All Articles Tagged As: tumors

Yeast-Based Vaccine Reduces Tumor Size (7/2/2008)

Scientists have found that vaccination with a heat-killed, nontoxic yeast that is genetically engineered to manufacture a common tumor protein can induce specific and repeated anti-tumor immune responses in mice. Vaccination extends overall survival and reduces tumor size in mice that have been injected with cancer cells displaying the same protein that was engineered into the yeast. ...> Full Article

Blue light used to harden tooth fillings stunts tumor growth (6/30/2008)

A blue curing light used to harden dental fillings also may stunt tumor growth ...> Full Article

Researchers identify promising cancer drug target in prostate tumors (6/30/2008)

Scientists have blocked the development of prostate tumors in cancer-prone mice by knocking out a molecular unit they describe as a "powerhouse" that drives runaway cell growth. ...> Full Article

Laser Surgery Probe Targets Individual Cancer Cells (6/26/2008)

Mechanical engineering has developed a laser "microscalpel" that destroys a single cell while leaving nearby cells intact, which could improve the precision of surgeries for cancer, epilepsy and other diseases. ...> Full Article

New Cancer Treatment Targets Both Tumor Cells and Blood Vessels (6/25/2008)

researchers develop non-toxic treatment that has broad anti-cancer potential ...> Full Article

Experimental anti-cancer synthetic molecule targets tumor cell growth and angiogenesis (6/18/2008)

A recent study describes a new candidate anti-cancer drug, named HB-19 ...> Full Article

'Addicted' cells provide early cancer diagnosis (6/14/2008)

Researchers have detected subtle changes that may make the bowel more vulnerable to the development of tumours. ...> Full Article

Solid Tumor Cells Not Killed by Radiation and Chemotherapy Become Stronger (6/10/2008)

Because of the way solid tumors adapt the body's machinery to bring themselves more oxygen, chemotherapy and radiation may actually make these tumors stronger. ...> Full Article

Cancer researchers develop new, non-toxic agents to locate tumors (6/5/2008)

Researchers have developed new contrast agents using natural calcium and proteins that are harmless and are more effective at detecting tumors. ...> Full Article

Vaccine May Double Survival in Patients with Deadly Brain Tumors (6/4/2008)

A vaccine aimed at inducing immunity to the most common and deadly type of brain tumor may stave off recurrence and more than double survival in patients ...> Full Article

How advanced prostate cancer becomes resistant to androgen-deprivation therapy (6/3/2008)

Findings suggest androgen production occurs within metastatic prostate tumors ...> Full Article

Researchers Publish Promising Results from Cancer Clinical Trial of JX-594 (5/25/2008)

Majority of these end- stage patients with solid tumors had objective tumor destruction and responses following treatment with the cancer biotherapeutic ...> Full Article

A new change in the chromosome of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (5/24/2008)

Comparative genomic hybridization analysis provides comprehensive information about relative chromosomal losses and gains in malignant tumors in vitro. ...> Full Article

Determining genetic signature of lung tumors can help guide treatment (5/23/2008)

Study confirms early use of targeted therapy can improve outcomes, more study needed ...> Full Article

A promising tumor gene therapeutic target: tMK (5/23/2008)

Midkine (MK), a heparin-binding growth factor, and its truncated form (tMK) are expressed at higher levels in various malignant tumors ...> Full Article

Doctors Target the Multiple Facets of Pancreatic Tumors (5/16/2008)

Researchers are successfully treating pancreatic cancer patients using multiple novel strategies including a combination therapy on a clinical study designed to choke off a tumor's blood supply. ...> Full Article

Chemical Compound Prevents Cancer In Lab (5/15/2008)

Researchers study several compounds to stop or prevent cancer ...> Full Article

Skin flaps deliver cancer-fighting therapy, ASPS study reveals (5/11/2008)

Treatment provides 'blueprint' to produce therapeutic proteins at tumor site ...> Full Article

Switching on cancer killer gene (5/9/2008)

Scientists have discovered how to control a major anti-tumour gene that could lead to more effective chemotherapy ...> Full Article

Researchers find way to make tumor cells easier to destroy (5/8/2008)

Researchers have found that tumors have a built-in mechanism that protects them from heat (hyperthermia) damage and most likely decreases the benefit of hyperthermia and radiation as a combined therapy. ...> Full Article

EGFR Protects Cancer Cells from Starving (5/6/2008)

A growth factor receptor found abundantly on the surface of cancer cells and long known to fuel cancer growth also protects tumor cells from starvation by a newly identified mechanism ...> Full Article

'Destruct' triggers may be jammed in tumor cells, geneticists say (5/1/2008)

Tumor cells living in the cross hairs of radiation or chemotherapy may be able to escape death because their self-destruct mechanisms are jammed ...> Full Article

Researchers identify new cell targets for preventing growth of breast and other tumors (4/26/2008)

Researchers have discovered new targets for cancer treatment aimed at blocking a key step in tumor progression. ...> Full Article

Effective cancer immune therapy through order in the blood vessels (4/22/2008)

Immune therapies are considered very promising in cancer medicine: Tumor-fighting immune cells are supposed to invade tumor tissue and eliminate cancer cells right there. Although this works well in the test tube, clinical application often fails because immune cells are unable to get into the tumor tissue from the bloodstream in sufficient numbers. ...> Full Article

Researchers identify key target for cancer therapies (4/21/2008)

New therapies must target a key protein interaction to destroy aggressive cancer cells' protective force field ...> Full Article

Mouse Study: Tumors Suppress Cells Immune System Regulator Cells (4/20/2008)

New research has shown that the function of a type of cell that helps modulate immune responses is impaired inside tumors in mice ...> Full Article

Too many gene copies stimulate tumor cell growth (4/11/2008)

New data has characterized a molecular pathway underlying low-grade forms of a type of brain tumor known as an astrocytoma ...> Full Article

New regulatory circuit identified for aggressive, malignant brain tumor (4/10/2008)

Research using a newly developed algorithm has significantly advanced understanding of the molecular events associated with the most common primary brain tumor in adults, human glioblastoma ...> Full Article

T-Cadherin Affects Blood Vessel Growth in Breast Cancer, Hormone from Fat Cells May Play a Role (4/8/2008)

Researchers may have found a new option for targeted breast cancer therapy by showing the link between a certain protein and the formation and development of blood vessels that feed breast tumors ...> Full Article

Brain Tumor Patients Benefit From Chemotherapy Pill (4/7/2008)

At home chemotherapy pill may be useful for brain tumor patients ...> Full Article

Human breast tumors' 'microenvironment' primes them for metastasis (4/7/2008)

The environment within primary breast tumors can 'empower' cells that break free and enter the bloodstream to successfully invade other organs ...> Full Article

New therapeutic targets to stop breast cancer metastasis to the lung (4/6/2008)

A study reveals how breast tumors use a specific type of molecule to promote metastasis - the spread of cancer cells. Metastasis is the cause of approximately 90% of all deaths caused by cancer ...> Full Article

Scans spot hidden tumors in rare cancer syndrome (3/24/2008)

Study suggests PET/CT may have value in screening Li-Fraumeni patients ...> Full Article

New insight into the genetics of brain tumor formation (3/20/2008)

Researchers identify a potential new neuronal tumor suppressor ...> Full Article

Study helps explain fundamental process of tumor growth (3/15/2008)

Unique metabolic process first identified eight decades ago is found to be key ...> Full Article

Researchers find potential cancer drug (3/9/2008)

Small-molecule drug selectively kills tumor cells by activating p53 protein ...> Full Article

Protein in embryonic stem cells control malignant tumor cells (3/5/2008)

A protein that governs development of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) also inhibits the growth and spread of malignant melanoma, the deadliest skin cancer, Northwestern University researchers have discovered. Metastatic melanoma, which develops from the transformation of skin pigment cells or melanocytes, has a death rate of more than 80 percent and a median survival of less than 7.5 months. ...> Full Article

Tumor Vaccines Developed by Researchers (3/4/2008)

