Curing Death by Curing Aging - March 2007 Archives

Fiber-Optics 'See' Early Cancers (3/31/2007)

Pratt School 'optical biopsy' device ultimately could aid in early diagnosis, treatment and prevention of many types of cancers ...> Full Article

Fruit Fly Gene Research May Shed Light On Human Disease (3/31/2007)

Those small fruit flies buzzing around your bananas are more than pests—they may be allies in a fruitful search for clues to human diseases caused when genes malfunction. ...> Full Article

Targeting tumors the natural way (3/30/2007)

By mimicking Nature's way of distinguishing one type of cell from another, University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists now report they can more effectively seek out and kill cancer cells while sparing healthy ones. ...> Full Article

Immune response to cancer stem cells may dictate cancer’s course (3/29/2007)

Although stem cells hold incredible promise in the fight against certain diseases, in cancer they’re anything but helpful. In fact, mounting evidence is showing that a tumor’s growth and spread may depend on “cancer stem cells,” which comprise only a very small subset of the tumor. Now, a new study shows that immunity to cancer stem cells may help protect people with a precancerous condition from developing the full-blown disease, and that these cells could be an important target for cancer vaccines. ...> Full Article

Lack of a Protein in Lung Tumors May Increase Risk of Death (3/29/2007)

A study of human lung tumors indicates that lung cancer patients who lack a particular protein may do more poorly after surgery than those with normal levels of that same protein. ...> Full Article

Leukemic cells find safe haven in bone marrow (3/28/2007)

The cancer drug asparaginase fails to help cure some children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) because molecules released by certain cells in the bone marrow counteract the effect of that drug, according to investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. ...> Full Article

Researchers Find New Superbug Weapon for Failing Antibiotics Arsenal (3/27/2007)

Imagine the desperation of trying to fight lethal infections when antibiotics fail to work. ...> Full Article

Protein Found to Shield Pancreatic Cancer Cells from Self-Destruction (3/22/2007)

An overexpressed protein protects human pancreatic cancer cells from being forced to devour themselves, removing one of the body's natural defenses against out-of-control cell growth, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the March issue of Molecular Cancer Research. ...> Full Article

Creating A Vaccine To Prevent The Development Of Cancer (3/21/2007)

Two major research organizations in the Phoenix area have announced they will collaborate on an ambitious goal: creating a vaccine to prevent the development of cancer. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute at ASU in Tempe and Mayo Clinic will use the latest developments in laboratory and clinical sciences to reach their goal - finding components in cancer that could be used to vaccinate against the occurrence of the disease. ...> Full Article

Inflammation May Play Role in Metastasis of Prostate Cancer (3/20/2007)

Many would assume that “mounting an immune response” or “having your body fight the cancer” is a good thing. Now, research at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine strongly suggests that inflammation associated with the progression of tumors actually plays a key role in the metastasis of prostate cancer. ...> Full Article

Notorious Cancer Gene May Work By Destroying Messenger (3/20/2007)

A new study suggests how a notorious cancer gene may contribute to tumor growth ...> Full Article

Study reveals how some molecules inhibit growth of lung cancer cells (3/19/2007)

By mapping the interlocking structures of small molecules and mutated protein "receptors" in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and their colleagues have energized efforts to design molecules that mesh with these receptors, potentially interfering with cancer cell growth and survival. ...> Full Article

UNC scientists discover cellular 'SOS' signal in response to UV skin damage (3/17/2007)

New research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine has identified two proteins that may help protect against skin cancer. ...> Full Article

Molecular Differences Between Early and Advanced Melanomas Could Provide New Drug Targets (3/16/2007)

The cell-signaling molecule Akt is a primary trigger that leads malignant melanomas on the skin's surface to begin growing vertically beneath the skin and turn into deadly invasive cancers, scientists have found. Understanding this key molecular difference between radial melanomas that spread on the surface of the skin and melanomas that grow vertically and invasively could provide new targets for the development of drugs to treat individuals with advanced stage melanomas. ...> Full Article

Cancer stem cell hypothesis in breast cancer challenged (3/15/2007)

But scientists identify promising cellular targets for new therapies ...> Full Article

