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

Scientists map out how childhood brain tumors relapse

2014-12-18
(Press-News.org) RESEARCHERS have discovered the unique genetic paths that the childhood brain tumour medulloblastoma follows when the disease comes back, according to research* published in Cancer Cell today (Thursday).

The study - funded by Cancer Research UK, Action Medical Research and others** - shows that taking an extra tumour sample at recurrence, when there are no effective therapies, could identify subsets of patients that might be treatable with existing drugs that target the genetic faults.

The scientists, based at Newcastle University and The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), looked at biopsies from the relapsed tumours of 29 patients. They found a range of changes that only appeared when the disease returned and were responsible for the cancer becoming more aggressive.

One particular combination of two genetic faults was common among a number of different subtypes, accounting for a very aggressive form of the disease.

The researchers then looked for ways to treat relapsed medulloblastomas in mice and were able to slow the growth of the tumour with an experimental drug that targets one of the faults.

Professor Steve Clifford, joint lead researcher based at Newcastle University, said: "Our study shows that we need to understand and treat relapsed medulloblastoma in a completely new way. It's clear that new biopsies need to be taken when the disease returns to give doctors a clearer picture of the best and most appropriate treatment."

Around 60-70 per cent of children survive medulloblastoma, but for those patients who relapse the chance of survival is less than five per cent.

Dr Louis Chesler, Team Leader in Paediatric Solid Tumour Biology and Therapeutics at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, said: "We were very pleased to show in our study that some children with relapsed medulloblastoma could benefit from currently available targeted drugs, which usually have fewer and less severe side effects than traditional chemotherapy. It gives us a recipe to direct the use of targeted medicines in relapse where they are most needed.

"To personalise treatment to those who might benefit, doctors will need access to tumour samples as soon as children develop relapsed disease. Tumour biopsies are not routinely taken in these situations currently - and that will have to change before we can match the best treatments to the children who desperately need them."

Professor Peter Johnson, Cancer Research UK's chief clinician, said: "We urgently need new treatments that are effective in relapsed medulloblastoma - there are too few effective options that doctors can use. We're learning more all the time about how cancers evolve and change - in the short term this work will mean that doctors can decide on the most appropriate palliative care options for medulloblastoma but more importantly the research will lead to better treatments in the future."

INFORMATION:

*Hill, R.M. et al Combined MYC and TP53 defects emerge at medulloblastoma relapse and define rapidly progressive, therapeutically targetable disease Cancer Cell

**The study was also funded by Sparks, The Brain Tumour Charity, the JGW Patterson Foundation and Christopher's Smile. The study was part of the INSTINCT network co-funded by the Brain Tumour Charity, Great Ormond Street and Children with Cancer UK.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

UCL discovery in the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria

2014-12-18
There are two main families of bacteria : those that are surrounded by a single membrane (or one outer wall) and those that are surrounded by two membranes (or two outer walls). The team of Jean-François Collet, professor at the de Duve Institute at UCL, looked at this second type of bacteria. For a bacterium to survive, it has to keep its two outer walls intact. If one of these walls is damaged, the bacterium dies. So it was vital for the UCL researchers to analyse the protection mechanisms of these bacterial "walls' (to find their weak spot), so as to be able to ...

Stem cells born out of indecision

2014-12-18
This latest research by Joshua Brickman and his research team from Danish Stem Cell Center (Danstem) at the University of Copenhagen specifically found that inhibiting or blocking stem cells ability to make a specific decision, leads to better cell growth and could lead to defined ways to differentiate stem cells. This research is the first comprehensive analysis of a pathway important for stem and cancer cell decisions known as Erk. As a result this work could contain clues to cancer treatment as well as helping to establish a platform to make stem cell treatments for ...

Trigger mechanism for recovery after spinal cord injury revealed

Trigger mechanism for recovery after spinal cord injury revealed
2014-12-18
After an incomplete spinal cord injury, the body can partially recover basic motor function. So-called muscle spindles and associated sensory circuits back to the spinal cord promote the establishment of novel neuronal connections after injury. This circuit-level mechanism behind the process of motor recovery was elucidated by Prof. Silvia Arber's research group at the Biozentrum, University of Basel and the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research. Their findings may contribute to designing novel strategies for treatment after spinal cord injuries and have ...

New research solves old mystery of silent cell death

New research solves old mystery of silent cell death
2014-12-18
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers have for the first time revealed how dying cells are hidden from the immune 'police' that patrol the body. The research answers a decades-old mystery about the death of cells, which in some situations can alert the immune system to potential danger, but in other circumstances occurs 'silently', unnoticed by immune cells. Silent cell death, or apoptosis, is a controlled way for the body to eliminate cells that may be damaged, old, or surplus to the body's requirements, without causing collateral damage. This 'normal' cell death ...

Microexons: Small fragments of genes, essential for neurone maturation

2014-12-18
This news release is available in Spanish. The genome is the cell's book of instructions. All the cells in our body contain the same genomic information but each of them "reads" the gene fragments that interest them in order to carry out their function. So, neurones, hepatocytes and cardiac cells are different although their genome is the same. In order to achieve this huge variety of functions from the same genome, the cells employ a mechanism known as alternative splicing. This enables them to combine several fragments - known as exons - from the same genes in order ...

