Nudging Genes Into ActivityA new technique that employs RNA, a tiny chemical cousin of DNA, to turn on genes could lead to therapeutics for conditions in which nudging a gene awake would help alleviate disease, scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center say.
The gene-activating method, which is being developed by UT Southwestern scientists, also is providing scientists with a novel research tool to investigate the role that genes play in human health.
In a paper........Go to the Cancer-articles (Added on 1/28/2007 9:40:33 PM)
Lowering Antibiotic Requirements By 50 TimesAntibiotic doses could be reduced by up to 50 times using a new approach based on bacteriophages.
Steven Hagens, previously at the University of Vienna, told Chemistry & Industry, the magazine of the SCI, that certain bacteriophages, a type of virus that infects bacteria, can boost the effectiveness of antibiotics gentamicin, gramacidin or tetracycline.
It is the phages' ability to channel through bacterial cell membranes that boosts........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 1/28/2007 9:36:56 PM)
Turning A Cellular Sentinel Into A Cancer KillerHoward Hughes Medical Institute scientists have developed two strategies to reactivate the p53 gene in mice, causing blood, bone and liver tumors to self destruct. The p53 protein is called the "guardian of the genome" because it triggers the suicide of cells with damaged DNA.
Inactivation of p53 can set the stage for the development of different types of cancer. The researchers' findings show for the first time that inactivating the p53........Go to the The-cancer-blog (Added on 1/24/2007 6:05:11 PM)
New Genetic Clue To Cause Of Alzheimer's DiseaseVariations in a gene known as SORL1 may be a factor in the development of late onset Alzheimer's disease, an international team of researchers has discovered. The genetic clue, which could lead to a better understanding of one cause of Alzheimer's, is reported in Nature Genetics online, Jan. 14, 2007, and was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The researchers suggest that faulty versions of the SORL1 gene........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 1/15/2007 5:07:49 AM)
New Radiation Technique To Treat Liver CancerPhysicians at Mayo Clinic are now using tiny glass bubbles filled with radioactive material to deliver high doses of tumor-killing radiation directly to liver tumors. They say the procedure is better tolerated than other forms of intra-arterial liver cancer treatments, and may be the best option for some patients who aren't candidates for other treatments, including surgery or liver transplantation.
The technique, called either........Go to the The-cancer-blog (Added on 1/12/2007 4:44:22 AM)
Online Prayer May Help Breast Cancer PatientsInteresting news on breast cancer reported by Reuters and CNN.
Praying online in a support group may help women with breast cancer cope with the disease more effectively, a new study shows.
Dr. Bret Shaw of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his colleagues observed that patients with breast cancer who used a higher percentage of religion-related words in their communications with an Internet support group had lower levels of negative........Go to the The-cancer-blog (Added on 1/10/2007 9:56:30 PM)
Education Does Not Protect Against Age-related Memory LossAdults over 70 with higher levels of education forgot words at a greater rate than those with less education, as per a new study from the University of Southern California.
The findings, reported in the current issue of Research on Aging, suggest that after age 70, educated adults may begin to lose the ability to use their schooling to compensate for normal, age-related memory loss.
Study director Eileen Crimmins of the USC Leonard Davis........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 1/9/2007 9:27:53 PM)
Limited Options For Backup Hiv TreatmentThai researchers have discovered that patients who fail treatment with a commonly used, inexpensive, first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) are also usually resistant to other, similar drugs, leaving progressively fewer options for replacement therapies. Since catching treatment failure early is key to preventing further resistance, this research, published in the Feb. 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases and currently available online,........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 1/8/2007 9:08:47 PM)
The Molecular Basis Of MemoryPhone numbers, the way to work, granny's birthday -- our brain with its finite number of nerve cells can store incredible amounts of information. At the bottom of memory lies a complex network of molecules. To understand how this network brings about one of the most remarkable capacities of our brain we need to identify its components and their interactions. Researchers from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory's (EMBL) Mouse Biology Unit........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 1/7/2007 9:33:40 PM)
Those Blood Transfusions During Heart Bypass SurgeryBlood transfusions save the lives of millions of heart surgery patients and others each year. But a new study suggests that patients who receive transfusions during heart bypass surgery have a higher risk of developing potentially dangerous infections, and dying, after their operation.
