Schlagwort: blood

New blood test combined with image-based prostate cancer screening reduces harms and costs

29. Januar 2022
The combination of a novel blood test and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can reduce overdiagnosis of low-risk cancers as well as societal costs in prostate cancer screening, according to a cost-effectiveness study.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Two New Studies for Better Chances of Recovery after Stem Cell Transplantation

27. Januar 2022
The most dangerous side effect of allogeneic blood stem cell transplantation, graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), has still not been sufficiently researched. The world’s largest blood stem cell donor center DKMS wants to change that – it is the declared goal of the non-profit organization to improve the survival and healing chances of blood cancer patients. In the fight against GvHD, DKMS research teams have now launched two new scientific studies.

Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Magnesium is essential for the immune system, including in the fight against cancer

20. Januar 2022
The level of magnesium in the blood is an important factor in the immune system’s ability to tackle pathogens and cancer cells. Researchers have reported that T cells need a sufficient quantity of magnesium in order to operate efficiently. Their findings may have important implications for cancer patients.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Obscure protein is spotlighted in fight against leukemia

12. Januar 2022
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of white blood cells. Researchers discovered that AML cancer cells depend on a protein called SCP4 to survive. They think the previously little-known protein is involved in a metabolic pathway the cancer cells need to survive. SCP4 provides researchers with a potential new therapeutic approach for this aggressive cancer.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

New graft strategy may improve outcomes for blood stem cell recipients

11. Januar 2022
Removing one type of T cell from donor blood used for stem cell grafts could greatly reduce a serious complication called graft-versus-host disease in patients with leukemia, according to a new study.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

First time genome editing made possible on cells lining blood vessel walls

5. Januar 2022
Researchers have developed a unique nanoparticle to deliver genome editing technology, including CRISPR/Cas9, to endothelial cells, which are cells that line blood vessel walls. This is the first time that vascular endothelial cells could be reached for genome editing, since the usual way to deliver CRISPR/Cas9 — through a virus — does not work for this cell type.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Scientists retool CAR T cells to serve as ‘micropharmacies’ for cancer drugs

31. Dezember 2021
Immunotherapies called chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells use genetically engineered versions of a patient’s own immune cells to fight cancer. These treatments have energized cancer care, especially for people with certain types of blood cancers. Now, scientists have developed new CAR T cells that can do something their predecessors cannot: Make drugs.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Study confirms nutrient’s role in childhood blood cancer

24. Dezember 2021
A molecular building block of many animal proteins, the amino acid valine, plays a key role in cancerous growth seen in T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a new study shows.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Cannabis use could cause harmful drug interactions

14. Dezember 2021
Using cannabis alongside other drugs may come with a significant risk of harmful drug-drug interactions, new research suggests. The researchers looked at cannabinoids–a group of substances found in the cannabis plant — and their major metabolites found in cannabis users‘ blood and found that they interfere with two families of enzymes that help metabolize a wide range of drugs prescribed for a variety of conditions. As a result, either the drugs‘ positive effects might decrease or their negative effects might increase with too much building up in the body, causing unintended side effects such as toxicity or accidental overdose. While more research needs to be done, the authors said one early takeaway from these studies is that it’s important to be careful when using cannabis with other prescription drugs.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Research reveals how aging cells can be an underlying cause of kidney damage

9. Dezember 2021
A study in mice has found that stress and tissue damage initiated by angiotensin II, a molecule that is known to increase blood pressure and stiffening in the linings of blood vessels, leads to cellular senescence, a process by which a cell ages and permanently stops dividing but does not die. Importantly, when the researchers eliminated senescent cells from the mice, tissues returned to a normal state in spite of a continued infusion of angiotensin II.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

For stem cells, bigger doesn’t mean better

14. November 2021
A new study suggests that enlargement of stem cells contributes to age-related decline in function. The researchers found that blood stem cells, which are among the smallest cells in the body, lose their ability to perform their normal function — replenishing the body’s blood cells — as they grow larger. When the cells were restored to their usual size, they behaved normally again.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Team engineers new way to get medication past blood-brain barrier

14. November 2021
A team of researchers has developed a new technique to open the blood-brain barrier temporarily to deliver medication to the brain. Getting medication past the brain’s unique and protective blood vessels, known as the blood-brain barrier, is one of the biggest challenges in treating brain and central nervous system diseases, according to researchers. The technique uses light and nanoparticles to pry open temporarily these barriers — called tight junctions — to allow medication to reach its target.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Noninvasive brain biopsy shows improved sensitivity in tumor detection

13. November 2021
A team of researchers has developed a noninvasive diagnostic method that may one day replace the biopsy with a simple blood test.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Landmark study points to source of rapid aging, chronic inflammation in people living with HIV

10. November 2021
In a groundbreaking study of people living with HIV, researchers found that elusive white blood cells called neutrophils play a role in impaired T cell functions and counts, as well as the associated chronic inflammation that is common with the virus.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Chemo helps breast cancer cells get their ‘foot in the door’ to the lungs

3. November 2021
A new study adds to the evidence that chemotherapy enhances cancer’s spread beyond the primary tumor, showing how one chemo drug allows breast cancer cells to squeeze through and attach to blood vessel linings in the lungs.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Researchers identify new drug target for blood cancer, potentially solid tumors

8. Oktober 2021
Researchers have shown for the first time how mutations affecting a cellular process called RNA splicing alter cells to develop myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and other hematologic malignancies and solid tumors.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Cancer chemotherapy drug reverses Alzheimer’s symptoms in mice

