Protein Complex Key In Avoiding DNA Repair Mistakes, Cancer Aug 7, 2009
For example, the immunoglobulin locus is found rearranged with oncogenes such as BCL2 or BCL6 in common human B-cell lymphomas ... A gene called Dlx5 works cooperatively with a known oncogene, Akt2, to drive cancer. (Science Daily)
ARUP Laboratories Applauds FDA's Decision on the Value of KRAS-Mutation Testing in Colorectal Cancer Aug 5, 2009
Mutations in the oncogene KRAS are seen in over 40 percent of sporadic colorectal cancers. While several laboratories in the United States offer this test, ARUP Laboratories' KRAS assay detects all 12 mutations at codons 12 and 13; another highly publicized assay on the market detects only seven. (PR Newswire)
Antibody Targeting Of Glioblastoma Shows Promise In Preclinical Tests Aug 3, 2009
In the current online issue of the journal Oncogene, the researchers demonstrate how this antibody latches onto a receptor that studs the outside of glioblastoma cells, preventing a growth factor protein from binding to it and activating growth pathways in the tumors. "We desperately need new treatments for glioblastoma, and these findings have given us hope that a new approach may be possible," says the study's lead investigator, Anton Wellstein, MD, PhD, a professor of oncology and... (Science Daily)
New Location Found For Regulation Of RNA Fate Aug 2, 2009
"The finding is important for the proto-oncogenes, or precursor cancer genes, we study, but it may be even more important for the thousands of other genes and proteins that are regulated in a similar way," says Spiegelman ... Spiegelman and his team study proto-oncogenes and other potential "cancer-causers" normally found in cells, analyzing them as they are "converted" from DNA into RNA and ultimately active proteins that can lead to cancer ... In their previous work, the Wisconsin researchers... (Science Daily)
Duke scientists create airway spheres to study lung diseases Jul 29, 2009
"We might, for example, be able to activate an oncogene (a cancer-causing gene) or other factors to see how lung cancer might develop in the airways. Amazingly, almost nothing is known about lung basal cells, which are so important to health and make up nearly a third of the cells in the human airways.". Normally, basal stem cells maintain the airways by turning over slowly into new ciliated cells and secretory cells. (EurekAlert!)
Tips from the American Journal of Pathology Jul 23, 2009
A group led by Dr. Han-Fei Ding of the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, GA reports that the oncogene MYCN may drive neuronal progenitor cell proliferation, contributing to neuroblastoma development ... Approximately 22% of neuroblastomas, which commonly contain undifferentiated or poorly differentiated neuroblasts, express amplified levels of the oncogene MYCN.. (EurekAlert!)
New Strategy In Tumor Treatment Jul 21, 2009
Oncogene 10: 827-833. Journal reference. (Science Daily)
1 gene that contributes to breast cancer's aggressive behavior identified Jul 21, 2009
Aggressive forms of cancer are often driven by the abnormal over-expression of cancer-promoting genes, also known as oncogenes ... They also found that RCP can activate the potent oncogene, Ras, which is aberrantly activated by mutation in about 15% of all human cancers ... "One objective in my laboratory is to discover new oncogenes that drive breast cancer progression so that we can devise therapeutic strategies for shutting these genes down," said Dr. Miller, now at Wake Forest University... (EurekAlert!)
Stealthy Gene Network Makes Brain Tumors Flourish Jul 20, 2009
One of those genes is EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor), a well-known player in many cancers and known as an oncogene. EGFR has physiological importance in normal development. (Science Daily)
Gene Connections Key to Brain Tumor Growth Jul 16, 2009
The hub gene is the EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) oncogene on chromosome 7, according to the study ... Oncogenes are genes that drive cancer growth ... A decrease in the function of ANXA7 shoots the EGFR oncogene into overdrive, contributing to the development and progression of malicious glioblastomas, they found. (MEDLINEplus)
MGH study identifies first molecular steps to childhood leukemia Jul 16, 2009
"Based on their longevity, it had been assumed but never shown that HSCs were the cells in which the first steps of leukemia occur. We now unequivocally demonstrate that HSCs can be involved in the early evolution of leukemia and that cells expressing an oncogene can continue contributing to blood formation while serving as a hard-to-detect reservoir of malignancy-prone cells," says Hanno Hock, MD, PhD, of the MGH Cancer Center and Center for Regenerative Medicine, corresponding author of the... (EurekAlert!)