A new study reveals how Keck School researchers have discovered a new molecular player that will help create a better vaccination against tumors. ...> Full Article

Assessing prognosis and optimizing treatment in patients with postchemotherapy viable NSGCT (2/28/2008)

In nonseminomatous germ-celltumors (NSGCT), surgical resection of postchemotherapy residualmasses is universally recommended. These masses may harbor completenecrosis, teratoma, or viable malignant germ-cell tumors (GCT). Besides viable GCT, postchemotherapy residual masses can also harbor non-GCT cancer, especially in primary mediastinal NSGCT, and this so-called 'teratoma with malignant transformation' is associated with a dismal prognosis. In patients with postchemotherapy retroperitoneal and pulmonary lesions, discordant histologies between the two sites have been reported in approximately 30% of cases, thus justifying the removal of lesions from both sides of the diaphragm. However, the high pathological concordance rate (95%) between residual lesions from both lungs argues in favor of avoiding a contralateral thoracotomy when complete necrosis is identified in operative specimens from the one lung. ...> Full Article

Lab Engineers Virus That Can Kill Deadly Brain Tumors (2/23/2008)

A laboratory-engineered virus that can find its way through the vascular system and kill deadly brain tumors has been developed by Yale School of Medicine researchers, it was reported this week in the Journal of Neuroscience. ...> Full Article

Study identifies another strategy for normalizing tumor blood supply (2/22/2008)

Controlling nitric oxide levels could further improve effectivness of anticancer therapies ...> Full Article

Study reveals why certain ovarian cancers develop resistance to platinum-based chemotherapy (2/12/2008)

Mechanism of cisplatin resistance 'unlike any previously identified' ...> Full Article

New Brain Tumor Treatments Offer Hope (2/2/2008)

In 2008, approximately 215,000 Americans will be diagnosed with one of more than 100 types of brain tumors. Patients who receive such a diagnosis should remain hopeful, however, as treatment options at the nation's leading brain tumor centers have never been better, according to Philip Theodosopoulos, MD, assistant professor of neurosurgery and director of the division of skull base surgery at the University of Cincinnati (UC). ...> Full Article

Research May Lead to Improved Treatments for Cancer (1/30/2008)

Researchers at the University of Guelph have moved a step closer to explaining why cancer drug therapies work differently in patients with the same type of tumour. ...> Full Article

Drug Helps Brain Tumor Patients Live Longer (1/30/2008)

People who receive high doses of the chemotherapy drug methotrexate to treat a certain type of brain tumor appear to live longer than people receiving other treatments, according to research published in the January 29, 2008, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. ...> Full Article

Combined Radiation Seed, Chemotherapy Wafer Implantation May Help Treat Brain Tumors (1/19/2008)

In the battle against malignant brain tumors, dual implantation of radioactive seeds and chemotherapy wafers following surgery showed promising results in a study led by specialists at the Neuroscience Institute at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and University Hospital. ...> Full Article

Findings Point to Molecular 'Achilles Heel' for Half of Breast Cancer Tumors (1/15/2008)

Researchers show why agents now being tested provide new treatment strategy ...> Full Article

Common Molecule Notifies Immune System of Prostate Cancer (1/13/2008)

In experiments with mice, researchers have found that the body's immune system can use a surprisingly common molecule to recognize prostate tumors. The molecule comes from a protein found in all cells of the body; however, immune cells appear to respond to it only when it is present on the surface of cells within a tumor. ...> Full Article

Genetic breakthrough offers promise in tackling kidney tumours (1/12/2008)

A new study has shown promising results in fighting a severe genetic disorder which can create tumours throughout the body. ...> Full Article

Immature Brain Cell Errors May Promote Brain Tumor Growth (1/9/2008)

In experiments done in lab and animal studies, a breakdown in proper cell development has been shown to cause brain-specific stem cells to become starter seeds for aggressive brain tumors called glioblastoma multiforme, according to research from a team of researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke (NINDS), parts of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). ...> Full Article

Molecule that Facilitates Cancer Spread in Both Cells and Their Surroundings Found Researchers (1/7/2008)

