Curing Death by Curing Aging - April 2007 Archives

Flu Gene Database Speeds ID And Tracking Of Emerging Influenza Strains (4/30/2007)

A Medical College of Wisconsin and Children's Research Institute team in Milwaukee has created a free, searchable genetic database that will significantly improve diagnostic testing and genetic tracking of human and animal influenza viruses. The site, which is automatically updated weekly, will also facilitate rapid response as new virus strains emerge to cause either annual epidemics or the next pandemic. ...> Full Article

Reversing Cancer Cells To Normal Cells (4/30/2007)

A Northwestern University scientist describes new research that used an innovative experimental approach to provide unique insights into how scientists can change human metastatic melanoma cells back to normal-like skin cells -- by exposing the tumor cells to the embryonic microenvironment of human embryonic stem cells, the zebra fish and the chick embryo. ...> Full Article

MicroRNAs Can Be Tumor Suppressors (4/29/2007)

University of Virginia researchers have discovered that microRNAs, a form of genetic material, can function as tumor suppressors in laboratory studies. ...> Full Article

Possible New Cancer Treatment - Antifungal Drug Stops Blood Vessel Growth (4/29/2007)

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered to their surprise that a drug commonly used to treat toenail fungus can also block angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels commonly seen in cancers. The drug, itraconazole, already is FDA approved for human use, which may fast-track its availability as an antiangiogenesis drug. ...> Full Article

Oral Vaccine Containing Salmonella May Protect Against Aerosolized Anthrax (4/28/2007)

Researchers from the U.S. and abroad have developed an orally administered Salmonella-based vaccine that protects mice against aerosolized anthrax and may also have human implications. ...> Full Article

New Mosquito-Borne Illness May Be Headed To United States (4/28/2007)

The next mosquito-borne illness in the United States may be chikungunya ("chicken-GUN-ya") and despite its odd name the viral disease is no laughing matter, University of Florida experts say. ...> Full Article

Study Identifies New Genetic Risk Factors For Type 2 Diabetes (4/28/2007)

Ten genetic variants associated with type 2 diabetes, a disease which impacts more than 170 million people worldwide, have been identified or confirmed by a U.S.-Finnish team led by scientists at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. ...> Full Article

New Treatment Possibilities For Fatal Genetic Disease (4/27/2007)

A simple test to diagnose Parkinson's disease (PD) before symptoms appear by measuring the levels of a protein in blood is being developed by researchers from the Howard Florey Institute, The University of Melbourne and The Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria. ...> Full Article

Knocking Out Survival Protein Could Aid Leukemia Treatment (4/27/2007)

An effective way to fight leukemia might be to knock out a specific protein that protects cancer cells from dying, a new study shows. ...> Full Article

Scientists Discover New Virus Responsible For Deaths of 3 Transplant Recipients From Single Donor (4/26/2007)

Knowledge of genetic sequence of virus will enable improvements in screening to enhance transplantation safety ...> Full Article

New Treatment Yields Complete Regression Of A Human Cancer In Mice (4/26/2007)

A simple modification in an anti-cancer treatment currently in clinical trials substantially improves the drug's effectiveness and reduces side effects in experiments with laboratory mice. ...> Full Article

Neither Abortion Nor Miscarriage Associated With Breast Cancer Risk (4/26/2007)

Neither induced abortion nor spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) appears to be associated with breast cancer risk in premenopausal women, according to a report in the April 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. ...> Full Article

High Melatonin Content Can Help Delay Aging (4/25/2007)

A study carried out by researchers from the University of Granada’s Institute of Biotechnology shows that consuming melatonin neutralizes oxidative damage and delays the neurodegenerative process of aging. In this study researchers used normal and genetically-modified mice which were subjected to accelerated cell aging. Researchers believe their results can also be applied to humans. ...> Full Article

Cancer Researchers Report Ability To Detect Cancer At Curable Stage (4/24/2007)

