http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Cancer researchers at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center have found a way to turn ineffective new cancer drugs into cancer-fighters. By using their patented chemical compound, SHetA2, researchers tricked cancer cells into responding to new treatments and undergoing cell suicide. The research appears in the journal Gynecologic Oncology. http://www.physorg.com/news178905949.html Medicine & Health Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:06:26 EST news178905949 Time-lapsed video of individual breast tissue cells reveals a never-before-seen event in the life of a cell: a protein that cycles between two major compartments in the cell. The results give researchers a more complete view of the internal signals that cause breast tissue cells to grow, events that go awry in cancer and are targets of drug development. http://www.physorg.com/news178879135.html Biology Tue, 01 Dec 2009 08:39:58 EST news178879135 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have devised an innovative way to disarm a key protein considered to be "undruggable," meaning that all previous efforts to develop a drug against it have failed. Their discovery, published in the November 12 issue of Nature, lays the foundation for a new kind of therapy aimed directly at a critical human protein -- one of a few thousand so-called transcription factors -- that could someday be used to treat a variety of diseases, especially multiple types of cancer. http://www.physorg.com/news177168648.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:20:01 EST news177168648 (PhysOrg.com) -- Going smaller could bring better results, especially when it comes to cancer-fighting drugs. http://www.physorg.com/news176196750.html Nanotechnology Sat, 31 Oct 2009 08:41:11 EST news176196750 Drugs made using unusual metals could form an effective treatment against colon and ovarian cancer, including cancerous cells that have developed immunity to other drugs, according to research at the University of Warwick and the University of Leeds. http://www.physorg.com/news175157795.html Chemistry Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:57:05 EST news175157795 (AP) -- Federal regulators said Thursday an experimental kidney cancer drug from GlaxoSmithKline may cause liver problems, potentially outweighing its ability to slow the disease. http://www.physorg.com/news173619012.html Medicine & Health Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:00:01 EST news173619012 (AP) -- Adults with a common form of leukemia had a better chance of remission if they got a double dose of a long-used cancer drug, two new studies found. http://www.physorg.com/news172947904.html Medicine & Health Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:05:50 EST news172947904 Cancer research is too focused on new drug development, while not enough money and effort is being devoted to pursuing important advances in knowledge likely to have the biggest impact on combating the disease in the next few decades, a leading research policy expert says, adding that a major shift in research priorities will be crucial to the ability to cope with the coming wave of cancer cases. http://www.physorg.com/news172819312.html Medicine & Health Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:30:02 EST news172819312 Cell cycle checkpoints act like molecular tripwires for damaged cells, forcing them to pause and take stock. Leave the tripwire in place for too long, though, and cancer cells will press on regardless, making them resistant to the lethal effects of certain types of chemotherapy, according to researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. http://www.physorg.com/news170595789.html Medicine & Health Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:00:02 EST news170595789 For cancer drug developers, finding an agent that kills tumor cells is only part of the equation. The drug must also spare healthy cells, and - ideally - its effects will be reversible, to cut short any potentially dangerous side effects. http://www.physorg.com/news168774413.html Chemistry Thu, 06 Aug 2009 11:00:03 EST news168774413 A phase I clinical trial enrolled its first patient only two days after U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance of the experimental drug for a first-in-human cancer trial, a milestone that normally takes three to six months. Investigators from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca have reported their work in the Journal of Clinical Oncology published online on August 3rd. http://www.physorg.com/news168538136.html Medicine & Health Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:09:18 EST news168538136 Maybe Hugh McTavish wasn't so tough after all. Seven years ago, doctors told McTavish he needed chemotherapy to treat his non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. McTavish, then a 40-year-old patent attorney, was young and fit, so he asked for a higher dose. The doctor smiled and politely declined. http://www.physorg.com/news166272729.html Medicine & Health Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:10:01 EST news166272729 African Americans are more likely than other races to die from breast, prostate and ovarian cancers, but this disparity is not due to poverty or inferior healthcare, a first-of-its-kind study has found. http://www.physorg.com/news166204767.html Medicine & Health Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:00:28 EST news166204767 The decision to use expensive cancer therapies that typically produce only a relatively short extension of survival is a serious ethical dilemma in the U.S. that needs to be addressed by the oncology community, according to a commentary published online June 29 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. http://www.physorg.com/news165512649.html Medicine & Health Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:44:38 EST news165512649 Two studies in the May 29th issue of Cell, a Cell Press publication, have taken advantage of new technological advances to search for and find previously unknown weaknesses in a hard to treat form of cancer. The discoveries lend new hope in the fight again tumors that are today considered "undruggable." http://www.physorg.com/news162736981.html Medicine & Health Thu, 28 May 2009 13:43:26 EST news162736981 Exposure to particulate matter has been recognized as a contributing factor to lung cancer development for some time, but a new study indicates inhalation of certain particulates