Discovery Highlights New Direction For Drug Discovery Jul 14, 2009
16, 2008) Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have found a small molecule they say can block the action of the oncogene that causes Ewing's sarcoma, a rare cancer found in children and young. (Nov. (Science Daily)
Why Some Tumors Don't Respond To Radiation And Chemotherapy Jul 8, 2009
But just slightly increasing the amount of available Mdmx, which grips p53 and renders it inactive, the Salk researchers discovered, made mice remarkably resistant to the harmful effects of radiation but very susceptible to the development of oncogene-induced lymphomas ... "A slight shift of balance and the mice survive the equivalent of Chernobyl but are in big trouble when an oncogene is activated.". (Science Daily)
BRAF Mutation in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Jul 2, 2009
2 In a subgroup of 520 patients with available tumor samples, we observed a shorter median progression-free survival among patients with a mutated-KRAS oncogene in the CBC group than among patients with mutated-KRAS tumors who received the CB regimen and among patients with. . (New England Journal of Medicine)
STAT3 Protein Found To Play A Key Role In Cancer Jun 28, 2009
The current results by Dr. Levy and his colleagues were obtained from experiments that examined tumors caused by the Ras oncogene, which is responsible for many human cancers. "Future experiments will need to determine if a similar mitochondrial role for STAT3 is critical for other types of cancer as well, states Dr. Levy. "We'll also need a better understanding of the biochemical basis for the function of STAT3. (Science Daily)
Novel Cancer Gene And Biomarker Pinpointed Jun 25, 2009
Intriguing as this finding was, it was hardly enough to prove that GOLPH3 is an oncogene -- a contributor to cancer when overexpressed within a cell ... "All these results enabled us to build a case that GOLPH3 is an oncogene," Chin states ... In addition to identifying GOLPH3 as a bona fide oncogene and an indicator of whether rapamycin is likely to be effective against specific tumors, the study points to the need to follow genomic studies with a rigorous examination of the biological purpose... (Science Daily)
Hormone from fat cells could fight breast cancer, Emory researchers say Jun 23, 2009
Their results were published online June 1 preceding print publication in the journal Oncogene. The class of anti-diabetic drugs known as thiazolidinediones has been shown to turn on adiponectin, so they represent one possible option for breast cancer treatment. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Health)
Key Found To How Tumor Cells Invade The Brain In Childhood Cancer Jun 20, 2009
Previous research had strongly implicated a famous gene regulator called Notch1 in the progression of T-ALL. The Notch1 gene (a mutated version gives fruit flies notched wings) is an oncogene, or cancer-causing gene, in humans. Certain kinds of mutations in this gene have been found in nearly half of all T-ALL patients, and current estimates suggest that the gene s regulatory influence might be implicated in nearly 90 percent of all T-ALL cases. (Science Daily)
Hitting Where It Hurts: Exploiting Cancer Cell 'Addiction' May Lead To New Therapies Jun 6, 2009
Although previous work has identified K-Ras as a frequently mutated oncogene in solid tumors, development of clinically effective cancer therapies that target K-Ras has proven challenging and has been largely unsuccessful ... Oncogene addiction refers to the requirement of a tumor for the sustained expression of a single aberrantly activated gene, even in the presence of other mutations ... Furthermore, oncogene dependency (and therefore cancer cell viability) was strongly linked with the... (Science Daily)
Researchers race to strip stem cells of cancer risk Jun 2, 2009
