Medical nanoparticles: Local treatment of lung cancer
Nanoparticles are extremely small particles that can be modified for a variety of uses in the medical field. For example, nanoparticles can be engineered to be able to transport medicines specifically to the disease site while not interfering with healthy body parts. The Munich scientists have developed nanocarriers that only release the carried drugs in lung tumour areas. The team headed by Silke Meiners, Oliver Eickelberg and Sabine van Rijt from the Comprehensive Pneumology Center (HMGU), working with colleagues from the Chemistry Department (LMU) headed by Thomas Bein, were able to show nanoparticles' selective drug release to human lung tumour tissue for the first time.
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Drug research and development more efficient than expected
Drug R&D costs have increased substantially in recent decades, while the number of new drugs has remained fairly constant, leading to concerns about the sustainability of drug R&D and question about the factors that could be responsible. To investigate the efficiency in the development of new drugs, the researchers analyzed a data set consisting of new drugs approved by the FDA. They looked at efficiency indicators that could potentially positively influence the approval of new drugs.
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Graphene shows potential as novel anti-cancer therapeutic strategy
University of Manchester scientists have used graphene to target and neutralise cancer stem cells while not harming other cells. This new development opens up the possibility of preventing or treating a broad range of cancers, using a non-toxic material. Writing in the journal Oncotarget, the team of researchers led by Professor Michael Lisanti and Dr Aravind Vijayaraghavan has shown that graphene oxide, a modified form of graphene, acts as an anti-cancer agent that selectively targets cancer stem cells (CSCs). In combination with existing treatments, this could eventually lead to tumour shrinkage as well as preventing the spread of cancer and its recurrence after treatment. However, more pre-clinical studies and extensive clinical trials will be necessary to move this forward into the clinic to ensure patient benefit.
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iManageCancer Survey: Your Opinion Counts
Would you like to contribute to the future of cancer treatment in technology? iManageCancer project is trying to find out how mobile healthcare (mHealth) and serious games might help people with chronic illnesses and in particular cancer. Significant improvements due to cancer research have led to more cancer patients being cured, and very many more enabled to live with their condition. The disease is now frequently managed as a chronic illness requiring long-term surveillance and, in some cases, maintenance treatment. As a chronic illness, however, there is an urgent need for patients and families to manage their own care.
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New test to predict the effectiveness of cancer vaccines
Cancer vaccines are designed to turn the body's own immune system specifically against tumor cells. Particularly promising are vaccines that are directed against so-called neoantigens: These are proteins that have undergone a genetic mutation in tumor cells and, therefore, differ from their counterparts in healthy cells. The tiny alteration - sometimes only a single protein building block has been changed - gives the protein on the tumor cell surface novel immunological characteristics that can be recognized as "foreign" by the immune system's T cells. Therapeutic vaccines using a short protein fragment, or peptide, specifically containing the mutated site can then direct immune cells specifically to the tumor.
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Metabolomic Discoveries launches personalized metabolomics service Kenkodo through crowdfunding platform Indiegogo
German biotech company Metabolomic Discoveries announced the launch of personalized metabolomics tool Kenkodo. Through a smartphone app and sampling kit, users will soon be able to improve their wellÂbeing. Kenkodo is available through the crowdfunding platform Indiegogo. This product offers people the possibility to track and understand the influence of factors, such as nutrition, sports and stress on their metabolism. Through lifestyle changes, shifts in the metabolism become measurable and can be optimized accordingly. Kenkodo builds the biochemical fingerprint of every single participant.
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Proceedings of the 6th International Advanced Research Workshop on In Silico Oncology and Cancer Investigation - The CHIC Project Workshop (IARWISOCI)
On November 3-4, 2014 the 6th International Advanced Research Workshop on In Silico Oncology and Cancer Investigation - The CHIC Project Workshop (IARWISOCI) was held in Athens, Greece. This IEEE-EMBS technically co-sponsored conference proved an excellent opportunity for contributing to the shaping and advancement of the emerging discipline of in silico oncology. The presented papers deal with the modelling of tumour dynamics and response to treatment from the biochemical to the macroscopic level and from basic science to clinics via information technology and legal and ethical considerations. They have been contributed by top researchers and international research groups active in the field. This year's workshop was dedicated to Aristotle and special focus was put on the collection, the processing, the exploitation and the legal and ethical aspects of the sine qua non multiscale clinical data which represent the Aristotelian observable reality.
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