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

Department of Defense grant awarded to study metastasis in bladder cancer

2023-10-04
(Press-News.org) A Weill Cornell Medicine researcher has received a $610,000 grant from the Department of Defense to investigate the mechanisms causing DNA instability that potentially drives metastasis in bladder cancer. The research also aims to identify methods to intercept this spread. The Peer-Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP) Idea Award funds innovative, high-risk, high-reward basic cancer research. One of the goals of the PRCRP program is to decrease the burden of cancer on service members and their families, veterans, and the American public.

 “Approximately 40% of patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer develop metastases, where the cancer spreads to other organs, including lymph nodes, liver, lungs and bone. Metastases are the main cause of death in these patients, so understanding the mechanism underlying metastatic spread and the heterogeneity of metastatic tumors will be key to treating patients,” said the principal investigator, Dr. Bishoy Faltas, director of bladder cancer research at the Englander Institute for Precision Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, the Gellert Family-John P. Leonard, M.D. Research Scholar and an assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine.

He is collaborating in this study with other researchers, including Dr. Vivek Mittal and Dr. Olivier Elemento at Weill Cornell Medicine and Dr. Samuel Bakhoum at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Dr. Faltas has been studying APOBEC3 enzymes, which are produced widely in human cells and induce mutations in DNA. This activity is at least in part an innate defense against infecting retroviruses, such as HIV. The body’s cells are thought to have safety mechanisms for protecting their chromosomal DNA from these enzymes. However, Dr. Faltas and other researchers have found evidence in recent years that some cancers, including bladder cancers, co-opt these enzymes to boost their mutation rates—making it easier for them to evolve. This genomic instability may contribute to the cancer’s ability to spread to other organs and establish a new tumor. In this project, he will explore the role of individual members of this enzyme family in driving bladder tumor metastasis and the possibility of targeting these enzymes to prevent metastases.

“If we can prevent metastases, it would transform bladder cancer into a localized curable disease,” said Dr. Faltas, who is also a member of the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine and a medical oncologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

Many Weill Cornell Medicine physicians and scientists maintain relationships and collaborate with external organizations to foster scientific innovation and provide expert guidance. The institution makes these disclosures public to ensure transparency. For this information, see the profiles for Dr. Bishoy Faltas and Dr. Olivier Elemento.

The grant reported in this newsroom story was awarded by the United States Department of Defense through the peer-reviewed cancer research program (PRCRP), grant number W81XWH-22-PRCRP-IA.

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Simultaneous large wildfires will increase in Western U.S.

2023-10-04
Contacts: David Hosansky, UCAR/NCAR Manager of Media Relations hosansky@ucar.edu 720-470-2073 Audrey Merket, UCAR/NCAR Science Writer and Public Information Officer amerket@ucar.edu 303-497-8293  Simultaneous outbreaks of large wildfires will become more frequent in the Western United States this century as the climate warms, putting major strains on efforts to fight fires, new research shows. The new study, led by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), focused on wildfires of 1,000 acres or larger. It found that wildfire seasons in which ...

New UCF technology could reduce lag, improve reliability of online gaming, meetings

2023-10-04
Whether you’re battling foes in a virtual arena or collaborating with colleagues across the globe, lag-induced disruptions can be a major hindrance to seamless communication and immersive experiences. That’s why researchers with the University of Central Florida’s College of Optics and Photonics (CREOL) and the University of California, Los Angeles, have developed new technology to make data transfer over optical fiber communication faster and more efficient. Their new development, a novel class of optical modulators, is detailed in a new study published recently in the journal Nature Communications. Modulators can be thought of as like a light switch that controls certain ...

Rice alum Louis Brus awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Rice alum Louis Brus awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry
2023-10-04
Rice University alumnus Louis Brus (’65) has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the “discovery and development of quantum dots,” nanosized particles with unique properties “that now spread their light from television screens and LED lamps,” according to a Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announcement today. Brus, who started his undergraduate education at Rice in 1961, shares the distinction with Moungi Bawendi and Alexei Ekimov. Their work has been crucial to the development of nanotechnology, which has helped drive major computing ...

UGDH in clinical oncology and cancer biology

UGDH in clinical oncology and cancer biology
2023-10-04
“Given the potential challenges of directly inhibiting UGDH, therapeutic strategies may extend to targeting downstream pathways and upstream substrates.”  A new review paper was published in Oncotarget's Volume 14 on September 28, 2023, entitled, “UDP-glucose dehydrogenase (UGDH) in clinical oncology and cancer biology.” UDP-glucose-6-dehydrogenase (UGDH) is a cytosolic, hexameric enzyme that converts UDP-glucose to UDP-glucuronic acid (UDP-GlcUA), a key reaction in hormone and xenobiotic metabolism and in the production of extracellular matrix precursors.  In this review, researchers Meghan J. Price, Annee D. Nguyen, Jovita K. Byemerwa, ...

Prehistoric people occupied upland regions of inland Spain in even the coldest periods of the last Ice Age

Prehistoric people occupied upland regions of inland Spain in even the coldest periods of the last Ice Age
2023-10-04
Paleolithic human populations survived even in the coldest and driest upland parts of Spain, according to a study published October 4, 2023 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Manuel Alcaraz-Castaño of the University of Alcalá, Spain, Javier Aragoncillo-del Rió of the Molina-Alto Tajo UNESCO Global Geopark, Spain and colleagues. Research into ancient hunter-gatherer populations of the Iberian Peninsula has mainly focused on coastal regions, with relatively little investigation into the inland. A classic hypothesis has been that the cold and dry conditions of inland Iberia ...

