NEWS
Duke researchers find that cancer’s thirst for copper can be targeted
April 9, 2014
DURHAM, N.C. – Drugs used to block copper absorption for a rare genetic condition may find an additional use as a treatment for certain types of cancer, researchers at Duke Medicine report.
The researchers found that cancers with a mutation in the BRAF gene require copper to promote tumor growth. These tumors include melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer that kills an estimated 10,000 people in the United States a year, according to the National Cancer Institute.
“BRAF-positive cancers like melanoma almost hunger for copper,” said Christopher M. Counter, Ph.D., professor of Pharmacology & Cancer Biology at Duke University School of Medicine and senior author of the study published April 9, 2014, in Nature.
El 25% de los cánceres son provocados por agentes infecciosos
March 17, 2014
Así lo indica la patóloga y epidemióloga colombiana Nubia Muñoz Calero.
El Helicobacter pylori, el virus de la hepatitis B y C, y el Virus del Papiloma Humano son tres de los agentes infecciosos que provocan los principales tipos de cáncer que se padecen en países emergentes como Colombia.Estómago, hígado y cuello uterino son, respectivamente, tipos de cáncer causados por dichas infecciones y sobre los cuales ha trabajado, desde hace más de 30 años, la patóloga y epidemióloga colombiana Nubia Muñoz Calero.
Para Muñoz, haber participado en más de 40 países, en estudios de epidemiología que han demostrado que ciertos agentes infecciosos son una causa importante de cáncer, ha sido una de sus principales satisfacciones.
Whole-genome sequencing for clinical use faces many challenges, study finds
March 11, 2014
Whole-genome sequencing has been touted as a game-changer in personalized medicine. Clinicians can identify increases in disease risk for specific patients, as well as their responsiveness to certain drugs, by determining the sequence of the billions of building blocks, called nucleotides, that make up their DNA.
Now, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have discovered that although life-changing discoveries can be made, significant challenges must be overcome before whole-genome sequencing can be routinely clinically useful. In particular, they found that individual risk determination would benefit from a degree of improved sequencing accuracy in disease-associated genes. Furthermore, up to 100 hours of manual assessment by professional genetic counselors or informatics specialists is required for detailed genome analysis. -
Anti-psychotic Medications Offer New Hope in the Battle Against Glioblastoma
March 7, 2014
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that FDA-approved anti-psychotic drugs possess tumor-killing activity against the most aggressive form of primary brain cancer, glioblastoma. The finding was published in this week’s online edition of Oncotarget.
The team of scientists, led by principal investigator, Clark C. Chen, MD, PhD, vice-chairman, UC San Diego, School of Medicine, division of neurosurgery, used a technology platform called shRNA to test how each gene in the human genome contributed to glioblastoma growth. The discovery that led to the shRNA technology won the Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine in 2006.
Breast Cancer Startup Challenge announces ten winning teams of entrepreneurs; Promising technologies identified to speed cancer research
March 5, 2014
Ten winners of a world-wide competition to bring emerging breast cancer research technologies to market faster were announced today by the Avon Foundation for Women, in partnership with the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Center for Advancing Innovation (CAI). Avon is providing $250,000 in funding for this Challenge.
The Breast Cancer Startup Challenge is comprised of 10 research technologies that were judged to show great promise to advance breast cancer research. These 10 inventions were developed at NCI or at an Avon Foundation-funded university lab and include therapeutics, diagnostics, prognostics, one device, one vaccine, one delivery system and one health IT invention. Teams of business, legal, medical/scientific, engineering, computer science students and seasoned entrepreneurs have evaluated these technologies to create business plans and start new companies to develop and commercialize them.
Cholesterol-metabolism study suggests new diagnostic, treatment approach for aggressive prostate cancer
March 4, 2014
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Researchers have discovered a link between prostate cancer aggressiveness and the accumulation of a compound produced when cholesterol is metabolized in cells, findings that could bring new diagnostic and treatment methods.
Findings also suggest that a class of drugs previously developed to treat atherosclerosis might be repurposed for treatment of advanced prostate cancer.
The research showed depletion of the compound cholesteryl ester significantly reduced prostate cancer cell proliferation, impaired its ability to invade a laboratory tissue culture and suppressed tumor growth in mice.
