New drug prevents spread of human prostate cancer cells

Drug halts disease by turning off the 'go' switch in cancer cells

2012-04-04

(Press-News.org) CHICAGO --- A new drug developed by Northwestern Medicine scientists prevented human prostate cancer cells from spreading to other tissues without any toxic effects to normal cells or tissues. The drug turns off the "go" switch in the cancer cells and immobilizes them.

Prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in North American males. Death is mainly caused by metastasis, prostate cancer cells moving out of prostate tissue and spreading to other organs.

"This is an extremely promising new therapeutic that locks down aggressive prostate cancer cells so they don't move," said Raymond Bergan, M.D., director of experimental therapeutics for the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University. "The spread of prostate cancer is what kills men. Cancer cells have a switch that tells them to keep moving all the time. This drug turns it off."

The drug works by binding to and disabling proteins in the cancer cell that instruct it to move, said Bergan, a professor of medicine at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine and a physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

The research was presented April 3 at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2012 in Chicago by Li Xu, a research assistant professor of medicine at the Feinberg School. She helped develop the drug, along with Karl Scheidt, an associate professor of chemistry at the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.

In the study, Northwestern researchers transplanted aggressive human prostate cancer cells into mice prostate tissue and fed the mice with the new drug for five weeks. The drug inhibited movement of the cells and prevented them from metastasizing to the lung, one of the tissues to which prostate cancer spreads in men.

Xu said she conducted extensive toxicity studies, including on normal human cells, and found that the drug, called KBU2046, is nontoxic and does not cause any harmful effects.

"We envision that this drug, if shown to be effective in clinical trials, could be used to treat men diagnosed with prostate cancer, so they wouldn't need more aggressive procedures," Bergan said. "Or, the drug could augment the effectiveness of surgery and radiation."

Bergan hopes to test the drug in a clinical trial.

### END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Gladstone scientists find increased ApoE protein levels may promote Alzheimer's disease

2012-04-04

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—April 3, 2012—Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have enhanced our understanding of how a protein linked to Alzheimer's disease keeps young brains healthy, but can damage them later in life—suggesting new research avenues for treating this devastating disease. In the Journal of Neuroscience, available online today, researchers in the laboratory of Yadong Huang, MD, PhD, have uncovered the distinct roles that the apoE protein plays in young vs. aging brains. These findings, which could inform the future of Alzheimer's drug development, come at a time ...

Pollen can protect mahogany from extinction

2012-04-04

New research from the University of Adelaide could help protect one of the world's most globally threatened tree species - the big leaf mahogany - from extinction. Big leaf mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) is the most prized mahogany timber around the world. It is at risk of extinction in its native habitats because of the timber trade, particularly in Central and South America. To better understand how such a threatened species can be brought back from the brink of extinction, scientists from the University of Adelaide's Environment Institute have studied the important ...

Stomata development in plants unraveled -- a valuable discovery for environmental research

2012-04-04

Plants breathe through stomata Plant leaves are protected from drying out by an airtight wax layer. They breathe and release water through microscopic pores called stomata. Every year 40% of atmospheric CO2 and twice the volume of water found in our atmosphere pass through these pores. This means that stomata are not only important for plant development but also for our climate! It's no surprise then that these pores appear to be strictly regulated by plants. Stomata react extremely fast to internal plant signals and changes in the environment. When rain is scarce, ...

A study confirms that long commercials evoke stronger emotions

2012-04-04

What effect does a TV advert have on a viewer? How does it bring about a change in their knowledge, emotions or intentions? These questions have existed alongside advertising ever since it began. Through a psycho-physiological study developed jointly by El Bureau de la Comunicación, the Tecnalia Centre for Applied Research, and the UPV/EHU, it has been possible to measure the emotional response of a person to a series of television adverts. The aim of the study, carried out for the first time entirely in the Basque Autonomous Community (region), was to shed some light ...

Viral replication impedes the efficacy of a targeted therapy against virus-induced lymphomas

2012-04-04

Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV) is a human tumor virus and an etiological agent for Kaposi's sarcoma and primary effusion lymphoma (PEL). PELs are aggressive lymphomas with reported median survival time shorter than six months after diagnosis. Researchers at the University of Helsinki discovered that spontaneous induction of KSHV lytic replication in tumors drastically attenuated the p53-dependent apoptotic response not only to a targeted therapy (Nutlin-3) but also to genotoxic anti-cancer agents. The findings by the research groups of Päivi Ojala (Institute of ...

Serious complications after esophageal surgery cause lasting health problems in long-term survivors

2012-04-04

Oesophageal cancer is a very serious form of cancer that, if not fatal, requires extensive surgery. A new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that when serious complications arise after surgery for oesophageal cancer, many patients suffer other health problems, such as breathlessness, fatigue, insomnia and eating problems, for five years afterwards. "Patients who suffer serious post-operative complications after surgery for oesophageal cancer need very close, long-term monitoring so that any problems that arise can be identified and targeted quickly," says ...

Is bioenergy expansion harmful to wildlife?

2012-04-04

Despite the predicted environmental benefits of biofuels, converting land to grow bioenergy crops may harm native wildlife. Researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Leipzig have developed a way to study the effects of increased energy crop cultivation on farmland bird populations. "The Skylark is an indicator species for agricultural areas because it occupies many habitats of the wider countryside around the globe, breeds on the ground within fields and feeds mostly on insects" notes lead researcher, Jan Engel. "Improving the habitat suitability ...

New immune defense enzyme discovered

2012-04-04

Neutrophil granulocytes comprise important defences for the immune system. When pathogenic bacteria penetrate the body, they are the first on the scene to mobilise other immune cells via signal molecules, thereby containing the risk. To this end, they release serine proteases – enzymes that cut up other proteins to activate signal molecules. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried have now discovered a new serine protease: neutrophil serine protease 4, or NSP4. This enzyme could provide a new target for the treatment of diseases that involve ...

Are we really a nation of animal lovers?

2012-04-04

A new study has estimated that over 260,000 cats and dogs entered the care of UK rescue organisations during 2009, the first full year since the onset of the UK recession. The aim of the research was to estimate the number of cats and dogs, currently being cared for by UK welfare organisations, the proportion of time that these organisations were full to capacity and the number entering these organisations during a 12-month period. The University of Bristol study by Dr Corinna Clark and colleagues in the School of Veterinary Sciences is published in the Veterinary ...

A new application allows online statistical analysis of gene-expression data

2012-04-04

The journal Computers in Biology and Medicine has published an article on the new IT application BootstRatio, created by IDIBELL researchers. The application allows online statistical analysis of data from gene expression. It is accessible through http://regstattools.net/br and any scientist is already to use it. Researchers at the Human Molecular Genetics group at IDIBELL, led by Dr. Virginia Nunes, had a problem to provide signification to the results of statistical analyses of gene expression data. Most of the statistical calculations which are done to compare gene ...

New drug prevents spread of human prostate cancer cells

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: