pancreatic cancers

(NIH/National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) High-dose injections of vitamin C, also known as ascorbate or ascorbic acid, reduced tumor weight and growth rate by about 50 percent in mouse models of brain, ovarian and pancreatic cancers, researchers from the National Institutes of Health report in the August 5, 2008, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The researchers traced ascorbate's anti-cancer effect to the formation of hydrogen peroxide in the extracellular fluid surrounding the tumors.

Normal cells were unaffected.

(University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center) M. D. Anderson researchers connect overexpression of tissue type transglutaminase with poor prognosis in ovarian cancer, identify the relevant pathway, and shut TG2 down with an siRNA liposomal nanoparticle.

They previously pinpointed TG2's role in resistant and metastatic melanoma and breast and pancreatic cancers.

This crucial protein fuels different cancers through different pathways.

(University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) The University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute has established the Frieda G. and Saul F.

Shapira BRCA Cancer Research Program to focus on studies of BRCA 1 and 2 -- two genes that, when mutated, dramatically increase the risk of breast, prostate, ovarian and pancreatic cancers.

The David S. and Karen A. Shapira Foundation committed $1 million for the program that will target high-risk patients and find innovative ways to reduce their risk of cancer.