It is a marvel of nature: during gestation, multiple tissue types cooperate in building the elegantly functional structures of organs, from the brain’s folds to the heart’s multiple chambers. A recent study by Princeton researchers explored this process in lungs and offers insights into the formation of their delicately branching, tree-like airways. (more…)
Drug efficiently targets breast, lung and colon cancer; clinical trials could start within two years.
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Legend has it that Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door.” University of Missouri researchers are doing just that, but instead of building mousetraps, the scientists are targeting cancer drugs. In a new study, MU medicinal chemists have taken an existing drug that is being developed for use in fighting certain types of cancer, added a special structure to it, and created a more potent, efficient weapon against cancer.
“Over the past decade, we have seen an increasing interest in using carboranes in drug design,” said Mark W. Lee Jr., assistant professor of chemistry in College of Arts and Science. “Carboranes are clusters of three elements — boron, carbon and hydrogen. Carboranes don’t fight cancer directly, but they aid in the ability of a drug to bind more tightly to its target, creating a more potent mechanism for destroying the cancer cells.” (more…)
EAST LANSING, Mich. — A filter used to block clots from passing from the veins in the legs to the arteries of the lung does not improve mortality rates for most patients suffering a pulmonary embolism. However, if a patient is unstable – in shock or requires a ventilator – filters can save lives.
Furthermore, for unstable patients with a pulmonary embolism, it is crucial they receive clot-dissolving medications known as thrombolytic therapy.
The findings come from a set of three research articles on pulmonary embolism treatment published by Michigan State University’s Paul Stein in the May edition of the American Journal of Medicine. The findings are based on a study of more than two million patients suffering from the sometimes deadly clots that travel to the lungs and block arteries. (more…)
*U of T, U.K. study focused on Avastin*
Treating ovarian cancer with the drug bevacizumab (“Avastin”) delays the disease and may also improve survival, according to an international clinical trial co-led by Drs. Amit Oza of the University of Toronto and Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) and Timothy Perren of St James’s Institute of Oncology, Leeds, U.K.
The findings, published on Dec. 28 in the New England Journal of Medicine, report that the drug halted the cancer’s return for two months overall. However, for women with the highest risk disease, the delay was five to six months and in this group, the findings also indicate a strong trend to improved overall survival, which is being analysed until 2013. (more…)
Marc Therrien. Image credit: University of Montreal
Researchers at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) of the Université de Montréal have identified a new mechanism controlling the transmission of an abnormal signal at the origin of several cancers. In an article published in the journal Cell, Marc Therrien’s team explains the recent discovery of a protein complex that controls the RAS/MAPK signalling pathway, responsible for some of the deadliest cancers, including pancreatic, colon and lung cancers, and melanomas. This regulating mechanism could prove to be a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of these diseases. The study conducted on the drosophila model organism is to be verified in humans in a forthcoming step. (more…)
