Childhood cancer survivors – especially those whose treatment included brain irradiation or chemotherapy with glucocorticoids – are 14 percent more likely to be obese than their healthy peers. The St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital study appears today in the journal Cancer.
Researchers have identified three genes that play a pivotal role in the brain tumor choroid plexus carcinoma (CPC), a discovery that lays the groundwork for more effective treatment of this rare, often fatal cancer. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists led the study, which appears today in the journal Cancer Cell. The genes – TAF12, NFYC and RAD54L – are involved in DNA repair and regulation. Researchers showed that CPC often has at least one extra copy of each gene and demonstrated that the genes work cooperatively to launch and sustain the tumor.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists have gained ground toward developing more targeted therapies for the most common childhood brain tumor. The findings appear today in the Journal of Molecular Biology. The findings involve the DDX3X gene. In 2012, the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital – Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project highlighted DDX3X as a promising focus for efforts to develop targeted therapies against medulloblastoma. Such treatments target the genetic mistakes that give rise to the brain tumor’s four subtypes.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists have developed a significantly better computer tool for finding genetic alterations that play an important role in many cancers but were difficult to identify with whole-genome sequencing. The findings appear today in the scientific journal Nature Methods. The tool is an algorithm called CONSERTING, short for Copy Number Segmentation by Regression Tree in Next Generation Sequencing.
Researchers led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists have identified a mechanism that helps leukemia cells resist glucocorticoids, a finding that lays the foundation for more effective treatment of cancer and possibly a host of autoimmune diseases. The findings appear online today in the scientific journal Nature Genetics.
Researchers have identified a protein that offers a new focus for developing targeted therapies to tame the severe inflammation associated with multiple sclerosis (MS), colitis and other autoimmune disorders. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists led the study which appears today in the scientific journal Immunity.
Patients, siblings and their guests recently enjoyed an unforgettable evening of glitz and glamour during the Teen Formal at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Research led by scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has identified key molecules that trigger the immune system to launch an attack on the bacterium that causes tularemia. The research was published online March 16 in Nature Immunology.
Measuring the concentration of leukemia cells in patient bone marrow during the first 46 days of chemotherapy should help boost survival of young leukemia patients by better matching patients with the right intensity of chemotherapy. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators led the research, which appears in the March 20 edition of the journal Lancet Oncology.
By genomic sequencing of leukemia cells from relapsed patients at different stages, scientists have discovered key details of how acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells mutate to survive chemotherapy.
In an advance that could lead to better identification of malignant pediatric adrenocortical tumors, and ultimately to better treatment, researchers have mapped the “genomic landscape” of these rare childhood tumors. Their genomic mapping has revealed unprecedented details, not only of the aberrant genetic and chromosomal changes that drive the cancer, but the sequence of those changes that trigger it.
The St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital—Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project reports that a highly aggressive form of leukemia in infants has surprisingly few mutations beyond the chromosomal rearrangement that affects the MLL gene. The findings suggest that targeting the alteration is likely the key to improved survival. The research appeared online ahead of print this week in the scientific journal Nature Genetics.
The St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital—Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project found that melanoma in some adolescent and adult patients involves many of the same genetic alterations and would likely respond to the same therapy. The research appears in the March issue of the Journal of Investigational Dermatology.
Researchers have identified the first genetic variation that is associated with increased risk and severity of peripheral neuropathy following treatment with a widely used anti-cancer drug. Investigators also found evidence of how it may be possible to protect young leukemia patients without jeopardizing cures. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists led the study, which appears today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Research led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists has identified a potential target in the quest to develop a more effective treatment for leishmaniasis, a parasitic tropical disease that kills thousands and sickens more than 1 million people worldwide each year. The findings were published online in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Decades after undergoing cranial irradiation for childhood cancer, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators found that adult survivors of pediatric cancer remain at risk for pituitary hormone deficiencies that may diminish their health and quality of life. The findings appear in the February 10 edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators have discovered inherited genetic variations that are associated with rapid hearing loss in young cancer patients treated with the drug cisplatin. The research appears in the current online issue of the scientific journal Nature Genetics.
About 10 percent of young leukemia patients of East Asian ancestry inherit a gene variation that is associated with reduced tolerance of a drug that is indispensable for curing acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common childhood cancer. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists led the study, which is being published online today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists have discovered that a protein widely known for suppressing tumor formation also helps prevent autoimmune diseases and other problems by putting the brakes on the immune response. The research was published recently online ahead of print in the scientific journal Nature Immunology.
An international research team has shown how changes in a flu virus that has plagued Chinese poultry farms for decades helped create the novel avian H7N9 influenza A virus that has sickened more than 375 people since 2013. The research appears in the current online early edition of the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A study led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists has identified the population of white blood cells that tumors use to enhance growth and suppress the disease-fighting immune system. The results, which appear in the December 18 edition of the scientific journal Immunity, mark a turning point in cancer immunology and provide the foundation for developing more effective immunotherapies.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital study identifies small group of patients at risk for intellectual decline after bone marrow transplantation; results set stage for new strategies to preserve IQ and fight cancer
An international research collaborative has determined that a promising anti-malarial compound tricks the immune system to rapidly destroy red blood cells infected with the malaria parasite but leave healthy cells unharmed. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists led the study, which appears in the current online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Most long-term survivors of retinoblastoma, particularly those who had been diagnosed with tumors by their first birthdays, have normal cognitive function as adults, according to a St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital study. The research, which appears in the current issue of the journal Cancer, found that the vast majority of survivors work full time, live independently and fulfill other milestones of adult life.