"Our study provides an avenue towards diagnosis of aggressive prostate cancer. Moreover, we showed that depleting cholesteryl ester significantly impairs prostate cancer aggressiveness," said Ji-Xin Cheng, a professor in Purdue University's Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Chemistry.
Researchers identify target for shutting down growth of prostate cancer cells
March 4, 2014
Scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified an important step toward potentially shutting down the growth of prostate cancer cells.
Dr. Ralf Kittler, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology, studies ERG, a protein that facilitates the transformation of normal prostate cells into cancer cells. His lab found that an enzyme called USP9X protects ERG from degradation and subsequently found that a molecule called WP1130 can block USP9X and lead to the destruction of ERG. “We now have a target that we could potentially exploit to develop a drug for treatment,” said Dr. Kittler, UT Southwestern’s first Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Scholar in Cancer Research.
Ohio State researchers find that breast cancer cells are less likely to spread when one gene is turned off
February 26, 2014
COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research suggests that a protein only recently linked to cancer has a significant effect on the risk that breast cancer will spread, and that lowering the protein’s level in cell cultures and mice reduces chances for the disease to extend beyond the initial tumor. The team of medical and engineering researchers at The Ohio State University previously determined that modifying a single gene to reduce this protein’s level in breast cancer cells lowered the cells’ ability to migrate away from the tumor site.
Detectan células cancerígenas con gafas de realidad aumentada
18 de Febrero, 2014
Ya se realizó la primera intervención quirúrgica en Estados Unidos utilizando esta tecnología Un grupo de científicos de la Escuela de Medicina de la Universidad de Washington desarrollaron unas gafas de realidad aumentada que pueden distinguir las células cancerígenas de las sanas. Este invento podría marcar una diferencia significativa en los procedimientos quirúrgicos para extirpar los tumores de los pacientes que padezcan cáncer, pues facilitaría el trabajo de los cirujanos al brindarles más precisión sobre cuáles son las áreas afectadas por la enfermedad. El equipo que desarrolló este proyecto está encabezado por el Doctor Samuel Achuilefy, profesor de radiología e ingeniería biomecánica en la Universidad de Washington. Este aseguró que con las gafas se pueden identificar mejor los tejidos que deben ser extirpados hasta el punto de que no se requieran segundas intervenciones.
Why Global Health Security Matters
February 13, 2014
CDC works with global partners to build countries’ global health security capacities to better protect the world from infectious disease epidemics. In our interconnected world, a health threat anywhere is a threat everywhere. Read our digital press kit to learn more about our work to prevent, detect, and respond to diseases more effectively.
Cáncer en Colombia, un enigma
11 de Frebrero, 2014
Entre científicos, los congresos son ideales para divulgar y conocer resultados de investigación. Por eso, para calcular qué tanta producción científica sobre cáncer hay en América Latina, un equipo del Instituto de Oncología de la Fundación Santa Fe se dio a la tarea de identificar las intervenciones latinoamericanas en los congresos anuales de las cuatro asociaciones internacionales más reconocidas: American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO), European Cancer Organization (ESMO ECCO) y American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
Memorias de una batalla
4 de Febrero, 2014
Padeció nueve años cáncer de mama, ha estudiado varios tipos de cáncer durante más de una década, ha ganado premios y ha trabajado, junto a un grupo de científicos, en investigaciones que alarman. Por ejemplo, en Colombia, puede haber diagnósticos errados 40% de las veces. Esta, la lucha de María Mercedes Torres.
En el 2034, cáncer provocará 13 millones de muertes al año
3 de Febrero, 2014
Es la proyección de agencia de la OMS. Colombia, con 70.000 casos al año, falla en prevención. Si el cáncer sigue avanzando como hasta ahora lo ha hecho, en dos décadas uno de cada cinco hombres y una de cada seis mujeres en el mundo desarrollarán alguno de los tipos de esta enfermedad antes de cumplir los 75 años. (Lea también: 'No se ha derrotado el cáncer, pero las cosas parecen mejorar')
Living With Cancer: Tumbling Blocks
November 7, 2013
On a night several months ago, the digital clock blinked 11:53. My husband was asleep so I crept down the hall, only turning on a light when I got into my study. On a sheet on the floor were fabrics laid out for a new quilt in the tumbling block pattern. Pictures of my friends kept me company, but there was no photo of the woman over whom I was grieving.
