Category Archives: In the News

The Genome of Ancient Egyptians, Using Sugar in MRIs, and More…

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Read on for some of the latest developments in cancer research.

  • German researchers have decoded the genome of ancient Egyptians:

  • A recent post on the NCI’s Cancer Currents Blog commented on a genomic study seeking answers regarding breast cancer disparities. The study relied on tumor and germline DNA samples in the Cancer Genome Atlas of both black and white women. Results were published in JAMA Oncology.
  • Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) have been able to view brain cancer using a simple sugar solution rather than conventional contrast agents. The novel MRI approach is discussed in the journal Radiology.

 

 

 

Brain Cell Transplants May Aid Parkinson’s Patients

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Dr. Viviane Tabar was quoted in an NPR story about the possible return of Brain Cell Transplants… for Parkinson’s patients.  Over a decade ago research was conducted to transplant fetal brain cells into Parkinson’s patients, with the goal of helping replace lost dopamine producing cells. Those early studies were halted due to adverse effects and lack of significant improvements. However, Dr. Tabar and colleagues never stopped working.  And today, with colleagues at MSK an, she is hoping to get FDA approval to begin trials of treating Parkinson’s patients with laboratory-created pure dopamine cells in 2018. Tabar is hopeful that this new treatment is exactly the innovation that Parkinson’s research needs. “On the one hand, you don’t want to rush,” she says. “On the other hand I think the field is ready for something bold.”

Old Cancer Case, Human Missions to Mars and More…

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The latest in Cancer Research News

  • The Smithsonian.com recently reported on the discovery of the oldest cancer case in Central America. The bones of the young teen, who died 700 years ago, were excavated in the province of Bocas Del Toro in Panama in 1970.  Recently, a bioarchaeologist and a postdoctoral fellow took a closer look at the bones and noticed a lumpy calcified mass.  See the featured story here.
  • Researchers at the Australian National University are working on a new treatment for Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) that outperforms standard chemotherapies. The compound under observation is CX-546. The full report has been published in the journal Blood.
  • A study conducted by researchers at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas concludes that human missions to Mars poses a risk of cancer to astronauts exposed to cosmic rays. Read more on their findings in Scientific Reports.
  • New research coming out of Ohio State University found that changes among proteins that relay information from one immune cell to another are weakened in the blood of brain cancer patients within five years before the cancer is diagnosed. That information could one day lead to earlier diagnosis of brain cancer. Read more about this in ScienceDaily.