News by Subject Medicine & Health

In an unprecedented pan-cancer analysis of whole genomes, researchers at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) have discovered new regions of non-coding DNA that, when altered, may lead to cancer growth and progression.

Acid reflux drugs that are sometimes recommended to ease stomach problems during cancer treatment may have an unintended side effect: impairment of breast cancer survivors' memory and concentration.

A common and inexpensive drug may be used to counteract treatment resistance in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), one of the most common forms of blood cancer. This is the conclusion of a study in mice and human blood cells performed at Karolinska Institutet and SciLifeLab and published in the medical journal EMBO Molecular Medicine. The researchers will now launch a clinical study to test the new combination treatment in patients.

A study led by Dr. Pnina Brodt shows that the liver immune microenvironment reacts to metastatic cells differently in male and that in female mice and estrogen can indirectly contribute to the growth of metastases. These findings provide a rationale for further exploration of the role of sex hormones in female cancer patients and the potential benefits of anti-estrogen drugs such as tamoxifen in the treatment of hormone-independent cancers that metastasize to the liver.

The Akay Lab biomedical research team at the University of Houston is reporting an improvement on a microfluidic brain cancer chip previously developed in their lab. The new chip allows quick assessment of the effectiveness of cancer drugs on brain tumors.

University of Colorado Cancer Center study shows that cancer-causing MLL gene may also push pluripotent stem cells to make hematopoietic stem cells, a strong step in the decades-long effort to make personalizable, durable blood stem cells.

Researchers for this observational study examined the association between the expansion of Medicaid coverage in some states after the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed and the diagnosis and treatment of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The analysis included nearly 91,000 adults with newly diagnosed HNSCC who were identified from the National Cancer Database.

Researchers from North Carolina State University have found a very high prevalence of Bartonella bacteria in tumors and tissues - but not blood samples - taken from dogs with hemangiosarcoma, a cancer of the blood vessels.

For the first time, research shows that the contacts between cells, known as cell adhesion, are essential for cells to survive stress. The findings also suggest that impaired cell adhesion may sensitize cancer cells to drugs that damage cell proteins and cause stress.