NCI News Releases

Duke study finds heart disease may be a risk factor for prostate cancer

2012-02-09 00:00:00.0

In a large analysis of men participating in a prostate drug trial, researchers at the Duke Cancer Institute found a significant correlation between coronary artery disease and prostate cancer, suggesting the two conditions may have shared causes.

UC Davis study shows how DNA finds its match

2012-02-09 00:00:00.0

It’s been more than 50 years since James Watson and Francis Crick showed that DNA is a double helix of two strands that complement each other. But how does a short piece of DNA find its match, out of the millions of "letters" in even a small genome? New work by researchers at the University of California, Davis, handling and observing single molecules of DNA, shows how it’s done. The results are published online Feb. 8 by the journal Nature.

USC study finds fasting weakens cancer in mice

2012-02-09 00:00:00.0

Cancer in animals appears less resilient and chemotherapy drugs work better when combined with cycles of short, severe fasting, shows a University of Southern California study. Even fasting on its own effectively treated a majority of cancers tested in animals, including cancers from human cells.

Washington University in St. Louis study finds DNA sequencing helps identify cancer cells for immune system attack

2012-02-09 00:00:00.0

DNA sequences from tumor cells can be used to direct the immune system to attack cancer, according to scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The research, in mice, appears online Feb. 8 in Nature.

Dana-Farber study finds most terminally ill cancer patients discuss end-of-life care with physicians, but often late in their illness

2012-02-09 00:00:00.0

The vast majority of patients with incurable lung or colorectal cancer talk with a physician about their options for care at the end of life, but often not until late in the course of their illness, according to a new study by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators published in the Feb. 7 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

UCSF study finds that metabolic profiles are essential for personalizing cancer therapy

2012-02-08 00:00:00.0

One way to tackle a tumor is to take aim at the metabolic reactions that fuel their growth. But a report in the February Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press Publication, shows that one metabolism-targeted cancer therapy will not fit all.

Ohio State study advances understanding of how early breast tumors become deadly

2012-02-08 00:00:00.0

Researchers have discovered a restricted pattern of molecules that differentiate early-stage breast tumors from invasive, life-threatening cancer. They also found a similar molecular signature that correlated with the aggressiveness of invasive tumors, and with the time to metastasis and overall survival.

Salk scientists use an old theory to discover new targets in the fight against breast cancer

2012-02-08 00:00:00.0

Reviving a theory first proposed in the late 1800s that the development of organs in the normal embryo and the development of cancers are related, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have studied organ development in mice to unravel how breast cancers, and perhaps other cancers, develop in people. Their findings provide new ways to predict and personalize the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

VCU/Old Dominion University study finds CD97 gene expression and function correlate with WT1 protein expression

2012-02-08 00:00:00.0

Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center's VCU Massey Cancer Center and Harold F. Young Neurosurgical Center (Richmond, VA) and Old Dominion University (Norfolk, VA) have discovered that suppression of Wilms tumor 1 protein (WT1) results in downregulation of CD97 gene expression in three glioblastoma cell lines and reduces the characteristic invasiveness exhibited by glial tumor cells.

Kimmel Cancer Center researchers find drugs targeting chromosomal instability may fight a particular breast cancer subtype

2012-02-07 00:00:00.0

A team of researchers at Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center has shown in a study published online Feb. 6 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation that the oncogene cyclin D1 may promote a genetic breakdown known as chromosomal instability (CIN). CIN is a known, yet poorly understood culprit in tumor progression.