4 New Substances Could Cause Cancer. Four new substances have been added to a list of chemicals that may cause cancer compiled by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The list of known carcinogens now includes a chemical called ortho-toluidine, which is used to make rubber chemicals, pesticides and dyes. Recent research has linked the substance to bladder cancer in people. Three other substances were added to a list of agents that are "reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens. " These include a cleaning solvent called 1-bromopropane, a wood preservative mixture known as pentachlorophenol and cumene, which can be found in fuel products and even tobacco smoke. [12 Worst Hormone-Disrupting Chemicals & Their Health Effects] "Identifying substances in our environment that can make people vulnerable to cancer will help in prevention efforts," Linda Birnbaum, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program, said in a statement.
New family of proteins linked to major role in cancer. (Medical Xpress)—Scientists have described a new family of proteins that appear to play a key role in cancer and might be targets for future cancer drugs. A major new study in the journal Nature sets out the structure of the new family, called glutamate intramembrane proteases – the founding member of which plays a critical role in transforming healthy cells into cancer cells.
The research, funded by Cancer Research UK and conducted by scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, defined the structure of a protein called Rce1, and established it as the first known member of a whole new protein family. The research was conducted on Methanococcus maripaludis Rce1, a homologue of human Rce1. It has relevance to cancer in humans because Rce1 helps control another class of proteins (the CAAX proteins) involved in cell division and the transformation into cancer. The researchers chose M. Professor Alan Ashworth, Chief Executive of The Institute of Cancer Research, London, said: Chemists recruit anthrax to deliver cancer drugs. Bacillus anthracis bacteria have very efficient machinery for injecting toxic proteins into cells, leading to the potentially deadly infection known as anthrax.
A team of MIT researchers has now hijacked that delivery system for a different purpose: administering cancer drugs. “Anthrax toxin is a professional at delivering large enzymes into cells,” says Bradley Pentelute, the Pfizer-Laubauch Career Development Assistant Professor of Chemistry at MIT. “We wondered if we could render anthrax toxin nontoxic, and use it as a platform to deliver antibody drugs into cells.” In a paper appearing in the journal ChemBioChem, Pentelute and colleagues showed that they could use this disarmed version of the anthrax toxin to deliver two proteins known as antibody mimics, which can kill cancer cells by disrupting specific proteins inside the cells. Hitching a ride Antibodies — natural proteins the body produces to bind to foreign invaders — are a rapidly growing area of pharmaceutical development. Halladas unas células fluroescentes responsables del desarrollo de los tumores. Madrid. (EP).- Investigadores del Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas (CNIO), liderados por Irene Miranda, Bruno Sainz y Christopher Heeschen, han descubierto y caracterizado un nuevo marcador específico de las células madre cancerígenas: la riboflavina o vitamina B2, responsable del desarrollo de los tumores.
Se trata de un pigmento que emite fluorescencia verde como resultado de su acumulación en vesículas intracelulares. Esta propiedad luminosa servirá para su rastreo, aislamiento y posterior purificación sin la necesidad de utilizar anticuerpos u otras técnicas más complejas y de mayor coste económico. Los resultados han sido publicados en la revista Nature Methods. ¿Por qué las células madre tumorales acumulan vitamina B2? En concreto, el descubrimiento, que se ha realizado en varios tipos de tumores, incluidas muestras de pacientes con cáncer de páncreas, hígado, colon y pulmón, plantea la pregunta "¿por qué las células madre tumorales acumulan vitamina B2?
". Asocian la apnea del sueño con un aumento del riesgo de cáncer. MADRID, 15 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) - La apnea del sueño es una enfermedad frecuente que afecta aproximadamente al 6 por ciento de la población y que, según destaca el neumólogo y miembro de la Sociedad Española de Neumología y Cirugía Torácica (SEPAR), Francisco Campos Rodríguez, podría ser un factor de riesgo para el desarrollo o la evolución de cualquier tipo de cáncer. El Grupo Español de Sueño (GES) de SEPAR ha llevado a cabo diferentes estudios "donde se observa que padecer una apnea del sueño grave podría estar relacionado con una mayor probabilidad de tener un cáncer de cualquier tipo o de que si ya se padece uno se extienda con mayor rapidez", explica Campos Rodríguez.
El estudio más reciente del GES, publicado en la revista de la 'American Thoracic Society', concluyó que de los 4.910 pacientes incluidos, 261 (5,3%) habían desarrollado un cáncer durante el seguimiento. La apnea del sueño afecta aproximadamente al 6% de la población. Cell surface sugars can promote or inhibit cancer depending upon stage. During cancer development, tumor cells decorate their surfaces with sugar compounds called glycans that are different from those found on normal, healthy cells. In the Sept. 15 online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that sialic acids at the tips of these cancer cell glycans are capable of engaging with immune system cells and changing the latter's response to the tumor – for good and bad. "These cell surface glycans can promote or inhibit cancer progression, depending upon the stage of the disease," said principal investigator Ajit Varki, MD, Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Cellular and Molecular Medicine.
"Our findings underscore the complexity of cancer and the consequent challenges in conquering it. The immune system may be a double-edged sword in cancer, tumor-promoting or tumor-inhibiting, depending upon circumstances. " Malignant cells adopt a different pathway for genome duplication. Genomes must be replicated in two copies during cell division. This process occurs at structures called 'replication forks', which are equipped with enzymes and move along the separated DNA strands.
In tumour cells, the replication forks are frequently damaged, giving rise to breaks in the double-stranded DNA. An international study led by Thanos Halazonetis, Professor at the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Geneva (Switzerland), has revealed how cancer cells repair the damaged replication forks in order to complete their division. The pathway used is known as 'break-induced replication' (BIR) and is common in cancer cells, but rare in healthy cells. The study described in the journal Science thus reveals a significant difference between these two types of cells, which its authors will attempt to exploit for therapeutic purposes.
For one of our cells to give birth to two daughter cells, it must first replicate its DNA which consists of around 6.4 billion pairs of nucleotides. Protein RBM4 drastically decreases multiple forms of human cancer. Researchers from the UNC School of Medicine have discovered that the protein RBM4, a molecule crucial to the process of gene splicing, is drastically decreased in multiple forms of human cancer, including lung and breast cancers.
The finding, published today in the journal Cancer Cell, offers a new route toward therapies that can thwart the altered genetic pathways that allow cancer cells to proliferate and spread. "Historically, scientists haven't targeted the proteins in cancer cells that are involved in gene splicing," said Zefeng Wang, PhD, associate professor in the department of pharmacology and senior author of the Cancer Cell paper. "This is a whole new ballgame in terms of gene regulation in cancer. " There are approximately 25,000 genes in the human genome - the same amount as in a fruit fly. But in humans, these genes are spliced together in different ways to create various kinds of messenger RNA to produce the many different proteins humans require.
Gene promotes one in a hundred of tumors: Gene discovered to play a part in one per cent of all cancers -- ScienceDaily. Researchers have identified a gene that drives the development of tumours in over one per cent of all cancer patients. This is the first time that the gene CUX1 has been broadly linked to cancer development. The team discovered that, when CUX1 is deactivated, a biological pathway is activated that increases tumour growth. Drugs that inhibit the biological pathway are currently being used in the clinic and are in development thus highlighting a potential new targeted therapy for patients with this type of cancer-causing mutation.
Around 300,000 people in the UK each year are diagnosed with cancer, and for more than 3,000 of these patients, an inactive CUX1 gene may be an underlying factor for their disease. "Our research is a prime example of how understanding the genetic code of cancers can drive the search for targeted cancer therapies that work more effectively and efficiently, says Dr David Adams, lead author from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. Descubren composición molecular en nueva forma de cáncer - Infobioquímica. Se ha revelado la forma molecular y la estructura genética de una forma nueva de cáncer que comienza en la nariz y se llama sarcoma bifenotípico sinonasal (SNS). El cáncer, que parece ser más común en las mujeres, se inicia en la nariz y puede extenderse al resto de la cara, lo que significa que el paciente va a necesitar una cirugía desfigurante con el fin de sobrevivir; pero gracias al descubrimiento de la composición molecular del tumor se encontró que muchos medicamentos existentes contra el cáncer podrían ser utilizados para tratarlo.
Un equipo de científicos de la Clínica Mayo (Rochester, MN, EUA), recuperó bloques de tumor incluidos en parafina y fijados con formol y cortes histológicos de SNS que fueron biopsiados o resecados entre 1956 y 2013 para los 25 tumores, incluyendo una segunda muestra que también fue caracterizada hasta el nivel citogenético. Se obtuvo una muestra de tumor congelado a partir de una sola muestra caracterizada hasta el nivel citogenético. Cancer-promoting protein is vital to safe division of tumor cells -- ScienceDaily. Researchers have caught a protein they previously implicated in a variety of cancer-promoting roles performing a vital function in cell division, survival and development of brain tumors. In a paper published in Molecular Cell, Zhimin Lu, Ph.D., professor of Neuro-Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and colleagues report how a tumor-specific protein flips a crucial switch in an irregular mechanism for mitosis that allows cancer cells to safely divide.
"Our research shows that tumor cells rely heavily on a distinct mechanism for orderly cell division that's driven by oncogene-induced pyruvate kinase M2," Lu said. After a cell begins division by replicating all of its chromosomes, mitosis separates them into two identical sets of chromosomes for both cells. After mitosis, cytokinesis completes cell divison. "Without PKM2 regulating a checkpoint in mitosis, the tumor cell would not successfully divide," Lu said. Headlines about ‘backfiring’ chemotherapy are misleading. Some of today’s headlines about chemotherapy missed the point We spotted some worrying headlines today claiming that chemotherapy can ‘backfire’ and ‘encourage cancer’, making it “tougher to tackle”. We want to make it clear that cancer patients don’t need to be distressed by these unnecessarily alarming headlines, or consider stopping their treatment.
