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. (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of Toronto and Goethe University in Germany have discovered a protein that can inhibit the growth of cancer cells, providing crucial clues for the future development of new drugs to treat the disease. http://www.physorg.com/news180624608.html Medicine & Health Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:36:48 EST news180624608 Patients with the most common form of lung cancer (non-small-cell lung cancer) who have mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene have significantly improved progression-free survival if they are treated with gefitinib compared with standard chemotherapy. Wherever possible, EGFR genetic testing must be done and gefitinib should be considered as the first-line treatment for patients with EGRF mutations, concludes an Article published Online First in The Lancet Oncology. http://www.physorg.com/news180531194.html Medicine & Health Sun, 20 Dec 2009 18:30:01 EST news180531194 Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide and lung adenocarcinoma is the most common type. Many cases of lung adenocarcinoma are attributed to a mutation in a gene for the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Lung cancer with changes in EGFR is initially treatable with a family of chemotherapeutic agents called tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), such as gefitinib and erlotinib. However, patients often develop resistance to these drugs through the acquisition of additional changes or secondary mutations that allow cancer cells to evade treatment. http://www.physorg.com/news179559120.html Medicine & Health Wed, 09 Dec 2009 05:33:55 EST news179559120 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 Early-stage breast cancer patients with HER2 positive tumors one centimeter or smaller are at significant risk of recurrence of their disease, compared to those with early-stage disease who do not express the aggressive protein, according to a study led by researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. http://www.physorg.com/news176405120.html Medicine & Health Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:50:02 EST news176405120 Scientists at Schepens Eye Research Institute have found that when the eye is missing a diffusible form of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), i.e. one that when secreted can reach other cells at a distance, the retina shows defects similar to "dry" macular degeneration, also called geographic atrophy (GA). This finding, published in the November 3, 2009 print edition of PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), not only increases the understanding of the causes of this blinding disease, but it may also impact the use of anti-VEGF drugs, such as Lucentis, which are designed to neutralize VEGF in eyes with "wet" macular degeneration. http://www.physorg.com/news176401950.html Medicine & Health Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:50:02 EST news176401950 A research team from Germany analyzed the pathogenetic role and potential clinical usefulness of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) in patients with advanced biliary tract cancer (BTC). They found that routine testing and therapeutic targeting of HER2 does not seem to be useful in patients with BTC, while targeting EGFR may be promising. http://www.physorg.com/news174916004.html Medicine & Health Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:50:01 EST news174916004 (PhysOrg.com) -- Why are some pediatric cancers able to spontaneously regress? Prof. Michael Fainzilber and his team of the Weizmann Institute's Biological Chemistry Department seem to have unexpectedly found part of the answer. Further research towards a better understanding of the mechanism of action might hopefully lead, in the future, to the development of drugs that will be able to induce regression of certain tumors. http://www.physorg.com/news171806774.html Medicine & Health Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:20:03 EST news171806774 Scientists have suspected that spare parts in the genome -extra copies of functional genes that arise when genes or whole genomes get duplicated -- might sometimes provide the raw materials for the evolution of new traits. Now, researchers report in a study published online on September 3rd in Current Biology, that they have discovered a prime example of this in fish. http://www.physorg.com/news171199623.html Biology Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:27:54 EST news171199623 There may be a way around the harsh skin toxicity associated with a widely used cancer drug, according to a study published online this week in Cancer Biology and Therapy by researchers from City of Hope and the Kimmel Cancer at Jefferson. http://www.physorg.com/news171026841.html Medicine & Health Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:27:57 EST news171026841 Researchers at INSERM (France) have engineered a chimeric protein that increases cell survival, migration and proliferation to improve stem cell engraftment. The results, which appear in the September 2009 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine, show that TAT-Tpr-Met, a cell permeable form of the hepatocyte growth factor receptor can increase the number of hepatic stem cells integrated into the liver of the mouse. http://www.physorg.com/news170351034.html Medicine & Health Mon, 24 Aug 2009 22:50:03 EST news170351034 Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the Western world. Fortunately physicians today have an abundance of drug therapies available to improve survival length for more advanced cancer patients. Now the discovery of genetic biomarkers relevant to CRC means that targeted personalised medication is increasingly common. http://www.physorg.com/news170073793.html Medicine & Health Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:10:01 EST news170073793 New research led by scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have found a drug target that suggests a potent way to kill colon cancers that resist current drugs aimed at blocking a molecule found on the surface of cells. http://www.physorg.com/news169751933.html Medicine & Health Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:10:02 EST news169751933 Non-small cell lung cancer patients who have progressed on a cetuximab-containing regimen may respond to erlotinib, Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers reported today at the annual meeting of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. http://www.physorg.com/news168412827.html Medicine & Health Sun, 02 Aug 2009 06:50:01 EST news168412827 A drug used to remove iron from the body could help doctors fight one of diabetes' cruelest complications: poor wound healing, which