Blood Tests Might Miss Rare Circulating Tumor Cells
The Ohio State University uses two different approaches to visualize circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and other unusual circulating cells, with both epithelial and hematopoietic characteristics in metastatic breast cancer (mBC) for their new research. The researchers presented the study results during a poster session at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2012 in Chicago, Ill. Researchers with The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J.
Disease Fighting Properties Of Lactoferrin: Heals Wounds, Boosts Immunity And Protects From Cancer
Hans Vogel, a professor in the biological sciences department, is the guest editor of a special issue of the journal Biochemistry and Cell Biology that focuses on lactoferrin, an important iron-binding protein with many health benefits. "Some people describe this protein as the 'Swiss army knife' of the human host defense system, " says Vogel. "We now know that lactoferrin has many functions in innate immunity and that it plays a role in protecting us from bacterial, viral, fungal, and protozoal infections.
Node-Negative Breast Cancer Patients' Survival Rates Vary
Part of an oral presentation at the recent Society of Surgical Oncology's 65th Annual Cancer Symposium in Orlando, revealed that a stratification of age, race and hormone receptor status helps to predict survival in node-negative breast cancer patients. The study, which was a collaboration of researchers from The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ), UMDNJ-School of Public Health (SPH) and UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, shows that the current breast cancer staging system in patients whose cancer has not spread to nearby lymph nodes (node-negative) can be improved by using this information, and that it may prove beneficial for clinicians to predict the outcomes for these patients more accurately.