New hope for a cancer cure
Experimental antibody shows early promise for treatment of childhood tumor
Tumors shrank or disappeared and disease progression was temporarily halted in 15 children with advanced neuroblastoma enrolled in a safety study of an experimental antibody produced at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Four patients are still alive after more than two-and-a-half years and without additional treatment.
Findings from the Phase I study were published recently online and will appear in the May 10 edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The results prompted St. Jude to expand clinical trials of the monoclonal antibody hu14.18K322A to include patients newly diagnosed with neuroblastoma. Monoclonal antibodies are engineered in the laboratory to recognize and attach to specific markers carried on the cell surface.
Scientists Decode Epigenetic Mechanisms Distinguishing Stem Cell Function and Blood Cancer
Researchers at Dartmouth's Norris Cotton Cancer Center have published results from a study in Cell Reports that discovers a new mechanism that distinguishes normal blood stem cells from blood cancers.
"These findings constitute a significant advance toward the goal of killing leukemia cells without harming the body's normal blood stem cells which are often damaged by chemotherapy," said Patricia Ernst, PhD, co-director of the Cancer Mechanisms Program of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center and an associate professor in Genetics at the Geisel School of Medicine.
Northumbria University ‘Blood lab’ inside a mobile phone could detect cancer
Plans to design a smart phone app that can detect leukaemia will be among the innovations presented by Northumbria University researchers at the Centre for Life this weekend.
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Worawut Srisukkham, a PhD student at Northumbria University, Newcastle, is in the early stages of an ‘e-health technology’ project aimed at developing a mobile phone app that can examine blood sample images and diagnose cancer.
It would work by taking a magnified image of a blood slide via a microscopic lens attached to the smart phone, which the app would then be able to screen for evidence of leukaemia – a blood cancer.
Worawut will present his idea at Maker Faire UK at Newcastle’s Centre for Life on 26 and 27 April. Fellow Northumbria colleagues will also exhibit, including demonstrations of 3D printing, targeted drug delivery and an app that helps research the effect of the Himalayan Balsam plant on British bees.
Northumbria University is a main sponsor of Maker Faire UK. Billed as the greatest show-and-tell on Earth, it is a two-day celebration across the spectrum of science, engineering, art, performance and craft. A family-friendly gathering of tech enthusiasts, crafters, hobbyists, engineers, artists and more, the event aims to inspire and enthuse people of all ages.
World's First Success in Visualization of Coenzyme Broadly Related to Vital Activities and Diseases
A Japanese research team led by Dr. Hirokazu Komatsu, a researcher at the International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA: Director: Masakazu Aono) of the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS; President: Sukekatsu Ushioda) in charge of the YAMATO-MANA Program, and Dr. Katsuhiko Ariga, MANA Principal Investigator and Supermolecule Unit Leader, in collaboration with Project Professor Yutaka Shido and Professor Kotaro Oka of the Department of Biosciences and Informatics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University (President: Atsushi Seike), succeeded for the first time in the world in developing an imaging method for visualization of nicotine-adenine dinucleotide derivative (NAD(P)H) in a cell, a coenzyme broadly related to vital activity and illness, which had previously been elusive.