Posts Tagged ‘Cancer Cells’

New Hope for Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer

29th September 2009 by admin 1 Comment

Inhibiting the action of an enzyme called TAK-1 reverses pancreatic cancer resistance to chemotherapy, a finding that could lead to the development of a new way to treat the disease, researchers say.
Pancreatic cancer is resistant to every currently available anti-cancer treatment.
“During the past few years we have been studying the role [...]

Advanced Skin, Brain Cancers Improve With Experimental Hedgehog Drug

3rd September 2009 by admin 3 Comments

People with advanced skin and brain cancers — untreatable by current methods — improve after treatment with a new oral drug called a hedgehog inhibitor.
Hedgehog is one of the hottest new anticancer targets. During embryonic development and childhood, the signaling molecule nicknamed hedgehog spurs growth processes. But the body turns it off during adulthood. When [...]

New Class of Drugs Promising for BRCA-Related Cancers

9th July 2009 by admin 1 Comment

New drugs called PARP inhibitors appear to have a lot of promise against hereditary cancers caused by BRCA1 and BRCA2 cell mutations.
PARP inhibitors work by blocking the action of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase, an enzyme that helps repair DNA. In certain tumor cells, such as those from BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers, blocking this enzyme can [...]

‘Normal’ Cells Far From Cancer Give Nanosignals Of Trouble

9th July 2009 by admin No Comments

A new Northwestern University-led study of human colon, pancreatic and lung cells is the first to report that cancer cells and their non-cancerous cell neighbors, although quite different under the microscope, share very similar structural abnormalities on the nanoscale level.
The findings, obtained using an optical technique that can detect features as small as 20 nanometers, [...]

Novartis Drug Combo Cuts Pancreatic Tumour Size

24th June 2009 by admin No Comments

A combination of two drugs from Novartis AG (NOVN.VX) cut the size of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours in more than 80 percent of patients in a mid-stage study, the Swiss group said on Wednesday. Patients who received a once-daily pill Afinitor in combination with Sandostatin LAR had no progression in their disease for a median of [...]

Lab Study Finds Protein That May Inhibit Cancer Spread

22nd June 2009 by admin No Comments

A protein produced by certain kinds of tumors inhibits the spread of cancer and could potentially be harnessed as a cancer treatment, researchers say.
Currently, there is no approved therapy for inhibiting or treating metastasis — the migration of cancer cells from the original cancer site to other parts of the body. Metastasis is one of [...]

Antioxidants May Interfere with Breast Cancer Treatment

13th June 2009 by admin No Comments

Think that vitamins can only help–but never hurt–a condition? Although that’s true in many cases, some vitamins can be harmful to certain people or under special circumstances.

Doctors are not sure exactly how antioxidants affect people with breast cancer, shown here.

Now a new study shows that many breast cancer patients take powerful antioxidant vitamins during [...]

Mesothelioma: Questions And Answers

31st May 2009 by admin No Comments

Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer in which malignant (cancerous) cells are found in the mesothelium, a protective sac that covers most of the body’s internal organs. Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles.

What is the mesothelium?
[...]