Many cancer patients generate immune cells capable of specifically attacking their tumors, but the cells rarely do, in fact, target a patient’s cancer. What prevents these potentially helpful cells from taking action? And is there anything that might be done to unleash them?

The attack cells – known as cytolytic T cells – are prevented from acting by a second set of immune cells called regulatory T cells, according to a new study from investigators at The Wistar Institute. The research

Research at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) has revealed that certain chemical ingredients of gasoline, jet fuel and other solvents may pose a greater health hazard than first thought. Scientists at the OHSU Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology (CROET) have shown that a benzene derivative damages the nervous system. In fact, the substance is much more active than non-benzene analogs already known to cause peripheral nerve damage (loss of limb sensation and muscl

Jesus Manuel Labandeira in his doctoral thesis, read in the University of Navarre, tested this technique in pigs due to the similarity to the human cardiovascular system.

According to the results obtained by doctor Labandeira, the use of a occlusion ball in the aorta duplicates the blood pressure that goes to heart and brain during cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Improving the results of CPR

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) constitutes one of the most emble

Structural studies of the protein produced by the BRCA2 gene, which is implicated in the development of hereditary breast and ovarian cancers, reveal that the protein is intimately involved in repairing damaged DNA.

DNA-repair proteins perform a vital function and protect against potentially catastrophic events such as cancer-causing mutations or chromosome rearrangements, which are hallmarks of tumor cells.

Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Nikola P. Pavletich and his co

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have successfully immobilized enzymes while simultaneously enhancing their activity and stability, opening up new possibilities for using tailored nanoporous materials. The findings, reported in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society (available online Aug. 28), could enable the development of novel sensor and decontamination systems for homeland security, environmental protection and energy

The National Advisory Council for Human Genome Research has recommended adding the cow, the dog and the ciliate Oxytricha to the high-priority list of model organisms that should be considered for genome sequencing as capacity becomes available. Cow and dog join a growing group of high priority animals that includes chimpanzee, chicken and honeybee. Sequencing projects on the human, mouse and rat genomes are progressing rapidly, making sequencing capability supported by the National Human Genome Rese

Early findings from a randomised trial investigating the effectiveness of tamoxifen to prevent breast cancer are reported in this week’s issue of THE LANCET. Although tamoxifen reduced breast cancer incidence by a third compared with women given placebo, the authors of the study caution that it is still too early to fully assess the risk to benefit ratio of tamoxifen as a preventative strategy for breast cancer.

Tamoxifen is well known in its effect to decrease recurrence of (and death from

A review in this week’s issue of THE LANCET assesses the research which has investigated possible links between diet and cancer. A familiar conclusion is reached-cancer risk can be reduced by eating a balanced diet (including the regular consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables), combined with regular exercise and a restriction on alcohol intake.

Diet-related factors are thought to be second only to tobacco in accounting for cancer-accounting for about 30% of cancers in developed countries

Results of a new programme for treating young children with autism have shown that even the most disabled made outstanding progress. Ninety-four percent of those completing the programme so far are now able to attend a mainstream school.

The South West Autism Project (SWAP), directed by Professor Alec Webster of Bristol University and funded by Bristol City Council, was started in September 2000, following a marked rise in the number of children in Bristol being diagnosed with autism. Data f

OHSU study suggests that HRT may act on cancer cells to produce less aggressive tumors

A study of nearly 300 breast cancer patients at Oregon Health & Science University found that women who use hormone replacement therapy (HRT) have less aggressive tumors and are more likely to be diagnosed through mammograms than other methods. Also, HRT users with breast cancer had significantly better survival rates than non-HRT users. The study is published in the September issue of the journal T

The same sanitizing agent used to rid federal office buildings of anthrax – chlorine dioxide gas – can effectively eliminate deadly bacteria from apples and other fruits and vegetables, according to Purdue University researchers.

Scientists at Purdue began experiments using the gas to kill pathogens found on food long before anthrax was detected in mail sent to offices in New York and Washington, D.C., shortly after the terrorist attacks one year ago. The latest university test measured how

The use of drugs/pharmaceuticals in cattle rearing is the object of a recent study, carried out by two researchers from the Centro de Estudos Farmacêuticos, Laboratório de Bromatologia, Hidrologia e Nutrição (Pharmaceutical Study Centre, Bromatology, Hydrology and Nutrition Laboratory) at the Pharmacy Faculty of Coimbra University. The consequences for consumers are, from a public health standpoint, the most significant conclusions to take from an exhaustive work of literary revision in these matters

A study by the coordinator of the Research Group on Climate at the Barcelona Science Park, University of Barcelona, Dr Xavier Rodó, and other researchers at the University of Michigan and the International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Bangladesh, provides evidence not only that climatic variation associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) affects the appearance of cholera epidemics, as shown by a previous publication in Science by the same group, but also that the relationsh

Cancer develops from a single damaged cell subsequent to an accumulation of genetic errors in a number of its genes. The nature of these alterations and the order in which they occur differ from one cancer to another : hence, the “pathways” that may lead to cancer are numerous.

CNRS and INSERM researchers at the Institut Curie have just discovered a new tumor development pathway in colon cancer, one of the most common forms of cancer (35,000 new cases every year in France).

This

Animals kept in captivity exhibit stereotypic behaviour that is fundamentally similar to that seen in human conditions of autism and schizophrenia; a finding that could confound some behavioural experiments using animals, according to Dr Georgia Mason from University of Oxford speaking at the BA Festival of Science [10.50hrs 11 September 2002].

Animals in zoos, farms and laboratories are often seen gnawing repetitively, pacing back and forward or carrying out other apparently functionless be

Scientists from Imperial College London and King’s College London have identified a molecule that helps to wire up the neural circuitry responsible for controlling the movement of muscle.

Writing today in the journal Neuron, the researchers describe how the signalling protein named WNT-3 directs specific neurons during embryonic development to make the correct connections in the spine to form a neural pathway that controls muscle.

Using mice, which offer the closest model to human