Driver genes in different metastases from the same patient are remarkably similar, providing optimism for the success of future targeted therapies, according to a published study by Science.
UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center has received a $6.3 million grant from the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities for a 5-year study to tease out why some ethnic and racial minority groups fare worse than whites when they get cancer and to find more precise treatments to improve their chances of survival.
The family’s hope for Willow stems from a gene therapy center at UT Southwestern Medical Center where leading experts are engineering innovative treatments for some of the world’s rarest brain diseases.
Scientists working to bioengineer the entire human gastrointestinal system in a laboratory now report using pluripotent stem cells to grow human esophageal organoids. The newly published research in the journal Cell Stem Cell is the first time scientists have been able to grow human esophageal tissue entirely from pluripotent stem cells (PSCs), which can form any tissue type in the body.
Certain genes that code for proteins have long been known to contribute to cancer progression. But in a frame shift, researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine recently found that non-coding genes also contribute to the development and spreading of the disease, one of the first known examples of researchers doing so. The lead author of the study reporting this finding, Ahmad Khalil, PhD, assistant professor of genetics and genome sciences at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, has been awarded a five-year, $1.85 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to build on the discovery, with an eventual aim of pinpointing additional targets for cancer-fighting treatments.
With an estimated 1.6 million people in the U.S. dealing with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), physicians can have a hard time telling which newly diagnosed patients have a high risk of severe inflammation or what therapies will be most effective. Now researchers report in the journal JCI Insights finding an epigenetic signature in patient cells that appears to predict inflammation risk in a serious type of IBD called Crohn’s disease.
UNC Scientists discovered the anti-inflammatory protein NLRP12 helps protect mice against obesity and insulin resistance when fed a high-fat diet. The researchers also reported the NLRP12 gene is underactive in people who are obese, making it a therapeutic target for treating obesity and diabetes.
Colorectal cancer care groups and the American College of Radiology are calling on Congress to pass the CT Colonography Screening for Colorectal Cancer Act (S.3465). The bipartisan bill introduced in the US Senate today would provide Medicare coverage for virtual colonoscopy.
UCLA researchers have discovered genetic similarities between the adult stem cells responsible for maintaining and repairing epithelial tissues — which line all of the organs and cavities inside the body — and the cells that drive aggressive epithelial cancers. Their findings could bring about a better understanding of how aggressive, treatment-resistant cancers develop and progress, and could eventually lead to new drugs for a range of advanced epithelial cancers such as lung, prostate and bladder cancers.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), an umbrella term for a number of gut disorders—including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease—remains a clinical challenge. Now, researchers from Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP), in collaboration with scientists at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, have identified a protein that drives intestinal inflammation. This finding highlights new opportunities for creating targeted therapeutics. The study published today in Cell Reports.
Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have discovered using mice and human clinical specimens, that caspase-2, a protein-cleaving enzyme, is a critical driver of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a chronic and aggressive liver condition. By identifying caspase-2’s critical role, they believe an inhibitor of this enzyme could provide an effective way to stop the pathogenic progression that leads to NASH — and possibly even reverse early symptoms.
NCCN Oncology Research Program puts out request for proposals (RFP) for innovative strategies to improve patient outcomes for people with gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancer. Letters of intent due October 24.
A professor at UTHealth in Houston is testing the hypothesis that probiotics can help improve gastrointestinal symptoms of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Obesity and its related ailments like type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease pose a major global health burden, but researchers report in Nature Communications that blocking an RNA-silencing protein in the livers of mice keeps the animals from getting fat and diabetic conditions.
Progress in treating chronic illness, where the cause of the problem is often unknown, has lagged. Chronic conditions like cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease defy easy explanation, let alone remedy. In a new paper, a researcher at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, posits that chronic disease is essentially the consequence of the natural healing cycle becoming blocked, specifically by disruptions at the metabolic and cellular levels.
An international research team led by the University of California, Irvine has identified a system of communication networks that exists among organs and tissues that regulate metabolism. Findings from their study provide, for the first time, a detailed “atlas” illustrating how the body creates and uses energy, and how imbalances in the networks may impact overall health.
Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast have discovered a ground-breaking therapeutic process that can target and kill bowel cancer cells, which may improve survival rates for bowel cancer patients globally.
A new “virtual” drug development startup company, Enspire Bio, will channel the knowledge and financial resources necessary to translate basic science — the bedrock of medicine — into powerful treatments. And, in a notable departure from traditional approaches, the translation will occur in the heart of the research lab.
A grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will help a University of New Hampshire researcher better understand dehydration and ultimately help humans better survive it by studying a tiny desert rodent that’s adapted to survive both acute and chronic dehydration.
It costs the global economy an estimated US$2 trillion annually and has been dubbed a modern day health epidemic, but new research from the University of South Australia has unearthed a possible cure for obesity – and it is as plain as dirt!
Hackensack Meridian Health Ocean Medical Center has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for expertise in Colorectal Cancer, a distinct status within New Jersey and the nation. Ocean Medical Center is one of two hospitals in New Jersey to currently hold Colorectal Cancer Certification, an exceptional distinction that only three hospitals in the country have earned. The John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack Meridian Health Hackensack University Medical Center also holds this certification.
A Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso initiative that is increasing the number of screenings for colorectal cancer across West Texas has caught the eye of the National Cancer Institute.
