Cancer is anything but a straightforward disease; one tumor type can be entirely different from another not only in location, but causal agent and origin. There is differentiation even within the same type of cancer. Take sarcoma, which is in fact an umbrella term for nearly 100 cancers originating in the skeleton or the soft parts of the body. Some affect the young, others the elderly. But now a study out of Sweden is bringing the starting points of some sarcomas into focus by identifying for the first time an interaction between specific proteins. “We now know which mechanisms to shine the…
Author: Brett Johnson
It is undisputed that diet and nutrition are linked to the cause and perpetuation of cancer. Today, America faces an increasingly prevalent medical issue that affects more than 30% of its citizens: obesity. The number of obese Americans has dramatically increased in the past several decades, and if current trends continue over the next 20 years, it is estimated that obesity will lead to more than 500,000 additional cases of cancer each year. Many Americans remain unaware that obesity is a risk factor for cancer. New findings display powerful information on how we can approach diet to prevent and manage a cancer…
They are called “mAbs,” short for monoclonal antibodies, and they are a big deal in oncology. One of the immune systems most elegant soldiers, mAbs are formed by B cells, a type of white blood cell produced in the spleen, in response to specific foreign invaders (real and perceived) known as antigens, and humans are capable of producing billions of billions of differing kinds. They are so potent in the fight against cancer that when the late Dr. César Milstein, along with Georges Köhler, created the first technique to produce mAbs in the lab, the innovation won him a Nobel Prize…
Green tea has long been linked with positive health outcomes. It is full of antioxidants that have been associated with the prevention of many ailments, including cancer. Despite these associations, there have been no evidence-based suggestions on the quantity of green tea needed to prevent cancer. There are also no specific guidelines on which types of cancer may be prevented by drinking green tea. Without this information, many people are left asking ‘does green tea actually prevent cancer?’ Green tea, also known as Chinese tea, is a type of tea made from Camellia sinensis leaves. Aside from water, it is the most widely…
New research suggests that inducing a form of controlled cell death called necroptosis in or around tumor cells can help the immune system rid the body of cancer cells. Necroptosis is an explosive form of cell death during which a cell typically swells and then bursts. In the study, researchers found that injecting cells undergoing necroptosis into tumors in mice kickstarted an immune response against the tumors. In the NCI-funded study, published June 21 in Science Immunology, the researchers also used a virus to deliver genes for the proteins that drive necroptosis into tumor cells. Combining this treatment with a commonly…
Clinical recommendations on who should be screened for lung cancer are based largely on how long a person smoked and the number of cigarettes they smoked. But current recommendations may need to be reviewed when it comes to African Americans who smoke, a new study suggests. In the study, only about one-third of African American smokers diagnosed with lung cancer over a 12-year period would have met the criteria for annual lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography (CT) laid out by the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). In contrast, more than half of white smokers diagnosed with lung cancer met…
Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is the deadliest and most aggressive form of brain cancer for which there is currently no cure. This often-fatal brain cancer accounts for 45% of all malignant brain tumors and 12,000 cancer diag noses per year in the United States, in addition to tens of thousands more around the globe. The average GBM patient has a survival rate of one to two years. Out of determination to improve outcomes for GBM patients, in June 2019, after years of collaboration the Global Coalition for Adaptive Research (GCAR) launched GBM AGILE – a global effort to defeat GBM…
VPAC1 biomarkers are expressed on cell surfaces in high densities at the onset of oncogenesis. When VPAC1 receptors are targeted, cancer can be diagnosed early, but specifically, it allows physicians to distinguish malignant from benign lesions. NuView’s new NV-VPAC1 technology works as a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging agent for the in vivo diagnosis of breast and prostate cancer, by combining an NV-VPAC1 peptide with a medical imaging isotope, illuminating cancerous VPAC1 biomarkers for detection and removal. NV-VPAC1™ used in conjunction with a PET scan and fluorescent dye can detect and confirm the shed of cancer cells in voided urine,…