Dynamic DNA helps ward off gene damage, study reveals
Researchers have identified properties in DNA’s protective structure that could transform the way scientists think about the human genome. Molecules involved in DNA's supportive scaffolding - once thought to be fixed - go through dynamic and responsive changes to shield against mutations, the research shows.
Read more ...
New chemotherapy approach offers breast cancer patients a better quality of life
The chemotherapy drug capecitabine gives patients a better quality of life and is as effective at preventing breast cancer from returning as the alternative regimen called CMF, when given following epirubicin. These are the results of a clinical trial part-funded by Cancer Research UK and published in The Lancet Oncology. Around 4,400 patients on the TACT2 clinical trial were treated with the chemotherapy drug epirubicin followed by either capecitabine or CMF, after surgery.
Read more ...
Bacteria used as factories to produce cancer drugs
Researchers at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability in Denmark have developed a method of producing P450 enzymes - used by plants to defend against predators and microbes - in bacterial cell factories. The process could facilitate the production of large quantities of the enzymes, which are also involved in the biosynthesis of active ingredients of cancer drugs.
Read more ...
How killer cells take out tumors
The promising drug is known as F8-TNF. When injected into the bloodstream, it lures killer cells from the body's immune system towards sarcomas. The killer cells then destroy the tumours. Researchers from ETH Zurich, led by Professor Dario Neri at the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, developed F8-TNF four years ago. Since then, they have been able to show that it can completely cure sarcomas in mice when combined with a chemotherapeutic agent.
Read more ...
Internet withdrawal increases heart rate and blood pressure
Scientists and clinicians from Swansea and Milan have found that some people who use the internet a lot experience significant physiological changes such as increased heart rate and blood pressure when they finish using the internet. The study involved 144 participants, aged 18 to 33 years, having their heart rate and blood pressure measured before and after a brief internet session.
Read more ...
Some heart attack patients may not benefit from beta blockers
New research challenges established medical practice that all heart attack patients should be on beta blockers. The study - by a research team at the University of Leeds - looked at patients who had a heart attack but did not suffer heart failure - a complication of a heart attack where the heart muscle is damaged and ceases to function properly. It found that heart attack patients who did not have heart failure did not live any longer after being given beta blockers - yet around 95% of patients who fall into this category end up on the medication.
Read more ...
Isolated Greek villages reveal genetic secrets that protect against heart disease
A genetic variant that protects the heart against cardiovascular disease has been discovered by researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and their collaborators. Reported today in Nature Communications, the cardioprotective variant was found in an isolated Greek population, who are known to live long and healthy lives despite having a diet rich in animal fat.
Read more ...