23andMe study sketches genetic portrait of the United States

2014-12-18
Mountain View, Calif. - December 18, 2014 - 23andMe, Inc., the leading personal genetics company, today announced the publication of a study that pinpoints fine-scale differences in genetic ancestry of individuals from across the United States. Since immigrants first arrived more than four hundred years ago, the United States has served as a meeting place for peoples from different continents. This study illuminates how American history and the ongoing mixing of peoples with African, European, and American origins can be seen in our DNA. "The relationship between genomics ...

Rice study fuels hope for natural gas cars

Rice study fuels hope for natural gas cars
2014-12-18
HOUSTON - (Dec. 18, 2014) - Cars that run on natural gas are touted as efficient and environmentally friendly, but getting enough gas onboard to make them practical is a hurdle. A new study led by researchers at Rice University promises to help. Rather than shoehorn bulky high-pressure tanks like those used in buses and trucks into light vehicles, the Department of Energy (DOE) encourages scientists to look at new materials that can store compressed natural gas (CNG) at low pressure and at room temperature. Cage-like synthetic macromolecules called metal organic frameworks ...

Team develops 'cool' new method for probing how molecules fold

Team develops cool new method for probing how molecules fold
2014-12-18
LA JOLLA, CA--December 18, 2014--Collaborating scientists from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and the University of California (UC) San Diego have developed a powerful new system for studying how proteins and other biological molecules form and lose their natural folded structures. Using the new system, researchers can force a sample of molecules to unfold and refold by boosting and then dropping the temperature, so quickly that even some of the fastest molecular folding events can be tracked. "One way of studying these structures has been to make them unfold ...

Of bugs and brains

Of bugs and brains
2014-12-18
Whether you're cramming for an exam or just trying to remember where you put your car keys, learning and memory are critical functions that we constantly employ in daily life. It turns out that the structure and function of brain centers responsible for learning and memory in a wide range of invertebrate species may possibly share the same fundamental characteristics, according to a new study published in the journal Current Biology and performed by University of Arizona neuroscientists Nicholas Strausfeld, Regents' Professor in the Department of Neuroscience, part of ...

SLU research finds enzyme inhibitors suppress herpes simplex virus replication

SLU research finds enzyme inhibitors suppress herpes simplex virus replication
2014-12-18
ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis University research findings published in the December issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy report a family of molecules known as nucleotidyltransferase superfamily (NTS) enzyme inhibitors are promising candidates for new herpes virus treatments. The findings could lead to new treatment options for herpes that patients can use in conjunction with or instead of currently approved anti-viral medications like Acyclovir. Researcher Lynda A. Morrison Ph.D., professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at Saint Louis University, likened ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

A third of licensed GPs in England not working in NHS general practice

ChatGPT “thought on the fly” when put through Ancient Greek maths puzzle

Engineers uncover why tiny particles form clusters in turbulent air

GLP-1RA drugs dramatically reduce death and cardiovascular risk in psoriasis patients

Psoriasis linked to increased risk of vision-threatening eye disease, study finds

Reprogramming obesity: New drug from Italian biotech aims to treat the underlying causes of obesity

Type 2 diabetes may accelerate development of multiple chronic diseases, particularly in the early stages, UK Biobank study suggests

Resistance training may improve nerve health, slow aging process, study shows

Common and inexpensive medicine halves the risk of recurrence in patients with colorectal cancer

SwRI-built instruments to monitor, provide advanced warning of space weather events

Breakthrough advances sodium-based battery design

New targeted radiation therapy shows near-complete response in rare sarcoma patients

Does physical frailty contribute to dementia?

Soccer headers and brain health: Study finds changes within folds of the brain

Decoding plants’ language of light

UNC Greensboro study finds ticks carrying Lyme disease moving into western NC

New implant restores blood pressure balance after spinal cord injury

New York City's medical specialist advantage may be an illusion, new NYU Tandon research shows

Could a local anesthetic that doesn’t impair motor function be within reach?

1 in 8 Italian cetacean strandings show evidence of fishery interactions, with bottlenose and striped dolphins most commonly affected, according to analysis across four decades of data and more than 5

In the wild, chimpanzees likely ingest the equivalent of several alcoholic drinks every day

Warming of 2°C intensifies Arctic carbon sink but weakens Alpine sink, study finds

Bronze and Iron Age cultures in the Middle East were committed to wine production

Indian adolescents are mostly starting their periods at an earlier age than 25 years ago

Temporary medical centers in Gaza known as "Medical Points" (MPs) treat an average of 117 people daily with only about 7 staff per MP

Rates of alcohol-induced deaths among the general population nearly doubled from 1999 to 2024

PLOS One study: In adolescent lab animals exposed to cocaine, High-Intensity Interval Training boosts aversion to the drug

Scientists identify four ways our bodies respond to COVID-19 vaccines

Stronger together: A new fusion protein boosts cancer immunotherapy

Hidden brain waves as triggers for post-seizure wandering

[Press-News.org] Scientists map out how childhood brain tumors relapse