cancer cells

(Arizona State University) Cancer cells can undergo unchecked proliferation, producing self-antigens that are tolerated by the immune system, rather than being targeted for destruction.

At the opposite extreme, autoimmune disorders can result when healthy cells in the body are misidentified as hazards.

Dr. Joseph Blattman, a researcher at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute® examines how CD8 T cells -- critical weapons in the body's defensive arsenal -- are regulated when they transition from this tolerant state to an activated state and back.

(Scripps Research Institute) A team led by scientists at the Scripps Research Institute has discovered key elements of a strategy commonly used by tumor cells to survive when they spread to distant organs.

The finding could lead to drugs that could inhibit this metastasis in patients with tumors.

(Society of Nuclear Medicine) Positron emission tomography and a molecular imaging agent that captures the proliferation of cancer cells could prove to be a valuable method for imaging a form of Non-Hodgkin's disease called mantle cell lymphoma, a relatively rare and devastating blood cancer.

(INSERM (Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale)) Patrick Mehlen's team at the Lyon Cancer Research Centre has just demonstrated that a gene (called DCC for "deleted colorectal cancer") provides protection against the growth of colorectal tumors by causing the death of the cancer cells.

(University of Copenhagen) Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have explored the active principles of a Danish mushroom and found that some of the substances it contains are particularly toxic towards cancer cells.

The goal is to synthesize and refine substances in the mushroom that may be useful in future drug development.

(Mayo Clinic) The use of two drugs never tried in combination before in ovarian cancer resulted in a 70 percent destruction of cancer cells already resistant to commonly used chemotherapy agents, say researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida.

(MedPage Today) -- For years oncologists have known that heat can kill cancer cells, but figuring out a way to combine heat with conventional cancer therapies has been elusive, until researchers began experimenting with heart in treatment of liver cancers, as John Fauber, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/MedPage Today describes in this bedside science report.

(Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) Cancer cells maintain their life-style of extremely rapid growth and proliferation thanks to an enzyme called PK-M2 (pyruvate kinase M2) that alters the cells' ability to metabolize glucose -- a phenomenon known as the Warburg effect.

CSHL scientists, who seek to reverse this effect and force cancer cells to regain the metabolism of normal cells, have discovered details of molecular events that cause cancer cells to produce PK-M2 instead of its harmless counterpart PK-M1.

(University of Chicago Medical Center) A large pad of abdominal fat cells provides nutrients that promote the spread and growth of ovarian cancer, the fifth leading cause of cancer deaths in women.

This fatty tissue, extraordinarily rich in energy-dense lipids, serves as a rich fuel source, enabling cancer cells to multiply rapidly.

(Georgetown University Medical Center) A new study suggests some women needing a lumpectomy or mastectomy to treat their breast cancer have another potential option that is safe and effective -- nipple sparing mastectomy.

A long standing concern with this type of surgery is that cancer cells might be left under the nipple, posing a threat over time.

To examine the effectiveness of NSM, surgeons conducted a review of patient records for all women receiving the surgery at Georgetown University Hospital between 1989 and 2010.