The discovery that a molecule drives local tumor growth, as well as its ability to flourish and spread, opens a new window for understanding and treating cancer by taking aim at both cancer cells and their surrounding environment. ...> Full Article

Gene Dose Affects Tumor Growth (1/7/2008)

Researchers at Johns Hopkins and Ohio State University have found that the number of copies of a particular gene can affect the severity of colon cancer in a mouse model. Publishing in the Jan. 3 issue of Nature, the research team describes how trisomy 21, or Down syndrome in humans, can repress tumor growth. ...> Full Article

Research Suggests New Treatment Suitable for All Patients With Least-Curable Brain Tumors (1/2/2008)

New research at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center suggests that a three-drug cocktail may one day improve outcomes in patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a type of brain tumor with a dismal prognosis. Two of the drug candidates have been developed, and the team is working on the third - all targeted to kill or impair cancer cells and spare healthy brain. ...> Full Article

Researchers Hot on the TRAIL of New Cancer Targets (12/30/2007)

Cell-Death Receptor Link Between Cancer Susceptibility and Inflammation ...> Full Article

New Research Tools Suggest Cancer And Other Diseases Are Too Complex For Easy Answers, Researchers Say (12/27/2007)

Scientists who study cancer may be prone to drawing simplistic conclusions from the powerful molecular tools now available because they don't appreciate how complex the data is that is being generated, said a team of Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) researchers in the January issue of Nature Reviews Cancer. ...> Full Article

Scientists develop new drug candidate to outflank cancer resistance (12/25/2007)

A new drug candidate first synthesized by scientists in the Medicinal Chemistry Group at the University of Bath has shown promising experimental results against breast and prostate cancer cells and tumours that are resistant to conventional hormone-based treatments. ...> Full Article

Microchip-based device can detect rare tumor cells in bloodstream (12/23/2007)

Blood 'biopsy' may provide information to guide treatment planning, monitor response ...> Full Article

Team Finds a Widely Used Anti-Malarial Drug Prevents Cancer Development (12/22/2007)

Study Offers Proof of Principle for Novel Anti-Tumor Therapy ...> Full Article

Even Tiny Breast Tumors Can Be Aggressive and May Require Maximum Therapy (12/19/2007)

Breast tumors that are 1 centimeter in size or smaller - no more than 0.4 inch in length - can still be very aggressive and may require more intensive therapy than is routinely offered today, say researchers at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla. ...> Full Article

New High-tech Tool For Brain Disorders, Gamma Knife, Now In Use (12/15/2007)

The most advanced noninvasive, radiosurgery tool for treating a variety of brain disorders--including tumors--is now being used by specialists at UCSF Medical Center. The new machine expands UCSF's ability to provide state-of-the-art, specialized care to patients. ...> Full Article

Silencing small but mighty cancer inhibitors (12/13/2007)

Researchers from Johns Hopkins and the University of Pennsylvania have uncovered another reason why one of the most commonly activated proteins in cancer is in fact so dangerous. As reported in Nature Genetics this week, the Myc protein can stop the production of at least 13 microRNAs, small pieces of nucleic acid that help control which genes are turned on and off. ...> Full Article

Keeping at-risk cells from developing cancer (12/12/2007)

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that cancers arising from epigenetic changes - in this case the inappropriate activation of a normally silent gene - develop by becoming addicted to certain growth factors. Reporting online in next week's Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, the team shows that blocking this "addiction" can greatly prevent cancer growth. ...> Full Article

Scientists Find White Blood Cells Deliver Boost to Tumors (12/10/2007)

New Findings Point to Potential New Cancer Targets ...> Full Article

Findings on Plant-derived Cancer Medicines (12/8/2007)

The next cancer-fighting therapeutic could be growing in your garden, according to research presented today, at the American Association for Cancer Research's Sixth Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, being held from December 5 to 8 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...> Full Article

DNA Methylation Shown To Promote Development Of Colon Tumors (12/2/2007)

Damaged or defective genes have long been known to be the cause of some cancers. Over the past decade, however, scientists have discovered that even healthy genes can be switched on or off and can cause cancer without any changes in the underlying DNA sequence--although how this happens has remained poorly understood. ...> Full Article

