Tag: Lung Cancer

Uranium in mine dust could dissolve in human lungs

New Mexico contains hundreds of historic uranium mines. Although active uranium mining in the state has ceased, rates of cardiovascular and metabolic disease remain high in the population residing close to mines within the Navajo Nation. According to a new study in ACS’ journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters, inhaled uranium in dusts from the

Defective DNA damage repair leads to chaos in the genome

Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) have now found a cause for the frequent catastrophic events in the genetic material of cancer cells that have only been known for a few years: If an important DNA repair system of the cells has failed, this promotes fragmentation and defective assembly of the

Loss of protein p53 helps cancer cells multiply in ‘unfavourable’ conditions: The loss of tumor protein p53 ensures cancer cells can still multiply in a hostile environment that lacks proper growth stimuli

Researchers have discovered a novel consequence of loss of the tumour protein p53 that promotes cancer development, according to new findings in eLife. The study in mouse and human cells, from the Netherlands Cancer Institute, suggests that multiplication of cancer cells in the absence of appropriate growth stimuli is supported by the additional loss of

Bacterial therapy tolerable, shows early promise in patients with advanced solid tumors

A phase I clinical trial investigating the use of bacterial Clostridium novyi-NT spores as an injectable monotherapy had manageable toxicities and showed early clinical efficacy in patients with treatment-refractory solid tumor malignancies, according to data presented at the Fourth CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference: Translating Science into Survival, held Sept. 30-Oct. 3. “Even after a

Taking out the (life-threatening) garbage: Bacteria eject trash to survive: ‘Minicell’ pods, used in drug delivery, discard damaged proteins to prolong life

Scientists have known for decades that certain bacteria produce small spherical versions of themselves. Although they lack basic materials to reproduce or function like normal cells, recent interest in such “minicells” has spiked due to their proficiency as nano-sized delivery tools for drugs and vaccines to targeted cells and tissues. Yet the natural role of

New micro-platform reveals cancer cells’ natural behavior

A new cell culture platform allows researchers to observe never-before-seen behaviors of live cancer cells under the microscope, leading to explanations of long-known cancer characteristics. The easy-to-produce platform developed by Hokkaido University researchers offers cancer cells micro-scale attachment sites that elicit never-before-seen behaviors highly relevant to cancer’s clinical properties. The observation of these behaviors shed

Mitochondria come together to kill cancer cells: Uncovered details of a molecular pathway in cancer cells could lead to improved treatment

A team of Hokkaido University scientists studied the molecules involved in mitochondrial movements within highly invasive breast cancer cells. They identified a pathway that ultimately leads to the dispersion of these energy-generating organelles towards the cells’ periphery, increasing cancer invasiveness. When this pathway was blocked, mitochondria aggregated within the cell’s center, where they started overproducing

Experts advise against routine testing for prostate cancer: But for those men who seek counsel from their physicians, shared decision making is essential

Routine testing for prostate cancer is not recommended for most men because the benefit is small and uncertain and there are clear harms, say a panel of international experts in The BMJ today. But they acknowledge that some men, such as those with a family history of prostate cancer, may be more likely to consider

Researchers compare chemotherapy regimens for best outcomes in invasive bladder cancer: Less-frequently used combination associated with better response than standard of care

Patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer have been shown to benefit from chemotherapy prior to surgical removal of the bladder. But which type of chemotherapy leads to the best outcomes in terms of complete response rates or cancer control? Moffitt Cancer Center researchers examined data from more than 800 surgical patients with advanced bladder cancer. The

Mapping out cancer’s movements

Cancer researchers struggle to identify tumor cells that are interspersed within nonmalignant tissues because tumor cells exploit the tissue environment and monopolize available resources to continue growing. Researchers attribute cancer cell’s ability to use cell signaling and metabolic pathways that override normal cell growth restrictions to complicated chemical exchanges between tissue and tumor cells. A

Combination approach shows promise for beating advanced melanoma: New treatment is more effective in people receiving immunotherapy for the first time, study finds

A UCLA-led study has found that a treatment that uses a bacteria-like agent in combination with an immunotherapy drug could help some people with advanced melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer, live longer. The research showed that using the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab and the experimental agent SD-101, a sequence of nucleic acids that mimics

Keeping cancer out of breath blocks drug resistance

A new combination of existing drugs shows promise that it could reduce the size of cancerous tumors much more effectively than current treatments. As cancer patients know all too well, many highly effective anti-cancer drugs don’t stay effective long. Most tumors will become drug resistant over time as their cells rapidly mutate. Chemists from The

Kidney cancer’s developmental source revealed: First human kidney cell atlas study across the human lifespan

In the first experiment of its kind, scientists have revealed the precise identity of cancer cells of the most common childhood and adult kidney cancers. Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the University of Cambridge, University of Newcastle and their collaborators showed that the cancer cells are versions of specific healthy cells from developing or

Nuclear gatekeeper could block undruggable prostate cancer targets

Certain molecular drivers of cancer growth are “undruggable” — it’s been nearly impossible to develop chemicals that would block their action and prevent cancer growth. Many of these molecules function by passing cancer-promoting information through a gate in the nucleus, where the instructions are carried out. Researchers at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center — Jefferson

Taking a pill can effectively treat brutal lung disease: Researchers learn what causes pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) to clog lungs

Researchers report in Nature Communications they figured out why air sacs in the lungs clog up with a thick substance called surfactant in a brutal disease called Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis (PAP), and they show taking cholesterol-busting pills called statins can effectively treat the disease. That’s good news for people with PAP because at present the

Mechanisms of action of key genetic abnormality in Ewing sarcoma: Epigenome editing reveals how a fusion protein found in cancer cells enhances the expression of target genes

A Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) research team has used epigenome editing tools to investigate how the genetic abnormality that drives Ewing sarcoma — the second most common bone cancer in children and young adults — unleashes tumor growth. In their paper in the journal Genes & Development the researchers show that blocking the fusion protein

Lung cancer death rate for women may rise to 40% by 2030

In an alarming new research study, researchers have stated that lung cancer mortality rates among women could increase by 43% by 2030. The findings are according to an analysis of data from 52 countries. The global age-standardised breast cancer mortality rate is projected to decrease by 9% in the same time frame. Globally, among women,