Researchers at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego report that they have developed a new method for detecting cancer very early in its development, when it consists of just a few cells. The best existing detection methods are not able to detect a tumor until it consists of about one million cells. ...> Full Article

Discovery May Change Thinking On How Viruses Invade The Brain (4/24/2007)

A molecule thought crucial to ferrying the deadly rabies virus into the brain, where it eventually kills, apparently isn't. The surprising finding, say researchers at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, may change the way scientists think about how central nervous system-attacking viruses such as herpes viruses invade the brain and cause disease. ...> Full Article

Intravenous Nanoparticle Gene Therapy Shows Activity in Stage IV Lung Cancer (4/23/2007)

A cancer-suppressing gene has been successfully delivered into the tumors of stage 4 lung cancer patients via an intravenously administered lipid nanoparticle in a phase I clinical trial at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The gene, FUS1, also was found to be active in the metastatic non-small cell lung cancer tumors. ...> Full Article

Gene That May Be A Marker Of Breast Cancer Metastasis Identified (4/23/2007)

Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center have identified an important gene involved in the spread of breast cancer that has developed resistance to long-term estrogen deprivation. The discovery was reported in an oral presentation during the 97th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Los Angeles. The gene may prove to be a useful marker for predicting which patients have the greatest risk of breast cancer recurrence so their doctors can offer the most appropriate treatment plan. ...> Full Article

Clinic Discovers Dna Repair As Key To Huntington's Disease (4/23/2007)

Poor gene repair may point to cause of incurable disease ...> Full Article

New Ribosome Finding Could Lead to Antiviral Therapies (4/22/2007)

The ribosome is the protein-producing nanomachine in cells that keeps the human body cranking along. A discovery by University of Maryland researchers has provided a clue that could lead to programming the ribosome to fight viruses like HIV AIDS and SARS. ...> Full Article

Researchers Boost Immune Killer Cells To Increase Antibody Effectiveness Against Cancer (4/22/2007)

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. ...> Full Article

Scientists Find One Reason Why Bladder Cancer Hits More Men (4/21/2007)

Scientists have discovered one of the reasons why bladder cancer is so much more prevalent in men than women: A molecular receptor or protein that is much more active in men than women plays a role in the development of the disease. The finding could open the door to new types of treatment with the disease. ...> Full Article

Chemist Improves Drugs Against Infections Caused By Fungi (4/21/2007)

The chemist Maite Uzqueda has developed a method to improve drugs used to fight mycoses, which includes different infections caused by fungi and which affects, at least once, practically every person. Her doctoral dissertation has been carried out in the School of Sciences at the University of Navarra and at the Joseph Fourier Center in Grenoble (France). ...> Full Article

Cancer Agressiveness Triggered By Bacteria (4/21/2007)

New research in lymphatic cancer shows that bacteria can cause cancer to be more aggressive. Patients with skin lymphoma may benefit from antibiotic treatments used for bacteria-infections. ...> Full Article

Adult Stem Cells May Have Smarts To Guard Against Cancer (4/20/2007)

Some bewildering behavior seen in the stem cells of muscles has led researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine to an unexpected discovery that could explain why cancer isn’t more common. ...> Full Article

High Levels of Antibodies May Cause Low Levels of Cancer (4/20/2007)

Active immunisation can stimulate the body to produce highly efficient IgE antibodies that attack tumours. This breakthrough, achieved in an animal model, is based on the skilful combination of two established experimental methods. The results are now being published in Cancer Research and are part of a project funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF. The antibodies produced during the project belong to a class that also plays a key role in the development of allergic reactions. Consequently, the results will be a key focal point at the 1st International AllergoOncology Symposium, which is to be held today in Vienna, Austria. ...> Full Article

Twin Studies Reveal Genetic Components (4/20/2007)

Daniel O’Connor, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine has studied about 265 twin pairs over the past few years, which has led him to some surprising discoveries. ...> Full Article