Hopeful Glimmers in Long War on Cancer
November 4, 2013
This week’s Retro Report video examines the “war on cancer” — a federal research initiative authorized by President Richard M. Nixon in 1971. Many anticipated quick results, in part because of the public relations campaign, complete with ads suggesting we could cure cancer by the bicentennial, that successfully pushed Mr. Nixon into making the commitment.
Living With Cancer: Brains on Chemo
October 24, 2013
Chemo brain is a phenomenon that patients have described for quite some time as a thick mental fog resulting from chemotherapy. For quite some time, too, physicians discounted chemo brain as a figment of patients’ imaginations. Now, however, the American Cancer Society terms it “a mild cognitive impairment” that for most people only lasts a short time.
Faces of Breast Cancer: A Global Community
October 15, 2013
This year more than 1.4 million women around the world will learn they have breast cancer. The disease is the biggest cancer killer of women in developed regions like North America and Europe as well as the developing world, like Africa, where many women are diagnosed at a late stage of the disease.
Breaking Through Cancer’s Shield
October 14, 2013
For more than a century, researchers were puzzled by the uncanny ability of cancer cells to evade the immune system. They knew cancer cells were grotesquely abnormal and should be killed by white blood cells. In the laboratory, in Petri dishes, white blood cells could go on the attack against cancer cells. Why, then, could cancers survive in the body?
Colombia busca un Guinnes Records en recolección de tapas plásticas
4 de Octubre 2013
Colombia busca alcanzar un Guinnes World Records, por los niños enfermos de cáncer. La meta tiene como objetivo reunir 100 toneladas de tapas en 8 horas.
Bajo el lema @tapasparasanar la Fundación Sanar invita a los colombianos a reunir todas las tapas plásticas sin importar el tamaño o peso.
De las tapas plásticas que serán recicladas, los niños y niñas diagnosticados con cáncer podrán recibir un tratamiento gratuito.
Perjeta, ¿la salvación para pacientes con cáncer de mama?
1 de Octubre 2013
Como “parte fundamental para conseguir un tratamiento más completo para las personas que sufren cáncer de mama en sus etapas iniciales -aquellos tumores que son mayores de 2 centímetros o con ganglios linfáticos afectados-”, la Agencia de Alimentos y Medicamentos de los Estados Unidos (FDA, por sus siglas en inglés) aprobó este lunes, con 13 votos a favor y una abstención, el medicamento Perjeta.
Oncolytic viruses as therapeutic cancer vaccines
September 11, 2013
Oncolytic viruses (OVs) are tumor-selective, multi-mechanistic antitumor agents. They kill infected cancer and associated endothelial cells via direct oncolysis, and uninfected cells via tumor vasculature targeting and bystander effect. Multimodal immunogenic cell death (ICD) together with autophagy often induced by OVs not only presents potent danger signals to dendritic cells but also efficiently cross-present tumor-associated antigens from cancer cells to dendritic cells to T cells to induce adaptive antitumor immunity. With this favorable immune backdrop, genetic engineering of OVs and rational combinations further potentiate OVs as cancer vaccines. OVs armed with GM-CSF (such as T-VEC and Pexa-Vec) or other immunostimulatory genes, induce potent anti-tumor immunity in both animal models and human patients. Combination with other immunotherapy regimens improve overall therapeutic efficacy. Coadministration with a HDAC inhibitor inhibits innate immunity transiently to promote infection and spread of OVs, and significantly enhances anti-tumor immunity and improves the therapeutic index. Local administration or OV mediated-expression of ligands for Toll-like receptors can rescue the function of tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells inhibited by the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment and thus enhances the antitumor effect. Combination with cyclophosphamide further induces ICD, depletes Treg, and thus potentiates antitumor immunity. In summary, OVs properly armed or in rational combinations are potent therapeutic cancer vaccines.