"My feeling is we will have the oncogene (cancer gene) problem solved within a year to two years," Zon says. Four different methods, same result. (USA Today)
Gene linked to testicular cancer Jun 1, 2009
The research is published in the journal Oncogene. See also. (BBC News -- Health)
The Vulnerable Cancer Cell: New Studies Reveal Broad, Hidden Network That Lets Tumors Thrive May 30, 2009
The rationale behind the strategy is as follows: A mutated cancer-causing gene, or oncogene, causes a cell to grow abnormally ... But oncogenes do not cause cancer by themselves they depend on the activity of other genes ... These genes are considered dependents, in the sense that the cancer cell s survival also depends on the activity of the oncogenes and its dependent genes. (Science Daily)
Protein Identified As Critical To Insulating The Body's Wiring Could Also Become Treatment Target May 27, 2009
Cancer is an issue because the ErbB2 receptor also is an oncogene highly expressed in tumors. ErbB2 helps cancer cells grow and spread so finding its role in the receptor's stability and function provides a potential new site for targeted cancer therapy, says Dr. Yanmei Tao says, postdoctoral fellow in neurobiology and the study's first author. (Science Daily)
Tumor Growth And Chemo Response May Be Predicted By Mathematical Model May 26, 2009
18, 2006) A test that measures the amounts of two members of the same protein family -- one of which appears to act as an oncogene, and the other as a tumor suppressor -- helps identify patients with breast. (May 14, 2009) Researchers have developed a mathematical model to predict immune responses to infection with influenza A viruses, including novel viruses such as the emergent 2009 influenza A (H1N1). (Science Daily)
Boehringer Ingelheim to Present New Phase II Clinical Data on Two Lead Oncology Compounds at ASCO 2009 May 15, 2009
Li D et al. "BIBW2992, an irreversible EGFR/HER2 inhibitor highlyeffective in preclinical lung cancer models." Oncogene 2008;27:4702-4711. Shih J-Y et al. "A Phase II study of BIBW 2992, a novel irreversible dual EGFR and HER2 tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), in patients with adenocarcinoma of the lung and activating EGFR mutations after failure of 1 line of chemotherapy (LUX-Lung 2)." Poster Discussion Presentation. (PR Newswire)
Novel therapy may prove effective in treatment of 30 percent of cancers May 14, 2009
"Molecular targeting of the oncogene eIF4E in AML: a proof-of-principle clinical trial with ribavirin" Blood First Edition Paper, prepublished online May 11, 2009; DOI 10. 1182/blood-2009-02-205153. (EurekAlert!)
TCF/beta-catenin plays an important role in HCCR-1 oncogene expression May 13, 2009
Oncogene HCCR-1 functions as a negative regulator of the p53 and contributes to tumorigenesis of various human tissues. However, it is unknown how HCCR-1 contributes to the cellular and biochemical mechanisms of human tumorigenesis. (BioMed Central)
Glioma: Origin Of Brain Tumor Discovered May 11, 2009
The findings are published in the scientific journal Oncogene. See also. (Science Daily)
Drug Therapy Reduces Neuroblastoma Tumor Growth In Pre-clinical Investigation Apr 30, 2009
Vandetanib blocks a family of endothelial growth factors and receptors that promote tumor growth as well as the RET oncogene, which can signal neuroendocrine cells to develop into neuroblastoma cells. Although commonly used in treatment for neuroblastoma, CRA by itself does not have a significant impact against the childhood cancer. (Science Daily)
Bench to bedside: What's on the horizon Apr 20, 2009
Researchers at Genentech believe they may have found a way to attack cancer by simultaneously targeting two of the primary outputs of a known oncogene ... D., director of cancer signaling and translational oncology at Genentech, said the ras oncogene is an attractive target due to its known role in many human cancers, but direct targeting has been challenging. (EurekAlert!)
