Colon cancer rates decreasing among older Americans
3/17/2014
According to a new report from the American Cancer Society, rates of colorectal cancer - commonly called colon cancer - are decreasing steeply among older people in the US because of increasing use of colonoscopy screening, which can detect and remove precancerous growths.
Annual incidence of Europe's second most lethal cancer killer is predicted to rise by12% by 2020[1] warns Europe's largest body of gastroenterology experts, United European Gastroenterology (UEG). Colorectal cancer is estimated to claim the lives of 214,675[2] adults in Europe and is expected to affect 502,000 Europeans a year by 2020[1].
Smartphone gamers decode half a year of Cancer Research UK's genetic data in one month
3/17/2014
In one month 'citizen scientists' have analysed DNA data that would have taken a scientist six months* to analyse by eye by playing Cancer Research UK's new smartphone game Play to Cure: Genes in Space. If this amount of DNA - tightly-coiled strings of genetic information - was unravelled it would stretch across 40 miles, or (65 km)**.
Targeted therapies seem to be the future of cancer treatment, but can they be too narrowly focused? In a study published in Nature Genetics, scientists have found that for a rare cancer of the blood vessel where several mutations can underlie the disease, many different parts of the pathway can be disrupted.
A versatile mouse that can teach us about many diseases and drugs
3/17/2014
Scientists from the UK and Australia have created a mouse that expresses a fluorescing 'biosensor' in every cell of its body, allowing diseased cells and drugs to be tracked and evaluated in real time and in three dimensions.This biosensor mimics the action of a target molecule, in this case a protein known as 'Rac', which drives cell movement in many types of cancer.
New approach to chronic lymphocytic leukemia treatment developed
3/17/2014
Dartmouth researchers have developed a novel and unique approach to treating Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL), a form of blood cancer that often requires repeated chemotherapy treatments to which it grows resistant. The researchers, led by Alexey V.
Technique able to analyze conformations of complex molecular machines
3/17/2014
Open, feed, cut. Such is the humdrum life of a motor molecule, the subject of new research at Rice University, that eats and excretes damaged proteins and turns them into harmless peptides for disposal.The why is obvious: Without these trash bins, the Escherichia coli bacteria they serve would die. And thanks to Rice, the how is becoming clearer.
E. coli coaxed to resist radiation damage In the lab
3/17/2014
Capitalizing on the ability of an organism to evolve in response to punishment from a hostile environment, scientists have coaxed the model bacterium Escherichia coli to dramatically resist ionizing radiation and, in the process, reveal the genetic mechanisms that make the feat possible.
Decline seen in prostate specific antigen screening after 2012 USPSTF recommendations
3/17/2014
Researchers at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Case Medical Center have assessed the impact of the 2012 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations against routine prostate specific antigen (PSA) cancer screenings, which cited evidence that the risks of screening outweigh the benefits.
Researchers reveal mathematical and biochemical 'design features' for cell decoding of pulses
3/17/2014
Every cell in the body has to sense and respond to chemicals such as hormones and neurotransmitters. They do so by relaying information from receptors to intracellular biochemical pathways that control cell behaviour, but relatively little is known about how cells decode the information in dynamic stimuli.