Gene therapy developed at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, University College London (UCL) and the Royal Free Hospital has transformed life for men with a severe form of hemophilia B by providing a safe, reliable source of the blood clotting protein Factor IX that has allowed some to adopt a more active lifestyle, researchers reported. The results appear in the November 20 edition of The New England Journal of Medicine.
An international collaboration has identified frequent mutations in two genes that often occur together in Ewing sarcoma (EWS) and that define a subtype of the cancer associated with reduced survival. The research, conducted by the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital-Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project and the Institut Curie-Inserm through the International Cancer Genome Consortium, appears in the current issue of the scientific journal Cancer Discovery.
Supplementing written heart screening guidelines with telephone counseling from specially trained nurses more than doubled the likelihood that adult survivors of childhood cancer received recommended heart checks, according to results from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS). St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators led the research, whose findings appear in the current issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has named Richard Gilbertson, M.D., Ph.D., scientific director for the institution. The position is in addition to his current leadership responsibilities as St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center director and executive vice president. Gilbertson takes over the scientific director position from James R. Downing, M.D., who was appointed St. Jude president and chief executive officer earlier this year.
Ewing sarcoma tumors disappeared and did not return in more than 70 percent of mice treated with combination therapy that included drugs from a family of experimental agents developed to fight breast cancer, reported St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists.
Diet-induced changes in the gut’s bacterial ecosystem can alter susceptibility to an autoinflammatory bone disease by modifying the immune response, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists reported. The findings appeared September 28 as an advanced online publication of the scientific journal Nature.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators found that adjusting treatment based on early response to chemotherapy made a life-saving difference to young patients with an acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) subtype associated with a poor outcome.
A study led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators has found the chemotherapy dose threshold below which male childhood cancer survivors are likely to have normal sperm production. The study appears in September 17 edition of the journal Lancet Oncology.
More than one-quarter of young adults with the most common form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have a high-risk subtype with a poor prognosis and may benefit from drugs widely used to treat other types of leukemia that are more common in adults, according to multi-institutional research led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators.
A study led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists found the avian influenza A H3N8 virus that killed harbor seals along the New England coast can spread through respiratory droplets and poses a threat to humans. The research appears in the current issue of the scientific journal Nature Communications.
Across the country, students are heading back to school this month. For teachers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, working with patients in the classroom is a year-round focus.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital oncologist Ching-Hon Pui, M.D., has been elected as an Academician of Academia Sinica.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists have discovered an enzyme that regulates production of the toxins that contribute to potentially life-threatening Staphylococcus aureus infections. The study recently appeared in the scientific journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has been named one of 15 recipients of the Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award from the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) of the Department of Defense. The award is the highest honor given by the U.S. government to employers for their exceptional support of employees who serve in the National Guard and Reserve.
A St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital study found that 73 percent of adult survivors of childhood cancer more than doubled their risk of developing metabolic syndrome and related health problems by failing to follow a heart-healthy lifestyle.
The St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital VOICES project is the focus of the “A Piece of My Mind” column in the July 22 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The project uses contemporary technology to tap an ancient and powerful clinical tool—the patient’s own story—as a way to empower and inspire patients, teach empathy and improve health care.
Researchers have discovered how one segment of an important regulatory protein changes shape so it can fulfill multiple roles in the life of cells, including tumor suppression. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists led the study, whose findings could aid cancer drug development. The research focused on the protein nucleophosmin 1 (NPM1), which plays a critical part not only in tumor suppression but in cell division, protein production and other cell processes. Until now, however, how NPM1 fulfilled its varied responsibilities was unknown. The study was published recently in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, www.stjude.org, announced today the appointment of James R. Downing, M.D., as its new CEO, effective July 15, 2014. Downing most recently has served as the Deputy Director, Executive Vice President and Scientific Director of the hospital, which is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats pediatric cancer and other catastrophic diseases. Downing’s primary focus immediately upon assuming the CEO office will be to oversee a new era of clinical, research and infrastructure expansion throughout the St. Jude global network.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists have discovered how an important “on” switch is attached to the machinery that cells rely on to adapt thousands of proteins to meet changing conditions. The research appears in the current issue of the journal Cell.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center has been renewed by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), earning the highest possible score of “exceptional.” St. Jude remains the first and only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center that is devoted solely to children. St. Jude has been designated as an NCI cancer center since 1977. The hospital was named a comprehensive cancer center in 2008.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital officials today announced the appointment of three internationally recognized physician-scientists to leadership positions.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists have identified problems in a connection between brain structures that may predispose individuals to hearing the “voices” that are a common symptom of schizophrenia. The work appears in the June 6 issue of the journal Science.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has named Leslie L. Robison, Ph.D., of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital the recipient of the 2014 Pediatric Oncology Award for his contributions to the field of childhood cancer survivorship research.
Researchers have identified differences in the genetic code of pneumococcal bacteria that may explain why it poses such a risk to children with sickle cell disease and why current vaccines don’t provide better protection against the infection.
Researchers have demonstrated that an enzyme required for animal survival after birth functions like an umpire, making the tough calls required for a balanced response to signals that determine if cells live or die. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists led the study, which was published online and appears in the May 22 edition of the scientific journal Cell.
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