Cancer
Nanoparticles perfectly formed to tackle cancer
June 6, 2011 9:13 am | News | CommentsResearchers from the Univ. of Hull have discovered a way to load up nanoparticles with large numbers of light-sensitive molecules to create a more effective form of photodynamic therapy (PDT) for treating cancer.
Lack of important 'gatekeeper' protein linked to skin cancer
May 18, 2011 10:00 am | News | CommentsNew research from North Carolina State Univ. shows that a "gatekeeper" protein plays an important role in skin-cancer prevention in humans and lab mice. The protein, C/EBP alpha, is normally abundantly expressed to help protect skin cells from DNA damage when humans are exposed to sunlight. The NC State research shows, however, that the protein is not expressed when certain human skin cancers are present.
HIV drug could prevent cervical cancer
May 3, 2011 5:43 am | News | CommentsUniv. of Manchester researchers, working with colleagues in Canada, have discovered how the antiviral drug lopinavir attacks HPV by switching on a natural viral defense system in infected cells.
New insight into why lung cancer spreads
April 7, 2011 4:17 am | by Anne Trafton, MIT News Office | News | CommentsMIT cancer biologists have identified a genetic change that makes lung tumors more likely to spread to other parts of the body. The finding offers new insight into how lung cancers metastasize and could help identify drug targets to combat metastatic tumors.
Nanopolymer shows promise for reducing cancer side effects
April 5, 2011 4:47 am | News | CommentsA Purdue Univ. biochemist has demonstrated a process using nanotechnology to better assess whether cancer drugs hit their targets, which may help reduce drug side effects.
Bird embryo provides insights into wound healing and cancer
March 25, 2011 5:10 am | News | CommentsAvian embryos could join the list of model organisms used to study a specific type of cell migration called epiboly. A new study provides insights into the mechanisms of epiboly, a developmental process involving mass movement of cells as a sheet, which is linked with medical conditions that include wound healing and cancer.
New way to test cancer drugs
March 17, 2011 6:14 am | News | CommentsA Purdue Univ. scientist's nanopolymer would make it easier and cheaper for drug developers to test the effectiveness of a widely used class of cancer inhibitors.
Study shows how breast cell communities organize into breast tissue
March 14, 2011 6:51 am | News | CommentsA Berkeley Lab study has shown how communities of different types of breast cells self-organize into breast tissue. This helps explain how the processes of stem cell differentiation and tissue architecture maintenance are coordinated, and might lead to a better understanding of what goes wrong in cancer.
Tiny gems: The next big step in battling cancer
March 10, 2011 4:23 am | News | CommentsChemotherapy drug resistance contributes to treatment failure in more than 90% of metastatic cancers. Overcoming this hurdle would improve cancer survival rates. Dean Ho, an associate professor of biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering at Northwestern Univ., believes a tiny carbon particle called a nanodiamond may offer an effective drug delivery solution for hard-to-treat cancers.
Going with the flow: New 3D microfluidic system developed
March 8, 2011 3:51 am | News | CommentsResearchers at MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have developed a new way to produce nanoparticles that can deliver drugs for cancer and other diseases. The new production system offers greater control over the size and composition of the particles, allowing large quantities of homogenous particles to be rapidly produced.
'Nano-Velcro' technology improves capture of cancer cells
March 8, 2011 3:20 am | News | CommentsCirculating tumor cells, which play a crucial role in cancer metastasis, have been known to science for more than 100 years, and researchers have long endeavored to track and capture them. Now, a UCLA research team has developed a device based on Velcro-like nanoscale technology to efficiently identify and "grab" these circulating tumor cells in the blood.
Researchers illuminate laminin's role in cancer formation
March 7, 2011 3:49 am | News | CommentsBerkeley Lab researchers have shown how the protein laminin, long thought to provide only structural support in the microenvironment of breast and other epithelial tissue, can play a leading role in the development of cancer.
Mapping cells with submicrometer resolution
March 3, 2011 4:23 am | News | CommentsIn an effort to identify cancer earlier on, researchers at NIST and the National Cancer Institute have developed a technique that slices off the top of a cell and makes the structures accessible to spectroscopic examination of their chemical "signature."
Researchers predict age of T cells to improve cancer treatment
March 2, 2011 5:17 am | News | CommentsResearchers at Georgia Tech and Emory Univ. have developed a microfluidic device for sample handling that allows a statistical model to be generated to evaluate cell responsiveness and accurately predict cell “age” and quality. Being able to assess the age and responsiveness of T cells offers the potential to improve the therapeutic outcome of several cancers.
Technology pinpoints genetic differences between cancer, non-cancer patients
February 23, 2011 4:58 am | News | CommentsA group of researchers led by scientists from the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech have developed a new technology that detects distinct genetic changes differentiating cancer patients from healthy individuals. The advancement could even serve as a future cancer predisposition test.
Induced stem cells may unmask cancer at earliest stage
February 4, 2011 5:45 am | News | CommentsBy coaxing healthy and diseased human bone marrow to become embryonic-like stem cells, a team of Wisconsin scientists has laid the groundwork for observing the onset of the blood cancer leukemia in the laboratory dish.
Test shows nanoshell therapy effective against brain cancer
February 1, 2011 7:13 am | News | CommentsRice Univ. bioengineers and physician-scientists at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital have successfully destroyed tumors of human brain cancer cells in the first animal tests of a minimally invasive treatment that zaps glioma tumors with heat. The tests involved nanoshells, light-activated nanoparticles that are designed to destroy tumors with heat and avoid the unwanted side effects of drug and radiation therapies.
Synthesizing a long-sought-after anticancer agent
February 1, 2011 3:52 am | News | CommentsA team of Yale Univ. scientists has, for the first time, synthesized a chemical compound called lomaiviticin aglycon, leading to the development of a new class of molecules that appear to target and destroy cancer stem cells.
Study: New treatment option for ovarian cancer shows promise
January 28, 2011 4:00 am | News | CommentsResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have formed a startup company and are working with a medical device firm to design a prototype treatment system that would use magnetic nanoparticles engineered to capture cancer cells. Added to fluids removed from a patient's abdomen, the magnetic nanoparticles would latch onto the free-floating cancer cells, allowing both the nanoparticles and cancer cells to be removed by magnetic filters before the fluids are returned to the patient's body.
Team creates engineered organ model for breast cancer research
January 20, 2011 10:58 am | News | CommentsPurdue Univ. researchers have reproduced portions of the female breast in a tiny slide-sized model dubbed "breast on-a-chip" that will be used to test nanomedical approaches for the detection and treatment of breast cancer.
Putting up a fight against cancer
January 20, 2011 3:06 am | by Anne Trafton, MIT News Office | News | CommentsMIT scientists have discovered that cells lining the blood vessels secrete molecules that suppress tumor growth and keep cancer cells from invading other tissues, a finding that could lead to a new way to treat cancer.
New nanoparticle drug delivery system lessens side effects
January 11, 2011 3:06 am | by Anne Trafton, MIT News Office | News | CommentsResearchers at MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have shown that they can deliver the cancer drug cisplatin much more effectively and safely in a form that has been encapsulated in a nanoparticle targeted to prostate tumor cells and is activated once it reaches its target.
New method devised to quantify protein changes
January 6, 2011 4:13 am | News | CommentsA scientist from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute has devised a new method of analyzing and quantifying changes in proteins that result from a common chemical process. The new findings could provide new insights into the effects of a highly destructive form of stress on proteins in various disease models, particularly cancer.
Finding New Drug Compounds In Seaweed
January 8, 2010 2:49 am | Blogs | CommentsAs a child one of the most anticipated events each year would be my family’s annual trip down to Wildwood Crest, NJ. I always looked forward to getting to spend time with my cousins, going boogie-boarding with my dad, and going on our annual shell hunting expedition. However, the one thing I always hated about the ocean, besides sharks (which I have a large fear of), was the seaweed. I guess it was something about the slimy texture of the plant that never sat well with me.
Dr. Kevin N. Sill: The Delivery of Innovation
December 21, 2009 9:02 am | by Lindsay Hock | Articles | CommentsFor people living with cancer, treating their disease successfully is often marred by the many side effects associated with intravenous chemotherapy. Emerging drug delivery technologies focus on limiting the exposure of healthy cells to these toxic agents, but few have the potential to improve patient care in a significant way. Kevin N. Sill, PhD, has designed an advanced method for encapsulating a wide variety of therapeutic agents into a polymer-based drug delivery system, called the IVECT Method.