Autopsy Study Links Prostate Cancer To Single Rogue Cell Apr 19, 2009
2, 2009) Fatty acid synthase (FASN) can act as a prostate cancer oncogene in mouse. (Feb. (Science Daily)
Advanced search Apr 17, 2009
Search specific journals by selecting from this list, or leave blank to search all of nature. Acta Pharmacologica Sinica. (Nature News Service)
Gene Fusion Discovery May Lead To Improved Prostate Cancer Test Apr 17, 2009
(June 11, 2008) A new study reveals a previously unidentified candidate oncogene that appears to play a significant role in a subset of prostate cancers. The research describes a new strategy that can be used to. (Science Daily)
Cequent tkRNAi Technology to be Presented at the Centennial Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research Apr 16, 2009
Data presented here targets oncogenes relevant for colon cancer, but this tkRNAi technology may also prove useful in treatments for other cancers, inflammatory diseases, and disorders Monday, April 20 Safety and Efficacy of a tkRNAi Therapeutic Targeting Beta-Catenin (CTNNB1) 1 - 5 pm Hall B-F Cequent's Director of Development, Alison Silva, will Poster Section 15 present novel data showing the safety and efficacy of Poster board #26 orally applied tkRNAi in non-human primates against Abstract... (PR Newswire)
Biomarker Associated With Poor Outcome In Aggressive Childhood Cancer Apr 15, 2009
"While some of these aggressive tumors exhibit increased expression of the MYCN oncogene, little is known about the other genetic factors that control neuroblastoma progression." Dr. Bernards and colleagues performed a genome-wide RNA interference screen to search for additional components of the RA signaling pathway that might be linked to neuroblastoma. The researchers identified ZNF423 as a critical cofactor of RA-induced differentiation. (Science Daily)
New alternative to biopsy detects subtle changes in cancer cells, Stanford study shows Apr 13, 2009
"This technology allows us to analyze cancer-associated proteins on a very small scale," said Felsher, a member of Stanford's Cancer Center, who studies how cancer genes called oncogenes initiate and influence tumor progression in many types of cancers ... The scientists found that not only was the technique able to identify oncogene activation in cultured tumor cells, but it also worked well in small lymphoma samples drawn from laboratory mice with small, hollow needles ... Furthermore, they... (EurekAlert!)
Mouse Models Of Leukemia That Predict Response To Chemotherapy Developed Apr 8, 2009
This incorrect fusion is thought to create cancer-causing genes, or "oncogenes," that encode so-called fusion proteins ... The oncogene AML1/ETO previously has been associated with a favorable therapeutic outcome in people, while fusion oncogenes involving the MLL gene have been associated with an adverse outcome ... To design an animal model that predicts these outcomes, the team introduced each mutation individually into stem and progenitor cells along with another oncogene, called Nras, which... (Science Daily)
New Risk Factor For Melanoma In Younger Women Apr 2, 2009
When estrogen binds to this gene, it turns on production of MDM2, a potential oncogene (cancer promoting gene) in cells. In the presence of the genetic variation in MDM2, originally identified by the laboratory of Dr. Arnold Levine at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, the estrogen binds more strongly, resulting in far greater production of the MDM2 protein. (Science Daily)
Overexpression Of Fatty Acid Synthase Promotes Prostate Cancer In Mouse Models Apr 2, 2009
2, 2009) Fatty acid synthase (FASN) can act as a prostate cancer oncogene in mouse models ... Fatty Acid Synthase: A Metabolic Enzyme and Candidate Oncogene in Prostate Cancer. (Science Daily)
Skin Cancer Study Uncovers New Tumor Suppressor Gene Apr 2, 2009
In contrast, oncogenes are genes that encode proteins involved in normal cell growth ... Cancer therapies that target oncogenes usually seek to block or reduce their action, while those aimed at tumor suppressor genes seek to restore or increase their action ... Because members of the MMP gene family were thought to be oncogenes and many tumors express high levels of MMP enzymes, researchers have spent decades pursuing MMPs as promising targets for cancer therapies. (Science Daily)
New Discovery Raises Doubts About Current Bladder Treatment Apr 1, 2009
SRC is a type of oncogene -- genes that are known to trigger cancer. In most cancers SRC has been shown to promote tumor development and contribute to the spread of cancer. (Science Daily)
Scientists net new culprits for cancer Mar 30, 2009
