While the struggle continues to encourage Americans to consume more fruits and vegetables, science has now suggested its value in preventing yet another form of cancer. According to a study presented today at the American Association for Cancer Research Third Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, vegetables, fruits and antioxidant vitamins may reduce the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), a form of cancer of the lymphoid tissue.

The results

Postmenopausal women who take combination estrogen-plus-progestin hormone-replacement therapy for one year experience a twofold increase in breast density – a known risk factor for breast cancer – and a quadrupled risk of having an abnormal mammogram, according to new findings from a sub-study of the Women’s Health Initiative, or WHI.

Lead investigator Anne McTiernan, M.D., Ph.D., of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, presented these findings today at the third annual I

In the largest known study of its kind, scientists have confirmed that men with high grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia or PIN, characterized by abnormal cells in the lining of prostate ducts, are at high risk for invasive prostate cancer. The study, presented today at the American Association for Cancer Research Third Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, showed that about one in three men with high grade PIN are at high risk for prostate cancer wit

Brisk walking allied to the use of an abdominal muscle stimulation machine can improve fitness and body appearance, according to a study carried out by researchers at the University of Ulster.

The researchers from the University’s School of Health Sciences tested a 32-strong group of normally sedentary women, drawn from within the University, over an eight week period.

One group engaged solely in taking 30-minute walks five times a week; another group carried out the

A minimally invasive approach to curing the most common heart rhythm abnormality, atrial fibrillation, takes half the time of the traditional surgical procedure but is equally effective, according to research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Results from the first reported clinical trial testing the procedure appear in the October issue of The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. “Our findings show that this technique is much easier to perform but

Pre-school youngsters with type I diabetes can be treated as successfully with insulin pumps as with daily injections, researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine report.

A clinical trial at the Riley Hospital for Children studied 20 patients 5 years old or younger receiving treatment with continuous insulin infusion by pump and 17 who were receiving injection therapy. Physicians compared control of blood sugar levels, parents’ satisfaction and safety in both g

Alpine cranberries have significant biological activity that can help to combat herpes virus type II (HSV-2) infection, one of the most common viral infections in humans, writes Emma Dorey in Chemistry & Industry.

Researchers at the Kaohsiung Medical University in Taiwan isolated a compound called proanthocyanidin A-1 from the evergreen shrub, also known as Vaccinium vitis-idaea, lingonberry or partridgeberry. Chun-Ching Lin and his team found that the compound significantly suppre

An amazingly sensitive method for selective analysis of amino acids, sugars, fatty acids, and other vital compounds has been developed by Russian scientists. This method allows determining even their trace quantities (fractions of nanograms). It is applicable in identifying cancerous cells and diagnostics of cancer at the earliest stage, when traditional diagnostics fail to catch sight of the disease.

Dr. Igor Revel’sky and his colleagues from the Moscow State University have dev

Moscow scientists have come forward with a new methodology of fighting fire, as fire can be stopped if deprived of airflow. It is possible that soon fire-wardens will extinguish fire not with water or foam, but with liquid nitrogen.

A bright-red fire-engine has been demonstrated at the exhibition ‘High tech-2004’, held at Krasnaya Presnya exhibition complex in Moscow. The engine was so huge, that inside its body it could accommodate a tank the size of a well-fed elephant. The

Purdue University chemists have developed a fast, efficient means of analyzing chemical samples found on surfaces, resulting in a device that could impact everything from airport security to astrobiology to forensic science.

A team, including R. Graham Cooks, has improved the mass spectrometer, a device well known to chemists for its ability to provide information on the composition of unknown substances. Mass spectrometers, essential tools in any modern chemistry lab, are often

Human mitochondrial peptide deformylase, a new anticancer target of actinonin-based antibiotics

A molecular mechanism that was formerly thought to be important only in bacteria has now been shown to be a potential target for an anticancer therapy based on antibiotic use. David Scheinberg and colleagues, at the Sloan-Kettering Institute, have been investigating an enzyme in humans that is similar to one in bacteria called peptide deformylase (Pdf) and have found that an antibioti

Requirement for sphingosine 1–phosphate receptor-1 in tumor angiogenesis demonstrated by in vivo RNA interference

Tumor growth and metastasis require new blood ves-sel growth, a process called angiogenesis. There are many factors involved in the nor-mal growth and stabilization of new blood vessels. One of these, sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor 1 (S1P1), is required during embryonic development to stabilize new blood vessels. Timothy Hla and colleagues, from the University of Con

Mitochondrial survivin inhibits apoptosis and promotes tumorigenesis

As cancer progresses, cancer cells acquire the ability to become resistant to programmed-cell-death, called apoptosis. Understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation of apoptosis is key for developing proper cancer therapies. Survivin is a member of a family of proteins that are inhibitors of apoptosis (IAPs), but the means by which survivin inhibits apoptosis remains largely unknown. Dario

A brain protein already known to play a central role in the “feast or fast” signaling that controls the urge to eat has now been found to influence appetite in a second way. The discovery identifies a potential new target for drugs against obesity.

Earlier research has shown that this protein, called MC4R, is a receptor on neurons in the hypothalamus region of the brain and receives signals through at least two pathways about the status of the body’s fat reserves. If fat

Along with five European academic laboratories, researchers from the Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) connected to Ghent University are accelerating the study of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana.

Taking advantage of the new RNAi technology, they are able to study the function of genes with the aid of specially designed fragments that turn off the corresponding genes. The scientists are building a collection of such fragments in Arabidopsis. Their ul

There is increasing evidence suggesting that allergic-response diseases such as asthma, perennial rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis result from proteolytic or other enzymatic activity in common allergens. Dust is commonly allergenic, and to investigate the presence of active proteases in dust, researchers led by Jennifer Harris at The Scripps Research Institute and Nicolas Winssinger at the Université Louis Pasteur examined an extract derived from dust mites. The researchers devised and used a novel