http://www.pennmedicine.org/news The latest news from Penn Medicine (the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Health System) and the Abramson Cancer Center. en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss robert.press@uphs.upenn.edu (Robert Press) 2010, The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania http://www.pennmedicine.org/images/pennmedicine_logo.jpg http://www.pennmedicine.org/news 2010, The Trustees of the University of PennsylvanianoThe latest news from Penn Medicine (the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Health System) and the Abramson Cancer Center. Late stage thyroid cancer patients with aggressive disease may benefit from a genetic test, but experts caution that use of this test in early stage patients is inappropriate because it is unlikely to lead to better outcomes. Testing for BRAF V600E-positive tumors should be reserved for patients older than 45 who have more advanced disease, according to an accompanying editorial in JAMA co-authored by two Perelman School of Medicine researchers at the University of Pennsylvania. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2013/04/cappola/ Mon, 09 April 2013 18:00:00 GMT In the first study to examine discussion of drug side effects on Internet message boards, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found that breast cancer survivors taking the commonly prescribed adjuvant therapy known as aromatase inhibitors (AIs) often detailed in these forums troublesome symptoms resulting from the drugs, and they were apt to report discontinuing the treatment or switching to a different drug in the same class. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2013/01/mao/ Tue, 15 Jan 2013 17:00:00 GMT A team of researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, has identified a class of p53 target genes and regulatory molecules that represent more promising therapeutic candidates. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2013/01/yang/ Mon, 14 Jan 2013 15:00:00 GMT Nine of twelve leukemia patients who received infusions of their own T cells after the cells had been genetically engineered to attack the patients' tumors responded to the therapy, which was pioneered by scientists in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/12/tcell/ Sun, 09 Dec 2012 22:00:00 GMT Research shows for the first time that the UPR is active in patients with human lymphomas and mice genetically bred to develop lymphomas. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/11/koumenis/ Wed, 21 Nov 2012 13:15:00 GMT Towards a better understanding of how tissue stiffness drives cancer, in a new paper published in PLoS Bio this week, Michael Pack, MD, associate professor of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and colleagues, show that epithelial cells lining the intestine of zebrafish that carry an activating mutation of the smooth muscle myosin gene form protrusions called invadopodia that allow the cells to invade surrounding connective tissue. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/09/zebrafish/ Wed, 5 Sep 2012 23:30:00 GMT A popular class of diabetes drugs increases patients' risk of bladder cancer, according to a new study published online this month in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found that patients taking thiazolidinedione (TZDs) drugs – which account for up to 20 percent of the drugs prescribed to diabetics in the United States -- are two to three times more likely to develop bladder cancer than those who took a sulfonylurea drug, another common class of medications for diabetes. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/08/diabetes/ Mon, 13 August 2012 14:00:00 GMT In a first of its kind study in the U.S., researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (www.med.upenn.edu) have shown that the addition of graphic warning labels on cigarette packaging can improve smokers' recall of the warning and health risks associated with smoking. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/06/graphic/ Fri, 15 June 2012 15:00:00 GMT A study published this week in Cancer Cell from the Perelman School of Medicine and the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania describes how pancreatic cancer cells produce a protein that attracts immune cells and tricks them into helping cancer cells grow. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/06/run/ Tues, 12 June 2012 15:00:00 GMT Despite being at risk of cardiovascular problems associated with testicular cancer treatment, survivors of the disease -- the most common type of cancer striking young men -- frequently report behaviors such as smoking and risky alcohol use that could further raise their chances of developing those late effects of treatment, according to a study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania that will be presented at the annual meeting of American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting on Saturday, June 2. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/05/cancer/ Thur, 31 May 2012 19:00:00 GMT National data show that currently more than 10 percent of preschoolers in the United States are obese, and an additional 10 percent are overweight. In a recently published article, a researcher from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, in collaboration with peers and colleagues from across the nation, says that effective strategies to target pregnancy, infancy, and toddlers are urgently needed to stop the progression of childhood obesity. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/05/unreported/ Thur, 31 May 2012 19:00:00 GMT Among patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma, treatment with lung-sparing surgery in combination with photodynamic therapy (PDT) yielded unusually long survival rates, with median survival rates up to two or more years longer than is reported with traditional treatments, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/05/therapy/ Tue, 29 May 2012 13:00:00 GMT Kathryn E. Wellen, PhD, assistant professor of Cancer Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, is among the 22 researchers named Pew Scholars in the Biomedical Sciences by The Pew Charitable Trusts this week. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/06/pew/ Thur, 14 June 2012 15:00:00 GMT A team from the Perelman School of Medicine and the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute at the University of Pennsylvania found that the FDA-approved drug daclizumab improved the survival of breast cancer patients taking a cancer vaccine by 30 percent, compared to those patients not taking daclizumab. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/05/fda/ Wed, 16 May 2012 18:00:00 GMT All cells have the ability to recycle unwanted or damaged proteins and reuse the building blocks as food. But cancer cells have ramped up the system, called autophagy, and rely on it to escape damage in the face of chemotherapy and other treatments. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/05/block/ Tue, 8 May 2012 16:00:00 GMT Carl June, MD, director of Translational Research for the Abramson Cancer Center and a professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania, has been named among the top three winners of the inaugural Clinical Research Forum Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Awards for his work treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia using genetically engineered versions of patients' own T cells, which multiply in the body as "serial killer" cells aimed at cancerous tumors. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/04/t-cell/ Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:00:00 GMT OncoLink®, a free cancer information website developed by experts at the University of Pennsylvania's Abramson Cancer Center has launched a redesigned website based on the search habits and feedback from patients, caregivers and health care providers who use the site. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/03/redesign/ Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:00:00 GMT Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania report this month in Cancer Research a universal approach to personalized cancer therapy based on T cells. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/03/new-platform/ Mon, 5 Mar 2012 20:00:00 GMT Two researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have been awarded a four-year, $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health's National Cancer Institute to conduct breast cancer virtual clinical trials research. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/02/nih-grant/ Thur, 23 Feb 2012 16:00:00 GMT Blocking autophagy -- the process of "self-eating" within cells -- is turning out to be a viable way to enhance the effectiveness of a wide variety of cancer treatments. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/02/new-combo/ Mon, 20 Feb 2012 18:00:00 GMT Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine and the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania report that a short course of vaccination with an anti-HER2 dendritic cell vaccine made partly from the patient's own cells triggers a complete tumor eradication in nearly 20 percent of women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), an early breast cancer. More than 85 percent of patients treated appear to have a sustained immune response after vaccination, which may reduce their risk of developing a more invasive cancer in the future. The results of the study were published online this month of Cancer and in the January issue of the Journal of Immunotherapy. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/01/cancer-tumors/ Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:00:00 GMT Men are four times more likely to develop liver cancer compared to women, a difference attributed to the sex hormones androgen and estrogen. Although this gender difference has been known for a long time, the molecular mechanisms by which estrogens prevent -- and androgens promote -- liver cancer remain unclear. