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Results of EORTC trial 58951 suggest that detecting ERG gene deletion at diagnosis of childhood B-cell precursor (BCP) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) would be useful for risk stratification. The study, published in Leukemia showed that patients with the ERG gene deletion had a very good outcome with an 8-year event-free survival of 86.4% and an overall survival of 95.6%.

OAKLAND, Calif., October 24, 2013 — Patients who are HIV-positive and have high CD4 cell counts — or have a high number of white blood cells that fight infections — aren't at an increased risk for heart attacks compared to patients who are HIV-negative, according to a Kaiser Permanente study that appears in the current online issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

When scientists attempt to understand how climate change might reshape our environment, they must grapple with the seemingly endless complexity of interacting systems.

For those considering the likely fate of particular species, there is now a relatively simple rule of thumb to help calculate the likely effect of climate change where species interact.

This news release is available in German.

Maternal symptoms of anxiety and depression increased the risk of emotional and disruptive problem behaviors in children as early as 18 months of age, according to new research findings from the TOPP study. The risk persisted into adolescence and also gave an increased risk of depressive symptoms. The study is published in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.

The molecular machine that makes essential components of ribosomes – the cell's protein factories – is like a Swiss-army knife, researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, and the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas in Madrid, Spain, have found. By determining the 3-dimensional structure of this machine, called RNA polymerase I, for the first time, the scientists found that it incorporates modules which prevent it from having to recruit outside help.

Fairfax, Va., October 23, 2013—A comprehensive review of Medicare claims for more than 45,000 patients from 2005 through 2010 found that nearly all of the 146 percent increase in intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for prostate cancer among urologists with an ownership interest in the treatment was due to self-referral, according to new research, "Urologists' Use of Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer," released today in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) for its October 24, 2013 issue.

There's more bad news for women with sleep apnea. A new study from the UCLA School of Nursing shows that the body's autonomic responses — the controls that impact such functions as blood pressure, heart rate and sweating — are weaker in people with obstructive sleep apnea but are even more diminished in women.

Women with obstructive sleep apnea may appear to be healthy — having, for instance, normal resting blood pressure — and their symptoms also tend to be subtler, which often means their sleep problem is missed and they get diagnosed with other conditions.

Aurora, CO (Oct. 23, 2013) The latest study co-led by a CU School of Medicine researcher has confirmed that a Gene Expression Classifier (GEC) test can drastically reduce the problem of unnecessary surgeries in thyroid nodule assessment. These indeterminate nodules are being evaluated with a new molecular diagnostic test that measures the expression levels of 142 genes. This test is able to identify which initially indeterminate nodules are highly likely to be benign, and thus allows patients to avoid unnecessary diagnostic surgery.

A newly discovered potential gene-diet interaction for colorectal cancer was reported today (Thursday, Oct. 24) at the American Society of Human Genetics 2013 meeting in Boston. The interaction may shed light on the statistically significant increased risk of colorectal cancer that is associated with consumption of red and processed meat, the researchers said.

A common genetic variant that affects 1 in 3 people significantly increases the risk of colorectal cancer from the consumption of red meat and processed meat, according to a study presented today at the annual American Society of Human Genetics 2013 meeting, the largest gathering of human geneticists in the world.

USC scientist Qi-Long Ying and a team of researchers have long been searching for biotech's version of the fountain of youth — ways to encourage embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and epiblast stem cells (EpiSCs) to endlessly self-renew, or divide to produce more stem cells.

In a pair of studies published in Nature Communications in September and in The EMBO Journal in August, Ying and his team revealed some of the ways that ESCs and EpiSCs retain their pluripotency, or ability to differentiate into virtually any kind of cell.

A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published online this month in the journal Cell Cycle shows that breast cancer cell growth, motility and aggression is promoted by excess glucose, as experienced by patients with diabetes and metabolic syndrome. The study also showed that patients with high glucose may require higher doses of the drug metformin to achieve the same anti-cancer activity as patients with normal glucose levels.

Cancer researchers from Rice University have deciphered the operating principles of a genetic switch that cancer cells use to decide when to metastasize and invade other parts of the body. The study found that the on-off switch's dynamics also allows a third choice that lies somewhere between "on" and "off." The extra setting both explains previously confusing experimental results and opens the door to new avenues of cancer treatment.

The study appears online this week in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

An international team of scientists has identified an association between heritable, rare mutations in the RINT1 gene and increased risk of early onset breast cancer, according to research reported today (Oct. 24) at the American Society of Human Genetics 2013 annual meeting in Boston.

The rare mutations in RINT1, a tumor suppressor gene, were detected in three of 49 families participating in a study that sequenced the whole exome, the protein-coding DNA, of families with multiple individuals affected by breast cancer.