Major gene study uncovers secrets of leukemia (3/14/2007)

Investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have discovered previously unsuspected mutations that contribute to the formation of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common cancer in children. The discovery not only suggests novel methods for treating pediatric ALL, but also provides a roadmap for the identification of unsuspected mutations in adult cancers. ...> Full Article

New Cell Type Identified in Cancer Development (3/14/2007)

Scientists have discovered a new type of cell that appears to play a role in the development of cancer – a highly volatile, precancerous stem cell that can either remain benign or become malignant, depending upon environmental cues. ...> Full Article

Marine Moss Reveals Clues To Anti-Cancer Compound (3/13/2007)

An Oregon Health & Science University researcher believes the discovery of a gene cluster from a bacterium that protects a moss-like marine invertebrate from predators may be the first step toward engineering cancer-fighting drugs. ...> Full Article

Largest genome study of cancer types finds many mutations (3/11/2007)

Scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, where one-third of the human genome was sequenced, have now pioneered decoding the sequence of cancer genomes. They have carried out the broadest survey yet of the human genome in cancer by sequencing more than 250 million letters of DNA code, covering more than 500 genes and 200 cancers. ...> Full Article

Researchers Find That a Byproduct of Mold Kills Multiple Myeloma (3/10/2007)

Mayo Clinic Cancer Center researchers have found that chaetocin, a by-product of a common wood mold, has promise as a new anti-myeloma agent. Results of their study are available online in the March 15 issue of Blood. ...> Full Article

Protein prevents wrinkles but causes cancer (3/9/2007)

Researchers from BRIC, University of Copenhagen, have identified some of the key molecular mechanisms that trigger cancer and aging. When the level of a certain protein becomes too low, the cells age. However, when the levels are increased, the risk for the development of cancer is also increased. That impedes aging, but increases the risk of cancer. The results are published in the current issue of Genes & Development. ...> Full Article

Investigating the Measles Virus as a Tool to Kill Multiple Myeloma (3/8/2007)

Mayo Clinic Cancer Center has opened a new Phase I clinical trial testing an engineered measles virus against multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow that currently has no cure. ...> Full Article

Researchers test vaccines with dendritic cells on patients with melanoma, hepatoma and renal cell carcinoma (3/7/2007)

A team from the University Hospital and the Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA) of the University of Navarra plans to carry out tests midway through 2007. ...> Full Article

Single Genetic Defect Causes Early Heart Disease (3/7/2007)

A team of researchers from the United States and Iran has identified a genetic mutation that causes early onset coronary artery disease in members of a large Iranian family. The genetic mutation leads to heart disease by causing high blood pressure, high blood levels of “bad cholesterol” and diabetes, all risk factors for heart disease. Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. ...> Full Article

Genetic analysis enables personalized treatment of cancer (3/7/2007)

Genetic analysis has enabled the personalising of the pharmaceutical treatment of patients with cancer, enhancing thereby therapeutic efficacy and minimising possible toxicity. In concrete, the Biotechnology Laboratory team at the University Hospital (University of Navarra), in close collaboration with the Pharmacogenomics laboratory at the Centre for Applied Medical Research (CIMA) of the same University, undertook these analyses predictive of responses to pharmaceutical drugs in patients with cancer of the lung, the colon and certain types of sarcoma. ...> Full Article

Researchers demonstrate the clinical effectiveness and benefits of an anti-cancer vaccine (3/6/2007)

A four-year study of 25 patients with follicular lymphoma, performed by specialists from the University Hospital, University of Navarra, Spain and the CIMA, was presented at the Spanish national congress of hematology and hemotherapy ...> Full Article

MicroRNA found to regulate gene implicated in cancer (3/5/2007)

A microRNA directly regulates a gene implicated in human cancers, researchers from the Whitehead Institute and MIT reported in the Feb. 22 online issue of Science. ...> Full Article

Cancer cells forming blood vessels send their copper to the edge (3/1/2007)

New information about a link between the growth of blood vessels critical to the spread of cancer and the copper in our bodies has been discovered by researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago, using a beamline at the Advanced Photon Source. ...> Full Article