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/01/liver-cancer-gender/ Thu, 19 Jan 2012 04:00:00 GMT TBen Stanger, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and Andrew Rhim, MD, a Gastroenterology Fellow in the Stanger lab, discovered that pancreatic cancer cells in an animal model begin to spread before clinically obvious tumor tissue is detected. What's more, they showed that inflammation enhances cancer progression in part by facilitating a cellular transformation that leads to entry of cancer cells into the circulation. They report their findings this week in Cell. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/01/cell-tracking-cancer/ Thu, 19 Jan 2012 04:00:00 GMT Cancer cells have been long known to have a "sweet tooth," using vast amounts of glucose for energy and for building blocks for cell replication. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/01/cancer-cells-sugar-free/ Thu, 12 Jan 2012 04:00:00 GMT Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania are in the midst of testing a personalized, dendritic cell vaccine in patients with recurrent ovarian, primary peritoneal or fallopian tube cancer – a group of patients who typically have few treatment options. Now, they have shown they can shorten the time to manufacture this type of anti-cancer vaccine, which reduces costs of manufacturing the treatment while still yielding powerful dendritic cells that may be beneficial for these and a variety of other tumor types. The data is published in the December issue of PLoS ONE. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/12/personalized-ovarian/ Fri, 23 Dec 2011 04:00:00 GMT Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania report promising new results from a small clinical trial using an immune-system-based gene therapy for treating advanced stages of a deadly cancer, malignant mesothelioma. The treatment, immuno-gene therapy, transfers just enough genetic material from an existing virus to trigger a patient's innate defenses to destroy cancer cells. The study results, published in the December 15th issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, may lead to earlier interventions for patients using targeted therapies. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/12/igt-cancer/ Thu, 15 Dec 2011 04:00:00 GMT Inhibition of Lymphocyte Trafficking Using a CCR5 Antagonist – Final Results of a Phase I/II Study. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/12/hiv-drug-graft-host/ Tue, 13 Dec 2011 04:00:00 GMT A Phase 1 Dose Escalation Study of Infusion of ExVivo CD3/CD28 Costimulated Umbilical Cord Blood-Derived T Cells in Adults Undergoing Transplantation for Advanced Hematologic Malignancies. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/12/cord-blood-transplant/ Sun, 11 Dec 2011 04:00:00 GMT Adoptive Immunotherapy with Autologous CD3/CD28-Costimulated T-Cells After Fludarabine-Based Chemotherapy in Patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/12/leukemia-immune-chemo/ Sun, 11 Dec 2011 04:00:00 GMT A Decision Analysis of Contralateral Prophylactic Mastectomy in Women Undergoing Treatment for Sporadic Unilateral Breast Cancer. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/12/cpm-breast-cancer/ Wed, 7 Dec 2011 04:00:00 GMT Write to Fight Cancer Author David Tabatsky is coming to Joan Karnell Cancer Center at Pennsylvania Hospital for the "Write to Fight Cancer" program, a free interactive expressive writing workshop. The event is open to all people affected by cancer (patients, survivors, caregivers, friends, etc.) and it will feature expert advice, writing exercises and discussion. David will help participants transform their thoughts and feelings into words and stories. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/12/write-fight-cancer/ Thu, 1 Dec 2011 04:00:00 GMT University of Pennsylvania researchers have received a five-year, $7.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to create the Penn Center for Innovation in Personalized Breast Cancer Screening (PCIPS), dedicated to studying emerging methods of breast cancer detection. The NCI funding will allow the team, led by Perelman School of Medicine faculty Katrina Armstrong, MD, MSCE, chief of the division of Internal Medicine and associate director of Outcomes and Delivery in the Abramson Cancer Center, and Mitchell Schnall, MD, PhD, Matthew J. Wilson Professor of Radiology, to use clinical, genomic and imaging information to guide the use of novel, personalized breast cancer screening strategies that will reduce false positive rates to improve outcomes." http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/11/breast-cancer-screening-nci/ Tue, 22 Nov 2011 04:00:00 GMT By studying tumor biology at the molecular level, researchers are gaining a deeper understanding of drug resistance - and how to avoid it by designing pediatric cancer treatments tailored to specific mutations in a child"s DNA. In a fruitful collaboration, pediatric oncologists and biochemists are targeting neuroblastoma, an often-deadly childhood cancer of the peripheral nervous system. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/11/childhood-cancer-treatments/ Mon, 14 Nov 2011 04:00:00 GMT A research group at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, led by John Lynch, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology, has received a National Cancer Institute (NCI) grant to establish a Barrett's esophagus translational research network (BETRNet) with Columbia University (led by Dr. Timothy Wang) and the Mayo Clinic (led by Dr. Kenneth Wang). The award is for nearly $8 million across all sites. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/11/barrett-esophagus/ Wed, 2 Nov 2011 04:00:00 GMT It will be lights, camera, fashion, and passion for a cure during the Abramson Cancer Center's Focus On Women's Cancers Conference on Friday, October 28th. Penn Medicine cancer physicians, patients, and survivors will take to the runway modeling clothes by fashion designer and philanthropist Tory Burch to cap off the daylong conference, which includes educational sessions for women undergoing treatment for or at risk of breast, ovarian and other gynecologic cancers. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/10/hope-tory-burch/ Fri, 28 Oct 2011 04:00:00 GMT The pigmented cells called melanocytes aren't just for making freckles and tans. Melanocytes absorb ultraviolet light, protecting the skin from the harmful effects of the sun. They also are the cells that go haywire in melanoma, as well as in more common conditions as vitiligo and albinism. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/10/skin-cells/ Wed, 26 Oct 2011 04:00:00 GMT Smith Apisarnthanarax, MD, Assistant Professor and Associate Residency Program Director, Department of Radiation Oncology, was named Educator of the Year by the Association of Residents in Radiation Oncology (ARRO), in partnership with the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/10/smith_apisarnthanarax_award Fri, 21 Oct 2011 04:00:00 GMT A new multimedia informed consent tool accessed via the Internet may make it easier for cancer patients to understand and feel comfortable enrolling in clinical trials, according a study conducted by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania that will be presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's (ASTRO) 53rd Annual Meeting. The research group points to the tool as a potential way to buoy the low percentage of adult cancer patients who participate in clinical trials, which hovers between 2 and 4 percent nationwide. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/10/astro-consent-tool/ Mon, 03 Oct 2011 02:00:00 GMT Jun Mao, MD, MSCE assistant professor of Family Medicine and Community Health in the Perelman School of Medicine, and director of Integrative Medicine, recently received a 1.5 million dollar National Cancer Institute (NCI) grant to study the way in which genetic variations in estrogen synthesis affect women with breast cancer who are taking aromatase inhibitors, which are typically used to prevent recurrence. The drugs help post-menopausal women to further suppress their body's production of estrogen. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/09/jun_mao_grant/ Thur, 29 Sep 2011 02:00:00 GMT Trevor Penning, PhD, professor of Pharmacology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and colleagues have received a 2011 Prostate Cancer Foundation Challenge Award. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/09/penning-pcf-grant/ Fri, 16 Sep 2011 02:00:00 GMT A $10 million grant from the National Cancer Institute will fund a new center at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania focusing on the relationship between exercise, weight loss, and improving the length and quality of life for the nation's 12 million cancer survivors. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/08/nci/ Thur, 18 Aug 2011 20:00:00 GMT A three-pronged immunotherapy approach nearly doubles five-year survival among patients with rare leukemic form of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, reports a new study by dermatologists from the Abramson Cancer Center and Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/08/triple-therapy-regime/ Mon, 15 Aug 2011 20:00:00 GMT In a cancer treatment breakthrough 20 years in the making, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania's Abramson Cancer Center and Perelman School of Medicine have shown sustained remissions of up to a year among a small group of advanced chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients treated with genetically engineered versions of their own T cells. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/08/t-cells/ Wed, 10 Aug 2011 18:00:00 GMT Mariusz A. Wasik, MD, professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and Qian Zhang, MD, PhD, research assistant professor, both from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and their colleagues, found that a cancer-causing fusion protein works by silencing the tumor suppressor gene IL-2R common gamma-chain. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/08/lymphoma/ Tue, 9 Aug 2011 15:00:00 GMT In a recent issue of Cancer Research, Daniel J. Powell, Jr., PhD, a research assistant professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, showed for the first time that engineered human T cells can eradicate deadly human ovarian cancer in immune-deficient mice. