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Researchers from the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (CSI Singapore) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have delineated novel molecular interactions affecting the activity of the TGF-β pathway, a key cancer pathway in humans affecting cancer progression.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have discovered how an aggressive tumor of the muscle and soft tissue hijacks an export pathway in cells to lay the groundwork for cancer progression and resistance to chemotherapy. The research appears today in the journal Science Advances.

Working in the laboratory, investigators also demonstrated in principle that medication can be used to help restrain the pathway, blocking cancer's spread and restoring tumor vulnerability to chemotherapy.

Singapore/Lugano - Data collected in Japanese and Korean patients included in the global PALOMA3 trial provides evidence that combining palbociclib with fulvestrant is an effective strategy to overcome endocrine resistance in women with hormone receptor positive (HR+), HER2 negative (HER2-) advanced breast cancer. The analysis of efficacy and safety of the combined therapy in an Asian population was presented (1) at the first ESMO Asia 2015 Congress in Singapore, and results are in line with those reported in all patients (both Asian and non-Asian) earlier this year.

Scientists have developed an easy-to-use computer program that can quickly analyse bacterial DNA from a patient's infection and predict which antibiotics will work, and which will fail due to drug resistance. The software is currently being trialled in three UK hospitals to see whether it could help speed up diagnosis of drug-resistant infections and enable doctors to better target the prescription of antibiotics.

A new analysis indicates that many patients continue working after being diagnosed with metastatic cancer, but a heavy burden of symptoms may prevent them from doing so. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study illustrates the need to treat difficult symptoms so that patients can maintain their employment.

Bottom Line: Postmenopausal women with periodontal disease were more likely to develop breast cancer than women who did not have the chronic inflammatory disease. A history of smoking significantly affected the women's risk.

Journal in Which the Study was Published: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research

Scientists from James Cook University have discovered two critically endangered species of sea snakes, previously thought to be extinct, off the coast of Western Australia.

It's the first time the snakes have been spotted alive and healthy since disappearing from their only known habitat on Ashmore Reef in the Timor Sea more than fifteen years ago.

A new study, published today in the International Journal of Epidemiology [1], has dismissed the concept of 'fat but fit'. In contrast, the results from the new study suggest that the protective effects of high fitness against early death are reduced in obese people.

HIV infection is the leading risk factor for stroke in young African adults, a new study by the University of Liverpool's Institute of Infection and Global Health has found.

The incidence of stroke is on the increase across most of sub-Saharan Africa. In countries like Malawi, a substantial proportion of stroke patients are young adults, and have a low prevalence of established risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and smoking.

Indiana University researchers have found that magnesium intake may be beneficial in preventing pancreatic cancer.

Their study, "Magnesium intake and incidence of pancreatic cancer: The VITamins and Lifestyle study," recently appeared in the British Journal of Cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in both men and women in the United States. The overall occurrence of pancreatic cancer has not significantly changed since 2002, but the mortality rate has increased annually from 2002 to 2011, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Michele Carbone and colleagues, from the University of Hawaii, discovered that members of 4 families, apparently unrelated and living in different US States, shared the identical mutation of a gene called BAP1 that is associated with a higher incidence of mesothelioma, melanoma, renal carcinoma and other cancers.

This raised two possibilities:

1) These 4 families were related although they did not know it, or

2) The researchers had found a hot spot for BAP1 mutations.

Many are aware that hair loss is a common side effect associated with chemotherapy. However, another albeit common late side effect of cancer treatment is the abnormal swelling of one or more limbs, known as lymphedema. Lymphedema is most commonly the result of an obstruction or disruption of the lymphatic system that occurs immediately after cancer treatment or 1-5, even 20 years after.

TORONTO, December 18, 2015 - For humans, getting chilly is a problem that can usually be solved with a hat and mitts, but for insects it's not so simple. A study led by a York University Postdoctoral Fellow has found that for some insects, the key to cold weather survival is in keeping their salt balance in check, and that finding could help with controlling pests in the future.

Insects make up more than 75 per cent of all animal species; some are beneficial, such as pollinators, but others are carriers of disease.

(Washington, DC) - A new study reveals just how strong the influence of mass-market books promoting a certain style of writing have had on authors since they were first published in the late 1950s. The study "Which-hunting and the Standard English Relative Clause," by a team of linguists at the University of Texas at Austin and KU Leuven, was published in the December, 2015 issue of the scholarly journal Language.

Teenagers with moderate mental health problems who may not have considered smoking conventional cigarettes are turning to electronic cigarettes, a new USC study has found.

Mental health and behavioral problems such as alcohol and drug abuse are well-documented risk factors that push teens to smoke, said Adam Leventhal, lead author and associate professor of preventive medicine and psychology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.