In fact, this increased risk may help explain a longstanding medical mystery: why women bypass patients are more likely than men to die in the first few........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 12/20/2006 4:30:55 AM)
Characteristics Of Fast-growing Skin CancersWhat are the characteristics of a fast-growing melanoma? Scientists have identified several characteristics that would make it easy to identify fast-growing melanomas. A melanoma lesion is more likely to go faster if they are thicker, symmetrical, elevated, have regular borders or have symptoms. These findings are from the results of a recent study that is reported in the latest issue JAMA/Archives journals. The study also observed that rapidly........Go to the The-cancer-blog (Added on 12/18/2006 7:43:49 PM)
Potential For Breast Cancer SpreadScientists are always trying to find ways to predict the behaviors of cancer cells. One area of interest is to identify proteins and other biomarkers linked to the potential of cancer spread. Over the years a number of biomarkers were identified and the scientists are continuing to uncover more of these. Recently scientists observed that expression of two different proteins taken from primary tumor biopsies is highly linked to spread of breast........Go to the The-cancer-blog (Added on 12/15/2006 4:28:03 AM)
Older Men With Early Prostate CancerRecent findings from an observational study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine suggest that men between 65 and 80 years of age who received treatment for early stage, localized prostate cancer lived significantly longer than men who did not receive treatment. The study would be published in the December 13th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Thanks to better cancer prevention education........Go to the The-cancer-blog (Added on 12/13/2006 4:40:14 AM)
Almost Half Of Lung Cancer Patients Go Back To CigarettesNew research has shown that the development of lung cancer and surgery to remove it is still not enough to put many smokers off picking up cigarettes again.
A Washington University School of Medicine study of 154 smokers who had surgery to remove early stage lung cancer found almost half picked up a cigarette again within 12 months of their operations.
The researchers found that 43 per cent of patients smoked at some point after surgery........Go to the The-cancer-blog (Added on 12/12/2006 5:05:01 AM)
Viagra Against Cancer?Sildenafil and other "impotence drugs" that boost the production of a gassy chemical messenger to dilate blood vessels and produce an erection now also show promise in unmasking cancer cells so that the immune system can recognize and attack them, say researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.
Tests at Hopkins on mice with implanted colon and breast tumors showed that tumor size decreased two- and threefold in sildenafil-treated........Go to the The-cancer-blog (Added on 12/8/2006 5:08:38 AM)
Asian Immigrants Have Fewer Mental Health ProblemsImmigrants from Asia have lower rates of psychiatric disorders than American-born Asians and other native-born Americans, according to the first national epidemiological survey of Asian Americans in the United States.
The study showed different mental health patterns among women and men, with birthplace the key factor for women and English-language proficiency the main variable among men. Asian-American immigrant women were far less likely........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 12/6/2006 8:09:25 PM)
Concerned About After-School CareMillions of working fathers and mothers are less productive at work due to concerns about what their children are doing in the after-school hours, according to a new study released recently by Catalyst, the leading nonprofit research and advisory organization working to build inclusive environments and expand opportunities for women at work. The report, entitled After-School Worries: Tough on Parents, Bad for Business, was conducted in........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 12/5/2006 9:06:10 PM)
Math Model To Predicts CancerVito Quaranta clicks on a small black dot on his computer screen. The dot which represents about a thousand cancer cells begins to "grow," morphing into a mass with finger-like projections that looks like an invasive tumor.
The Vanderbilt professor of cancer biology envisions a future when computer simulations like this will be used to predict a tumor's clinical progression and formulate individualized therapy plans. For the last two........Go to the The-cancer-blog (Added on 12/3/2006 9:10:30 PM)
Vegetables May Help Protect Against Prostate CancerOur parents may have been on to something when they told us to eat our vegetables, finish eating every pea and bean on our plates.
In two separate studies it was found that nutrients in certain foods might reduce the risk for prostate cancer, according to Jackilen Shannon, Ph.D., M.P.H., a member of the Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute and the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Shannon will present these findings........Go to the Cancer-articles (Added on 11/30/2006 4:17:55 AM)
Scientists Working In A 'Boundary-less' EnvironmentA cadre of world-renowned scientists working in the most promising areas of cancer research have come together to work as a team at one institution Memorial Health to accelerate findings for the prevention and treatment of cancer.
