Study Findings May Offer New Way To Kill Cancer Cells By Forcing Them Into An Alternative Programmed Death Pathway

When cells suffer too much DNA damage, they are usually forced to undergo programmed cell death, or apoptosis. However, cancer cells often ignore these signals, flourishing even after chemotherapy drugs have ravaged their DNA. A new finding from MIT researchers may offer a way to overcome that resistance: The team has identified a key protein [...]

In Pancreatic Cancer, Breakthrough In The Understanding Of How The Cancer Cells Ingest Nutrients Points To New Drug Target

In a landmark cancer study published online in Nature, researchers at NYU School of Medicine have unraveled a longstanding mystery about how pancreatic tumor cells feed themselves, opening up new therapeutic possibilities for a notoriously lethal disease with few treatment options. Pancreatic cancer kills nearly 38,000 Americans annually, making it a leading cause of cancer [...]

Drug Combo Looks Promising For Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Doctors at Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s Norris Cotton Cancer Center (NCCC) have found a combination of drugs to potentially treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) more effectively. The research was published online recently, and it will appear as a letter in the journal Leukemia, a publication of the prestigious Nature Publishing Group. The study helps address a basic problem [...]

Link Suggested Between Tumor Suppressors And Starvation Survival

A particular tumor suppressor gene* that fights cancer cells does more than clamp down on unabated cell division — the hallmark of the disease — it also can help make cells more fit by allowing them to fend off stress, says a University of Colorado Boulder study. CU-Boulder Professor Min Han said the research team [...]

Wip1 Could Be New Target For Treatment Of Colorectal, Breast And Ovarian Cancers

Researchers have uncovered mutations in the phosphatase Wip1 that enable cancer cells to foil the tumor suppressor p53, according to a study in The Journal of Cell Biology. The results could provide a new target for the treatment of certain cancers. Like a battlefield surgeon who has to decide which casualties can be saved, p53 [...]