 |
Gene Silencing Inhibits Tumors in Ewing's Sarcoma Model
Scientists have used a new method of silencing genes to inhibit tumors in mice that have a form of Ewing's sarcoma, a rare and often deadly bone cancer in young adults. The findings were presented April 19th at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Anaheim, California.
The project was a collaboration between the laboratories of Dr. Timothy Triche at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and Dr. Mark Davis at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Dr. Triche's team has expertise on Ewing's sarcoma while Dr. Davis' team of chemical engineers has developed ways to deliver gene-silencing molecules to specific cells.
Ewing's sarcoma, which is nearly always fatal once it has spread in the body, has been traced to two chromosomes that break and exchange genetic material, activating a gene called EWS-FLI1 that is critical to the development of the tumors. Silencing the gene, however, can inhibit Ewing's tumors.
Read more 
Electricity and Excitement at AACR
Intellectual electricity is always evident at the meetings of the American Association for Cancer Research, but at the annual meeting that began on Saturday in Anaheim, there was also an aura of anticipation. Repeatedly, presentations of progress in cancer research were linked to prospects for improved cancer solutions.
In my presentation, I traced the trajectory that has led to the fusion of progress and purpose. I outlined the National Cancer Institute's (NCI's) commitment to leverage the investment of talent, time, and resources to further accelerate the elimination of the suffering and death due to cancer. Speakers such as Dr. Alfred Knudson, who received the AACR Lifetime Achievement Award, chronicled the exhilarating explosion of knowledge that led from observing cancer's mysterious behavior to now revealing cancer's molecular secrets.
Read more
|
The NCI Cancer Bulletin is produced by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). NCI, which was established in 1937, leads the national effort to eliminate the suffering and death due to cancer. Through basic, clinical, and population-based biomedical research and training, NCI conducts and supports research that will lead to a future in which we can identify the environmental and genetic causes of cancer, prevent cancer before it starts, identify cancers that do develop at the earliest stage, eliminate cancers through innovative treatment interventions, and biologically control those cancers that we cannot eliminate so they become manageable, chronic diseases.
For more information on cancer, call 1-800-4-CANCER or visit http://www.cancer.gov.
NCI Cancer Bulletin staff can be reached at ncicancerbulletin@mail.nih.gov.
|
|