New x-ray technique targets terrorists and tumours (12/2/2007)

Scientists at The University of Manchester have developed a new x-ray technique that could be used to detect hidden explosives, drugs and human cancers more effectively. ...> Full Article

By growing 3D tumors, researcher develops realistic cancer growth models (11/29/2007)

Scientists can only develop new cancer drugs or search for cures by testing their theories on the real thing. Traditionally, they've done so by culturing cancer cells on petri dishes or plastic slides. But those cancer cells do not behave the way they do in the body. They only partially re-create the aggressive behavior of tumors in real patients. ...> Full Article

Freezing Bone Cancer Tumors Reduces Pain (11/29/2007)

Cryoablation, a procedure most commonly associated with destroying kidney and prostate tumors by freezing them, has been shown to offer durable pain relief of cancer that has spread to bone. The procedure freezes and shrinks or destroys cancerous tumors in or near bone. ...> Full Article

Cancer-resistant Mouse Developed By Adding Tumor-suppressor Gene (11/29/2007)

A mouse resistant to cancer, even highly-aggressive types, has been created by researchers at the University of Kentucky. The breakthrough stems from a discovery by UK College of Medicine professor of radiation medicine Vivek Rangnekar and a team of researchers who found a tumor-suppressor gene called "Par-4" in the prostate. ...> Full Article

New Method of Drug Delivery More Effective at Reaching Brain Tumors (11/28/2007)

Bioengineers at Yale and Cornell have created a modified chemotherapy that more effectively reaches and remains at the site of brain tumors - by adding a water-soluble polymer to the anti-cancer drug, according to a report in the November-December issue of Bioconjugate Chemistry. ...> Full Article

Cancer drug works by stimulating cancer gene (11/21/2007)

Melanoma tumors carry enemy within, suggesting new treatment strategy ...> Full Article

Anti-Cancer Drug Begins Human Trials (11/19/2007)

An anti-cancer drug has begun clinical testing with patients. ...> Full Article

Researchers Identify Tumor-Suppressor Gene for Lung Cancer (11/18/2007)

The GPRC5A gene, which is under-expressed in human lung cancer cells, suppresses lung tumors in mouse models and could provide a key to attacking lung cancer in humans, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the Nov. 21 edition of The Journal of the National Cancer Institute. ...> Full Article

A Low-Carb Diet May Stunt Prostate Tumor Growth (11/17/2007)

A diet low in carbohydrates may help stunt the growth of prostate tumors, according to a new study. The study, in mice, suggests that a reduction in insulin production possibly caused by fewer carbohydrates may stall tumor growth. ...> Full Article

A protein converts immune cells to tumor killers (11/14/2007)

Tumor cells are masters at evading detection. But new research shows how they can be exposed. By harnessing the immune system of patients with a rare neurological disorder, scientists have figured out how to transform immune cells that barely detect the presence of breast and ovarian tumors into ones that obliterate them. The findings not only bring researchers closer to a therapy for gynecological cancers, but also to the key that could unlock the general secrets of tumor immunity. ...> Full Article

Drug Slows Prostate Tumor Growth by Keeping Vitamin A Active (11/12/2007)

A novel compound that blocks the breakdown of retinoic acid, derived from vitamin A, is a surprisingly effective and "promiscuous" agent in treating animal models of human prostate cancer, say investigators from the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB). ...> Full Article

How One Virus Uses Mimicry To Replicate Successfully: Related Mechanisms May Trigger Some Cancers (11/6/2007)

Both viruses and cancers subvert the growth-control machinery in a cell to serve their own needs. According to a new study, at least one virus uses mimicry to gain access to that machinery. ...> Full Article

Tumor genome analysis unveils new insights into lung cancer (11/6/2007)

An international consortium of scientists today in an advanced online publication in the journal Nature revealed a comprehensive view of the altered genetic background of the type of lung cancer that is the most common cause of cancer deaths in humans. ...> Full Article

