Light shed on genetic architecture of kidney cancer
A new study on a large cohort of kidney cancer patients in Europe sheds light on the genetic architecture of the disease -- and reveals an apparent link between exposure to aristolochic acid and incidence of kidney cancer, particularly in Romania.
The research, by an international team led by scientists from the McGill University and Genome Quebec Innovation Centre in Montreal, underscores the importance of investigating possible sources of exposure to aristolochic acid. The compound, found in plants of the Aristolochia genus, also has been suspected of causing a kidney disease known as Balkan endemic nephropathy, affecting people along the tributaries of the Danube River in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania. Aristolochia clematitis, or European birthwort, is a common plant throughout the Balkans.
A paper diagnostic for cancer
Low-cost urine test developed by MIT engineers amplifies signals from growing tumors to detect disease.
Anne Trafton, MIT News Office
Cancer rates in developing nations have climbed sharply in recent years, and now account for 70 percent of cancer mortality worldwide. Early detection has been proven to improve outcomes, but screening approaches such as mammograms and colonoscopy, used in the developed world, are too costly to be implemented in settings with little medical infrastructure.
Tumors Might Grow Faster at Night
Weizmann Institute scientists reveal that a hormone that keeps us alert also suppresses the spread of cancer
They emerge at night, while we sleep unaware, growing and spreading out as quickly as they can. And they are deadly. In a surprise finding that was recently published in Nature Communications, Weizmann Institute of Science researchers showed that nighttime is the right time for cancer to grow and spread in the body. Their findings suggest that administering certain treatments in time with the body’s day-night cycle could boost their efficiency.
Expert: Research Shows Selenium To Be Effective Treatment Against Breast Cancer
Research on attaching selenium to the leading clinical chemotherapeutic monoclonal antibody for a type of breast cancer shows it can more effectively kill the cancer cells.
Cancer drug destroys tumours in pre-clinical trials
Scientists at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute have used an experimental drug produced from the seeds of a rainforest plant to cure solid cancer tumours in pre-clinical trials.
The study led by Dr Glen Boyle at QIMR Berghofer’s Cancer Drug Mechanisms group found a single injection of the drug EBC-46 led to rapid breakdown of tumours in a range of human tumour models.