UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report for the first time that tumors stressed by cancer immunotherapy release their mitochondrial DNA into nearby immune cells, triggering a host alert system. That chemical alarm via the molecule cGAS is an important immune-system sensor for DNA that is in the soupy interior of cells, the cytosol, where DNA should...
Category: <span>Cancer</span>
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Researchers propose new strategy to treat cancer
Whenever an organism is damaged, the cells surrounding the wound receive signals to proliferate more intensely to regenerate the injured tissue. The same thing happens with cancer—tumor cells may be all but eliminated by radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy, only to return even more aggressively some time later. The phenomenon of tumor repopulation is explained by...
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Spaser can detect, kill circulating tumor cells to prevent cancer metastases, study finds
A nanolaser known as the spaser can serve as a super-bright, water-soluble, biocompatible probe capable of finding metastasized cancer cells in the blood stream and then killing these cells, according to a new research study. The study found the spaser can be used as an optical probe and when released into the body (possibly through...
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Scientists discover vitamin C regulates stem cell function, curbs leukemia development
Not much is known about stem cell metabolism, but a new study from the Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) has found that stem cells take up unusually high levels of vitamin C, which then regulates their function and suppresses the development of leukemia. “We have known for a while that people...
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New tool for cell-free therapy based on artificial membrane vesicles
Scientists at Kazan Federal University’s Institute of Fundamental Medicine and Biology, led by Professor Albert Rizvanov, have shown that artificial membrane vesicles generated by Cytochalasin B treatment of human cells retain angiogenic activity. Vesicles are small packages of material released from cells and act to deliver cargo and messages to adjacent and distant cells. Vesicles are known...
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New strategy to treat aggressive lung cancer
Research conducted by a team of Norton Thoracic Institute scientists on a novel therapeutic avenue for an aggressive and difficult to treat subgroup of lung cancer was published in the August 15, 2017 issue of Cancer Research. The research was led by assistant professors at Norton Thoracic Institute, Timothy Whitsett, PhD, and Landon Inge, PhD. The...
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A metabolic treatment for pancreatic cancer?
Targeting an enzyme that disposes of excess nitrogen curbs malignant growth BOSTON(August 14, 2017) – Pancreatic cancer is now the third leading cause of cancer mortality. Its incidence is increasing in parallel with the population increase in obesity, and its five-year survival rate still hovers at just 8 to 9 percent. Research led by Nada...
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A Cancer Conundrum: Too Many Drug Trials, Too Few Patients
With the arrival of two revolutionary treatment strategies, immunotherapy and personalized medicine, cancer researchers have found new hope — and a problem that is perhaps unprecedented in medical research. There are too many experimental cancer drugs in too many clinical trials, and not enough patients to test them on. The logjam is caused partly by...
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New HPV vaccine could prevent almost all cervical cancers
For women, cervical cancer is the fourth most widespread cancer, and in developing countries it is the most common cause of cancer death. A new study from researchers at Melbourne’s Royal Women’s Hospital and the Victorian Cytology Service has found that a new HPV vaccine could prevent up to 93 percent of all cervical cancers....
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Study pinpoints gene’s role in pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer is a particularly deadly form of disease, and patients have few options for effective treatment. But a new Yale-led study has identified a gene that is critical to pancreatic cancer cell growth, revealing a fresh target for new therapies. Senior author Narendra Wajapayee, associate professor of pathology, and his research team started with...