Body

Women previously treated for abnormal cells on the cervix (CIN3 or cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3) are at an increased risk of developing and dying from cervical or vaginal cancer compared with the general female population and this risk accelerates above age 60, a paper published today on bmj.com suggests.

New research from Queen Mary University of London reveals women over the age of 50 who don't attend cervical screening are four times more likely to be diagnosed with cervical cancer in later life.

The study, published today PLoS Medicine and funded by Cancer Research UK, underlines the importance of screening women over 50 for cervical cancer to prevent the disease, and provides the evidence that women with normal screening results between 50- 64 have a lower risk of cervical cancer into their eighties.

Among patients who had undergone curative surgery for primary colorectal cancer, the screening methods of computed tomography and carcinoembryonic antigen each provided an improved rate of surgical treatment of cancer recurrence compared with minimal follow-up, although there was no advantage in combining these tests, according to a study in the January 15 issue of JAMA.

A unique study of the white-throated sparrow has identified a biological pathway connecting variation in the birds' aggression and parenting behaviors in the wild to variation in their genome.

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) is publishing the results of the experiments, conducted by the lab of neuroscientist Donna Maney in Emory University's Department of Psychology.

If you've ever slipped on a slimy wet rock at the beach, you have bacteria to thank. Those bacteria, nestled in a supportive extracellular matrix, form bacterial biofilms—often slimy substances that cling to wet surfaces. For some marine organisms—like corals, sea urchins, and tubeworms—these biofilms serve a vital purpose, flagging suitable homes for such organisms and actually aiding the transformation of larvae to adults.

CINCINNATI—Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have identified key molecular components linking circadian rhythms and cell division cycles in Neurospora crassa, providing insights that could lead to improved disease treatments and drug delivery.

The researchers in the UC College of Medicine Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, led by Christian Hong, PhD, published their findings Monday, Jan. 13, online ahead of print in PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences).

A closer look at microbes reveals there is big business going on in their very small world, and sometimes we are part of the transaction.

An international team of researchers, including Northern Arizona University scientist Nancy Collins Johnson, argue in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that microbes, like many animals, can evolve into savvy traders, selling high and buying low.

New Orleans, LA – Christopher Parsons, MD, Director of the HIV Malignancies Program at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, is the senior author of a paper that is the first to report that specialized fat (lipid) molecules, called sphingolipids, play a key role in the survival of aggressive lymphomas caused by viruses. The paper also reveals a new therapy for preventing production of sphingolipids by lymphoma cells, thereby killing these cells, which are often resistant to standard therapies.

Storing more and more in an ever-smaller space – what sounds impossible is in fact just part of the daily routine in information technology, where for decades, increasing amounts of data have been successfully stored on media with ever higher densities. An international team, including researchers from Forschungszentrum Jülich, has now discovered a physical phenomenon that could prove suitable for use in further data aggregation.

While searching for novel painkillers, researchers at KU Leuven in Belgium came to the surprising conclusion that some candidate drugs actually increase pain. In a study published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology, the researchers show that a molecular switch in the nerves responsible for detecting pain can 'short-circuit', thus aggravating the onset of pain.

New findings on how the cells in our bodies are able to renew themselves could aid our understanding of health disorders, including cancer.

Scientists have explained a key part of the process of cell division, by which cells are able to keep our organs functioning properly.

They discovered a set of proteins that stabilise the sequence of events in which cells duplicate their DNA and then separate into two new cells, each identical to the original. Flaws in this delicate, complex operation can lead to cancer.

This work gives a solution to a fundamental question in structural biology: Why do metaphase chromosomes have their characteristic elongated cylindrical shape? The proposed solution is consistent with the structure of metaphase chromatin and with the nanomechanical properties of chromatin and chromosomes. It is a research at the interface between biology (higher order chromatin structure) and physical sciences (supramolecular structures and nanomaterials).

A study from North Carolina State University finds that data from CT scans can be incorporated into a growing forensic database to help determine the ancestry and sex of unidentified remains. The finding may also have clinical applications for craniofacial surgeons.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Breast cancer stem cells exist in two different states and each state plays a role in how cancer spreads, according to an international collaboration of researchers. Their finding sheds new light on the process that makes cancer a deadly disease.

Individuals with multiple sclerosis may have an increased risk of developing any type of cancer, with an especially high risk of developing breast cancer. That is the conclusion of a recent study published in European Journal of Neurology. Because the findings contradict earlier studies, additional research is needed to determine whether a true link exists between multiple sclerosis and cancer.