Now a virus
that kills cancer cells!
A
virus can be used to kill triple-negative breast cancer cells and tumours grown
from these cells in mice, finds a new research. Understanding how the virus
kills cancer cells may lead to new treatments for breast cancer, according to
Penn State College of Medicine researchers. Adeno-associated virus type 2
(AAV2) infects humans, but is not known to cause sickness. ‘Treatment of breast
cancer remains difficult because there are multiple signalling pathways that
promote tumour growth and develop resistance to treatment,’ said Craig Meyers,
professor of microbiology and immunology at Pennsylvania State University in
the US.
In
prior studies, the researchers tested the virus on a variety of breast cancers
that represent degrees of aggressiveness on human papillomavirus-positive
cervical cancer cells. The virus initiated apoptosis – natural cell death – in
cancer cells without affecting healthy cells. Treatment of breast cancer
differs from patient to patient due to differences in tumours. A
triple-negative breast cancer is typically aggressive. ‘There is an urgent and
ongoing need for the development of novel therapies which efficiently target
triple-negative breast cancers,’ Meyers said.
In the current study, the researchers tested AAV2 on a cell-line representative of triple-negative breast cancer. The AAV2 killed 100 percent of the cells in the laboratory by activating proteins called caspases, which are essential for the cell’s natural death.
In the current study, the researchers tested AAV2 on a cell-line representative of triple-negative breast cancer. The AAV2 killed 100 percent of the cells in the laboratory by activating proteins called caspases, which are essential for the cell’s natural death.
AAV2
mediated cell killing of multiple breast cancer cell lines representing both
low and high grades of cancer and targeted the cancer cells independent of
hormone or growth factor classification. ‘These results are significant, since
tumour death in response to therapy is also used as the measure of an effective
chemotherapeutic,’ Meyers said. The findings appeared in the journal Cancer
Biology & Therapy.
Source:
www.thehealthsite.com
26.06.2014
Are heart
tests likely to give you cancer?
Radiation
from standard X-rays do not significantly raise cancer risks for young
children, in general, but children undergoing more complex procedures with
higher radiation have higher risks, says a study. ‘Cancer risk overall is
relatively low, but we hope that this awareness will encourage providers to
limit radiation exposure in children, when alternative procedures can offer the
same benefit with less radiation,’ said Jason Johnson, an assistant professor
at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in the US.
Researchers
reviewed medical records to find the most common imaging procedures, calculated
how much radiation organs absorb during each procedure and then used a report
from National Academy of Sciences in the US to analyse lifetime cancer risks
based on the amounts of each procedure’s exposure. Lifetime cancer risk
increases ranged from 0.002 percent for chest X-rays to 0.4 percent for complex
CT scans and cardiac catheterisations. The study appeared in the journal Circulation.
Source:
www.thehealthsite.com
26.06.2014
Anything worth doing is worth doing
poorly until you learn to do it well
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