Research Focus

Skin Cancer Protein Identified in Mice

Scientists have identified a protein that suppresses skin cancer in mice. Researchers bred mice to lack a copy of the gene that makes the protein alpha-catenin. These mice developed a type of skin cancer called squamous cell carcinoma, the second most common form of skin cancer. Over 700,000 new cases of squamous cell carcinoma are diagnosed each year. Researchers also discovered the mechanism...

Targeting Genes to Stop Breast Tumors

Some breast cancers do not respond to currently available chemotherapy. These tumors can contain cancer cells with stem cell-like properties which lack the molecular receptors that current medicines target. In 'triple-negative' breast cancers, cells lack molecular receptors for the hormones estrogen and progesterone and so they cannot be treated with breast cancer treatments that work by...

Vaccine Against Streptococcus Pneumonia

Salmonella poisoning typically causes diarrhea. Now a modified salmonella is being trialed as a vaccine against Streptococcus pneumonia. Streptococcus pneumonia causes pneumonia, meningitis and bacteremia and is a leading cause of childhood deaths globally. The new vaccine use Salmonella bacteria as couriers to deliver key antigens that trigger an immune response against the target pathogen....

Vaccine Shrinks Prostate Tumors in Mice

A vaccine containing a broad spectrum of tumor antigens delivered in a virus vector successfully treated 8 out of 10 mice with prostate cancer. Pieces of DNA from normal cells were added to a virus vector to make an anti-cancer vaccine. Injecting this vaccine into mice stimulated an immune response that ‘cured established tumors.' Previous attempts at creating vaccines against cancers have...

‘Trojan Horse’ Brain Cancer Treatment Increases Lifespan

A novel ‘Trojan horse' method of treating brain cancer has increased the survival time of mice by one half. A cancer-killing virus was introduced into neural stem cells (NSCs) and these infected cells were introduced into mouse brain tumors. This increased the average lifespan of the mice from 63 to 93 days. The mice had been injected with a human form of brain cancer called glioblastoma, the...

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