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UCF scientists control living cells with light; advances could enhance stem cells' power

University of Central Florida researchers have shown for the first time that light energy can gently guide and change the orientation of living cells within lab cultures. That ability to optically steer cells could be a major step in harnessing the healing power of stem cells and guiding them to areas of the body that need help.

Scientists make multiple types of white blood cells directly from embryonic and adult stem cells

MADISON -- In an advance that could help transform embryonic stem cells into a multipurpose medical tool, scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have transformed these versatile cells into progenitors of white blood cells and into six types of mature white blood and immune cells.

Tumors feel the deadly sting of nanobees

When bees sting, they pump poison into their victims. Now the toxin in bee venom has been harnessed to kill tumor cells by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The researchers attached the major component of bee venom to nano-sized spheres that they call nanobees.

Einstein researchers identify potential target for metastatic cancer

August 10, 2009 - (BRONX, NY) - The deadliest part of the cancer process, metastasis, appears to rely on help from macrophages, potent immune system cells that usually defend vigorously against disease, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University report.

Study identifies risk factors for transformation of eye growths into melanoma

Eight factors may predict whether a choroidal nevus -- a benign, flat, pigmented growth inside the eye and beneath the retina -- may develop into melanoma, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Taking the needle's sting out of diabetes

Found in 30% of all human cancer tumors, the Ras protein literally "drives cells crazy," says Prof. Yoel Kloog, the dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences at Tel Aviv University. Prof. Kloog was the first in the world to develop an effective anti-Ras drug against pancreatic cancer, currently in clinical trials.

STAT3 gene regulates cancer stem cells in brain cancer

BOSTON (August 10, 2009) -- In a study published online in advance of print in Stem Cells, Tufts researchers report that the STAT3 gene regulates cancer stem cells in brain cancer. Cancer stem cells have many characteristics of stem cells and are thought to be the cells that drive tumor formation.

Young early stage ovarian cancer patients can preserve fertility

A new study finds that young women with early-stage ovarian cancer can preserve future fertility by keeping at least one ovary or the uterus without increasing the risk of dying from the disease. The study is published in the September 15, 2009 issue of Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

Limb-sparing surgery may not provide better quality of life than amputation for bone cancer patients

Limb-sparing surgery, which has been taking the place of amputation for bone and soft tissue sarcomas of the lower limb in recent years, may not provide much or even any additional benefit to patients according to a new review.

Tumor mutations can predict chemo success

New work by MIT cancer biologists shows that the interplay between two key genes that are often defective in tumors determines how cancer cells respond to chemotherapy.

Colon cancer may yield to cellular sugar starvation

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have discovered how two cancer-promoting genes enhance a tumor's capacity to grow and survive under conditions where normal cells die. The knowledge, they say, may offer new treatments that starve cancer cells of a key nutrient - sugar.

Hopkins scientists find cells responsible for bladder cancer's spread

Johns Hopkins scientists have tracked down a powerful set of cells in bladder tumors that seem to be primarily responsible for the cancer's growth and spread using a technique that takes advantage of similarities between tumor and organ growth.

Unraveling how cells respond to low oxygen

LA JOLLA, Calif., August 5, 2009 -- Gary Chiang, Ph.D., and colleagues at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have elucidated how the stability of the REDD1 protein is regulated. The REDD1 protein is a critical inhibitor of the mTOR signaling pathway, which controls cell growth and proliferation. The study was published in the August 2009 issue of EMBO Reports .

Sensitizing tumor response to cancer therapy

Two forms of skin and brain cancer respond very poorly to chemotherapy and radiation: melanoma and glioblastoma multiforme brain cancer.

The way you eat may affect your risk for breast cancer

PHILADELPHIA -- How you eat may be just as important as how much you eat, if mice studies are any clue.



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