SUMO wrestles SENP1 over response to hypoxia, providing possible cancer targets (11/5/2007)

Researchers have found a protein that enables cellular survival during periods of low oxygen, or hypoxia, which also is key for development of many kinds of cancer. ...> Full Article

Chemical In Red Wine, Fruits And Vegetables May Stop Cancer, Heart Disease, Depending On The Dose (11/4/2007)

The next cancer drug might come straight from the grocery store, according to new research published in the November 2007 issue of The FASEB Journal. In the study, French scientists describe how high and low doses of polyphenols have different effects. Most notably, they found that very high doses of antioxidant polyphenols shut down and prevent cancerous tumors by cutting off the formation of new blood vessels needed for tumor growth. Polyphenols are commonly found in red wine, fruits, vegetables, and green tea. ...> Full Article

Fighting cancer with light-activated antibodies (10/31/2007)

Scientists at Newcastle University have developed a cancer fighting technology which uses ultra-violet light to activate antibodies which very specifically attack tumours. ...> Full Article

Cellular 'Self-Eating' Might Be Turned Against Tumors (10/30/2007)

We all know that recycling can reduce the strain on global resources. But if we could see into the cellular world inside us, we might also notice that our cells are running a successful recycling campaign of their own. ...> Full Article

Combination Targets: Some Drugs May Work Best When They Work Together (10/28/2007)

While some targeted therapies - drugs developed to attack specific molecules in the critical chemical pathways occurring within cancer cells - work well by themselves, increasingly researchers are finding that they work better when teamed with other targeted and conventional therapies. ...> Full Article

Researchers test novel vaccine to treat aggressive brain tumors (10/28/2007)

New vaccine for glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive brain cancer, is now being offered through a clinical trial at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. ...> Full Article

Common Virus May Help Doctors Treat Deadly Brain Tumors (10/24/2007)

A common human virus may prove useful in attacking the deadliest form of brain tumors, according to study conducted by researchers at Duke's Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center. The researchers said the finding is an important step in developing a vaccine that can attack the tumors by enlisting the help of the body's immune system. ...> Full Article

Genes That Both Extend Life And Protect Against Cancer Identified (10/18/2007)

A person is 100 times more likely to get cancer at age 65 than at age 35. But new research reported today in the journal "Nature Genetics" identifies naturally occurring processes that allow many genes to both slow aging and protect against cancer in the much-studied C. elegans roundworm. ...> Full Article

Mouse Mammary Tumor Virus Can Replicate In Human Cells (10/15/2007)

Mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) - which causes mammary cancer in mice - can replicate and spread in human cells, research published this week shows. ...> Full Article

Scientists Find Protein May Play a Key Role in Development of Deadly Form of Pancreatic Cancer (10/12/2007)

A tumor-blocking protein previously implicated in prostate and breast cancer development may also be behind the most aggressive type of pancreatic cancer. ...> Full Article

Gene may hold key to future cancer hope (10/10/2007)

Scientists may have discovered a new way of killing tumours in what they hope could one day lead to alternative forms of cancer treatments. ...> Full Article

Stomach stem cell discovery could bring cancer insights (10/5/2007)

Researchers identify rare population of progenitor cells in mouse stomachs, paving way for learning origins of tumors ...> Full Article

Cancer cells enlist adult stem cells to promote metastasis (10/5/2007)

Study shows that a cancer cell's metastatic powers are not intrinsic to the cell itself, rather they may be influenced by the signals the cancer cell experiences from stromal cells in the context of the primary tumor. ...> Full Article

Anti-cancer compound once only found in a shrub can now be synthesized in lab (10/4/2007)

The search for anti-cancer compounds in plants often hits a brick wall when only small amounts of the substance can be extracted. Researchers have now developed a technique which can synthesize relatively large amounts of a potent compound, previously only found in a shrub. ...> Full Article

Researchers discover one of the mechanisms that prevents the spread of colon cancer (10/1/2007)

The first step in the development of colon cancer is the formation of benign tumours, called adenomas, in the intestine. Over time, these tumours may progress to produce colon cancer if they undergo a series of mutations and genetic alterations. ...> Full Article

