Tag: Cancer

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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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Blocking the Brakes: Helping Your Immune System Battle Cancer

There’s been a lot of buzz recently about cancer immunotherapy, including its selection as Science Magazine’s 2013 Breakthrough of the Year. Immunotherapy has introduced a new class of drugs that harness your immune system’s ability to fight off cancer cells. While traditional cancer drugs act by directly attacking cancer cells, immunotherapies instead stimulate your immune cells to kill the cancer themselves. Immunotherapy has been gaining … Continue reading Blocking the Brakes: Helping Your Immune System Battle Cancer

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In the Loop with Poop
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In the Loop with Poop: Intestinal microbes in health and immunity

Presented by Chris Garris Did you know that the average human gut is home to over 100 trillion microorganisms? These numbers are not from a diseased state, but rather are representative of a normal, healthy human gut. Clearly, this suggests that the vast majority of microorganisms living within us are not pathogenic. Animal studies of germ-free or selective gut colonization by microbes provide growing evidence … Continue reading In the Loop with Poop: Intestinal microbes in health and immunity

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Racing CARs against Cancer

You may have recently heard about cases of acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) being cured in a few adults and children using a new type of cell therapy [1]. In these studies, scientists took a patient’s own immune cells, altered their genetic material so that these cells would attack the leukemia, then put the modified immune cells back into the patient. The immune cells used in … Continue reading Racing CARs against Cancer

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