The finding is important, because MMP-8 was previously considered to be a different category of gene - an oncogene, which sends signals to promote cancer growth as opposed to suppressing it ... "The study suggests that a better approach may be to look for drugs that restore or increase MMP-8 function or for drugs that block only those MMPs that are truly oncogenes.". (India Times, India -- Health/Science)
Gene found to suppress skin cancer Mar 30, 2009
The researchers from the National Institutes of Health found that one of the most often mutated genes that code for matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) enzymes, MMP-8, actually serves as a tumor suppressor gene, but not an oncogene, as was previously thought ... "The study suggests that a better approach may be to look for drugs that restore or increase MMP-8 function or for drugs that block only those MMPs that are truly oncogenes," the researchers said in a press release. (Xinhuanet, China)
Cancer Medication? Potential Tumor Suppressor Identified Mar 25, 2009
When this gene mutates to an oncogene, the cell proliferates excessively and apoptosis is inhibited ... Thus, scientists worldwide are trying to find alternative ways to inhibit this oncogene ... This evidence prompted them to test the effect of BASP1 on the oncogene. (Science Daily)
The Notch Gene Accelerates Colon Carcinogenesis Mar 25, 2009
Notch is usually qualified as an oncogene and could represent a promising therapeutic target. Professor Daniel Louvard, working together with Spyros Artavanis-Tsakonas, recently showed that the Notch and Wnt pathways act in concert to control the proliferation of progenitor cells in the gut. (Science Daily)
Scientists Create Mouse Model Of Melanoma That Generates Hope For The Use Of Targeted Therapies Mar 20, 2009
By far the earliest and most common genetic alteration in melanoma is a mutation in an oncogene a gene that can cause normal cells to become cancer cells called BRAF. For this study, scientists generated a mouse that allowed them to switch on that oncogene in melanocytes. The research team found that the benign lesions observed in a mouse expressing the gene are very similar to the benign sun-induced moles that often develop in humans and which also contain BRAF mutations. (Science Daily)
Small Molecules Block Cancer Gene Mar 18, 2009
18, 2009) Finding molecules that block the activity of the oncogene Stat3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription) required screening literally millions of compounds, using computers that compared the structure of the cancer-causing gene to those of the small molecules, said a Baylor College of Medicine researcher in a report that appears in the current online issue of the journal PLoS One ... 15, 2006) Researchers at Ohio State University have discovered that two microRNA (miRNA)... (Science Daily)
Virus-free Embryonic-like Stem Cells Mar 8, 2009
Since August 2006, researchers have been reprogramming adult cells into iPS cells by using viruses to transfer four genes (Oct4, Sox2, c-Myc and Klf4) into the cells' DNA. Although necessary for reprogramming cells, these genes, the known oncogene c-Myc in particular, also have the potential to cause cancer. In addition, the four genes interact with approximately 3000 other genes in the cell, which may change how the cell functions. (Science Daily)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil May Help To Combat Breast Cancer Feb 11, 2009
Fractions containing polyphonels such as hydroxitirosol, tirosol, elenolic acid, lignans, pinoresinol and acetopinoresinol, and secoiridoids, diacetox oleuropein aglycone, ligustrosid aglycone and oleuropein aglycone were able to induce important tumoricid effects in a range of micromolar and in a selective way against HER2 oncogene. Therefore, this study confirms the potentiality of polyphenols to inhibit HER2 activity and to promote its degradation. (Science Daily)
NYU Langone Medical Center researchers find micro RNA plays a key role in melanoma metastasis Feb 10, 2009
The lab found that the elevated expression of miRNA 182 turns it into an oncogene (a gene involved in cancer tumor initiation or progression), by increasing the invasive capacity of melanoma cells in vitro and stimulating the cell's metastatic potential in a mouse model ... MiRNA 182 also belongs to a cluster located in a genomic region, chromosome 7q, that is frequently amplified in melanoma and contains two other oncogenes; BRAF and C-MET. The study found a correlation between genomic... (EurekAlert!)
Nature Chemical Biology Feb 8, 2009
A screen in zebrafish for compounds that reversed the effects of an AML oncogene on hematopoietic differentiation identified a COX-2 inhibitor, suggesting new signaling pathways in AML.. Advance online publication. (Nature News Service)