Can immersing yourself in a South American jungle and the high-fiber, unprocessed diet of its villagers make your gut microbes more diverse? And could it have benefits for people with obesity, type 1 diabetes and other disorders? A study led by Rutgers University¬¬–New Brunswick researchers followed seven city-dwelling adults and children who lived in a remote Venezuelan jungle village without electricity, soap or other amenities for 16 days. For the children, their microbiome – the beneficial germs in their intestines, skin, mouths and noses – became more diverse, with higher proportions of helpful bacteria. A similar change did not occur in the adults who visited the rainforest.
Routine oral care to treat gum disease (periodontitis) may play a role in reducing inflammation and toxins in the blood (endotoxemia) and improving cognitive function in people with liver cirrhosis. The study is published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology—Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology.
Mount Sinai researchers have discovered that a particular type of cell present in bladder cancer may be the reason why so many patients do not respond to the groundbreaking class of drugs known as PD-1 and PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitors, which enable the immune system to attack tumors.
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 new approach shows promise to begin analyzing cell-to-cell interactions in this complex environment. The researchers discuss their work in Biointerphases.
Hernias occur suddenly when a section of the intestines, fatty tissue in the colon, or part of the bladder and stomach protrudes through an opening or a weakness in the abdominal wall. At the first sign of an usual bulge, it should be discussed with your doctor.
Sucralose, a widely used artificial sweetener sold under the trade name Splenda®, is metabolized in the gut, producing at least two fat-soluble compounds, according to a recent study using rats.
Researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have discovered a way to stop immune cell death associated with multiple diseases, including sepsis, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and arthritis. The findings, published in Science Immunology, identify a chemical that potently inhibits inflammatory cell death.
A team at the George Washington University Cancer Center received more than $1.8 million from the National Institutes of Health to develop genetically engineered models to comprehensively study the role of COMPASS, a protein complex that epigenetically regulates cell fate decisions that drive the initiation and progression of pancreatic cancer.
Probiotics seem to be everywhere these days – in yogurt, pickles, bread, even dog food. But there’s one place that may surprise you: There are probiotics in dirty diapers.
An international team of researchers has uncovered a destructive mechanism at the molecular level that causes a well-known phenomenon associated with obesity, called leptin resistance.They found that mice fed a high-fat diet produce an enzyme named MMP-2 that clips receptors for the hormone leptin from the surface of neuronal cells in the hypothalamus. This blocks leptin from binding to its receptors. This in turn keeps the neurons from signaling that your stomach is full and you should stop eating.
This is the first time that a destructive molecular mechanism has been observed and described.
A compound discovered at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) has advanced into a Phase 1 trial for metastatic pancreatic cancer. Called CEND-1 (scientifically known as iRGD), the compound was exclusively licensed in 2015 to a private company, DrugCendR Inc. The drug candidate was discovered in the laboratory of Erkki Ruoslahti, M.D., Ph.D., distinguished professor at SBP and founder, president and CEO of DrugCendR.
In January, raging storms caused medical emergencies along the U.S. East Coast, prompting the Red Cross to issue an urgent call for blood donations. The nation’s blood supply was especially in need of O-type blood that can be universally administered in an emergency. Now, scientists say they have identified enzymes — from the human gut — that can turn type A and B blood into O, as much as 30 times more efficiently than previously studied enzymes.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a set of painful conditions that can cause severe diarrhea and fatigue. Treatments can include medications and surgery. But now researchers report that a simple dietary intervention could mitigate colonic inflammation and improve gut health. In this case, a strawberry — or rather, less than a cupful of strawberries — a day could help keep the doctor away.
Increasing the amount of protein in the diet may reduce the liver’s fat content and lower the risk of diabetes in people with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The study is published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology—Endocrinology and Metabolism.
Married people who fight nastily are more likely to suffer from leaky guts – a problem that unleashes bacteria into the blood and can drive up disease-causing inflammation, new research suggests.
By genetically manipulating and removing the most common mutant form of the p53 gene that promotes colorectal cancer in humans, an international team of scientists demonstrated that this therapy reduces tumor growth and tissue invasion.
When it comes to shedding pounds, it pays to think big, according to new research by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).
Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) / University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC) is ranked among the best in the nation for adult cancer care by U.S. News & World Report for 2018-2019.
Although immunotherapy is seen as a very promising treatment for cancer, currently only 20 to 30 percent of patients respond positively. Being able to identify the people most likely to benefit from the costly therapy is a Holy Grail for oncologists.
Mice deficient in innate lymphoid cells are vulnerable to lethal infection by the bacterial pathogen Yersinia enterocolitica (YE), which causes some forms of food poisoning. Moreover, activation by a cytokine called LIGHT, which is a member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily, is necessary for ILCs to mount an anti-bacterial response.
Blue-light cystoscopy has previously been available at some institutions, including UT Southwestern, for use in the operating room, but it wasn’t available in a flexible scope until now.
روتشستر، مينيسوتا. – أشارت دراسة أولية نُشرت في عدد أغسطس الصادر من Mayo Clinic Proceedings أن بكتيريا الأمعاء قد تكون مسؤولة لدى بعض الأشخاص عن عدم قدرتهم على إنقاص الوزن، على الرغم من التزامهم باتباع نظام غذائي صارم وتمارين رياضية منتظمة Mayo Clinic Proceedings.