Tag: Cancer

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Reproduce or Bust?!: Bringing Reproducibility Back to Center Stage

by Steph Guerra figures by Krissy Lyon Reproducibility in science is not very sexy. Because our scientific culture generally rewards innovation over cautiousness, replicating a study conducted by others will not get a researcher a publication in a high-end journal, a splashy headline in a newspaper, or a large funding grant from the government. In fact, only an estimated 0.15% of all published results are … Continue reading Reproduce or Bust?!: Bringing Reproducibility Back to Center Stage

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Rabbit virus sinks teeth into cancer, aids bone marrow transplants

A common treatment for blood cancers, such as leukemia, is to replace damaged, cancerous bone marrow with donated healthy marrow.  Marrow is the flexible tissue in your bones that contains stem cells that give rise to all the blood and immune cells in the body.  When marrow comes from a donor, the donor’s and the recipient’s blood and tissue types must directly match.  If not, … Continue reading Rabbit virus sinks teeth into cancer, aids bone marrow transplants

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Discovery of Anti-aging in Mammary Gland

A study shows that when a certain protein called Timp is lacking, there is an increase in the number of stem cells of the mammary gland (an organ in the breast), which prevents it from aging, thus reducing one of the risk factors of breast cancer. The study shows great insights into stem cell regulation. However, it has lead to overblown ‘fountain of youth’ claims. … Continue reading Discovery of Anti-aging in Mammary Gland

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Why do male smokers have higher cancer rates than female smokers?

When it comes to smoking and cancer, men are mysteriously worse off: over 30% of cancer deaths in males are connected to smoking, compared to ~20% in women. It’s not all due to lung cancer either – male smokers also have a higher incidence of non-lung cancers compared to female smokers. Why the difference?. A recent study provides evidence that the answer is related to … Continue reading Why do male smokers have higher cancer rates than female smokers?

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Can stem cells be engineered to battle brain cancer?

Treating glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) – the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer – is notoriously difficult. In the early 2000s, researchers began investigating a new form of therapy to attack GBM tumors: implanting stem cells engineered to express toxins that specifically kill tumor cells. The toxin – a protein called TRAIL – kills tumor cells (but not normal cells!)  by signaling through a … Continue reading Can stem cells be engineered to battle brain cancer?

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EBC-46, a novel PKC inhibitor shows pre-clinical potential
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New cancer drug promising, but has a long way to go

A recent article published in Medical Express last week touts the impressive findings of a pre-clinical study on the experimental drug EBC-46 (pictured above). In the article, they claim that EBC-46 is able to effectively destroy tumors by destroying the blood vessels that supply it with oxygen and nutrients. It is important, however, to remember that the work they are reporting on is very preliminary … Continue reading New cancer drug promising, but has a long way to go

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Seminars

The (Internal) War on Cancer: Using the immune system to fight tumors

Presented by Jernej Godec, Ezana Demissie, and Vikram Juneja The immune system has evolved to recognize foreign invaders into our bodies, such as bacteria and viruses. In a similar fashion, it is able to recognize when healthy cells transform into cancer cells, and attempts to clear them. When patients come to the clinic with a tumor, the immune system has failed at this job, often … Continue reading The (Internal) War on Cancer: Using the immune system to fight tumors

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The Risks of Control: Assessing the Link Between Birth Control Pills and Breast Cancer

More than 10 million women in the United States (almost 20% of women between the ages of 15 and 44) take birth control pills as a means of contraception []. In 2013, more than 2.9 million American women were living with breast cancer, almost 300,000 women were diagnosed with breast cancer, and nearly 40,000 women lost their lives to breast cancer []. Troublingly, many studies … Continue reading The Risks of Control: Assessing the Link Between Birth Control Pills and Breast Cancer

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Help from the Hydra: Can Cancer Ever Be Truly Eliminated?

Cancer research laboratories have historically studied tumors in vertebrate models, such as monkeys and mice, and in a few invertebrate species, like fruit flies. Only recently have scientists chosen to pursue cancer from a completely new perspective. Dr. Thomas Bosch and his colleagues at Germany’s Kiel University found that primitive multicellular organisms, called Hydra, also spontaneously develop tumor-like growths. Dr. Bosch boldly concluded that because … Continue reading Help from the Hydra: Can Cancer Ever Be Truly Eliminated?

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Seminars

Small Brains, Big Ideas: The value of model organisms to science

Presented by Yuly Fuentes-Medel Model organism systems amenable to genetic manipulation have made seminal contributions to many aspects of modern science. These organisms with small brains have inspired the discoveries of big ideas in such complex problems as cell death, ion channel function, and pattern formation during development. In this lecture you will learn what a model organism is and see some examples, with a … Continue reading Small Brains, Big Ideas: The value of model organisms to science

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