In Childhood Cancer, Basic Biology Offers Clues To Better Treatments
By studying tumor biology at the molecular level, researchers are gaining a deeper understanding of drug resistance and how to avoid it by designing pediatric cancer treatments tailored to specific mutations in a child's DNA. In a fruitful collaboration, pediatric oncologists and biochemists are targeting neuroblastoma, an often-deadly childhood cancer of the peripheral nervous system. "This scientific study allows us to move ahead in improving drug treatments for children with a particular form of neuroblastoma, " said study co-leader YaГ"l P.
Current, Former Smokers May Face Impaired Pancreatic Duct Cell Function, Elevated Colorectal Cancer Risk That Persists Longer For Women
Cigarette smoking appears to impair pancreatic duct cell function -- even for those who quit --putting all smokers at risk of compromised digestive function regardless of age, gender and alcohol intake, according to the results of a study unveiled at the American College of Gastroenterology's (ACG) 76th Annual Scientific meeting in Washington, DC. In a separate smoking-related study also released, "Smoking Cessation and the Risk for Advanced Neoplasia: Risk for Women Persists Longer than for Men, " researchers from the University of Connecticut found that the risk of advanced pre-cancerous tissue changes (neoplasia) was significantly elevated for women -- even if they stopped smoking -- but not for men -- suggesting that the impact of smoking in women has a longer effect than in men.
Researchers Unravel Biochemical Factor Important In Tumor Metastasis
A protein called "fascin" appears to play a critical transformation role in TGF beta mediated tumor metastasis, say researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., who published a study in a recent issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry. According to study corresponding author Shengyu Yang, Ph.D., of Moffitt's Comprehensive Melanoma Research Center and the Department of Tumor Biology, elevated Transforming Growth Factor beta in the tumor microenvironment may be responsible for fascin over-expression, which in turn can promote metastasis in some metastatic tumors.