Study Suggests That Lowering Blood Pressure Following Stroke May Reduce Damage (4/20/2007)

A new University of Georgia study suggests that commonly prescribed drugs used to lower blood pressure may help reduce brain damage when given within 24 hours of a stroke. ...> Full Article

Cancer-Initiating Stem Cells Taking a Larger Role in Cancer Treatment (4/20/2007)

Recent discoveries about the role of stem cells in cancer have altered the landscape of cancer research. With each new study, scientists are learning more about cancer-initiating properties of stem cells at organ sites and throughout the body. Increasingly, stem cells are examined as the cause - and potential target of treatment - for many, if not all, cancers. ...> Full Article

Aspirin May Help Keep Cancer At Bay (4/20/2007)

Regular aspirin use was associated with lower cancer incidence and cancer mortality, but non-aspirin non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use was not, according to one of the largest studies ever conducted to look at the impact of these agents on overall cancer risk. Aspirin was also associated with a lower risk of dying from coronary heart disease, while NSAIDs were not. ...> Full Article

New Cancer Vaccines Work by Stimulating the Immune System (4/19/2007)

As the first FDA-approved cancer vaccine, designed to protect against human papillomavirus, has moved from scientific discussion to social debate, other vaccine studies are continuing to make progress. While HPV vaccine efforts had the "benefit" of a viral source for the disease, other researchers are developing vaccines for cancers that are not virally based, in an effort to coax the immune system into attacking cancerous cells. Today at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, presentations on ongoing HPV trials and other new approaches to stimulating the immune system are injecting momentum into cancer vaccine research. ...> Full Article

Certain Biomarkers In Blood DNA Can Be Early Predictor of Liver Cancer (4/19/2007)

Researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health have discovered a means for early detection of liver cancer. Using DNA isolated from serum samples as a baseline biomarker, the scientists examined changes in certain tumor suppressor genes that have been associated with the development of liver carcinomas. This is the first study to prospectively examine potential biomarkers for early detection of liver cancer in high-risk populations, including those with chronic hepatitis B and C virus infections. ...> Full Article

Genes and Biomarkers That Allow Doctors to Choose the Right Therapy for the Right Patient (4/19/2007)

Genetic and epigenetic variations ensure that no two people are exactly alike, and the same holds true for any two cancers. Now, researchers have the tools and the knowledge to help predict how individuals will respond to cancer therapies, enabling them to create more effective therapies for individual cancers - personalized medicine. At the 2007 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, researchers present new biomarkers - and techniques for determining biomarkers - that could determine how an individual might respond to drug or radiation therapy. ...> Full Article

Bird Flu Genome Study Shows New Strains Spreading West (4/19/2007)

n a paper in the May issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases, an international team of researchers, including University of Maryland professor Steven Salzberg, report the first ever large-scale sequencing of western genomes of the deadly avian influenza virus, H5N1. ...> Full Article

Nation’s First Vaccine Against Bird Flu Approved (4/19/2007)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced the approval of the first vaccine in the nation’s history designed to prevent bird flu. ...> Full Article

Our Genes Evolved In A Way So That Their Is No Solution To Cancer (4/18/2007)

Cancer is a natural consequence of human evolution. Our genes have not developed to give us long and happy lives. They are optimized to copy themselves into the next generation - irrespective of our personal desires. According to Jarle Breivik, an associate professor at the University of Oslo, Norway, we are therefore unlikely to find a final solution to cancer. ...> Full Article

Investigational Cancer Drug Targets Critical Proteins (4/18/2007)

A drug under study to treat various cancers selectively kills cancer cells because of its affinity for a modified version of a critical heat shock protein they contain, researchers have found. ...> Full Article

Novel Antigen-Cloning Technique May Boost Efforts to Develop a Melanoma Vaccine (4/18/2007)