6. Oktober 2021
A drug commonly used to treat cancer can restore memory and cognitive function in mice that display symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, new research has found. The drug, Axitinib, inhibits growth of new blood vessels in the brain — a feature shared by both cancer tumors and Alzheimer’s disease. This hallmark represents a new target for Alzheimer’s therapies. Mice that underwent the therapy not only exhibited a reduction in blood vessels and other Alzheimer’s markers in their brains, they also performed remarkably well in tests designed to measure learning and memory.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

A global assessment of cancer genomic alterations in epigenetic mechanisms

5. März 2015

Muhammad A Shah, Emily L Denton, Cheryl H Arrowsmith, Mathieu Lupien and Matthieu Schapira

Abstract

Background

The notion that epigenetic mechanisms may be central to cancer initiation and progression is supported by recent next-generation sequencing efforts revealing that genes involved in chromatin-mediated signaling are recurrently mutated in cancer patients.

Results

Here, we analyze mutational and transcriptional profiles from TCGA and the ICGC across a collection 441 chromatin factors and histones. Chromatin factors essential for rapid replication are frequently overexpressed, and those that maintain genome stability frequently mutated. We identify novel mutation hotspots such as K36M in histone H3.1, and uncover a general trend in which transcriptional profiles and somatic mutations in tumor samples favor increased transcriptionally repressive histone methylation, and defective chromatin remodeling.

Conclusions

This unbiased approach confirms previously published data, uncovers novel cancer-associated aberrations targeting epigenetic mechanisms, and justifies continued monitoring of chromatin-related alterations as a class, as more cancer types and distinct cancer stages are represented in cancer genomics data repositories.

Continue reading „A global assessment of cancer genomic alterations in epigenetic mechanisms“ →

The carcinogenic effect of various multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) after intraperitoneal injection in rats

15. Februar 2015
Non-neoplastic histopathological findings in the abdominal cavity. A: High-power view of anti-podoplanin immunohistochemistry showing single MWCNT A (high dose) nanotubes in the tissue (arrows). B: High-power view of anti-podoplanin immunohistochemistry showing single asbestos fibers in the tissue (arrows). C: H & E, high-power view of granuloma induced by MWCNT A (low dose) nanotubes including single nanotube (arrow, 25×). D: H & E, high-power view of granuloma induced by asbestos including single fiber (arrow, 40×). Rittinghausen et al. Particle and Fibre Toxicology 2014 11:59 doi:10.1186/s12989-014-0059-z
Non-neoplastic histopathological findings in the abdominal cavity. A: High-power view of anti-podoplanin immunohistochemistry showing single MWCNT A (high dose) nanotubes in the tissue (arrows). B: High-power view of anti-podoplanin immunohistochemistry showing single asbestos fibers in the tissue (arrows). C: H & E, high-power view of granuloma induced by MWCNT A (low dose) nanotubes including single nanotube (arrow, 25×). D: H & E, high-power view of granuloma induced by asbestos including single fiber (arrow, 40×).
Rittinghausen et al. Particle and Fibre Toxicology 2014 11:59 doi:10.1186/s12989-014-0059-z

Susanne Rittinghausen, Anja Hackbarth, Otto Creutzenberg, Heinrich Ernst, Uwe Heinrich, Albrecht Leonhardt and Dirk Schaudien

Abstract

Background

Biological effects of tailor-made multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) without functionalization were investigated in vivo in a two-year carcinogenicity study. In the past, intraperitoneal carcinogenicity studies in rats using biopersistent granular dusts had always been negative, whereas a number of such studies with different asbestos fibers had shown tumor induction. The aim of this study was to identify possible carcinogenic effects of MWCNTs. We compared induced tumors with asbestos-induced mesotheliomas and evaluated their relevance for humans by immunohistochemical methods.

Methods

A total of 500 male Wistar rats (50 per group) were treated once by intraperitoneal injection with 109 or 5 × 109 WHO carbon nanotubes of one of four different MWCNTs suspended in artificial lung medium, which was also used as negative control. Amosite asbestos (108 WHO fibers) served as positive control. Morbid rats were sacrificed and necropsy comprising all organs was performed. Histopathological classification of tumors and, additionally, immunohistochemistry were conducted for podoplanin, pan-cytokeratin, and vimentin to compare induced tumors with malignant mesotheliomas occurring in humans.

Results

Treatments induced tumors in all dose groups, but incidences and times to tumor differed between groups. Most tumors were histologically and immunohistochemically classified as malignant mesotheliomas, revealing a predominantly superficial spread on the serosal surface of the abdominal cavity. Furthermore, most tumors showed invasion of peritoneal organs, especially the diaphragm. All tested MWCNT types caused mesotheliomas. We observed highest frequencies and earliest appearances after treatment with the rather straight MWCNT types A and B. In the MWCNT C groups, first appearances of morbid mesothelioma-bearing rats were only slightly later. Later during the two-year study, we found mesotheliomas also in rats treated with MWCNT D – the most curved type of nanotubes. Malignant mesotheliomas induced by intraperitoneal injection of different MWCNTs and of asbestos were histopathologically and immunohistochemically similar, also compared with mesotheliomas in man, suggesting similar pathogenesis.

Conclusion

We showed a carcinogenic effect for all tested MWCNTs. Besides aspect ratio, curvature seems to be an important parameter influencing the carcinogenicity of MWCNTs.

Continue reading „The carcinogenic effect of various multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) after intraperitoneal injection in rats“ →