The new approach to making advances in cancer research is focused on a "boundary-less" environment which the scientists expect will stimulate faster, cross-disciplinary results and increased collaboration between........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 11/29/2006 4:38:20 AM)
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Why Breast cancer incidence is decreasing?Breast cancer incidence in the United States has dropped sharply and this decline might be due to the fact that millions of older women have stopped using hormone replacement therapy, according to research presented here at the 29th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
The researchers reported that there was an overall 7% relative decline in breast cancer incidence between 2002 and 2003 and that the steepest decline (12%) occurred in........Go to the The-cancer-blog (Added on 1/29/2007 9:34:57 PM)
Mri Contrast Agent Linked To Rare DiseaseNew research has shown a possible association between a popular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent and the incidence of a rare disease called nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) in patients with kidney disease, according to an editorial appearing in the recent issue of Radiology.
"We recommend avoiding the use of gadodiamide in patients with any degree of renal disease," said Phillip H. Kuo, M.D., Ph.D., assistant clinical........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 1/26/2007 4:52:33 AM)
Estrogen Interferes With Breast Cancer surveillanceEstrogen is known to enhance the growth and migration of breast cancer cells. Now researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have found that estrogen also can shield breast cancer cells from immune cells.
According to a research findings published online this week in Oncogene, the researchers report that estrogen induces the expression of an inhibitor that blocks immune cells' ability to kill tumor cells. This is the first........Go to the The-cancer-blog (Added on 1/24/2007 6:17:16 PM)
blood test to distinguish between mononucleosis and tonsillitisMeasuring a patient's ratio of white blood cell types may help physicians accurately distinguish between the similar conditions infectious mononucleosis and bacterial tonsillitis, potentially guiding treatment decisions, according to an article in the recent issue of Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Acute tonsillitis (inflammation of the tonsils) and infectious mononucleosis (caused by the........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 1/16/2007 4:58:02 AM)
Marker For Aggressive Form Of Breast CancerScientists have linked a structural protein called nestin to a especially deadly form of breast cancer, identifying a new biomarker that could lead to earlier detection and better therapy.
In the January 15 issue of Cancer Research, scientists from Dartmouth Medical School demonstrate that nestin could represent a selective biological marker for basal epithelial breast tumors, a highly aggressive cancer with similarities to mammary stem........Go to the Cancer-articles (Added on 1/15/2007 4:55:20 AM)
Cancer-related Gene Critical For Placenta DevelopmentAn important cancer-related gene may play a critical role in the development of the placenta, the organ that controls nutrient and oxygen exchange between a mother and her fetus during pregnancy, and perhaps in miscarriages.
Those conclusions come from a new study of the retinoblastoma (Rb) gene in mice. In humans, this gene, when mutated, raises the risk of a rare cancer of the eye called retinoblastoma. Two decades ago, it was identified........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 1/10/2007 4:30:29 AM)
Nanoparticles Pack Multiple Assault On TumorsA collaborative team led by Erkki Ruoslahti, M.D., Ph.D., of the Burnham Institute for Medical Research at UC Santa Barbara (Burnham) has developed nanoparticles that seek out tumors and bind to their blood vessels, and then attract more nanoparticles to the tumor target. Using this system the team demonstrated that the homing nanoparticle could be used to deliver a "payload" of an imaging compound, and in the process act as a clotting agent,........Go to the The-cancer-blog (Added on 1/8/2007 9:28:56 PM)
Hopeful NursesNurses with higher levels of hopefulness are more likely to report feeling confident and competent in their ability to care for dying children and their families. Scientists at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, reporting on a survey of hundreds of pediatric nurses, said that nurses who were more confident about their skills also were more likely to have received education in palliative care--the practice of providing high-quality,........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 1/8/2007 9:25:22 PM)
Profiling Of Cancer GenesA research team at UT Southwestern Medical Center has for the first time identified several genes whose expression is lost in four of the most common solid human cancers - lung, breast, prostate and colon cancer.
The findings, which researchers say could form the basis for a new early detection screen for certain cancers, are published recently in the online journal Public Library of Science Medicine.
The expression of genes that inhibit........Go to the The-cancer-blog (Added on 12/26/2006 8:00:38 PM)
Osteoporosis Drug Can DiscontinuedA long-term study of the most widely used osteoporosis drug has found that many women can discontinue the drug after five years without increasing their fracture risk for as long as five more years.
