PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

New chemotherapy hope for hard-to-treat childhood cancers

2013-08-15
(Press-News.org) Children with a particularly lethal cancer could benefit from potentially life-saving treatment, following breakthrough work led by researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

A whole new class of drugs has been developed that, for the first time, targets the structure of the cancer cell.

UNSW researchers have provided proof that the therapy is effective in two types of cancers in the animal model. They are neuroblastoma, a cancer that affects children, and melanoma. The resulting paper has been published in Cancer Research.

"It is much like what happens when you see a building collapse on the TV news," says the lead author, Professor Peter Gunning, from UNSW Medicine.

"Our drug causes the structure of the cancer cell to collapse – and it happens relatively quickly.

"We've been surprised and excited by the potential of this treatment," says Professor Gunning, the Head of the Oncology Research Unit, in the School of Medical Sciences.

The drug looks to be effective against every type of cancer cell.

The work could lead to an entirely new type of chemotherapy, which could have more positive outcomes for hard-to-treat cancers and have fewer long-term side-effects for survivors.

"Attacking the architecture of the cancer cell has long been an obvious target, but until now, attempts have failed because the building blocks of the structure of the cancer cell are also used to build the heart and muscle, so the toxicity was unacceptable," says the first author on the paper, Dr Justine Stehn, also from the Oncology Research Unit.

But the team recognised there was a second "building block", the protein tropomyosin, in the cancer cell structure that was sufficiently different from those in the heart and muscle, which could be safely targeted.

This latest work is vindication for Professor Gunning's team which was alone in its theory about the architecture of cells. The UNSW team is believed to be the only one working in this area internationally.

As toxicity had been a major stumbling block in earlier research, possible funders were scarce.

Professor Gunning says the financial support of The Kids' Cancer Project is the only way this research has been possible.

"This research opens up a door on something the pharmaceutical industry and science gave up on 25 years ago," says the CEO of the Kids' Cancer Project, Peter Neilson.

"It shows that our founder's faith in this work was right," he says. "We will continue to invest in this and we are determined to see it going into clinical trials in children with hard-to-treat neuroblastoma.

"Normally it would go into adults and it would take 7 to 8 years to be trialled in kids," says Mr Neilson.

The first clinical trials are expected in 2015.

"Cancer in children is not the result of lifestyle issues, so you're relying on medical research to see any improvement in survival rates," says the Dean of UNSW Medicine, Professor Peter Smith, who is also the Chair of the Research Advisory Committee of The Kids' Cancer Project.

Childhood cancer is the single greatest cause of death from disease in Australian children, with three children a week dying from the condition.

"In the 1960s, less than 10 per cent of children survived cancer and now it's 80 per cent," says Professor Smith, who campaigned to have chemotherapy used in children in the 1970s, dramatically improving survival rates. "That improvement is all down to research. So it shows how important these partnerships are."



INFORMATION:

This work is also supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council, the Cancer Council NSW, the Cancer Institute NSW and the Office for Health and Medical Research, NSW Ministry of Health.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Evidence for a therapeutic effect of Braintone on ischemic brain damage

2013-08-15
Recently, the importance of the neurovascular unit, which is comprised of neurons, endothelial cells and astrocytes, has received great attention in the field of stroke, because stroke affects not only neurons, but also astrocytes and microvessels. Within the neurovascular unit, endothelial cells are critical for maintaining normal hemodynamic and metabolic homeostasis. Vascular damage during ischemia often leads to the disruption of the blood-brain barrier and dysregulation of vascular tonus, eventually causing substantial cell death. The Chinese herbs Rhodiolase, Notoginseng, ...

Cell cycle-related genes in the pathogenesis of neural tube defects

2013-08-15
In the field of developmental neurobiology, accurate and ordered regulation of the cell cycle and apoptosis are crucial factors contributing to the normal formation of the neural tube. Preliminary studies by Xinjun Li and colleagues from Deyang People's Hospital have identified several genes involved in the development of neural tube defects. Their recent study published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 20, 2013) established a model of developmental neural tube defects by administration of retinoic acid to pregnant rats. Gene chip hybridization analysis ...

What is the new target inhibiting the progression of Alzheimer's disease?

2013-08-15
To stop the progression of Alzheimer's disease in the early stage, it is necessary to identify new therapeutic targets. Prof. Yunpeng Cao and team from the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University examined striatal-enriched phosphatase 61 expression in the brain tissues of Alzheimer's disease rats using in vivo and in vitro models, and analyzed the molecular mechanism by which striatal-enriched phosphatase 61 regulates N-methyl-D- aspartate receptor 2B transport. The researchers found that valeric acid (AP5), an N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist, significantly ...

Dragonflies can see by switching 'on' and 'off'

2013-08-15
Researchers at the University of Adelaide have discovered a novel and complex visual circuit in a dragonfly's brain that could one day help to improve vision systems for robots. Dr Steven Wiederman and Associate Professor David O'Carroll from the University's Centre for Neuroscience Research have been studying the underlying processes of insect vision and applying that knowledge in robotics and artificial vision systems. Their latest discovery, published this month in The Journal of Neuroscience, is that the brains of dragonflies combine opposite pathways - both an ...

