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In a study, researchers explore a surprising phenomenon in which high doses of radiation cause growth in existing metastatic tumors that weren't directly treated with radiation. Scientists had previously observed that radiation can cause distant tumors to shrink after radiation, known as the "abscopal effect." The researchers dubbed the opposite response the "badscopal effect." They believe this unexpected response happens because high-dose radiation increases the production of a protein called amphiregulin by tumor cells that are directly treated with radiation. High amounts of amphiregulin weaken the immune system's ability to fight cancer and make cancer cells better at protecting themselves....

The transformation of healthy cells into invasive colorectal tumors is an extraordinarily complex process involving numerous molecular mechanisms, according to cancer biologists who have discovered that low levels of a single enzyme strongly influence the pathway to malignancy. The team highlighted an enzyme named GPT1, which stands for glutamic-pyruvic transaminase 1. Colorectal cancer is characterized by decreased amounts of GPT1, a metabolic enzyme with apparent functions in cancer progression. Li Xiong confirmed decreased GPT1 in CRC patients and demonstrated in a series of experiments that low expression of GPT1 was associated with worse CRC prognoses. "We analyzed transcriptomic profile changes...

When Donald Trump unveiled a $500bn plan to spearhead a cancer vaccine, many greeted it as another of his grandiose proposals. But not Anna Bochenski. The 53-year-old New Yorker is one of the few people in the world who knows how life-changing the shots can be. The administrative worker was told she had just months to live in January 2021 after her aggressive breast cancer returned and stopped responding to treatment. After a six-year battle with the disease, which included numerous surgeries and 32 brutal rounds of radiation, the cancer had spread to her ribs and spine, where it had...

Scanning electron microscope image of Caltech’s printed bioresorbable acoustic hydrogel microrobots. Credit: Hong Han Researchers at Caltech have developed bioresorbable acoustic microrobots (BAM) capable of delivering therapeutic drugs precisely to targeted areas within the body. These spherical hydrogel-based microrobots, equipped with magnetic nanoparticles for navigation and a drug release mechanism, have successfully shrunk bladder tumors in mice. The technology promises advancements in targeted drug delivery and precision surgery. Therapeutic Microrobots In the future, delivering therapeutic drugs precisely where they are needed in the body might be the job of miniature robots — not metal humanoids or bio-inspired machines, but tiny,...

A new study has uncovered an unexpected way cancer cells can escape the immune system, making it harder for treatments to work. The study explains how a type of cancer cell death can actually make tumors grow faster by turning off the immune system's ability to fight the cancer. Researchers focused on a form of cell death called necroptosis. Previously thought to help the immune system fight cancer, researchers found that when cancer cells die in this way, they can release a molecule called interleukin-1α. This molecule helps create an environment in the tumor that weakens the immune response, preventing...

Aserendipitous discovery may lead to a new way of fighting cancer – even tumors that are resistant to immunotherapy – by suppressing a mechanism that cancer cells use to evade the body’s immune system. “It all happened by coincidence,” explained study lead Professor Carmit Levy of Tel Aviv University, in a statement. “My lab studies both cancer and the effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun on our skin and body – both of which are known to suppress the immune system. Cancer suppresses approaching immune cells and solar radiation suppresses the skin's immune system.” “While in most cases,...

Researchers have discovered that food antigens like milk proteins help keep tumors from growing in the small intestines. Food antigens are the source of allergic reactions to foods. Ohno previously reported that food antigens activate immune cells in the small intestines, but not the large intestines. In the new study, researchers tested whether food antigens suppress tumors in the small intestines. The team began with a special kind of mouse. The mice develop tumors throughout the small and large intestines. The first experiment was fairly simple. They fed these mice normal food or antigen-free food and found that the ones...

Glioblastoma is a particularly aggressive brain tumor that at present is incurable. Half of patients die within twelve months of diagnosis. Drugs that are effective against brain tumors are difficult to find, as many cancer drugs often can't cross the blood-brain barrier to reach the brain. Researchers have now found a substance that effectively combats glioblastomas, at least in the laboratory: an antidepressant called vortioxetine. Scientists know that this inexpensive drug, which has already been approved by agencies such as the FDA in the U.S. and Swissmedic, is capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier. With pharmacoscopy, researchers can simultaneously test...

Keto, carnivore, low-carb. These are all just “fad diets,” right? Not so fast. Scientists at UC San Francisco recently published a study in Nature that showed a high-fat ketogenic diet combined with fasting restricted the growth of pancreatic tumors in mice.The study took a look at how certain tumors use ketone bodies as an energy source and that fasting and a ketogenic diet change the way messenger RNA “feeds” those tumors. Let’s take a step back for a moment and talk at a basic level about how this all works. Disclaimer: I am a mere journalist and not a doctor...

Salt could help to boost the immune defense against cancer. This is suggested by research findings. Recently, adoptive T-cell therapy in particular has developed into an effective treatment tool. In adoptive T-cell therapy, the patient's own immune cells (T cells) are isolated from the blood and modified and multiplied in the laboratory in a therapy-specific manner. They are then reinfused into the patient and destroy tumor cells. The team has now discovered one of these factors: Sodium ions—a component of sodium chloride—increase the efficiency of antitumoral T cells. The researchers were able to show that breast cancer tumors have a...

