Health & Medicine - Jan 14, 2010 17:00 - 2 Comments

Picking out a tumor’s cancer causers

YALE—Researchers have demonstrated for the first time how distinct groups of cells from the same tumor are capable of forming tumors. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Dec 10, 2009 14:59 - 2 Comments

Optics may speed breast cancer diagnosis

U. ILLINOIS (US)—Waiting for laboratory results is often one of the most stressful aspects of a breast cancer diagnosis. A new optical imaging system aims to ease that stress by giving doctors performing lumpectomies real-time information on breast cancer tissue margins while still in the operating room. (more…)

Science & Technology - Dec 2, 2009 17:07 - 3 Comments

Team unravels mystery of ubiquitin chains

CALTECH (US)—Researchers have been able to view in detail, and for the first time, the previously unexplained process by which long chains of a protein called ubiquitin are added to proteins that control the cell cycle. The finding may one day lead to the development of targeted cancer therapies. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Dec 2, 2009 12:14 - 0 Comments

Cancer’s sweet tooth may be its downfall

EMORY (US)—Cancer cells tend to consume more blood sugar than healthy cells and scientists have discovered a way to possibly exploit that craving for glucose. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Nov 20, 2009 12:34 - 1 Comment

Infrared scanners scope out early cancer

U. FLORIDA (US)—Traditional endoscopes provide a peek inside patients’ bodies. Now, an engineering researcher is designing ones capable of “seeing” beneath the surface of tissues. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Nov 10, 2009 18:24 - 0 Comments

Getting personal with cancer treatment

MCGILL (CANADA)—Researchers have discovered a previously unknown series of interactions between genes that control whether cells become cancerous. The discovery may lead to a new generation of targeted therapies tuned to individual patients. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Nov 2, 2009 11:07 - 2 Comments

Nano-scale delivery may offer less toxic chemo

DUKE (US)—Going smaller could bring better results, especially when it comes to cancer-fighting drugs. Bioengineers have developed a simple and inexpensive method for loading cancer drug payloads into nano-scale delivery vehicles. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Oct 26, 2009 15:52 - 6 Comments

Gene ‘cancer-proofs’ rodent’s cells

U. ROCHESTER (US)—Despite a 30-year lifespan that gives ample time for cells to grow cancerous, a small rodent species called a naked mole rat has never been found with tumors of any kind—and now biologists think they know why. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Oct 19, 2009 12:44 - 0 Comments

Nanotags spot cancer early in mice

STANFORD (US)—A new biosensor chip has detected cancer tumors in mice earlier than any detection technology currently in use. The nanosensor is up to 1,000 times more sensitive and can be used to detect markers of diseases other than cancer. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Oct 7, 2009 13:24 - 2 Comments

Drug may help suffocate cancer cells

EMORY—A fast growing tumor eventually outpaces its blood and oxygen supply, which drives cancer cells to send out signals that attract new blood vessels. Now, researchers have identified a chemical that stops cells for responding to low oxygen. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Sep 17, 2009 19:43 - 9 Comments

Same name, different lung cancer

“It is becoming increasingly clear that the genetic, cellular, and molecular nature of lung cancer in many never-smokers is different from that of smoking-related lung cancers, and there is good evidence now that the best treatment and prevention strategies for never-smokers may be different as well,” says Charles Rudin.

Science & Technology - Aug 20, 2009 4:00 - 0 Comments

Quantum dots catch cancer early

In this illustration, quantum dots are depicted as gold spheres that attract DNA strands linked to cancer risks. When the quantum dots are exposed to certain types of light, they transfer the energy to fluorescent molecules, shown as pink globes, that emit a glow. This enables researchers to detect and count the DNA strands linked to cancer. (Credit: Yi Zhang/ Johns Hopkins University)

Health & Medicine - Aug 7, 2009 4:00 - 0 Comments

Nano-painting lights up brain tumors

A mouse brain tumor imaged using nanoparticles (left column) or conventional techniques (right column) combined with optical imaging and MRI. The nanoparticles give a clearer picture of the tumor, which is located at the back of the brain in the cerebellum.

Health & Medicine - Jul 20, 2009 11:32 - 0 Comments

Nanoalerts from healthy cells signal cancer

Vadim Backman, the study’s senior author, says nanoscale changes in both cancer cells and normal cells far away from the tumor site “are general phenomena in carcinogenesis and occur early in the process.”

Health & Medicine - Jun 15, 2009 10:57 - 0 Comments

Tiny gene poses huge problem for cancer cells

The red dots in these photos indicate cancer cells that are dying. The image below shows the amount of cell death in a control-treated tumor and, above, in a microRNA-treated tumor.

Health & Medicine - Jun 11, 2009 12:12 - 0 Comments

Computer model predicts cancer growth

Health & Medicine - Jun 11, 2009 11:56 - 1 Comment

Gene therapy to rein in stem cells gone wild

Human embryonic stem cells

Health & Medicine - May 20, 2009 11:43 - 0 Comments

Biological link between tumors and bad moods

U. CHICAGO (US)—In a study that could help explain the connections between depression and cancer, researchers at the University of Chicago have used an animal model to find, for the first time, a biological link between tumors and negative mood changes. (more…)