Patients with coronary artery disease appear to have increased prevalence of colorectal tumors (9/26/2007)

Patients in Hong Kong who were newly diagnosed with coronary artery disease had nearly twice the prevalence of colorectal tumors and cancers, with this association stronger in persons who had smoked or have the metabolic syndrome. ...> Full Article

To Evade Chemotherapy, Some Cancer Cells Mimic Stem Cells (9/20/2007)

Anti-cancer treatments often effectively shrink the size of tumors, but some might have an opposite effect, actually expanding the small population of cancer stem cells believed to drive the disease, according to findings presented today in Atlanta, Georgia at the American Association for Cancer Research's second International Conference on Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic Development. ...> Full Article

Study suggests brain tumors need treatment with multiple targeted drugs (9/17/2007)

Researchers have shown that several, rather than just one, cell-growth switches are simultaneously overactive in many brain tumors and other solid tumors, explaining why treatment with just a single "targeted" switch-blocking drug often yields disappointing results. The laboratory finding argues for quickly moving to clinical trials that combine three or more such targeted drugs for such cancers to shut down all the malfunctioning growth switches. ...> Full Article

Compounds Inhibit Tumor Cell Growth in the Cell Culture and in Zebrafish (9/15/2007)

Twenty-five years ago, the first component was discovered of what was later found to be part of one of the most important signaling pathways for development and disease, the Wnt signaling pathway. Now, researchers are using the insights they have gained into this cell communication to interfere with this pathway to develop new therapies against cancer. ...> Full Article

Customized Virus Kills Brain Tumor Stem Cells that Drive Lethal Cancer (9/14/2007)

A tailored virus destroys brain tumor stem cells that resist other therapies and cause lethal re-growth of cancer after surgery, a research team led by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports in the Sept. 18 edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. ...> Full Article

Molecular probe 'paints' cancer cells in living animals (9/13/2007)

Researchers have developed a molecular probe that sets aglow tumor cells within living animals. Their goal is to use the probe to improve the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other diseases. ...> Full Article

Cancer Center Seeks To Develop Proton/Particle Treatment and Research Center (9/13/2007)

The University of California, San Diego is planning to establish a center for proton and particle therapy, the most powerful forms of radiation therapy available to treat cancer patients today. ...> Full Article

How vitamin C stops the big 'C' (9/12/2007)

Nearly 30 years after Nobel laureate Linus Pauling famously and controversially suggested that vitamin C supplements can prevent cancer, a team of Johns Hopkins scientists have shown that in mice at least, vitamin C - and potentially other antioxidants - can indeed inhibit the growth of some tumors -- just not in the manner suggested by years of investigation. ...> Full Article

Bacteria Successful In Cancer Treatment (9/10/2007)

Bacteria that thrive in oxygen starved environments have been used successfully to target cancer tumours, delivering gene therapy based anti-cancer treatments, according to scientists. ...> Full Article

Novel 3-D cell culture model shows selective tumour uptake of nanoparticles (8/26/2007)

A nanoparticle drug delivery system designed for brain tumour therapy has shown promising tumour cell selectivity in a novel cell culture model devised by scientists at The University of Nottingham. The project, conducted jointly by the Schools of Pharmacy, Biomedical Sciences and Human Development, will be featured in the September issue of the Experimental Biology and Medicine. ...> Full Article

Small bits of 'junk' RNA aid master tumor-suppressor gene (8/24/2007)

Three micro RNA genes appear to be key partners of protective gene p53; their loss is linked to common type of lung cancer ...> Full Article

Researchers Study Longterm Effects of Pediatric Brain Tumors (8/23/2007)

A team of researchers from Emory and Georgia State Universities has been awarded a four-year, nearly $850,000 grant from the American Cancer Society to study risk factors for long-term social and cognitive problems in adult survivors of pediatric brain tumors. The study will focus on more than 100 adults, currently in their 20s, who have survived at least ten years beyond their initial diagnosis. ...> Full Article

Invasion Of The Brain Tumors: Regulator Discovered (8/21/2007)