The study on alendronate was led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, and findings are reported in the December 27, 2006 issue of the "Journal of the American Medical Association." The research also showed that women at........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 12/26/2006 7:45:45 PM)
Some Types of Cancer Becoming More CommonSome types of cancer are occurring less frequently, the rates of others are still surging upward. According to a new study published in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, incidence of skin cancer is climbing in both sexes - more men are facing prostate cancer, while more women are diagnosed with breast cancer. Cancers showing a decrease in incidence in both sexes include lung, stomach and colon cancers.
"There are a variety of........Go to the Cancer-articles (Added on 12/18/2006 4:44:10 AM)
Learning During Sleep?The question of how the brain stores or discards memories still remains largely unexplained. A number of brain scientists regard the consolidation theory as the best approach so far. This states that fresh impressions are first stored as short-term memories in the hippocampus. They are then said to move within hours or a few days - commonly during deep sleep - into the cerebral cortex where they enter long-term memory. Investigations by Thomas........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 12/15/2006 5:14:38 AM)
New Tool To Halt Recurrence Of Atrial FibrillationClinical researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Health System are starting a trial utilizing a new mechanism to treat the heart when its electrical pulses essentially short-circuit, referred to as atrial fibrillation (A-Fib).
The biggest problem physicians run into with current therapies to cope with electrical rhythmic pumping problems in the heart, namely pulmonary vein isolation procedures, is that up until now, they've had to........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 12/13/2006 6:23:44 PM)
Breast Cancer Screening Trials For Under 50sA ten year trial in which women between the ages of 40 and 50 were invited for annual breast screening did not show a significant reduction in breast cancer mortality.
The report by researchers at The Institute of Cancer Research is published recently in the Lancet. The trial was funded by Cancer Research UK, the Medical Research Council and the Department of Health. It involved around 160,000 women, of whom a third received annual screening........Go to the The-cancer-blog (Added on 12/12/2006 5:11:21 AM)
Challenging The Theory Of Memory StorageDaily events are minted into memories in the hippocampus, one of the oldest parts of the brain. For long-term storage, scientists believe that memories move to the neocortex, or "new bark," the gray matter covering the hippocampus. This transfer process occurs during sleep, especially during deep, dreamless sleep.
Many neuroscientists have embraced and built upon this theory of memory storage, or consolidation, for a generation. But the........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 12/11/2006 4:58:03 AM)
Blood Pressure Drugs And Pancreatic CancerCommon blood pressure medications might help block the spread of pancreatic cancer, researchers at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia have found. The scientists showed in laboratory studies that two types of pressure-lowering drugs - ACE inhibitors and AT1R blockers - may help reduce the development of tumor-feeding blood vessels, a process called angiogenesis. Such drugs, they say, may become part of a........Go to the The-cancer-blog (Added on 12/7/2006 9:54:44 PM)
How Taste DevelopsScientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have come one step closer to understanding how the sense of taste develops. They have pinpointed a molecular pathway that regulates the development of taste buds. Using genetically engineered mice, they discovered that a signaling pathway activated by small proteins called Wnts is mandatory for initiating taste-bud formation. They have also determined that Wnt proteins are........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 12/5/2006 8:33:44 PM)
Treating The BedwettersChildren with a form of bedwetting that does not respond to a common medicine have more sodium and urea in their nighttime urine, possibly because of an imbalance of prostaglandin, a hormone-like substance, a new study has found.
The finding helps physiologists understand why about 30% of children who suffer from bedwetting (nocturnal enuresis) do not respond to desmopressin, a drug that successfully treats the other 70%. The findings, made........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 12/1/2006 4:37:45 AM)
Risks Increase On Episodic Antiretroviral TherapyResults from one of the largest HIV/AIDS therapy trials ever conducted show that a specific strategy of interrupting antiretroviral treatment more than doubles the risk of AIDS or death from any cause. In the study, the researchers used two predetermined levels of CD4+ T cells, the primary immune cell targeted by HIV, to guide them in respectively suspending or restarting the study participants on antiretroviral treatment.
A report........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 11/29/2006 9:37:19 PM)
Predicting Outcome of Child Heart SurgeryGeorgia Tech and Emory University scientists have developed an innovative new technology that will help pediatric cardiac surgeons design and test a customized surgical procedure before they ever pick up a scalpel. With a better understanding of each child's unique heart defect, surgeons could greatly improve the likelihood that children with complex defects requiring multiple surgeries over a period of several years could have smoother........Go to the What-media-blog (Added on 11/29/2006 5:03:40 AM)
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