Melanoma is the most serious form of skin cancer, diagnosed in more than 50,000 new patients in the United States annually. As incidences continue to rise, the race is on to find the genetic and cellular changes driving melanoma, and to devise new means of detection and treatment. In new a study, scientists have found new epigenetic markers that will help develop more effective treatment strategies to fight this disease.
A protein known to play a role in growth of some types of leukemia appears to have a mixed function in breast cancer development, say researchers.
Researchers sort out the controversy and promise around a dangerous subtype of cancer cells, known as cancer stem cells, which seem capable of resisting many modern treatments.
Scientists have revealed a new avenue for harvesting stem cells — from a woman’s placenta, or more specifically the discarded placentas of healthy newborns. The study also finds there are far more stem cells in placentas than in umbilical cord blood, and they can be safely extracted for transplantation.
An analysis of previous studies indicates that allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT — stem cells from a compatible donor) is associated with significant overall and relapse-free survival benefit among adult patients with intermediate- and poor-risk but not good-risk acute myeloid leukemia in first complete remission, compared with nonallogeneic SCT therapies.
The development of blood from stem cell to fully formed blood cell follows a genetically determined program. When it works properly, blood formation stops when it reaches maturity. But when it doesn’t, genetic mutations can prevent the stop signal and cause the developing cells to turn cancerous. Now scientists show for the first time that a misreading of the blood cells’ histone code is responsible for acute myeloid leukemia, a rare form of the deadly blood cancer.
Seeking ways to improve blood recovery after chemotherapy or bone marrow transplant, researchers have discovered that fat cells, which accumulate in bone marrow as people age, inhibit the marrow’s ability to produce new blood cells. Their study suggests that blocking this fatty infiltration could help enhance patients’ recovery after transplant.
The development of blood from stem cell to fully formed blood cell follows a genetically determined program. When it works properly, blood formation stops when it reaches maturity. But when it doesn’t, genetic mutations can prevent the stop signal and cause the developing cells to turn cancerous. Now scientists show for the first time that a misreading of the blood cells’ histone code is responsible for acute myeloid leukemia, a rare form of the deadly blood cancer.
Scientists have developed a new approach to treating leukemia, one that targets leukemia-proliferating cells with drugs that are already on the market. The research team identified a gene involved with the inflammatory response that could hold the key to treating or even preventing chronic myeloid leukemia, a lethal cancer.
Scientists have developed a new approach to treating leukemia, one that targets leukemia-proliferating cells with drugs that are already on the market. The research team identified a gene involved with the inflammatory response that could hold the key to treating or even preventing chronic myeloid leukemia, a lethal cancer.