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/08/ovarian-cancer/ Fri, 5 Aug 2011 15:00:00 GMT Chi Van Dang, MD, PhD, a renowned cancer biologist and hematologist-oncologist, has been appointed director of the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, effective September 1, 2011. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/06/dang/ Tue, 28 June 2011 14:00:00 GMT ASCO Abstract 6128: Appointment access for new cancer patients http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/06/oncology-appointments/ Fri, 3 June 2011 01:00:00 GMT Abstract 8501: Tumor genetic analyses of patients with metastatic melanoma treated with the BRAF inhibitor GSK2118436 (GSK436) http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/06/advanced-melanoma/ Fri, 3 June 2011 01:00:00 GMT ASCO Abstract 1501: Is hormone replacement therapy (HRT) following risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO) in BRCA1 (B1)- and BRCA2 (B2)-mutation carriers associated with an increased risk of breast cancer? http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/06/hormone-replacement-therapy/ Fri, 3 June 2011 01:00:00 GMT Resources for Media Covering the American Society of Clinical Oncology Meeting June 3-7, 2011 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/06/asco-2011/ Thur, 2 June 2011 01:00:00 GMT Pleural mesothelioma patients who undergo lung-sparing surgery in combination with photodynamic therapy (PDT) show superior overall survival than patient treated using the conventional therapy of extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) (or en bloc removal of the lung and surrounding tissue) with PDT, indicates new research from the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The research is published in the June 2011 issue of the Annals of Thoracic Surgery. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/06/asbestos/ Thur, 2 June 2011 16:00:00 GMT Nearly everyone who has tried to quit smoking says it's incredibly difficult, and the struggle is due in part to genetic factors. Now, a new study from the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania sheds light on how one specific genetic risk for smoking relapse may work: Some of the difficulties may be due to how many receptors, called "mu opioid" receptors, a smoker has in his or her brain. The results, published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, may lead to the development of new treatments that target these receptors and help smokers increase their chances of success when they try to quit. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/05/genetic-variation/ Tue, 17 May 2011 15:00:00 GMT Squamous cell cancers of the oral cavity and esophagus are common throughout the world, with over 650,000 cases of oral cancer each year and esophageal cancer representing the sixth most common cause of cancer death in men. Research by University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine investigators has shown that a protein that helps cells stick together is frequently absent or out of place in these cancers, but it’s unclear if its loss causes the tumors. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/04/cell-adhesion-protein-cancers/ Tue, 12 Apr 2011 16:00:00 GMT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine may have found a way to turn an adaptive cellular response into a liability for cancer cells. When normal cells are starved for food, they chew up existing proteins and membranes to stay alive. Cancer cells have corrupted that process, called autophagy, using it to survive when they run out of nutrients and to evade death after damage from chemotherapy and other sources. When the Penn investigators treated a group of patients with several different types of advanced cancers with temsirolimus, a molecularly targeted cancer drug that blocks nutrient uptake, plus hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug that inhibits autophagy, they saw that tumors stopped growing in two-thirds of the patients. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/04/advanced-cancer-drug-combination/ Tue, 05 Apr 2011 17:00:00 GMT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's Abramson Cancer Center have discovered a novel way of treating pancreatic cancer by activating the immune system to destroy the cancer's scaffolding. The strategy was tested in a small cohort of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer, several of whose tumors shrank substantially. The team believes their findings -- and the novel way in which they uncovered them -- could lead to quicker, less expensive cancer drug development. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/03/pancreatic-cancer-immunotherapy/ Thu, 24 Mar 2011 23:00:00 GMT The gene for the protein p53 is the most frequently mutated in human cancer. It encodes a tumor suppressor, and traditionally researchers have assumed that it acts primarily as a regulator of how genes are made into proteins. Now, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine show that the protein has at least one other biochemical activity: controlling the metabolism of the sugar glucose, one of body's main sources of fuel. These new insights on a well-studied protein may be used to develop new cancer therapies. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/03/p53-tumor-suppressor-regulates-metabolism/ Tue, 01 Mar 2011 19:30:00 GMT Penn researchers report that a protein called P-Rex1 is crucial for signal transmission from ErbB receptors -- the receptors that drugs like Herceptin are designed to block. What’s more, they found that P-Rex1 is overexpressed in nearly 60 percent of breast cancer samples tested and patients whose tumors express P-Rex1 were more likely to develop metastasis, compared with those whose tumors did not express P-Rex1. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/12/p-rex1-breast-cancer-therapy-target/ Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:00:00 GMT Weightlifting may play a key role in a program to prevent the painful limb-swelling condition lymphedema following breast cancer treatment, according to new research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Combined with the team's previous findings that the exercise limits a worsening of symptoms among women who already have lymphedema, the new data cements the reversal of long-running advice that breast cancer survivors should avoid lifting anything heavier than five pounds after they finish treatment. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/12/weight-lifting-prevents-lymphedema/ Thu, 09 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMT A personalized vaccine is a powerful therapy to prevent recurrence among certain follicular lymphoma patients, according to the latest results of ongoing research led by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. The new findings show that when these patients -- whose tumors are marked by a specific protein that may be present in up to half of people with this type of cancer -- receive a vaccine made from their own tumor cells, disease-free survival is improved by nearly two years, compared with patients who receive a placebo. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/12/personalized-lymphoma-vaccine/ Mon, 06 Dec 2010 20:00:00 GMT A third of breast cancer survivors who received the breast-conserving treatments lumpectomy and radiation rate the appearance of their post-treatment breast as only "fair" or "poor" in comparison to their untreated breast, according to a new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine study. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/11/cosmetic-changes-after-breast-cancer/ Tue, 02 Nov 2010 19:00:00 GMT Prostate cancer patients who receive intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) are less apt to suffer serious gastrointestinal complications following their treatment than those who receive three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (CRT), according to new research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/10/imrt-minimizes-gi-side-effects/ Tue, 26 Oct 2010 15:00:00 GMT PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania's Abramson Cancer Center has been rated as "exceptional" by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) during a competitive research funding review by the government agency. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/10/abramson-cancer-center-nci-rated-exceptional/ Wed, 13 Oct 2010 15:00:01 GMT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Immunocore Limited, Oxford, UK, today announced that a targeted agent that may have a role in treating advanced metastatic melanoma in the future has received Investigational New Drug (IND) approval and is opening enrollment for clinical trials in the UK and USA. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/09/child-ptsd-early-intervention/ Tue, 05 Oct 2010 15:30:00 GMT Women who have inherited mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes have substantially elevated risks of developing breast and ovarian cancer. A study in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reports that women with these inherited mutations who have had a prophylactic mastectomy or salpingo-oophorectomy (removal of the fallopian tubes and ovaries) had an associated decreased risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/08/preventive-surgery-reduces-cancer-risk/ Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:00:00 GMT New biomolecular archaeological evidence backed up by increasingly sophisticated scientific testing techniques are uncovering medicinal remedies discovered, tested, and sometimes lost, throughout millennia of human history. Over the past two years, Penn researchers have been testing compounds found in ancient fermented beverages from China and Egypt for their anticancer properties. They have identified several which showed promising and positive test tube activity against lung and colon cancers. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/07/ancient-medicinal-remedies/ Tue, 06 Jul 2010 20:00:00 GMT A novel therapy designed to attack tumors in patients with a genetic mutation in either BRCA1 or BRCA2, slowed tumor growth in 85 percent of advanced breast cancer patients treated in a small study, researchers report in the July 6 issue of The Lancet. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/07/brca-genetic-targeted-cancer-treatment/ Tue, 06 Jul 2010 14:00:00 GMT Cancer patients who’ve been told to rest and avoid exercise can – and should – find ways to be physically active both during and after treatment, according to new national guidelines. Kathryn Schmitz, PhD, MPH, an associate professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and a member of the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, will present these guidelines at an educational session at the 2010 meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, aimed at making cancer exercise rehabilitation programs as common as those offered to people who have had heart attacks or undergone cardiac surgery. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/05/cancer-exercise-guidelines/ Fri, 28 May 2010 14:00:00 GMT Aromatase inhibitor-associated arthralgia (AIAA) is a major side effect in breast cancer survivors, producing joint pain so severe that as many as ten percent of women discontinue their therapy prematurely while undergoing treatment with these lifesaving drugs. New research presented by investigators from the University of Pennsylvania’s Abramson Cancer Center at the 2010 meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology reveals a possible genetic basis for why these side effects occur and shows promise for treating these symptoms without interfering with the drugs’ efficacy. Additional research will also be presented shedding light on the physical and psychological factors that influence women’s decisions to stop taking the drugs. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/05/cancer-drug-joint-pain-genetic-influence/ Thu, 27 May 2010 21:00:00 GMT Early trials using targeted monoclonal antibodies in combination with existing therapies show promise in treating pancreatic cancer and metastatic breast cancer, according to research that will be presented by investigators from the University of Pennsylvania’s Abramson Cancer Center at the 2010 meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology June 4 through 8. One study uses an antibody to enhance the effectiveness of a breast cancer vaccine developed at Penn to treat women with advanced breast cancer, while a pancreatic cancer trial uses an immune-enhancing antibody to increase the effectiveness of a current standard drug used to treat pancreatic cancer. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/05/targeted-immunotherapy-cancer-treatment/ Thu, 27 May 2010 21:00:00 GMT Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the Philadelphia chromosome, Peter C. Nowell, MD is being honored with the Franklin Institute’s Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science and an honorary doctor of science degree from Penn. The relationship between chromosome alterations and cancer had been debated for more than one hundred years before the first direct link between chromosomal abnormalities to any malignancy came with the discovery of the Philadelphia chromosome in 1960 by Penn's Peter Nowell and the late David Hungerford from the Fox Chase Cancer Center’s Institute for Cancer Research. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/features/philadelphia-chromosome/ Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:00:00 GMT The inner regions of tumors have a low-oxygen content and often contain inflammatory cells called macrophages, which researchers suspect promote tumor growth. Now, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researchers show that this is the case: Tumor cells in this low-oxygen area actively recruit macrophages and blocking their recruitment reduces tumor growth and aggressiveness in mouse models. The results suggest new targets for cancer drug development. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/04/low-oxygen-tumor-growth/ Wed, 21 Apr 2010 17:00:00 GMT It is frequently reported that less than one-third of ovarian cancers overexpress the HER-2 protein, which is the molecular target of trastuzumab (Herceptin). However, with more sensitive detection methods, Penn researchers found that virtually all ovarian cancers express HER-2. The novel findings suggest that therapy targeting HER-2 may have a role in ovarian cancer treatment in the future, and may improve the outcome for women with ovarian cancer the way it has for women with HER-2 expressing breast cancer. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/04/ovarian-cancers-express-her-2/ Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:00:00 GMT Quitting smoking is a hard task for anyone, but tailored cessation therapy may increase an individual's chance of success, according to Penn researchers. Over the last several years, they have found that individuals who metabolize nicotine relatively slowly benefit from nicotine patch therapy more than people who metabolize it quickly. Now, in a randomized blinded clinical trial, they found that slow metabolizers benefit from extended treatment with the patch, according to findings presented at the American Association of Cancer Research meeting this week. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/04/extended-nicotine-patch-slow-metabolizers/ Tue, 20 Apr 2010 16:00:00 GMT Using a three-dimensional tissue culture system that mimics esophageal tissue growth of the particularly aggressive type of tumors known as ESCC (esophageal squamous cell cancer), Penn researchers have discovered molecular cross talk between two oncogenes and the tumor suppressor gene p53. The results highlight a targeted therapy that may hold promise for treating ESCC. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/04/esophageal-oncogene-crosstalk/ Mon, 19 Apr 2010 12:00:00 GMT More than 250 people are expected to attend Penn Medicine’s 4th annual "Focus on Gastrointestinal Cancers" conference. The event is offered to those at risk or in treatment for colon, liver or pancreatic cancer, as well as survivors, family members, caregivers and health care professionals. Gayle Jackson, mother of Philadelphia Eagles’ wide receiver DeSean Jackson – whose father died of pancreatic cancer in 2009 – will give an inspirational keynote address titled "A Caregiver’s Story." The conference, sponsored by the Abramson Cancer Center, is free of charge. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/03/gastrointestinal-cancer-conference/ Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:59:00 GMT Researchers have found that one particularly aggressive type of blood cancer, mixed lineage leukemia (MLL), has an unusual way to keep the molecular motors running. The cancer cells rely on the normal version of an associated protein to stay alive. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/02/mixed-lineage-leukemia/ Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:00:00 GMT Although leukemia is one of the best studied cancers, the cause of some types is still poorly understood. Now, a newly found mutation in acute myeloid leukemia patients could account for half of the remaining cases of adult acute leukemia with an unknown origin. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/02/leukemia-genetics/ Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:00:00 GMT New research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine may help more smokers keep their New Year’s resolution by helping them quit smoking. Extended use of a nicotine patch – 24 weeks versus the standard eight weeks recommended by manufacturers – boosts the number of smokers who maintain their cigarette abstinence and helps more of those who backslide into the habit while wearing the patch, according to a study which will be published in the February 2 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/02/extended-nicotine-patch/ Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:00:00 GMT A University of Pennsylania School of Medicine-Monell Chemical Senses Center collaborative study found that body fluid odors can be used to identify animals with lung cancer tumors. The findings set the stage for studies to identify potential diagnostic biomarkers in the urine of human lung cancer patients. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/01/lung-cancer-odor-screening/ Thu, 28 Jan 2010 12:00:00 GMT Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have developed a new model of skin cancer based on the knowledge that a common cancer-related molecule called Src kinase is activated in human skin-cancer samples.  http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/12/new-skin-cancer-model/ Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:00:00 GMT In addition to building muscle, weightlifting is also a prescription for self-esteem among breast cancer survivors, according to new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine research. Breast cancer survivors who lift weights regularly feel better about bodies and their appearance and are more satisfied with their intimate relationships compared with survivors who do not lift weights, according to a new study published in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/11/cancer-survivors-self-esteem/ Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:30:00 GMT The day-to-day maintenance required to keep proliferative tissues like skin and intestines functional is about more than just regeneration, a stem cell-based process that forms the basis of tissue renewal. It's also about housekeeping, the clearing away of damaged cells. So indicates a study published in the October issue of Nature Genetics, which demonstrates that loss of the tumor-suppressor protein p53, coupled with elimination of the DNA-maintenance protein ATR, severely disrupts tissue maintenance in mice. As a result, tissues deteriorate rapidly, which is generally fatal in these animals. In addition, the study provides supportive evidence for the use of inhibitors of ATR in cancer therapy. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/10/tissue-maintenance/ Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:00:00 GMT Aromatase inhibitors, the same drugs that have buoyed long-term survival rates among breast cancer patients, also carry side effects including joint pain so severe that many patients discontinue these lifesaving medicines. New University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine research, however, has identified patterns that may help clinicians identify and help women at risk of these symptoms sooner in order to increase their chances of sticking with their treatment regimen. In a study published recently in the journal Cancer, researchers at Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center found that estrogen withdrawal may play a role in the onset of joint pain, also known as arthralgia, during treatment: Women who stopped getting their menstrual periods less than five years before starting breast cancer treatment were three times more likely to experience these pains than those who reached menopause more than a decade earlier. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/09/reducing-breast-cancer-drug-side-effects/ Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:00:00 GMT Breast cancer survivors who lift weights are less likely than their non-weightlifting peers to experience worsening symptoms of lymphedema, the arm- and hand-swelling condition that plagues many women following surgery for their disease, according to new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine research published in the August 13 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The findings challenge the advice commonly given to lymphedema sufferers, who may worry that weight training or even carrying children or bags of groceries will exacerbate their symptoms. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/08/weight-lifting-eases-lymphedema-symptoms/ Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:00:01 GMT In a study comparing two strains of mice, one susceptible to developing cancer and the other not, researchers found that a high-fat diet predisposed the cancer-susceptible strain to liver cancer, and that by switching to a low-fat diet early in the experiment, the same high-risk mice avoided the malignancy. The switched mice were lean rather than obese and had healthy livers at the end of the study. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/06/diet-liver-cancer.html Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:00:00 GMT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have uncovered variation around two genes that are associated with an increased risk of testicular cancer. Testicular cancer is the most common cancer among young men, and its incidence among non-Hispanic Caucasian men has doubled in the last 40 years -- it now affects seven out of 100,000 white men in the United States each year. The discovery, published in the May 31, 2009 online issue of Nature Genetics, is the first step toward understanding which men are at high risk of disease. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/06/testicular-cancer-gene.html Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:30:00 GMT In what researchers are calling a breakthrough, patients with thyroid cancer that is resistant to radioactive iodine therapy were found to respond well to sorafenib, a University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researcher reported today at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). The phase II clinical trial data highlight an intensive effort at the Abramson Cancer Center to develop effective, personalized therapies for these patients, who have previously had few options for treatment. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/06/new-thyroid-cancer-treatment.html Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:45:00 GMT Although the majority of patients with follicular lymphoma initially respond to chemotherapy, the disease frequently recurs, eventually becoming resistant to available therapies. Patients treated with traditional chemotherapy followed by a personalized vaccine were found to have a 44 percent increase in progression-free survival compared with patients who responded to chemotherapy but received a control vaccine, according to research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/06/personalized-cancer-vaccine.html Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:00:00 GMT An increasing number of cancer patients who receive chemotherapy now do so at home, with the click of a pill bottle each day rather than the drip of an IV medicine that must be delivered in a doctor’s office or hospital. Though the growing shift toward oral chemotherapy agents offers cancer patients greater freedom and independence during their treatment, physicians say use of the new medications also poses more chances for patients to skip doses, miss prescription refills, and take their drugs in a dangerous way. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/06/oral-chemotherapy-compliance.html Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:59:00 GMT The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) and Penn Medicine announced today a four-year partnership to further develop and disseminate the LIVESTRONG Care Plan Powered by Penn Medicine’s OncoLink. This free service gives cancer survivors, their families and physicians the ability to create an individualized plan of care using up-to-date treatment information based on Institute of Medicine recommendations, as well educating them about their options to maintain optimal health once they are out of treatment. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/05/livestrong-cancer-survivorship.html Wed, 27 May 2009 20:00:00 GMT Abramson Cancer Center Director Craig Thompson, MD, PhD, has been selected to lead a research "Dream Team" for Stand Up To Cancer, the groundbreaking partnership between the nation’s entertainment industry and the cancer research community. Armed with $18 million in funding, Thompson’s team is poised to lead the nation’s most innovative pancreatic cancer research project, which will discover more about what metabolic nutrients pancreatic tumors rely on to grow and develop new therapies designed to cut off that essential fuel. Despite the myriad advances in treating other cancers, people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer still face a grim prognosis – as many as 80 percent of patients who get the news die within a year. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/05/stand-up-to-cancer-pancreatic-dream-team.html Wed, 27 May 2009 18:00:00 GMT Women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) who exhibit an overexpression of the protein HER2/neu have a six-fold increase in risk of invasive breast cancer, according to a new study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. The results, published in the May issue of the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, may help clinicians distinguish between DCIS that requires minimal treatment and DCIS that should be treated more aggressively. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/05/dcis-her2-breast-cancer-risk.html Fri, 22 May 2009 14:30:00 GMT An online tool that provides cancer survivors and their family members with an easy-to-follow roadmap for managing their health as they finish treatment and transition to life as a survivor got high marks from users, according to new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine research. Ninety-seven percent of people who used OncoLife, the first online cancer survivorship care plan tool – developed by physicians and nurses from Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center – rated their experience with the tool as 'good' to 'excellent,' and 84 percent said they planned to share their plan with their health care team. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/04/cancer-survivorship-plans.html Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:00:00 GMT 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.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/04/mutation-prediction-by-mri.html Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:00:00 GMT A new federally funded University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine study aims to learn whether women at high risk of breast cancer can use exercise to meaningfully reduce their risk of getting the disease. Building on evidence that reducing estrogen in the body reduces cancer risk, and that elite female athletes experience a drop in estrogen levels that often cause them to stop ovulating and menstruating, the WISER Sister trial will investigate two different levels of regular treadmill exercise as a possible intervention for breast cancer risk reduction. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/04/exercise-breast-cancer-prevention-trial.html Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:40:00 GMT For years, researchers have known that under normal conditions, the breast cancer protein BRCA1 orchestrates the repair of damaged DNA, but the details of just how BRCA1 moves to the damaged site and recruits the right nuclear repairmen for DNA restoration remains a mystery. Now, a new study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine has identified genes associated with the BRCA1 protein and their involvement in the DNA repair pathway, helping to clear the way for researchers to better understand what goes wrong when the BRCA1 gene is mutated and the repair pathway goes haywire. Identifying patients with mutations in these BRCA1-associated genes may help better fight breast cancer. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/03/brca-associated-gene.html Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:30:00 GMT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have identified a master switch that might prevent cancer cells from metastasizing from a primary tumor to other organs. The switch is a protein that, when in the “on” position, maintains the normal character of cells that line the surface of organs and body cavities. These epithelial cells are the type of cell from which most solid tumors arise. However, when the switch is turned “off” or absent, epithelial cells acquire characteristics of another cell type, called mesenchymal cells, and gain the ability to migrate and move away from the primary tumor. The researchers report their findings in this month’s issue of Molecular Cell. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/03/esrp-molecular-switch.html Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:00:00 GMT Researchers have generated altered immune cells that are able to shrink, and in some cases eradicate, large tumors in mice. The immune cells target mesothelin, a protein that is highly expressed, or translated in large amounts from the mesothelin gene, on the surface of several types of cancer cells. The approach, developed by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), shows promise in the development of immunotherapies for certain tumors. The study appears online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/02/mesothelin-targeting.html Tue, 10 Feb 2009 14:00:00 GMT Many breast cancer survivors give low marks to the post-cancer care they receive from their primary care physicians, who generally serve as a patient’s main health care provider after they’re released from active treatment with their oncologists, according to a new study from the University of Pennsylvania’s Abramson Cancer Center published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/01/cancer-survivorship.html Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:00:00 GMT A new study from the Abramson Cancer Center and Department of Psychiatry in the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine shows that smokers who carry a particular version of a gene for an enzyme that regulates dopamine in the brain may suffer from concentration problems and other cognitive deficits when abstaining from nicotine – a problem that puts them at risk for relapse during attempts to quit smoking. The findings, newly published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, pave the way to identify novel medications to treat nicotine addiction. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/12/genetic-nicotine-addiction.html Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:00:00 GMT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that some proteins of the immune system can promote tumor growth. Investigators found that instead of fighting tumors, the protein C5a, which is produced during an immune response to a developing tumor, helps tumors build molecular shields against T-cell attack. These findings appeared online this week in Nature Immunology. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/09/immune-promote-tumor-growth.html Carl June, MD, Director of Translational Research at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania and Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in Penn’s School of Medicine, has received $1 million over the next three years from the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy, Inc. (ACGT) to harness the immune system to fight the worst cases of ovarian cancer. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/09/carl-june-cancer-gene-therapy.html Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have identified a key step in the formation – and suppression – of esophageal cancers and perhaps carcinomas of the breast, head, and neck. By studying human tissue samples, they found that Fbx4, a naturally occurring enzyme, plays a key role in stopping production of another protein called Cyclin D1, which is thought to contribute to the early stages of cancer development. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/09/natural-tumor-suppressor-fbx4.html Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have shown how Argos, a fruit fly protein, acts as a 'decoy' receptor, binding growth factors that promote the progression of cancer. Knowing how Argos neutralizes tumor growth may lead to new drug designs for inhibiting cancer. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/05/argos-decoy-binds-tumor-growth-factors.html Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine’s Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology have shown that one of the main chemical culprits in lung cancer, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, can lead to mutations in critical genes by a process of oxidative stress. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/05/pah-oxidative-stress-cancer.html Many women with a faulty breast cancer gene could be at greater risk of the disease due to extra risk-amplifying genes, according to research published this month in the American Journal of Human Genetics. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/apr08/combination-breast-cancer-genes.html In an effort to empower the men of Philadelphia and the surrounding region, the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania is offering free prostate cancer screening, Saturday, March 1st, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the First District Plaza, next to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, 3801 Market Street, Philadelphia. Screenings consist of a physical exam and a prostate-specific antigen – or PSA – blood test, provided free of charge. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/feb08/free-screening.html Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have shed new light on how Kaposi's Sarcoma-associated Herpes Virus (KSHV) subverts normal cell machinery to cause cancer. A KSHV protein called latency-associated nuclear antigen, LANA for short, helps the virus hide out from the immune system in infected cells. When LANA takes the place of other proteins that control cell growth, it can cause uncontrolled cell replication. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/oct07/virus-reveals-cancer.html In the first clinical trial of its kind, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Abramson Cancer Center will lead a nationwide test of anti-cancer drug combinations that target blood vessel growth in patients with advanced kidney cancer. The trial is being conducted with colleagues in the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group, a network of researchers, physicians, and health care professionals at public and private institutions. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/oct07/kidney-cancer.html The Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology (CEET) at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine has been awarded $2.3 million over the next four years to study biological indicators of exposure to cigarette smoke. The grant is part of the National Institutes of Health new Genes, Environment, and Health Initiative (GEI). The GEI represents a unique collaboration between geneticists and environmental health scientists. In this first round of awards genetic studies were funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute and biomarker studies were funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/sep07/cigarette-smoke-grant.html Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have identified a new strategy that Kaposi's Sarcoma Associated Herpesvirus (KSHV) uses to dupe infected cells into replicating its viral genome. This allows the virus to remain virtually undetected by the body's immune system. Previous work suggested KSHV needed viral proteins to initiate replication, but this is the first study to directly show that a section of viral DNA can independently draw upon proteins within a host cell to promote its own replication. The study was published in the August issue of Cell Host and Microbe. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/aug07/KSHV-replication.html Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that a commonly prescribed diabetes drug kills tumor cells that lack a key regulatory gene called p53. Results from current studies in mice may result in new therapies for a subset of human cancers that tend to be aggressive and resistant to existing treatments. Additionally, the findings open up a new avenue for targeting cancers whose hallmark is the absence of this regulatory gene. The Penn team reported their findings last month in Cancer Research. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/aug07/metformin-cancer-cells.html A family affected by multiple myeloma will visit the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania as part of its cross-country jaunt to raise awareness of this form of cancer. Myeloma, also called multiple myeloma, affects the production of red cells, white cells, and stem cells and is the second most common of the blood cancers affecting an estimated 75,000 people worldwide. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/aug07/myeloma-mobile.html Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that proteins known to promote cell death are also necessary for the maturation and proliferation of immune cells. Activation of T-cell receptors on the surface of lymphocytes by foreign antigens initiate a calcium-mediated signaling pathway that ends in cell differentiation and growth. The Penn scientists discovered that in the cells that lack the pro-death proteins Bax and Bak, calcium signaling is disrupted and energy production is reduced. Restoration of Bax corrects the signaling problems, increases energy production, and stimulates cell division. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/aug07/cell-death-proteins.html Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Abramson Cancer Center have begun ACT III – a Phase II/III Randomized Study – to investigate the addition of CDX-110 vaccine to standard care maintenance chemotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most aggressive form of primary brain tumor. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/aug07/brain-tumor-vaccine-trial.html With thousands of shoes at half the suggested retail price, shoe lovers had the opportunity to splurge in the name of charity at the 13th Annual QVC Presents 'FFANY Shoes on Sale' event during Breast Cancer Awareness Month last October. The Rena Rowan Breast Center of the University of Pennsylvania's Abramson Cancer Center (ACC) was one of the beneficiaries of the televised fundraiser that supports breast cancer research and patient education. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jul07/ffany-rowan-center.html Caryn Lerman, PhD, Deputy Director of the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, has been awarded the 22nd Annual Alton Ochsner Award Relating Smoking and Health. The award will be presented to Lerman, for her work on pharmacogenetic approaches to nicotine dependence treatment, at the annual convention of the American College of Chest Physicians on October 21, 2007, in Chicago. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jul07/ochsner-award-smoking.html Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine identified a combination therapy as a way to sensitize resistant human cancer cells to a treatment currently being tested in clinical trials. They propose that the therapy may help to selectively eliminate cancer cells while leaving healthy cells intact, providing a cancer treatment with fewer side effects. The Penn team reports their findings in the July issue of Cancer Cell. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jul07/trail-combination-cancer-therapy.html Jeanne M. Rogers, RN, MEd, Associate Executive Director of the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania and Administrative Director, of the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Network, was recently appointed to serve on the Pennsylvania Cancer Control, Prevention and Research Advisory Board. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jul07/cancer-advisory-board.html A team of cancer specialists from OncoLink.org, the award-winning cancer Web-based resource of the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, has launched OncoLife, the first and only individualized plan-of-care based on the national Institute of Medicine's recommendations for adult cancer survivors. Free and easy to use, the new program -- soon to be available in Spanish -- provides cancer survivors with information regarding the health risks they face as a result of cancer therapies, as well as a defined plan of action to maintain their health once they are out of treatment. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jul07/oncolife-cancer-care-plan.html Despite a concerted effort by local and regional medical groups and health care agencies over the past twenty years, Pennsylvanians with cancer are not having their basic needs for psychosocial support met. In a report appearing online in Cancer, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found that support for psychosocial needs, such as activities of daily living (feeding, dressing, housework), transportation, financial issues (paying for prescriptions), and emotional issues have not improved. The study also states that some needs, such as insurance, employment, access to medical information, and homecare have worsened. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jun07/cancer-psychosocial-needs.html Kevin R. Fox, MD, Medical Director of the Rena Rowan Breast Center at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, has been named the inaugural recipient of the Mariann T. and Robert J. MacDonald Professorship in Breast Cancer Care Excellence http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jun07/breast-cancer-professorship.html As the world’s leading professional organization representing physicians who treat people with cancer, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and many of its 25,000+ members meet this weekend in Chicago at of the largest annual medical conferences in the world. Physicians from the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania – like the rest of their ASCO colleagues – are committed to advancing the education of oncologists and other oncology professionals, to advocating for policies that provide access to high-quality cancer care, and to supporting the clinical trials system and the need for increased clinical and translational research. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jun07/abramson-cancer-center-asco.html Researchers at the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute of the University of Pennsylvania and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute describe in this week’s issue of Science a new candidate breast-cancer susceptibility gene. The Rap80 gene is required for the normal DNA-repair function of the well-known breast cancer gene BRCA1. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/may07/Rap80-breast-cancer-gene.html The Department of Dermatology and the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania will be conducting free screenings where a Penn dermatologist will check people's skin to determine their risk for developing skin cancer. Over 250 people are scheduled to receive a free screening. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/may07/skin-cancer-screenings.html Previously-published research has given credence to the notion that psychotherapy extends the lives of people with cancer. In fact, one in four cancer patients believe that science supports the idea that participating in group therapy will extend their lives. However, in a paper appearing in the May issue of the Psychological Bulletin, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine concluded -- after an extensive research review -- that there is no compelling evidence linking psychotherapy or support groups with survival among cancer patients. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/may07/cancer-group-therapy.html The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, in association with Pennsylvania State University Medical College and Lincoln University, has received $4.2 million to study gene-environment interactions that increase the risk of lung cancer in African American and Caucasian smokers and non-smokers. The funds were awarded from Pennsylvania’s share of the national tobacco settlement for 2006-2007. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/apr07/lung-cancer-grant.html Two years ago, two students from the Westtown School, motivated by community service and mitzvah projects (mitzvah means 'good deed'), worked together to start the Kids Swim for the Cure swim-a-thon. In just two years, Kids Swim for the Cure has raised nearly $17,000 for skin cancer research at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The money raised by these extraordinary students has not only supported innovative research and patient care programs at the Abramson Cancer Center, but has also increased public awareness and education about skin cancer – particularly melanoma – the deadliest form of skin cancer. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/apr07/kids-swim-for-cure.html Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and School of Engineering and Applied Science have discovered a better way to deliver drugs to tumors. By using a cylindrical-shaped carrier they were able sustain delivery of the anticancer drug paclitaxel to an animal model of lung cancer ten times longer than that delivered on spherical-shaped carriers. These findings have implications for drug delivery as well as for better understanding cylinder-shaped viruses like Ebola and H5N1 influenza. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/apr07/nano-drug-delivery.html A study conducted by the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) study published in the March 29th, 2007 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine helps establish magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a key component of the diagnostic workup for women at the time of initial breast cancer diagnosis. The research, conducted at 25 institutions across the country, including the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania found the addition of an MRI scan led to the detection of more than 90 percent of cancers in the opposite breast missed by mammography and clinical breast exam, increasing the number of cancers detected. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/mar07/MRI-breast-cancer-detection.html In 2002, Thomas and Carol Hallinan, of Northeast Philadelphia, lost their son, Peter, 31, to Anaplastic Oligodendroglioma -- a type of brain tumor that affects 190,000 people in the U.S. each year, and is the second most common cause of cancer death in young people ages 15-34. To honor their son's memory, The Hallinans have partnered with the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Penn's Department of Neurosurgery to build support for the advancement of clinical research for patients who suffer from brain tumors.'For Pete's Sake' -- an evening of dinner, dancing, and a silent auction -- is a sold-out event with an expected attendance of 250 people. Proceeds will support brain tumor research at Penn. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/mar07/brain-tumor-event.html The Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Pennsylvania Health System and School of Medicine, and Penn's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology have announced today the establishment of the Center for Research on Early Detection and Cure of Ovarian Cancer. The Center, to be directed by internationally renowned gynecologic oncologist and research scientist, George Coukos, MD, PhD, will focus on developing better detection methods, new treatment therapies, and improving the quality of life for women with ovarian cancer. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/mar07/ovarian-cancer-center.html Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Schools of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine have determined a way to pre-screen cancer patients to see if they are suitable candidates for proteasome inhibitors, a promising class of anti-cancer drugs. They propose to test for p53, a well-known tumor-suppressor protein that is broken down by cellular machinery called proteasomes. This study appears online in the journal Blood, in advance of print publication in June 2007. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/mar07/p53-test-cancer-drugs.html Physicians initially diagnosed Phil Marfuta, 28, with tension headaches, which seemed reasonable to him since he is a busy graduate student studying physics at Princeton University. However, as the days went on his headaches did not subside, and when a CT scan and an MRI revealed two tumors, Phil underwent emergency surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. One of Phil’s tumors was a grade IV glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), which is the most aggressive form of primary brain tumor. Typically once diagnosed, the median survival time for a patient with a GBM is 12 months. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/feb07/brain-tumor-trial.html Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine are the first to show that a mouse protein, whose human equivalent is related to defense against HIV-1, inhibits the infection and spread of a mouse tumor virus. The study, which appeared online January 28 in advance of its print publication in Nature, provides a new model for the discovery and evaluation of anti-HIV drugs. HIV-1, like the mouse tumor virus, is a retrovirus which infects immune system cells. However, unlike HIV-1, the mouse virus causes breast cancer in mice. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/feb07/new-anti-HIV-drug-test-model.htm At a reception in University City, an exceptionally dedicated, retired nurse was honored for making a donation of one million dollars to her former employer, the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Radiation Oncology. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jan07/radiation-oncology-fellowship.htm Recent findings from an observational study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine suggest that men between 65 and 80 years of age who received treatment for early stage, localized prostate cancer lived significantly longer than men who did not receive treatment. The study will be published in the December 13th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/dec06/early-prostate-cancer-treatment.htm University of Pennsylvania alumni Ralph J. Roberts and his son Brian L. Roberts have pledged $15 million to help create the first-of-its-kind proton therapy center for the treatment of cancer. The Roberts Proton Therapy Center will be unique in its ability to fully integrate conventional radiation treatment with proton radiation, which more accurately targets tumors and leaves surrounding healthy tissue unaffected. The Center will also be the first to be located on the campus of a world-class academic medical center, facilitating scientific research to measure and improve this innovative therapy. The gift will help finance the construction and equipment for the center, scheduled to open to patients in 2009. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/dec06/roberts-proton-therapy-center.htm Six powerful pillars of light will outline the 75,000 square feet of space where the world's first fully integrated proton therapy center will be built at PENN Medicine. Visible to residents across Philadelphia, as well as the guests and honorees at a special naming ceremony from a VIP reception on the top floor of the Biomedical Research Building, the beams of light symbolize the bright future of cancer therapy in which a stream of protons are accelerated to near light speed, bent by powerful magnets and focused with incredible precision at tumors lodged deep within the human body. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/dec06/proton-therapy-center-invitation.htm Earlier this month, Mark I. Greene MD, PhD, the John Eckman Professor of Medical Science at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, was awarded the J. Allyn Taylor International Prize in Medicine. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/nov06/taylorprz.htm Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have identified a new protein associated with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). Several lines of evidence point to a protein called Tribbles, named after the furry creatures that took over the starship Enterprise in the original "Star Trek" series. Tribbles was first described in fruit flies. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/nov06/leukemiatrib.htm Despite the many advances that have been made over the past 30 years in the prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer, one grim fact remains: the overall five-year lung cancer survival rate is only 15%. The Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania has joined an international effort launched by Roswell Park Cancer Institute to potentially revolutionize the prevention and management of this disease. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/nov06/lungreg.htm Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered how the Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) subverts a normal cell process in order to promote tumor growth. The finding, published in the most recent issue of PLoS Pathogens, offers new potential strategies for treating Kaposi's sarcoma and other cancers associated with viruses. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/nov06/KSHV.htm A protein with the ironic name 'Srcasm' can counteract the effects of tumor-promoting molecules in skin cells, according to new research by investigators at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Using animal models, the researchers discovered that Srcasm acts like a brake in epithelial cells, preventing uncontrolled cell growth caused by a family of proteins called Src kinases. This finding, published online in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, suggests a target for future gene therapy to treat skin, head, neck, colon, and breast cancers. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/nov06/Srcasm.htm A finding by University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researchers about how immune cells 'decide' to become active or inactive may have applications in fighting cancerous tumors, autoimmune diseases, and organ transplant rejection. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/oct06/DAGs.htm The newly appointed Director of the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, Craig B. Thompson, MD, has named Caryn Lerman, PhD, Deputy Director, and Joseph R. Carver, MD, Chief of Staff. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/sep06/ACCleaders.htm In recognition of his over-fifty-year career at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Peter C. Nowell, MD, and his colleagues from Penn and other institutions will talk about the history of the Philadelphia chromosome and what it portends for the next generation of cancer therapies. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/sep06/nowellITC.htm Craig B. Thompson, MD, has been named the new Director of the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania and Associate Vice President for Cancer Services of the University of Pennsylvania Health System. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/sep06/thompsonACC.htm Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have initiated a clinical trial directed at developing a better treatment for lung cancer. For patients who undergo surgery for their lung cancer, the treatment involves taking the tumor that was removed and processing it to make a vaccine. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/aug06/lungvacc.htm Yongwon Choi, PhD, Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has been awarded Korea's 2006 Ho-Am Prize in Medicine. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jul06/hoamprz.htm Using a newly developed drug screen, researchers have discovered small molecule compounds that are able to perform the functions of a gene commonly mutated in many types of cancer. By combining molecular imaging techniques with human cancer cell culture and animal model approaches, the researchers were able to reveal the ability of the compounds to kill human tumor cells. These findings emphasize the growing role of imaging technology in aiding researchers in the development of individualized cancer treatments. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jul06/el_deiry.htm Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that the acute loss of a protein called menin can cause the proliferation of pancreatic islet cells, which secrete insulin to regulate blood sugar. The menin gene (Men1) mutation in humans causes an inherited disease called Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia type 1 (MEN1). Not only could this discovery inform basic cancer biology, it also has implications for treating Type 1 diabetes. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jul06/hua_research.htm Members of the media are invited to come see an amazing new PET/CT at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Its powerful advanced "time-of-flight" technology, pioneered in part at Penn, makes it the first clinical machine of its kind in the world. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jun06/PETCTITC.htm The University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) has announced today that they will begin construction on a new proton therapy treatment facility to provide patients in the greater-Philadelphia region and beyond with the most advanced and sophisticated form of cancer treatment available. To be equipped by the Ion Beam Application, S.A. (IBA) company based in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, the proton therapy center will be located adjacent to The Raymond and Ruth Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, a $302 million structure that is now being built to house Penn’s outpatient cancer, cardiovascular, diagnostic, and surgical services. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jun06/protonCAM.htm The Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania and the Brain Tumor Society present a one-day seminar designed for pediatric and adult brain tumor patients, survivors, and their caregivers. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jun06/BTSsem.htm Media Advisory -- The Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania and the Brain Tumor Society present a one-day seminar designed for pediatric and adult brain tumor patients, survivors, and their caregivers. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jun06/BTSsemMA.htm nonadult