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Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research, Cancer Treatment, Immuno-Oncology, Immunotherapy for Cancer, Uncategorized

How the Presence of Estrogen Protects Women from Gastric Inflammation Leading to Cancer

Advanced Cancer Research
Advanced Cancer Research

In the past, scientists have attributed gender discrepancies in cancer rates to lifestyle differences. Recent evidence strongly indicates that the cause may actually lie in biological differences instead.

This theory was bolstered by the results of an MIT study involving male mice infected with H. pylori, a bacterium that can lead to gastric cancer. More than 50 percent of people around the globe are infected with H. pylori, and while many remain asymptomatic, gastric cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide.

How Gastric Cancer Develops

H. pylori infections are controlled by the body’s immune system, but a common side effect is gastritis, which is an inflammation of the stomach. The result is conditions that lead to the development of gastric cancer.

Studies have indicated that estrogen can protect women from gastritis, lowering their gastric cancer risk. Conversely, Tamoxifen and other drugs that block estrogen have been linked to higher risk of gastric cancer in women.

Testing the Theory

The mice in the MIT study were treated with estrogen, Tamoxifen or both. None of them developed cancer despite a prior history of gastritis, suggesting that Tamoxifen in the stomach may mimic rather than block estrogen. In the untreated control group, 40 percent of the mice developed gastric cancer.

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Cancer Research, Cancer Treatment, Cancer Vaccine, Immuno-Oncology, Immunotherapy for Cancer, Uncategorized

Scientists Uncover a Key Step in Lung Cancer Progression Which May Lead to New Treatments

Advanced Cancer Research
Advanced Cancer Research

Approximately 40 percent of lung cancer cases in the United States involve an aggressive form called adenocarcinoma. Researchers recently identified a vital step in this cancer’s development that could be the key to successful early cancer treatment.

The Path from Benign to Malignant

Lung adenocarcinoma gets its name from adenomas, which are a form of benign tumors. Scientists believe that lung adenocarcinomas begin as adenomas that transition to the more aggressive type.

A team of researchers at MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research set out to study the process behind the change from benign to malignant. According to lead author Tuomas Tammela, at some point the tumor cells begin acting like stem cells, allowing for rapid reproduction.

Flipping the Switch

Wnt is a signaling pathway that maintains cells in a stem cell-like state. The team focused on the activity of this pathway in a group of mice programmed to develop lung adenomas that were likely to progress to adenocarcinomas.

While they found that the Wnt pathway was not active in the adenomas, about five to 10 percent of the cells turned it on during the transition. When the mice received cancer treatment that interfered with the Wnt proteins, tumor growth was halted and the mice lived 50 percent longer.

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Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Treatment, Immunotherapy for Cancer, Uncategorized

Built to Spread, Cancer May Change Genome to Proliferate More Easily

Stop Cancer
Stop Cancer

Researchers already know that cancer cells are often able to evade detection by the body’s disease-fighting immune system. A recent study shows they may also streamline their genomes for faster replication.

The good news? This information can be used to predict whether a tumor will be vulnerable to DNA-damaging immunotherapy for cancer.

What Is Ribosomal DNA?

Ribosomal DNA, which is present in both healthy and cancerous cells, is the key. This DNA carries the code for ribosomes, which produce the proteins that are responsible for many cell functions.

Copies of these DNA sequences are subject to constant expansion and contraction. A research team at the Stowers Institute, led by Jennifer L. Gerton, Ph.D., set out to show that cancer cells would select for expansion for more rapid proliferation.

A Surprising Discovery

Amazingly, after examining DNA in normal and cancer cells in both humans and mice, the team discovered that the cancer cells held fewer copies of ribosomal DNA. Despite this fact, the cells were able to efficiently make more ribosomal RNA and synthesize more protein.

Dr. Gerton theorizes that less DNA to copy enables faster replication. The side effect of this downsizing is a greater sensitivity to DNA damage, which Dr. Gerton’s team demonstrated by treating the cancer cells with four different DNA-damaging drugs.

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Cancer Research, News

Zika Virus and Brain Cancer – New Research is Underway

Could There be a Connection Between Zika and Brain Cancer?
Could There be a Connection Between Zika and Brain Cancer?

