West Africa Doctors Network News Portal

(Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) Why do cancer patients develop resistance to chemotherapy drugs, sometimes abruptly, after a period in which the drugs seem to be working well to reduce tumors or hold them in check? Although largely a mystery to scientists, the result when this occurs is all too familiar: patients relapse and in many cases die when their cancers become resistant.

(Ohio State University Medical Center) A team of researchers from Ohio State University's Comprehensive Cancer Center and the University's College of Veterinary Medicine have received a $10.9 million, five-year grant from the National Cancer Institute to further their studies of retrovirus-associated cancer.

(University of California - San Diego) The world's top engineers, physicians and scientists are joining forces to conceptualize, develop and bring to reality the future tools and treatments of 21st century health care through UC San Diego's new Institute of Engineering in Medicine. Nanoparticle bombs to kill cancer, molecular-sized bridges to repair damaged hearts, and scarless surgery techniques are now on the frontier of medical innovations in California with the new institute leading the way.

(Wiley-Blackwell) Ninety-six percent of children who received liver transplants from living relatives were still alive five years after surgery. And the 98 percent year one survival rates recorded by the UK specialist unit was higher than international averages, which ranged from 74 percent to 96 percent. The research, published in the British Journal of Surgery, covers 50 children operated on between 1993 and 2006 by King's College Hospital in London. During that period King's was the only UK centre carrying out the ground-breaking procedure.

(University of Rochester Medical Center) University of Rochester Medical Center researchers found a new protein produced excessively in malignant melanoma, a discovery that is particularly relevant as skin cancer rates climb dramatically among young women.

(Imperial College London) Breast cancer research needs to investigate how a person's ethnicity influences their response to treatment and its outcome, according to a new Comment piece in today's Lancet. Emerging evidence suggests that particular drugs may benefit people from one ethnic group more than others, because of differences in their genetic makeup.

(Duke University Medical Center) Scientists at a Duke University medical school in Singapore have found a new way to study cancer that could be very useful for developing targeted therapies against tumors and possibly many other diseases. A data analysis revealed which genes are most tightly controlled in the cancerous tissues studied, yielding a new class of genes, in which only slight changes could affect gene function to elicit a sizable effect on a tumor.

(University of Montreal) Most teenagers who smoke cigarettes make repeated attempts to quit but most are unsuccessful, according to new research from the Université de Montréal, funded by the Canadian Cancer Society, published in the American Journal of Public Health.

(Florida State University) At Florida State University, the collective strength of biomedical research and the scientists who lead it has earned a $2 million High-End Instrumentation grant from the National Institutes of Health. The one-year award will help FSU buy a state-of-the-art robotic electron microscope to advance cutting-edge studies of HIV/AIDS, heart disease, hypertension and cancer.

(American Roentgen Ray Society) Multidetector CT using virtual gastroscopy and post contrast enhanced multiplanar reformation images can be useful in differentiating between malignant and benign gastric ulcers, according to a recent study conducted by researchers from Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

(Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) A study by researchers in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Lighting Research Center provides a new framework for studying the effects of circadian disruption on breast cancer, obesity, sleep disorders and other health problems.

(Weizmann Institute of Science) In two complementary studies, Weizmann Institute scientists have developed a new method for reconstructing a cell's 'family tree,' and have applied this technique to trace the history of the development of cancer. So far, the scientists have been able to calculate the age of the tumor and characterize its growth pattern. The scientists believe cell lineage studies of cancer can eventually lead us to the root of cancer.

(Lifespan) Researchers at Rhode Island Hospital have identified two potential molecular markers that may predict outcomes for patients with stomach cancer, one of the most common and fatal cancers worldwide. The study is published in the July 1 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.

(Georgia Institute of Technology) Scientists at Georgia Tech have developed a potential new treatment against cancer that attaches magnetic nanoparticles to cancer cells, allowing them to be captured and carried out of the body. The treatment, which has been tested in the laboratory and will now be looked at in survival studies, is detailed online in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

(London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine) Cancer survival varies widely between countries according to a worldwide study published online today in Lancet Oncology. More than 100 investigators contributed to the study.

(Harvard School of Public Health) Researchers at Harvard School of Public Health explored tobacco industry manipulation of menthol levels in specific brands and found a deliberate strategy to recruit and addict young smokers by adjusting menthol to create a milder experience for the first time smoker.

(American Association for Cancer Research) Researchers have determined a novel mechanism through which organ transplantation often leads to cancer, and their findings suggest that targeted therapies may reduce or prevent that risk.

(Georgetown University Medical Center) Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have discovered that vitamin A, when applied to breast cancer cells, turns on genes that can push stem cells embedded in a tumor to morph into endothelial cells. These cells can then build blood vessels to link up to the body's blood supply, promoting further tumor growth.

(Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions) Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers have identified a set ofgenes in breast and colon cancers with a deadly combination oftraditional mutations and "smothered" gene activity that may result in poor outcomes for patients.

(Wiley-Blackwell) A new study in the Journal of Communication reveals that access to an integrated system of internet health resources helps patients more than simply providing a list of URLs to accredited sites.