Patients with advanced stomach cancer have the best chance of prolonging their survival with a combination of chemotherapies instead of just one, according to a new review of previous studies.
The review also concludes that the best combination is 5-FU, one of the oldest and most commonly used chemotherapy drugs, along with powerful antibiotics called anthracyclines and a platinum-based drug called cisplatin. The benefit, however, is small and may cause a patient to experienc
Unveiling a delivery method that may one day help surgeons treat the deadly neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have inserted engineered human stem cells into the spinal cords of ALS-afflicted rats.
Reporting their work today (April 19) in the journal Human Gene Therapy, the scientists directed certain types of neural stem cells to secrete a neuron-protecting protein before injecting them into the r
Genetic information that determines hair color or whether an individual might develop a particular cancer is passed from one generation to the next through DNA. Genes encoded in the DNA contain information, but a process called methylation is one factor that often controls how that information is expressed.
A group of University of Washington researchers has devised a method that combines DNA sampling and mathematical modeling to find out how accurately methylation patterns are
A University of Central Florida researcher has uncovered an ancient protein that could be critical to stopping the uncontrolled division of tumor cells that cause cancer.
A University of Central Florida researcher has uncovered an ancient protein that could be critical to stopping the uncontrolled division of tumor cells that cause cancer. Molecular Biology and Microbiology professor Mark Muller has found that the protein, called MKRN1, promotes the destruction of an enzyme calle
Novel anti-cancer compounds called Enigmols suppress the growth of human cell lines representing cancers of the prostate, breast, colon, ovary, pancreas, brain and blood, and reduce tumors in three animal studies, new research shows.
In addition, Enigmols did not show side effects at effective doses, according to the research conducted at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Emory University and Wayne State University. The studies were funded by the National Cancer Institute.
A study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, published by IOS Press, entitled “Quantitative proteomics of cerebrospinal fluid from patients with Alzheimer disease,” may lead to a new test for diagnosing the devastating illness. About 4 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, characterized by memory loss and an inability to use language.
“The study identified 40 times more proteins in human spinal fluid
U of T researchers develop new chemical reaction
University of Toronto researchers have a developed a new chemical reaction that could greatly accelerate pharmaceutical production, while also cutting costs and toxic by-products.
The reaction, designed by chemistry Professor Mark Lautens and graduate student Eric Fang, simplifies the creation of the basic molecular framework found in many natural products and popular pharmaceuticals like some cholesterol-lowering drugs. U
Some low birth weight infants have large particles rich in apolipoprotein C-1, a blood protein that could put them at risk for heart disease later in life, according to a national study led by Johns Hopkins Children’s Center researchers.
For the study, Peter O. Kwiterovich, Jr., M.D., professor of pediatrics and director of the Lipid Clinic at Johns Hopkins, and colleagues analyzed the umbilical cord blood of 163 infants born at 28 or more weeks of gestational age at Johns Ho
One of the world’s leading scientists, Nobel Prize winner, Dr Sydney Brenner, has devised a new method for obtaining sequence information from thousands of genomes simultaneously. Current technologies can only analyse one genome at a time.
This method, to be developed by a new company called Population Genetics Technologies, is expected to significantly reduce the cost of studying large populations of genomes. Such studies are important to the discovery of genetic variations that
Monash University researchers and staff of the Melbourne-based biotechnology company Cerylid Biosciences Ltd, have discovered and developed a new class of anti-clotting drugs that appears to be more effective than aspirin at preventing disease-causing blood clots and has fewer side effects.
Heart attack and stroke are the leading cause of death and disability in the western world and result in the death of about 50,000 Australians each year.
They are typically caused
Can be of use in the treatment of diabetes patients with insulin resistance
Type 2 diabetes is a clinical disease characterised by disruption to the metabolism of glucose and lipids as well as to the production of and physiological reactions to insulin. These disruptions are partly due to a reduced absorption of glucose in the cells that form the body’s fat and muscle tissue. Now scientists at Karolinska Institutet have established that a type of drug targeted at receptors in t
In mouse models of intestinal cancer, use of an anti-inflammatory drug eliminated all of the cancer-causing risks produced by a high-fat Western-style diet – even when several genetic brakes to cancer formation were missing in the animals, say researchers from the Albert Einstein Cancer Center.
The investigators, who presented their findings at the 96th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, say that while the results do not yet have relevance for preventi
Experts to debate themes in new book from UN University
UNU-INTECH author Padmashree Gehl Sampath will be available for advance interviews in New York on 18 April. Telephone interviews with European and international media can be arranged on 14-15 April. Please use the contacts listed below or email terrycollins@rogers.com and/or mwangi@intech.unu.edu to schedule a time. A panel presentation and book launch will take place on Tuesday 19 April at the UN Secretariat Building, Con
An exceptionally large study of patients with glioblastoma multiforme has found an association between a genetic variation and a doubling of survival rate – the strongest link ever established between genetic variation and outcome in this deadliest form of brain cancer, according to researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
The study, presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research, found the differences in a common varian
Virus-host interactions at sea: The third age of phage
Cyanobacteria exert a disproportionate influence on their planet for their size. The Prochlorococcus group of cyanobacteria account for a large fraction of global photosynthesis by virtue of their ubiquitous presence in nutrient-depleted ocean waters. Even tinier agents – the viruses that infect these bacteria, called cyanophages – appear capable of wielding surprising influence on global cycles by affecting the populatio
Scientists have identified good bacteria already living in some humans that target and trap HIV and may protect against infection. They report their findings today at the 2005 American Society for Microbiology Beneficial Microbes Conference.
“I believe every life form has its natural enemy, and HIV should not be the exception,” says Dr. Lin Tao, Associate Professor of the Department of Oral Biology, College of Dentistry, University of Illinois at Chicago. “If we can find its
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