The Zika virus is back in the news, but this time the stories are positive. Researchers in the UK are planning a groundbreaking test to determine whether the Zika virus can destroy brain tumor cells.

Thinking Outside the Box

Cancer Research UK uses its Pioneer Awards to encourage innovation that could lead to game-changing new methods in the fight against cancer. Dr. Harry Bulstrode of the University of Cambridge is the most recent recipient.

The target of Dr. Bulstrode’s test is glioblastoma, the most aggressive and commonly occurring form of brain cancer. Laboratory research will be conducted on tumor cells in mice.

Why the Zika Virus?

Immunotherapy for cancer and other current treatments have two major drawbacks:

• The treatments are unable to cross the blood-brain barrier.

• Low doses must be administered to avoid harming healthy tissue.

The Zika virus has neither of these restrictions. It can cross the blood-brain barrier and target cancer cells rather than healthy ones.

While Zika virus infection in pregnant women causes severe disabilities in babies by attacking stem cells in developing brains, it generally causes only mild flu-like symptoms in adults who have fully developed brains.

The crucial difference is that glioblastoma cells have a similar makeup to cells in developing brains. Dr. Bulstrode is hopeful that the Zika virus can be used to attack the tumor cells and spare healthy tissue.

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Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research, Cancer Treatment, Immuno-Oncology, Immunotherapy, Immunotherapy for Cancer, Uncategorized

Immunotherapy: A “Fundamental Change” in Cancer Treatment

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Medical Research Has Validated that Immunotherapy Works to Fight Cancer
Medical Research Has Validated that Immunotherapy Works to Fight Cancer

As medical researchers have waged a decades-long battle to find a cure for cancer, the possibility of using a patient’s own immune system to fight tumors has been an exciting but unattainable dream. Today that dream is becoming reality with immunotherapy for cancer treatment.

“The Medical Equivalent of Splitting the Atom”

Traditional cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation are designed to attack tumors directly. In contrast, immunotherapy aims to boost the power of a patient’s own immune system to battle cancer.

Dr. Jedd Wolchok, chief of melanoma and immunotherapeutics services at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City, refers to immunotherapy as a “fundamental change” in the approach to cancer treatment. Billions of dollars are being invested to fund hundreds of trials in which cancer patients anxiously plead to participate.

How Does Immunotherapy Work?

Your immune system is a complex network of cells, tissues and biochemicals that protect your body against illnesses caused by viruses, bacteria and other foreign substances. Cancer is particularly stubborn because it often evades detection by the immune system, allowing tumors to grew unchecked.

Immunotherapy comes in two basic forms:

  • Immune cells are removed from a patient, reprogrammed to fight cancer cells, and returned back into the patient’s bloodstream.
  • Checkpoint inhibitors are drugs that block the mechanisms used by cancer cells to shut down the immune system.

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Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research, Cancer Treatment, Immuno-Oncology, Immunotherapy, Uncategorized

Identification of Specific T Cell Presence May Boost Lung Cancer Immunotherapy Treatment Success

New Cancer Research on T Cells
New Cancer Research on T-Cells for Lung Cancer

While immunotherapy for cancer has been a breakthrough for more effective treatment, the challenge is determining which patients will receive the most benefit. A joint US-UK study recently made a discovery that could help solve the problem for lung cancer patients.

Fighting Lung Cancer with T-Cells

The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Southampton and La Jolla (CA) Institute for Allergy and Immunology. The team focused on lung cancer, which is the most common cause of cancer deaths in both countries.

Findings showed that lung cancer patients with larger quantities of tissue-resident memory T-cells in their tumors had a 34 percent greater chance of survival. In addition to serving as protection for the patient, these T-cells produce molecules that attack and destroy cancer cells.

This process corresponds nicely with immunotherapy for cancer, which works by boosting the body’s own natural defense mechanisms against disease. Testing lung cancer patients for levels of tissue-resident memory T-cells can provide an indication of the likelihood that they will benefit from immunotherapy.

Understanding the Role of the Immune System and Immunotherapy

Dr. Justine Alford of Cancer Research UK spoke about the importance of such studies to gain insight into the interaction between cancer cells, the immune system and immunotherapy. She adds that research could lead to more personalized treatments for patients with lung cancer and other forms that are difficult to treat.

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