can lead to amputation of patients' toes, feet and even legs. http://www.physorg.com/news167934788.html Medicine & Health Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:40:01 EST news167934788 (PhysOrg.com) -- Drugs that block a growth factor receptor on brain cells may prevent epilepsy after brain damage, according to a new study appearing in the July 15 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. http://www.physorg.com/news166861484.html Medicine & Health Wed, 15 Jul 2009 07:25:11 EST news166861484 Differences in growth factor (GF) signaling may cause the poor prognosis in some breast cancer cases. A new study, published in the open access journal BMC Medical Genomics, suggests that some estrogen receptor-positive breast cancers respond poorly to tamoxifen because of increased GF signaling. http://www.physorg.com/news165005770.html Medicine & Health Wed, 24 Jun 2009 04:00:01 EST news165005770 When combined with standard chemotherapy, an international Phase III trial has shown that the oral targeted therapy vandetanib improves progression-free survival for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer, according to research from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. http://www.physorg.com/news163070486.html Medicine & Health Mon, 01 Jun 2009 10:22:03 EST news163070486 Patients undergoing treatment for advanced head and neck cancers may respond well to the addition of gefinitib to chemotherapy, according to a study sponsored by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group and chaired by Ethan Argiris, M.D., associate professor of medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and co-leader of the Head and Neck Cancer Program of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI). The results will be disclosed at the 45th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) on May 30 in Orlando, Fla. http://www.physorg.com/news162994786.html Medicine & Health Sun, 31 May 2009 13:21:28 EST news162994786 A new study finds that nearly one in four African American women with late stage breast cancer refused chemotherapy and radiation therapy, potentially life saving therapies. Published in the July 1, 2009 issue of Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study indicates that more efforts are needed to ensure that all women with breast cancer receive appropriate care. http://www.physorg.com/news162183664.html Medicine & Health Fri, 22 May 2009 04:01:38 EST news162183664 Transplanted embryonic stem cells are recognized as a potential treatment for patients suffering from the effects of spinal cord injury (SCI). However, in studies using embryonic stem cells transplanted into SCI laboratory animals, a serious drawback has been the development of tumors following transplantation. http://www.physorg.com/news161267482.html Medicine & Health Mon, 11 May 2009 13:31:51 EST news161267482 Donald O'Rourke, MD, Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and colleagues, were able to accurately predict the specific genetic mutation that caused brain cancer in a group of patients studied using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The researchers presented their findings this week at the American Association for Cancer Research 100th Annual Meeting 2009. http://www.physorg.com/news159461589.html Medicine & Health Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:53:34 EST news159461589 Finally some promising news about pancreatic cancer, one of the most fatal cancers, due to the difficulties of early detection and the lack of effective therapies: Johns Hopkins University pathologist Akhilesh Pandey has identified an epidermal growth factor receptor aberrantly active in approximately a third of the 250 human pancreatic cancers studied. http://www.physorg.com/news159370670.html Biology Sun, 19 Apr 2009 14:38:20 EST news159370670 Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered the mechanisms behind two key checkpoints in cell growth and development - factors that may ultimately allow investigators to benchmark progression of tumor cells or stop them from further development. The findings appear in the current online issue of Developmental Cell. http://www.physorg.com/news158346281.html Medicine & Health Tue, 07 Apr 2009 18:05:02 EST news158346281 (PhysOrg.com) -- A researcher in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, collaborating with researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine, has identified for the first time a critical growth factor that stimulates the stem cells that produce sperm to thrive and renew themselves. http://www.physorg.com/news157137009.html Medicine & Health Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:10:35 EST news157137009 A new study confirms that exercise can reverse the age-related decline in the production of neural stem cells in the hippocampus of the mouse brain, and suggests that this happens because exercise restores a brain chemical which promotes the production and maturation of new stem cells. http://www.physorg.com/news146219732.html Medicine & Health Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:35:32 EST news146219732 (PhysOrg.com) -- Using adult stem cells from bone marrow as "Trojan horses"to deliver a nurturing growth factor to atrophied muscles, Wisconsin scientists have successfully slowed the progression of ALS in rats. http://www.physorg.com/news140797261.html Biology Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:21:01 EST news140797261 A research team at the Ludwig Institute and Uppsala University has discovered an entirely new signal path for a growth factor that is of crucial importance for the survival and growth of cancer cells. This discovery, published in today`s issue of Nature Cell Biology, opens up an entirely new landscape for research on breast and prostate cancer, among other types. http://www.physorg.com/news139579163.html Biology Tue, 02 Sep 2008 12:59:23 EST news139579163 The response to insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-I) in breast cancer cells predicts an aggressive tumor that is less likely to respond to treatment, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears in the current issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The finding gives impetus to the movement to tailor cancer treatments to attributes of the various tumors. http://www.physorg.com/news139226124.html Medicine & Health Fri, 29 Aug 2008 10:55:24 EST news139226124 Our bodies rely on the production of potent, or 'high affinity', antibodies to fight infection. The process is very complex, yet Sydney scientists have discovered that it hinges on a single molecule, a growth factor, without which it cannot function. http://www.physorg.com/news134643727.html Medicine & Health Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:02:07 EST news134643727