Most patients are not told that biopsy or surgical manipulation of a malignant tumor may promote its spread or metastasis. Most cancer deaths ultimately result from metastatic spread, and sometimes this spread can be initiated by the cancer biopsy or surgery. Therefore, it is crucial to minimize these effects if possible. Dr. Paul Marik inspired this Substack article, as he first told me about the potential beneficial use of propranolol just before, during, or after cancer surgery. This information is also contained in his upcoming book 2nd Edition of Cancer Care, and I encourage all readers to obtain a copy...

A clinical trial has shown that a new drug combination utilized before surgery completely eliminated or shrunk melanoma tumors in 70% of trial participants. The phase II clinical trial, NeoACTIVATE, enrolled patients with stage 3 melanoma. "We saw that about two-thirds of the patients in one arm of the trial had no remaining tumor at all at the time of their surgery," said Matthew S. Block, M.D., Ph.D. This was the first clinical trial to explore using the combination of targeted therapy and immunotherapy before surgery in patients with and without the type of melanoma that has a mutation in...

Far-left Squad member Rep. Cori Bush performed multiple miracles as a religious faith healer, according to her autobiography. “As I learned how to apply God’s Word to my life in new ways, I better understood the power that was already residing in me,” Bush wrote of her abilities in “The Forerunner: A Story of Pain and Perseverance in America.” “It was there, waiting for me to acknowledge it, to use it. I had the confidence to heal others with God’s power.” Bush relayed a story of a toddler she met during a prayer service in St. Louis. “The child had...

Taking vitamin or mineral supplements could be feeding tumours and allowing them to grow, suggests new research. Common antioxidants such as vitamins A, C, and selenium and zinc when taken additionally can all cause blood vessels in cancer to grow. The discovery has come as a surprise as antioxidants were believed to be protective. The researchers said that natural levels in food were fine but if people take supplements containing antioxidants as well then the extra amount can fuel tumour growth. The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, was carried out by the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. It...

* The pill works by killing a mutated protein which helps cancers to repair * Scientists hope it can be used as a standalone therapy or alongside treatments Scientists have developed a holy grail cancer drug that kills all solid cancer tumors while leaving other cells unharmed. The new molecule targets a protein present in most cancers that helps tumors grow and multiply in the body. It is significant because this protein - the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) - was previously thought to be 'undruggable'. The drug was tested on 70 different cancer cells in the lab - including...

Diagnosed with Stage 4 follicular lymphoma at the age of 45, Meta's Nicola Mendelsohn overcame the darkest moments of her life, fought back and now helps others through her international Follicular Lymphoma Foundation and a Facebook support group.A social media honcho and mum-of-four, Nicola Mendelsohn’s life was in full swing in 2016 when she unexpectedly discovered a pea-sized lump at her groin while showering. She called a girlfriend, a doctor, who arranged for her to see a specialist in London, United Kingdom, where she and her family were living then. “He thought I was fine. I was leaving and literally...

Overexpression of metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 (GRM1) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple cancers. Riluzole, an inhibitor of glutamate release, showed synergistic antitumor activity in combination with the multi-kinase inhibitor sorafenib in preclinical models. In a phase I trial, researchers identified the toxicity profile, dose-limiting toxicities, maximum tolerated dose (MTD), and pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of riluzole combined with sorafenib in patients with advanced cancers. "Riluzole functions as an inhibitor of GRM1 signaling through antagonism of glutamate release, and sorafenib is a multi-kinase inhibitor targeting both the MAPK and PI3K/AKT pathways through the inhibition of RAF1, ARAF and,...

What is in the Pfizer vaccines? Recently, Dr David Nixon, a Brisbane GP, decided to find out, putting droplets of vaccine and the blood of vaccinated patients under a dark-field microscope. That’s a more radical decision than it might sound. According to Sasha Latypova, a scientist with 25 years of experience in clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies, the contract between Pfizer and the US government prohibits independent researchers from studying the vaccines. They claim it would ‘divert’ these precious resources away from their intended use fulfilling an ‘urgent’ need. Is that true in Australia? Who knows? All the Commonwealth Department...

Pancreatic cancer tumors are being missed on CT and MRI scans, narrowing the window for life-saving curative surgery. The study analyzed post-imaging pancreatic cancer (PIPC) cases, where a patient undergoes imaging that fails to diagnose pancreatic cancer but is then later diagnosed with the disease. Results revealed over a third (36%) of PIPC cases were potentially avoidable, demonstrating a poor detection rate for a cancer that has alarming patient outcomes. UK researchers studied the records of 600 patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer between 2016 and 2021. Of those, 46 (7.7%) patients failed to have their cancer diagnosed through their first...

A research team led by Prof. Liu Qingsong and Liu Jing from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has recently found that nintedanib, a multikinase inhibitor of the receptor tyrosine kinase FGFR/VEGFR/PDGFR, could be used in the treatment of drug-resistant gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). Results were published in Molecular Oncology. GISTs are mesenchymal tumors that usually occur in the gastrointestinal tract. Nearly 85% of GISTs bear oncogenic mutations in mast/stem cell growth factor receptor (KIT). As the first-line therapy, imatinib has significantly improves GIST patient survival. However, most patients eventually experience disease...