In fact, the research from US scientists that sparked the coverage categorically does not show chemotherapy makes cancer harder to beat. Instead, the work gives scientists a vital insight into one way that the body can develop resistance to chemotherapy, and it could help explain why treatment sometimes stops working. But it doesn’t tell us anything new about current chemotherapy treatments – we already know that some cancers respond to chemo while other don’t, or start growing again after treatment. So it won’t change how doctors treat cancer patients today. This is a ‘good news’ story Surprising? This doesn’t affect current treatment Comments. Alexius Today • Nuevo fármaco mata de hambre a las células cancerosas y las obliga a "comer" su propio ADN. Científicos de la Universidad de California Davis, de la Universidad Médica de Taipei, así como los Institutos Nacionales de Investigación de Salud han descubierto simultáneamente un nuevo proceso de suicidio celular que arroja luz sobre la forma en que un fármaco priva a las células cancerosas de la arginina, un aminoácido necesario.
Un número de ensayos clínicos en Fase I, II y III están probando el compuesto para su uso, ya sea solo o en combinación con otros medicamentos. Estos ensayos se puede acceder aquí: Clinical trials involving ADI-PEG20. Las células cuando están estresadas, ya sean cancerosas o no, se someten a un proceso de suicidio celular controlado que implica el desmontaje de sus componentes interiores tales como proteínas, ADN, y diversos compartimentos.
Con mucho, el más famoso de este tipo de procesos es la “apoptosis”. El camino más comúnmente conocido al suicidio celular se conoce como apoptosis. 1er. Concurso de Cortos SEOM - Enfoca y Descubre. Scientists uncover navigation system used by cancer, nerve cells. B-School Buddies Want to Battle Cancer with Big Data. Wharton graduates Nat Turner and Zach Weinberg are only 28, but they already know enough about building a business to warrant a profile in Fortune Magazine. They sold an advertising and exchange bidding startup to Google for $80 million four years ago. And Google Ventures has backed their current venture, Flatiron Health, with $100 million. Never mind that the duo has no healthcare industry experience.
Here’s how Fortune’s Miguel Helft describes their plan to apply big data to curing cancer: “Currently only a small fraction of the cancer patient treatment data is being collected systematically. The idea isn’t exactly novel. But the lack of integration among digitized and paper records as well as privacy rules have long stood in the way of anyone who would propose to organize the medical data of every cancer patient in the nation. The two-year-old startup has a long way to go to earn the credibility it needs to disrupt the industry. New ways to treat solid tumours. (Medical Xpress)—An international team of scientists has shown that an antibody against the protein EphA3, found in the micro-environment of solid cancers, has anti-tumour effects. As EphA3 is present in normal organs only during embryonic development but is expressed in blood cancers and in solid tumours, this antibody-based approach may be a suitable candidate treatment for solid tumours.
The researchers from Monash University and Ludwig Cancer Research, in Australia, and KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, in the US, have had their findings published in the journal Cancer Research. The team, led jointly by the late Professor Martin Lackmann, from the School of Biomedical Sciences at Monash; and Professor Andrew Scott, from Ludwig Cancer Research, has found that even if tumour cells do not have this molecule they can thrive by recruiting and taking advantage of supporting EphA3-containing cells in the tumour micro-environment. Explore further: Brain tumour cells found circulating in blood. Hallan una diana terapéutica para desarrollar fármacos menos tóxicos en quimioterapia. Immune cell discovery could help to halt cancer spread. Cancer: Unpronounceable Drugs, Incomprehensible Prices.
Toxic Bacteria Devours Tumors With Precision. Bee, scorpion and snake venom may hold cancer cure. Scientists pinpoint gene likely to promote childhood cancers. Método para evaluar la activación de proteínas marcadoras en cáncer | Investigación UPV/EHU. Mobile DNA elements restructure cancer genomes. Un ingrediente de los pimientos picantes puede inhibir tumores intestinales. Stem Cell Research: Cells Grown By Japanese Researchers Kills Cancer. Antioxidants Can Make Cancers Worse. New research finds pathogenic connection between autoimmune disorders and cancer. Cat Parasite Modified Into An Effective Cancer Vaccine. Scientists create extremely potent and improved derivatives of successful anticancer drug. Scientists map one of most important proteins in life—and cancer. Cancer-killing cells controlled by epigenetic process, new study shows. Descubren un virus que mata células cancerosas sin afectar a las sanas.
Scientists find way to trap, kill malaria parasite. Depletion of 'traitor' immune cells slows cancer growth in mice. Cancer and diet – how to ask the right questions. Researchers uncover new cancer cell vulnerability.