Study reveals genomic similarities between breast and ovarian cancers
September 24, 2012A new study from The Cancer Genome Atlas captured a complete view of genomic alterations in breast cancer and classified them into four intrinsic subtypes, one of which shares many genetic features with high-grade serous ovarian cancer. Depicted are breast cancer cells with the HER2 protein, which can trigger cell growth responses, lit up in bright red. (Photo credit: NIST)
TARGET: A focus on children’s cancers
October 12, 2012TARGET—Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments—is NCI’s effort to use genomic technologies to search for therapeutic targets in cancers that affect infants, children, and adolescents. The adjacent image is a microscopic view of acute lymphoblastic lymphoma, one of the five cancers common to children that TARGET is studying.
The NCI-60: Assessing drug effectiveness
August 27, 2012For decades, lead compounds were tested principally in mice. The downsides were time, expense, and limited accuracy. Enter NCI’s In Vitro Cell Line Screening Project, better known as the NCI-60, a protocol that makes it possible to analyze the anti-cancer properties of a compound in human tumor samples from 60 different cell cultures, sometimes referred to as lines, representing several different types of cancer.
Burkitt Lymphoma — A paradigm for global cancer research and discovery?
August 15, 2012Contrary to frequent belief, Burkitt lymphoma (shown, at left, in a pathology slide) is not a disease confined to the African continent. First identified as a distinct form of lymphoma by Irish surgeon Dennis Burkitt in Uganda in 1958, there are well documented cases in the United States, Latin America, and other countries that point to the global aspects of this disease.
Sequencing techniques uncover mutations in genes that can increase cancer risk
August 15, 2012Breast cancer patients with dense breasts do not have increased death risk
August 20, 2012High mammographic breast density, which is a marker of increased risk of developing breast cancer, does not seem to increase the risk of death among breast cancer patients, according to a study led by Gretchen L. Gierach, Ph.D., NCI.
- Gene variant linked to lung cancer riskOctober 9, 2012
- HIV infection connected to rising anal cancer rates in men in the U.S.October 5, 2012
- Major cancer protein amplifies global gene expressionSeptember 27, 2012
- Genomic similarities between breast and ovarian cancersSeptember 24, 2012
NCI-designated Cancer Centers: dedicated to research
August 15, 2012Obtaining an NCI designation for a cancer center is usually a years-long process of building — facilities, faculty, and most importantly, a research portfolio — culminated by a rigorous review process. Selection provides recognition of research excellence
- Surgery or radiation most often urged in low-risk prostate cancerOctober 12, 2012
- MIT study identifies adhesion molecules key to cancer’s spreadOctober 10, 2012
- HIV drug's efficacy treating mouse models of HER2+ breast cancerOctober 9, 2012
- Blocking tumor-induced inflammation impacts cancer developmentOctober 4, 2012