by Emily Packer, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne Blocking a pair of sugar-transporting proteins may be a useful treatment approach for lung cancer, suggests a new study in mice and human cells published today in eLife. Cancer cells use a lot of sugar to fuel their rapid growth and spread. This has led scientists to...
Leading organic chemists synthesize fungal molecule capable of reactivating the self-destruct gene in aggressive cancer cells. Cancers cells use a special technique to propagate; they delete their “programmed death” gene through mutation, “forget” to die when their lifetime is over and continue to grow instead. A research team from Tokyo University of Science has developed...
Researchers suggested that baldness should be considered a risk factor, dubbing it the ‘Gabrin sign’ By Jennifer Rigby 4 June 2020 • 8:33pm Bald men may be at higher risk of suffering from severe Covid-19 symptoms, emerging evidence suggests. The link is so strong that some researchers are suggesting baldness should be considered a risk...
Like any addiction, nicotine dependence warps the brain in elaborate ways—which is why treating it tends not to be as simple as mastering one’s willpower. Even after trying every technique in the toolbox—the support of friends, family, and a great therapist; nicotine patches; prescription drugs—many smokers will sooner or later experience a craving of overpowering...
Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc. ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) is a systemic disease involving the formation of special autoantibodies (so-called anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies/ANCA) and vascular inflammation. There are several diseases associated with involvement of the kidneys, lungs, upper respiratory tract, heart, skin and the nervous system; potentially life-threatening courses of disease are also possible. Immunosuppressive therapy...
Amsterdam, NL, June 4, 2020 – Growth factors such as glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) were initially thought to be exciting new treatments for Parkinson’s disease (PD), but trials have been disappointing. A panel of prominent leaders in the field convened to discuss whether there is a future for this approach and what any...
Prostate cancer therapies have shown significant advances during the past decade, with multiple new therapies being introduced for patients with advanced disease. Now, the early results of a clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) reveals for the first time that therapies based on tumor genetics – specifically DNA repair defects...
Already known for their shape-shifting abilities, stem cells can now add “death-defying” to their list of remarkable qualities. A new study shows how stem cells – which can contribute to creating many parts of the body, not just one organ or body part – are able to postpone their own death in order to respond...
CREDIT: GIORGIA MENEGONI, SAPIENZA, UNIVERSITY OF ROME Bethesda, MD – In a new animal study examining Alzheimer’s disease, researchers found that disease progression could be slowed by decreasing neuroinflammation in the brain before memory problems and cognitive impairment were apparent. The new findings point to the importance of developing therapies that target very early stages...
Metabolic system may explain tumour growth in humans FLINDERS UNIVERSITY Australian researchers have uncovered a metabolic system which could lead to new strategies for therapeutic cancer treatment. A team at Flinders University led by Professor Janni Petersen and the St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research have found a link between a metabolic system in a...
