Tackling a hard-to-treat childhood cancer by targeting epigenetic changes

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A very difficult-to-treat child leukemia may benefit from the discovery of a small but potent epigenetic change that launches the cancer – but could potentially be reversed relatively easily, preventing cancer-promoting genes from being turned on. The study, led by researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, is the cover article in the November 4 issue of Cancer Cell.

HPV virus helps cervical and head and neck cancers resist treatment and grow and spread

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The human papillomavirus (HPV) allows infected cervical and head and neck cancer cells to maintain internal molecular conditions that make the cancers resistant to therapy and more likely to grow and spread, resulting in a poor prognosis for patients, researchers with UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center found.

Sibling study could lead to better treatments for inherited form of colon cancer

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SALT LAKE CITY—Researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) believe they may be one step closer to understanding how certain forms of colon cancer develop.

In a study using siblings who have been diagnosed with colon cancer, scientists discovered similarities on a region of a particular chromosome, referred to as 7q31. Researchers believe that piece of genetic material may be causing a subset of colon cancers that run in families.

A green future for scrap iron

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Take a close look at that cheap piece of scrap iron before you toss it in the trash.

Wei-xian Zhang has a good use for it. Someday soon, much of the world might also.

Zhang, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, recently concluded a five-year research project in which he and his colleagues at Tongji University in Shanghai used two million pounds of iron to detoxify pollutants in industrial wastewater.

Adult crime linked to childhood anxiety

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Being nervous, socially isolated, anxious or neurotic during childhood protects young men from becoming criminal offenders until they enter adulthood, but the protective effect seems to wear off after the age of 21. These are the findings of Dr. Georgia Zara, from the University of Turin in Italy, and Dr. David Farrington, from the University of Cambridge in the UK, who explored whether or not certain childhood factors delay the onset of criminal behavior until adulthood. Their research has just been published online in Springer's Journal of Youth and Adolescence.

Cone-beam CT: Just as useful as MDCT before and after percutaneous vertebroplasty

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Cone-beam CT which is believed to deliver less radiation than MDCT is just as useful when evaluating patients before and after percutaneous vertebroplasty according to a study performed at the Department of Clinical Radiology, Kyushu University, Fukoka, Japan. Percutaneous vertebroplasty is a minimally invasive cement augmentation technique to relieve pain in the back that is non-responsive to conservative treatment.

MDCT: Non-invasive alternative to bronchoscopy in patients with airway stent complications

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Multidetector CT (MDCT) scans are highly accurate in detecting airway stent complications according to a recent study performed at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA.

MDCT correctly identified 29 (97%) of 30 complications in 21 patients, including all cases of intraluminal narrowing, migration, invasion by neoplasm and tracheal perforation; MDCT also identified three of four cases of stent fracture," according to Vandana Dialani, MD, lead author of the study.

Smaller mosquitoes are more likey to be infected with viruses causing human diseases

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An entomologist at the Illinois Natural History Survey, a division of the new UI Institute for Natural Resource Sustainability, says smaller mosquitoes are more likely to be infected with viruses that cause diseases in humans. These findings can be found in the November issue of the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Parasites that live inside cells use loophole to thwart immune system

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St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have discovered a mechanism by which intracellular pathogens can shut down one of the body's key chemical weapons against them: nitric oxide. The researchers found that the microbes block nitric oxide production by subverting the biochemical machinery used by immune cells called macrophages to produce the chemical.

MRI can eliminate unnecessary surgery for children with suspected musculosketal infections

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Pre-treatment MRI can eliminate unnecessary diagnostic or surgical procedures for children with suspected musculoskeletal infections (septic arthritis and osteomyelitis) according to a study performed at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital in Nashville, TN.