Body

(ATLANTA, December 8, 2012) – Research identifying genetic factors that affect survival of patients with blood cancers and evaluating the effectiveness of modified treatment strategies to improve outcomes while reducing toxicity will be presented today at the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).

SAN ANTONIO, TX (December 8, 2012)—Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is a very rare and aggressive disease that progresses rapidly and is associated with a very low survival rate. To understand how this type of cancer spreads, it's crucial to characterize the interactions between cancer cells and their 3D environment. Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center have developed a novel, 3D culture system that mimics the environment surrounding these cancer cells. This model could be used to test new anticancer drugs capable of inhibiting the spread of IBC tumors.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Adding the drug trastuzumab to chemotherapy prevents cancer recurrence and improves survival in a large number of women with early stage HER2-positive breast cancer. But trastuzumab does not stop tumors from returning in about 25 percent of patients — and oncologists haven't been able to identify these women before treatment. This situation may soon change, according to a Mayo Clinic study being presented at the 2012 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Approximately 250,000 people in the United States suffer from muscular dystrophy, which occurs when damaged muscle tissue is replaced with fibrous, bony or fatty tissue and loses function. Three years ago, University of Missouri scientists found a molecular compound that is vital to curing the disease, but they didn't know how to make the compound bind to the muscle cells.

SAN ANTONIO, TX (December 7, 2012)—Previous research has shown that a family of genes, proteins and enzymes called the uPA system (for urokinase plasminogen activator) plays an active role in different facets of cancer's biology, including tumor cell invasion, the spread of metastases, and the growth of a primary tumor.Mesupron® is a new small molecule inhibitor, taken as a pill, that inhibits the uPA system.

As large organisms, trees face some remarkable challenges, particularly regarding long-distance transport and communication. In addition to moving water and nutrients from their roots to their leaves, they must also integrate cell-to-cell communication over large areas. Furthermore, in order to function as a single, cohesive organism they must be able to effectively and efficiently send vital substances—such as DNA regulating signals—long distances along a network of cells, sieve-tubes, and vessels.

Gaping crevasses that penetrate upward from the bottom of the largest remaining ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula make it more susceptible to collapse, according to University of Colorado Boulder researchers who spent the last four Southern Hemisphere summers studying the massive floating sheet of ice that covers an area twice the size of Massachusetts.

SAN FRANCISCO (December 6, 2012) — In 2012, researchers at the California Academy of Sciences added 137 new relatives to our family tree, enriching our understanding of the complex web of life on Earth and strengthening our ability to make informed conservation decisions. The new species include 83 arthropods, 41 fishes, seven plants, four sea slugs, one reptile, and one amphibian.

New Rochelle, NY, December 6, 2012—Enzymes play a crucial role as biocatalysts, increasing the speed and efficiency and decreasing the energy consumption of biochemical reactions in many industrial processes. The advantages of using compressed propane to enhance the biocatalytic activity of an industrial enzyme are described in an article published in Industrial Biotechnology, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com).

PHILADELPHIA — Periodontitis, a form of chronic gum disease that affects nearly half of the U.S. adult population, results when the bacterial community in the mouth becomes unbalanced, leading to inflammation and eventually bone loss. In its most severe form, which affects 8.5 percent of U.S. adults, periodontitis can impact systemic health.

PITTSBURGH—A group of scientists from North America and Europe, including Carnegie Mellon University's Terry Collins, has developed a five-tiered testing system that manufacturers can use to ensure that the chemicals and consumer products they produce are free of harmful endocrine disrupting chemicals like BPA or DDT. Their study, "Designing Endocrine Disruption Out of the Next Generation of Chemicals," will be published in the January 2013 issue of the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Green Chemistry, and is currently available online.

ANN ARBOR—Did different species of early humans interbreed and produce offspring of mixed ancestry?

Recent genetic studies suggest that Neanderthals may have bred with anatomically modern humans tens of thousands of years ago in the Middle East, contributing to the modern human gene pool. But the findings are not universally accepted, and the fossil record has not helped to clarify the role of interbreeding, which is also known as hybridization.

Most triple-negative breast cancer patients who were treated with chemotherapy to shrink the tumor prior to surgery still had multiple genetic mutations in their tumor cells, according to a study by Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) investigators.

Finding multiple mutations instead of just one primary mutation that can be targeted for therapy sheds more light on the challenges of treating triple-negative breast cancer.

(Boston) – According to a new study from the Slone Epidemiology Center (SEC) at Boston University, African-American women who reported suffering abuse before age 11 had a greater likelihood of adult-onset asthma compared to women whose childhood and adolescence were free of abuse.

The study, which is published online in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, was led by Patricia Coogan, DSc, senior epidemiologist at SEC and associate professor of epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Increased levels of the hormone aldosterone in young black males correlate with an unhealthy chain of events that starts with retaining too much salt and results in an enlarged heart muscle, researchers say.

The findings indicate physicians may want to reach for aldosterone inhibitors early in their effort to control blood pressure and reduce cardiovascular risk in young black males.