Findings could enable individualized treatment for patients with medulloblastoma

Boston, Mass., July 22, 2012– Researchers at Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center (DF/CHCC) and several collaborating institutions have linked mutations in specific genes to each of the four recognized subtypes of medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor of children. The discovery, reported July in the journal Nature, provides doctors with potential biomarkers for guiding and individualizing treatment and reveals prospective therapeutic opportunities for countering this devastating malignancy.

A new study has determined how often people should get screened for gastric or stomach cancer in high-risk regions of the world. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the findings could help reduce deaths from gastric cancer, which is the second most common cause of cancer-related mortality.

Richmond, Va. (July 6, 2012) – Researchers have created the first mouse model demonstrating the role of a cancer promoting gene, Astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1), in hepatocellular carcinoma, or liver cancer. The mouse model represents a critical step in understanding the molecular mechanisms of liver cancer progression and could lead to novel therapies for the disease.

PHILADELPHIA — Increasing the number of cups of caffeinated coffee you drink could lower your risk of developing the most common form of skin cancer, basal cell carcinoma, according to a study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 8, 2012) — A new study by University of Kentucky researchers shows how light and strained ruthenium-based drugs may be more effective at fighting cancer cells and less toxic to healthy cells than a similar and widely used drug.

Cisplatin is a common platinum-based cancer drug. But while cisplatin kills cancer cells, it also attacks healthy cells, causing debilitating side effects. Ruthenium is a rare transition metal also belonging to the platinum group of the periodic table, and the UK researchers developed two new ruthenium complexes designed to kill cancer cells while preserving healthy cells.

These complexes are inert in the dark, but when activated with light, they become up to 200 times as toxic, and up to three times as potent as cisplatin against tumor cells.

Published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, the study examined the effects of these new complexes on lung cancer and leukemia cells. Edith Glazer, UK assistant professor of chemistry and principal investigator for the study, hopes to move these compounds forward in more biological testing soon.

"Coordination chemistry has proven to be an elegant method to rapidly synthesize a family of molecules," Glazer said. "We anticipate that this will prove advantageous in allowing us to make chemical modifications to optimize properties as needed as we move forward into animal studies."

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Source: University of Kentucky

UCSF-led international study shows improved quality of life

A new medication proved effective in slowing the spread of metastatic prostate cancer, while helping to maintain the quality of life, in patients with advanced disease. The phase 3 study was unblinded midway, allowing patients receiving the placebo to instead take the drug because of the favorable results.

MADISON — New research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison explains why the incurable brain cancer, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is highly resistant to current chemotherapies.

E3 ligase’s role makes it target for defeating Herceptin resistance, stifling cancer’s preferred diet.

HER2 and its epidermal growth factor receptor cousins mobilize a specialized protein to activate a major player in cancer development and sugar metabolism, scientists report in the May 25 issue of Cell.

Multiple myeloma is a form of cancer where the plasma cells in the bone marrow grow out of control, causing damage to bones as well as predisposing patients to anemia, infection and kidney failure. A medical procedure called autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, commonly known as a stem cell transplant, is frequently an important treatment option for many patients.

Monday, April 30, 2012, Cleveland: In a landmark drug-comparison study, Cleveland Clinic researchers found that bevacizumab (Avastin) is equivalent to ranibizumab (Lucentis) in the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) through two years.