Lives of the Cells
September 6, 2013
Cancer would seem a dreary, frightful topic if it weren’t also such a universal one. In this era of longer human life spans, it’s almost as inevitable as death and taxes. Most of us will experience some form of cancer — if not in our own bodies then at close remove, through the suffering of loved ones — and therefore none of us can afford to ignore it.
A study looking at HSV1716 to treat mesothelioma
August 27, 2013
This study is looking at HSV1716 to treat people with mesothelioma of the chest.
Scientists Seek to Rein In Diagnoses of Cancer
July 29, 2013
A group of experts advising the nation’s premier cancer research institution has recommended changing the definition of cancer and eliminating the word from some common diagnoses as part of sweeping changes in the nation’s approach to cancer detection and treatment.
Oncolytic viruses targeted, killed pancreatic cancer stem cells
May 25, 2011
CHICAGO — Oncolytic viruses eliminated more than 95% of pancreatic adenoma stem cells less than a week after infection and decreased the migratory capacity of the cancer stem cells, according to results of study presented here Monday.
Multifaceted oncolytic virus therapy for glioblastoma in an immunocompetent cancer stem cell model
May 17, 2013
Glioblastoma (World Health Organization grade IV) is an aggressive adult brain tumor that is inevitably fatal despite surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Treatment failures are attributed to combinations of cellular heterogeneity, including a subpopulation of often-resistant cancer stem cells, aberrant vasculature, and noteworthy immune suppression. Current preclinical models and treatment strategies do not incorporate or address all these features satisfactorily. Herein, we describe a murine glioblastoma stem cell (GSC) model that recapitulates tumor heterogeneity, invasiveness, vascularity, and immunosuppressive microenvironment in syngeneic immunocompetent mice and should prove useful for a range of therapeutic studies. Using this model, we tested a genetically engineered oncolytic herpes simplex virus that is armed with an immunomodulatory cytokine, interleukin 12 (G47∆-mIL12). G47Δ-mIL12 infects and replicates similarly to its unarmed oncolytic herpes simplex virus counterpart in mouse 005 GSCs in vitro, whereas in vivo, it significantly enhances survival in syngeneic mice bearing intracerebral 005 tumors. Mechanistically, G47∆-mIL12 targets not only GSCs but also increases IFN-γ release, inhibits angiogenesis, and reduces the number of regulatory T cells in the tumor. The increased efficacy is dependent upon T cells, but not natural killer cells. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that G47Δ-mIL12 provides a multifaceted approach to targeting GSCs, tumor microenvironment, and the immune system, with resultant therapeutic benefit in a stringent glioblastoma model.
El "vía crucis" de los niños con cáncer
11 de Abril de 2013
Si bien en el mundo se estima que el cáncer infantil es curable hasta en un 80%, en el país esta probabilidad de superar el cáncer solo es de un 50% precisamente por todas las barreras que existen al momento de acceder a tratamientos oportunos, constantes e integrales, según la Asociación Colombiana de Hematología y Hematología Pediátrica -Achop-.
New tool finds, fights cancer
February 11, 2013
SAN DIEGO — By tweaking a virus known to attack cancer, San Diego scientists have developed a clever two-in-one technique for detecting tumors and making them more vulnerable at the same time. The method was tested in mice, and it could be headed for human clinical trials in as little as a year.
Engineered Oncolytic Herpes Virus Inhibits Ovarian and Breast Cancer Metastases
February 1, 2013
A genetically reprogrammed Herpes simplex virus (HSV) can cure metastatic diffusion of human cancer cells in the abdomen of laboratory mice, according to a new study published January 31 in the Open Access journal PLOS Pathogens. The paper reports on the collaborative research from scientists at the at the University of Bologna and specifically describes that the HSV converted into a therapeutic anticancer agent attacks breast and ovarian cancer metastases.
Scientists Generate Oncolytic Viruses for Targeted Attack on Cancer Stem Cells
January 9, 2013
Researchers from the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI) have been the first to generate oncolytic viruses which specifically infect and kill CD133-positive cancer stem cells. Using such viruses, scientists at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Heidelberg were able to substantially reduce tumor growth in cell cultures and in an animal model. Cancer Research reports on these research results in its online edition of January 4, 2013.
 |
|---|