can actually cause some genes to become reprogrammed, affecting both the development and the outcome of cancers and other diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news161787724.html Medicine & Health Sun, 17 May 2009 14:02:56 EST news161787724 Some DNA repair enzymes can become double-edged swords - If they work too slowly, they can block necessary cell maintenance and contribute to cell death. This could explain the somewhat mysterious success of the widely used cancer drug 5-Fluorouracil (5FU) and help clinicians to predict patient's response to chemotherapy, according to new findings from the University of Basel, Switzerland. http://www.physorg.com/news160129626.html Biology Tue, 28 Apr 2009 09:27:34 EST news160129626 (PhysOrg.com) -- An interdisciplinary team of researchers at Brigham and Women`s Hospital (BWH) and the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) has demonstrated a better way to deliver cancer drugs directly to tumors. The researchers used specially engineered nanoparticles that can inhibit a signaling pathway and deliver a higher concentration of medication to the specific area. http://www.physorg.com/news159550605.html Nanotechnology Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:37:09 EST news159550605 Scientists have found evidence to suggest that ‘small molecule` drugs could offer the first effective chemotherapy for childhood low-grade astrocytomas, improving the prognosis for hundreds diagnosed with the disease - reveals research published today in The Journal of Pathology. http://www.physorg.com/news159113256.html Medicine & Health Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:10:28 EST news159113256 Lupus is a rare but serious disease that mainly affects women of child-bearing age and occurs when the body's immune system goes awry, damaging a variety of organs. When kidneys are targeted, patients develop lupus nephritis, which can result in kidney failure and death. Lupus nephritis is often treated with the cancer drug cyclophosphamide, which suppresses the immune system but also causes hair loss, nausea, vomiting, and infertility. http://www.physorg.com/news159036853.html Medicine & Health Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:54:35 EST news159036853 As more pet owners are choosing to treat their pets' cancers through advanced medicine, veterinarians gain valuable knowledge about the progression and treatment of cancers in humans through pet trials of new drugs. To help organize nationwide trials in tumor-bearing dogs using cancer drugs, the National Cancer Institute has launched the Comparative Oncology Trials Consortium (COTC). Faculty members in the University of Missouri's Scott Endowed Program in Veterinary Oncology participated in COTC's first trial. http://www.physorg.com/news159031096.html Medicine & Health Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:18:49 EST news159031096 In certain respects, cells are less like machines and more like people. True, they have lots of components, but they also have lots of personality. For example, when specific groups of people are studied in aggregate (conservatives, liberals, atheists, evangelicals), they appear to be fairly uniform and predictable. But when looked at one person at a time, individuals often break the preconceptions. http://www.physorg.com/news158770707.html Medicine & Health Sun, 12 Apr 2009 15:58:57 EST news158770707 (AP) -- In October, Rocky Fernandez was told he might not live to Christmas. http://www.physorg.com/news158333364.html Medicine & Health Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:29:50 EST news158333364 Like doctors making house calls, some DNA repair enzymes can relocate to the part of the cell that needs their help, a collaborative team of scientists at Emory University School of Medicine has found. http://www.physorg.com/news157284761.html Biology Thu, 26 Mar 2009 11:13:05 EST news157284761 Herbal medicines could benefit patients suffering from gastrointestinal (GI) motility disorders that cannot be treated using conventional drug therapy. In a study published in Neurogastroenterology and Motility, researchers reviewed data on Japanese herbal medicines and found them to be effective in reducing the symptoms of GI disorders such as functional dyspepsia, constipation, and postoperative ileus. http://www.physorg.com/news157184640.html Medicine & Health Wed, 25 Mar 2009 07:24:24 EST news157184640 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have found that some types of cancer drugs called angiogenesis inhibitors can encourage tumour growth rather than stunt it - according to research published in Nature Medicine* yesterday. http://www.physorg.com/news157042042.html Medicine & Health Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:48:41 EST news157042042 Diagnosed with an extremely aggressive form of cancer called anal sac adenocarcinoma, Oscar's future seemed bleak. Bedridden and unresponsive to chemotherapy or radiation, he would be lucky to survive three months. But thanks to an innovative new drug treatment, Oscar's cancer receded and he was walking again within two weeks. http://www.physorg.com/news157037803.html Medicine & Health Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:37:46 EST news157037803 The viscosity, or 'gloopiness', of different parts of cancer cells increases dramatically when they are blasted with light-activated cancer drugs, according to new images that provide fundamental insights into how cancer cells die, published in Nature Chemistry today. http://www.physorg.com/news156348853.html Chemistry Sun, 15 Mar 2009 15:15:01 EST news156348853 (AP) -- Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche said Thursday it has agreed to buy California-based Genentech for $46.8 billion in a takeover described as the largest in Swiss corporate history. http://www.physorg.com/news156063630.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:01:28 EST news156063630 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists in Switzerland are reporting an advance that could help tap the much-heralded potential of `quantum dots` - nanocrystals that glow when exposed to ultraviolet light - in the treatment of cancer and other diseases. They are publishing the first study showing that giving quantum dots an icing-like cap of certain sugars makes these nanoparticles accumulate in the liver but not other parts of the body. http://www.physorg.com/news155405702.html Nanotechnology Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:22:18 EST news155405702