Antimicrobials don't appear to help pet dogs with uncomplicated diarrhea - so should likely be prescribed less often by vets - according to new causal inference study

Antimicrobials dont appear to help pet dogs with uncomplicated diarrhea - so should likely be prescribed less often by vets - according to new causal inference study
2023-10-04
Antimicrobials don't appear to help pet dogs with uncomplicated diarrhea - so should likely be prescribed less often by vets - according to new causal inference study ### Article URL:  https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0291057 Article Title: Target trial emulation: Do antimicrobials or gastrointestinal nutraceuticals prescribed at first presentation for acute diarrhoea cause a better clinical outcome in dogs under primary veterinary care in the UK? Author Countries: UK Funding: CP is supported at the RVC ...

Adoption of vegan dog and cat diets could have environmental benefits

Adoption of vegan dog and cat diets could have environmental benefits
2023-10-04
A new analysis estimates a variety of potential benefits for environmental sustainability—for instance, reduced freshwater consumption and greenhouse gas emissions—that could result from switching all pet dogs and cats in the US or around the world to nutritionally sound, vegan diets. Andrew Knight of Griffith University, Australia, presents these calculations in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on October 4, 2023. The livestock industry has environmental impacts, such as land and freshwater ...

Being a vegetarian may be partly in your genes

Being a vegetarian may be partly in your genes
2023-10-04
First fully peer-reviewed, indexed study to look at link between strict vegetarianism and genetics More people would like to be vegetarian than actually are. ‘We think it’s because there is something hard-wired here that people may be missing’ Findings open the door to further studies that could have important implications regarding dietary recommendations and the production of meat substitutes CHICAGO --- From Impossible Burger to “Meatless Mondays,” going meat-free is certainly in vogue. But a person’s genetic makeup plays ...

Hospital superbugs: Could one vaccine rule them all?

2023-10-04
What if a vaccine, given to patients just before or after arriving at the hospital, could protect them against lethal superbugs that lurk in healthcare settings? That’s the premise behind an experimental vaccine invented by a USC-led team and patented by the university. Researchers designed the formula to prevent serious infections from drug-resistant pathogens. A new study shows that a single dose, administered in mouse models, put immune cells into "Incredible Hulk" mode, providing rapid protection against eight different bacteria and fungi species. “It’s an early warning system. ...

New wound healing research by Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine produces full thickness human bioprinted skin

New wound healing research by Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine produces full thickness human bioprinted skin
2023-10-04
WINSTON-SALEM, NC – October 4, 2023  - A research paper published today in Science Translational Medicine presents a significant breakthrough in the area of skin regeneration and wound healing by researchers at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM). The study, titled "Bioprinted Skin with Multiple Cell Types Promotes Skin Regeneration, Vascularization, and Epidermal Rete Ridge Formation in Full-Thickness Wounds," shows the successful development of bioprinted skin that ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

From camera to lab: Dr. Etienne Sibille transforms brain aging and depression research

Depression rates in LGBTQIA+ students are three times higher than their peers, new research suggests

Most parents don’t ask about firearms in the homes their kids visit

Beer-only drinkers’ diets are worse than wine drinkers

Eco-friendly biomass pretreatment method yields efficient biofuels and adsorbents

How graph convolutions amplify popularity bias for recommendation?

New lignin-based hydrogel breakthrough for wound healing and controlled drug release

Enhancing compatibility and biodegradability of PLA/biomass composites via forest residue torrefaction

Time alone heightens ‘threat alert’ in teenagers – even when connecting on social media

Study challenges long-held theories on how migratory birds navigate 

Unlocking the secrets of ketosis

AI analysis of PET/CT images can predict side effects of immunotherapy in lung cancer

Making an impact. Research studies a new side of helmet safety: faceguard failures

Specific long term condition combinations have major role in NHS ‘winter pressures’

Men often struggle with transition to fatherhood amid lack of targeted information and support

More green space linked to fewer preventable deaths in most deprived areas of UK

Immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab improves outcomes for patients with soft tissue sarcoma

A formula for life? New model calculates chances of intelligent beings in our Universe and beyond

Could a genetic flaw be the key to stopping people craving sugary treats?

Experts urge complex systems approach to assess A.I. risks

Fossil fuel CO2 emissions increase again in 2024

Winners of Applied Microbiology International Horizon Awards 2024 announced

A toolkit for unraveling the links between intimate partner violence, trauma and substance misuse

Can everyday physical activity improve cognitive health in middle age?

Updated guidance reaffirms CPR with breaths essential for cardiac arrest following drowning

Study reveals medical boards rarely discipline physician misinformation

New treatment helps children with rare spinal condition regain ability to walk

'Grow Your Own' teacher prep pipeline at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette funded by US Department of Education

Lab-grown human immune system uncovers weakened response in cancer patients

More than 5 million Americans would be eligible for psychedelic therapy, study finds

[Press-News.org] Department of Defense grant awarded to study metastasis in bladder cancer