Gliomas are highly malignant and invasive tumors with tendrils that extend far from the primary tumor site, rendering conventional therapies ineffective and leading to an invariably poor prognosis. ...> Full Article

Tumors use enzyme to recruit regulatory T-cells and suppress immune response (8/18/2007)

One way tumors fly under the radar of the immune system is by using IDO, an enzyme used by fetuses to help avoid rejection, to recruit powerful regulatory T cells that turn down the immune response, researchers say. ...> Full Article

Promising New Nanomedical Cancer Therapy Also Highlights Tech Transfer, Inventor Says (8/16/2007)

If a new approach to cancer therapy, still experimental and in a phase I clinical trial, turns out as well as hoped, the credit will go as much to technology transfer as to scientific acumen. ...> Full Article

MicroRNA 'sponges' could aid cancer studies (8/14/2007)

MIT researchers have developed a new way to study the function of microRNA, tiny strands of genetic material that help regulate at least 25 percent of a cell's genes. ...> Full Article

Multi-Center Study Nets New Lung Tumor-Suppressor Gene (8/8/2007)

Collaborating scientists in Boston and North Carolina have found that a particular gene can block key steps of the lung cancer process in mice. The researchers report in the journal Nature that LKB1 is not only a "tumor-suppressor" gene for non-small cell lung cancer in mice, it also may be more powerful than other, better-known suppressors. ...> Full Article

High-Intensity Ultrasound May Launch Attack on Cancer, Wherever It Lurks (8/8/2007)

An intense form of ultrasound that shakes a tumor until its cells start to leak can trigger an 'alarm' that enlists immune defenses against the cancerous invasion, according to a study led by researchers at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering. ...> Full Article

Detecting Small Movements During Cancer Treatment (8/8/2007)

Calypso system shows when patient's breathing, other movement changes tumor location, impacting treatment ...> Full Article

Study Shows Radiofrequency Ablation Highly Effective in Treating Kidney Tumors (8/7/2007)

A relatively new, minimally invasive treatment was 100 percent successful in eradicating small malignant kidney tumors in a study of more than 100 patients, report researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. ...> Full Article

Study Investigating Vaccine to Treat Brain Tumors Underway (8/5/2007)

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Abramson Cancer Center have begun ACT III – a Phase II/III Randomized Study – to investigate the addition of CDX-110 vaccine to standard care maintenance chemotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most aggressive form of primary brain tumor. ...> Full Article

Cancer Stem Cells Created By Two Signalling Pathways (8/4/2007)

The linking of two signalling pathways in the cells of liver tumours has a clear influence on their malignancy. Activation of the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) messenger molecule is decisive for this linking. This results related to the development of liver cancer was generated during a current project by the Austrian Science Fund FWF and has been published in the Journal Oncogene. When the signalling pathways in liver tumour cells have been linked together, these cells develop the characteristics of cancer stem cells, which are in principal resistant to chemotherapy. This new understanding of the signalling pathways involved unlocks potential for the future development of modified therapies. ...> Full Article

Using A Blue Gene Supercomputer To Study Tumor Formations (8/1/2007)

The University of Alabama at Birmingham has acquired an IBM Blue Gene/L supercomputer for biological research, tripling its computing power. The new supercomputer will allow the university to enhance its capabilities in computational biology and molecular simulations. ...> Full Article

Breakthrough Approach Matches Tumor Profiles to Best Possible Anticancer Treatments (7/25/2007)

Cancer patients don't have time to waste. Many go through several different treatments, however, to find one that is more effective against their particular type of tumor. ...> Full Article

Brain Discovery Could Fight Deadly Tumors (7/21/2007)

MIT researchers have identified a critical link between two proteins found in brain tumors, a discovery that could eventually help treat a form of brain cancer that kills 99 percent of patients. ...> Full Article

Frog Molecule Could Provide Drug Treatment For Brain Tumors (6/29/2007)

A synthetic version of a molecule found in the egg cells of the Northern Leopard frog (Rana pipiens) could provide the world with the first drug treatment for brain tumours. ...> 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