Malware bites and how to stop it

2013-08-15
Antivirus software running on your computer has one big weak point - if a new virus is released before the antivirus provider knows about it or before the next scheduled antivirus software update, your system can be infected. Such zero-day infections are common. However, a key recent development in antivirus software is to incorporate built-in defences against viruses and other computer malware for which they have no prior knowledge. These defences usually respond to unusual activity that resembles the way viruses behave once they have infected a system. This so-called ...

Graphene nanoscrolls are formed by decoration of magnetic nanoparticles

2013-08-15
Researchers at Umeå University, together with researchers at Uppsala University and Stockholm University, show in a new study how nitrogen doped graphene can be rolled into perfect Archimedean nano scrolls by adhering magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles on the surface of the graphene sheets. The new material may have very good properties for application as electrodes in for example Li-ion batteries. Graphene is one of the most interesting materials for future applications in everything from high performance electronics, optical components to flexible and strong materials. ...

Making the brain take notice of faces in autism

2013-08-15
Philadelphia, PA, August 15, 2013 – Difficulty in registering and responding to the facial expressions of other people is a hallmark of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Relatedly, functional imaging studies have shown that individuals with ASD display altered brain activations when processing facial images. The hormone oxytocin plays a vital role in the social interactions of both animals and humans. In fact, multiple studies conducted with healthy volunteers have provided evidence for beneficial effects of oxytocin in terms of increased trust, improved emotion recognition, ...

Heartbeats link mind and body together

2013-08-15
While we're not necessarily aware of our heartbeat, this inner rhythm actually contributes to how we experience the body, and what belongs to it, according to research recently conducted at EPFL. A study to be published in the journal Psychological Science later this year supports the idea that signals from our internal organs combine with visual information to contribute to self-consciousness. "The relevance of internal organs for identifying the self was determined over a decade ago," says EPFL researcher Olaf Blanke. "What is new about our approach and findings is that ...

Characteristics of family killers revealed by first taxonomy study

2013-08-15
Of all the dark forms that murder can take, the slaying of a family by the father is one of the most tragic and the least understood. This first ever study of British 'family annihilators', published in the Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, has analysed three decades of cases and reveals four new types of annihilator. "Family annihilators have received little attention as a separate category of killer," said Professor David Wilson, one of the paper's three authors, and Director of the Centre of Applied Criminology at Birmingham City University. "Often they are treated ...

Quantum teleportation: Transfer of flying quantum bits at the touch of a button

2013-08-15
By means of the quantum-mechanical entanglement of spatially separated light fields, researchers in Tokyo and Mainz have managed to teleport photonic qubits with extreme reliability. This means that a decisive breakthrough has been achieved some 15 years after the first experiments in the field of optical teleportation. The success of the experiment conducted in Tokyo is attributable to the use of a hybrid technique in which two conceptually different and previously incompatible approaches were combined. "Discrete digital optical quantum information can now be transmitted ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Major review highlights latest evidence on real-time test for blood – clotting in childbirth emergencies

Inspired by bacteria’s defense strategies

Research spotlight: Combination therapy shows promise for overcoming treatment resistance in glioblastoma

University of Houston co-leads $25 million NIH-funded grant to study the delay of nearsightedness in children

NRG Oncology PREDICT-RT study completes patient accrual, tests individualized concurrent therapy and radiation for high-risk prostate cancer

Taking aim at nearsightedness in kids before it’s diagnosed

With no prior training, dogs can infer how similar types of toys work, even when they don’t look alike

Three deadliest risk factors of a common liver disease identified in new study

Dogs can extend word meanings to new objects based on function, not appearance

Palaeontology: South American amber deposit ‘abuzz’ with ancient insects

Oral microbes linked to increased risk of pancreatic cancer

Soccer heading does most damage to brain area critical for cognition

US faces rising death toll from wildfire smoke, study finds

Scenario projections of COVID-19 burden in the US, 2024-2025

Disparities by race and ethnicity in percutaneous coronary intervention

Glioblastoma cells “unstick” from their neighbors to become more deadly

Oral bacterial and fungal microbiome and subsequent risk for pancreatic cancer

New light on toxicity of Bluefin tuna

Menopause drug reduces hot flashes by more than 70%, international clinical trial finds

FGF21 muscle hormone associated with slow ALS progression and extended survival

Hitting the right note: The healing power of music therapy in the cardiac ICU

Cardiovascular disease risk rises in Mexico, despite improved cholesterol control

Flexible optical touch sensor simultaneously pinpoints pressure strength and location

Achalasia diagnosis simplified to AI plus X-ray

PolyU scholars pioneer smart and sustainable personal cooling technologies to address global extreme heat

NIH grant aims for childhood vaccine against HIV

Menstrual cycle and long COVID: A relation confirmed

WMO report on global water resources: 2024 was characterized by both extreme drought and intense rainfall

New findings explain how a mutation in a cancer-related gen causes pulmonary fibrosis

Thermal trigger

[Press-News.org] New chemotherapy hope for hard-to-treat childhood cancers