña-like pattern during a cold period between 1350 and 1900.
Drugs currently being trialled in cancer patients have been used to successfully target an autoimmune condition in mice at UCL and King's College London.
The study, published in Cell Reports, involved giving cancer drugs to mice and inducing uveitis, an incurable autoimmune eye condition responsible for 1 in every 10 cases of visual impairment in the UK*. The condition was significantly less severe in mice given the cancer drugs. Current treatment options are limited and can cause further visual problems including cataracts.
Aspirin's reign as "the wonder drug" may have a serious challenger if new research by a team of scientists from the United States and Brazil pans out. That's because they have identified an enzyme, called "soluble guanylate cyclase" or "sGC," which shows potential for treating a range of illnesses from breast cancer to erectile dysfunction. The complete research report, which is co-authored by Nobel laureate Ferid Murad, has been published online in The FASEB Journal.
Publication in Genes & Development: researchers at the Université libre de Bruxelles, ULB develop new techniques to assess the fate of stem cells in vivo.
The trace element zinc has an impact on the essential metabolic functions of most living organisms. New research carried out by the Chair of Animal Nutrition at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has found that even minimal zinc deficiency impairs digestion, albeit without any typical symptoms such as skin problems or fatigue. Hence, short-term zinc deficiency in the diet should be avoided.
Scientists at the University of York have led the first full-scale national assessment of metal contamination in bats, showing that many bats in the UK contain levels of metals high enough to cause toxic effects.
With bat species across the world in decline, exposure to chemicals is one of many potential threats to the species, along with urbanisation, loss of habitats, decline in food and water, agricultural intensification and climate change.
Future Martian explorers might not need to leave the Earth to prepare themselves for life on the Red Planet. The Mars Society have built an analogue research site in Utah, USA, which simulates the conditions on our neighbouring planet.
In a recent scholarly exchange of ideas, experts address how the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) honors both religious diversity and sexual orientation diversity in its accrediting practices.
PITTSBURGH, June 9, 2016 - Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have developed a unique method for detecting antibodies in the blood of patients in a proof-of-principle study that opens the door to development of simple diagnostic tests for diseases for which no microbial cause is known, including auto-immune diseases, cancers and other conditions.
In the search for low-emission plant-based fuels, new research could lead to sustainable alternatives to fossil fuel-based products.
Scientists have identified new steps in the way plants produce cellulose, the component of plant cell walls that provides strength, and forms insoluble fibre in the human diet.
The findings may lead to improved production of cellulose and guide plant breeding for specific uses such as wood products and cellulosic ethanol fuel, which is estimated to have roughly 85 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than fossil fuel sources.