In recent years, researchers have worked to develop a number of vaccines to help the immune system fight tumors. Cancer vaccines are not intended to prevent cancer; rather, they are used to boost immune responses to preexisting tumors. Unlike traditional chemotherapy, vaccines have relatively low toxicity and, potentially, a high degree of efficacy. ...> Full Article

Black Raspberries Yield Possible Skin Cancer Treatment (4/18/2007)

It may seem improbable, but one of the best allies against sunburn and skin cancer could be growing in your own back yard. ...> Full Article

Researchers Discover Cellular Factor Blocks HIV-1 Production (4/17/2007)

Researchers at Mayo Clinic have shown that a cellular factor restricts production of HIV-1 by actively degrading a viral protein. The findings appear in the online version of the journal Nature Medicine. ...> Full Article

Chromosomes Tell Tale of Patient's Risk for Future Cancer (4/17/2007)

Hodgkin's disease survivors who have greater genetic instability in their white blood cells are two-and-a-half times more likely to develop another type of cancer, researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting in Los Angeles April 14-18. ...> Full Article

Microbes Start Immune Response By Sneaking Inside Cells (4/17/2007)

New insights could lead to better vaccines, treatments for rheumatoid arthritis, U-M study suggests ...> Full Article

Dendritic Cells May Be Key To Reversing Diabetes (4/15/2007)

When the body’s own immune system begins to assault the cells in the pancreas responsible for producing insulin, the result is type 1 diabetes. Now, researchers studying the immune system’s dendritic cells in mice have found a way to stop the destruction and help revive and maintain the population of insulin-producing β cells, a discovery that could lead to a lasting cure. ...> Full Article

New Analysis On Two Countries' Models To Tackle Genetic Testing For Breast Cancer (4/15/2007)

The United States and Great Britain have taken profoundly different approaches in developing genetic testing for breast cancer which has serious implications for users of health care, says a University of Michigan professor. ...> Full Article

Flu Vaccine Grown in Insect Cells (4/14/2007)

An experimental flu vaccine made in insect cells – not in eggs, where flu vaccines currently available in the United States are grown – is safe and as effective as conventional vaccines in protecting people against the flu, according to results published in the April 11 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. ...> Full Article

Researchers To Test Two Targeted Therapies Together To Treat Early Her2-Positive Breast Cancer (4/13/2007)

Collaborative approach uses lapatinib (Tykerb) and trastuzumab (Herceptin), tests heart function ...> Full Article

A Genetic 'Gang of Four' Drives Spread of Breast Cancer (4/13/2007)

Studies of human tumor cells implanted in mice have shown that the abnormal activation of four genes drives the spread of breast cancer to the lungs. The new studies by Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers reveal that the aberrant genes work together to promote the growth of primary breast tumors. Cooperation among the four genes also enables cancerous cells to escape into the bloodstream and penetrate through blood vessels into lung tissues. ...> Full Article

Type 1 Diabetes Cured Using Bone Marrow Stem Cells (4/12/2007)

Type 1 Diabetics have been cured with a new treatment that rebuilds their immune system, according to a new research study. ...> Full Article

Study Pries Into Ovarian Cancer's Deadly Secrets (4/12/2007)

Defects in two cell-messaging systems work in sync in one common form of the disease, University of Michigan study finds ...> Full Article

New Study Finds an Altered Immune Response to Viruses Like HIV and Hepatitis C (4/12/2007)

After a viral infection, a small percentage of the T cells generated to kill virus-infected cells remain on guard to establish long-term immunity. These so-called memory T cells, which derive from a family of immune cells known as CD8 T cells, engage in a self-renewal process that is essential to their persistence. This ongoing process ensures effective protection against any repeat infection by the same virus, even decades later. ...> Full Article

Risks From Radiation Exposure At Chernobyl Less Significant Than Thought (4/11/2007)

A new study has found that risks from radiation exposure to people involved in the Chernobyl incident may be much less significant than most of us think. ...> Full Article

Discovery Raises Questions About Therapies Designed to Treat Half of all Human Cancers (4/10/2007)

Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have uncovered a new way by which common mutants of a critical human tumor-suppressing gene can promote tumor progression, a finding which may explain why some cancer treatments targeting human cancers with these mutants have proven ineffective. ...> Full Article

Researchers Create Genetically Altered Mouse With Sarcoma (4/9/2007)

University of Utah geneticists have engineered mice that can develop synovial sarcoma – a significant early step toward developing new treatments for the aggressive, deadly cancer that most often kills teenagers and young adults. ...> Full Article

Prostate Cancer Risk Factors Identified (4/7/2007)

Findings by USC and Harvard researchers help explain why certain men – especially African-Americans – are at higher risk for the disease. ...> Full Article

Chemists Can Synthesize Flavonoids Considered Anti-cancer Agent (4/6/2007)

Flavonoids. You've heard of them -- the good-for-your-health compounds found in plants that we enjoy in red wine, dark chocolate, green tea and citrus fruits. Mother Nature is an ace at making them, producing different ones by the thousands, but no chemist has figured out a good way to synthesize a special class of these chemicals in the laboratory. Until now. ...> Full Article

Eating less will make you live longer (4/5/2007)

Much research has shown that reduced calorie intake can increase health and longevity. Professor Stephen Spindler (University of California) and his collaborators* have discovered that reducing calorie intake later in life can still induce many of the health and longevity benefits of life-long calorie reduction. Importantly, this also includes anti-cancer effects. ...> Full Article

Hepatitis C virus blocks 'superinfection' (4/5/2007)

There’s infection and then there’s superinfection – when a cell already infected by a virus gets a second viral infection. But some viruses don’t like to share their cells. New research from Rockefeller University shows that the hepatitis C virus, which infects cells in the liver and can cause chronic liver disease, can block other hepatitis C variants from infecting the same cell. ...> Full Article

Study Points to New Direction for Pancreas Cell Regeneration (4/4/2007)

Replacing faulty or missing cells with new insulin-making cells has been the object of diabetes research for the last decade. Past studies in tissue culture have suggested that one type of pancreas cell could be coaxed to transform into insulin-producing islet cells. ...> Full Article

Genomic Test Could Help Detect Radioactivity Exposure from Terrorist Attacks (4/4/2007)

In the event of a nuclear or radiological catastrophe -- such as a nuclear accident or a "dirty bomb" -- thousands of people would be exposed to radiation, with no way of quickly determining how much of the deadly substance has seeped inside their bodies. Scientists at Duke University Medical Center have developed a new blood test to rapidly detect levels of radiation exposure so that potentially life-saving treatments could be administered to the people who need them most. ...> Full Article

Gender Linked to Development of Skin Cancer (4/3/2007)

Inherent gender differences – instead of more sun exposure – may be one reason why men are three times more likely than women to develop certain kinds of skin cancer, say researchers at Ohio State University Medical Center. ...> Full Article

Gene Mutation Linked to Hereditary Lung Disease (4/2/2007)

Scientists at Johns Hopkins have identified the genetic culprits that trigger a hereditary form of a fatal lung disease. ...> Full Article

A Sweet Step Toward New Cancer Therapies (4/2/2007)

By recognizing sugars, a technique developed by University of Michigan analytical chemist Kristina Hakansson sets the stage for new cancer diagnosis and treatment options. ...> Full Article

Preventing Cancer Without Killing Cells (4/2/2007)

Inducing senescence in aged cells may be sufficient to guard against spontaneous cancer development, according to a paper published online this week in EMBO reports. It was previously unknown whether cellular senescence or programmed cell death -- apoptosis -- was the more important safeguard mechanism for suppressing tumours arising from dysfunctional telomeres. ...> Full Article

Protein Averts Cell Suicide but Might Contribute to Cancer (4/1/2007)

Scientists have discovered how an unusual protein helps a cell bypass damage when making new DNA, thereby averting the cell’s self-destruction. ...> Full Article