Laboratory Equipment

New Options for Breast Cancer Surgery

Treating breast cancer almost always involves surgery, and for years the choice was just having the lump or the whole breast removed. Now, new approaches are dramatically changing the way these operations are done, giving women more options, faster treatment, smaller scars, fewer long-term side effects and better cosmetic results.

It has led to a new specialty — “oncoplastic” surgery — combining oncology, which focuses on cancer treatment, and plastic surgery to restore appearance.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/05/new-options-breast-cancer-surgery

FDA Calls for Cancer Warnings on Tanning Beds

Indoor tanning beds would come with new warnings about the risk of cancer and be subject to more stringent federal oversight under a proposal unveiled by the Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA has regulated tanning beds and sun lamps for over 30 years, but for the first time ever the agency says those devices should not be used by people under age 18. The agency wants that warning on pamphlets, catalogues and websites that promote indoor tanning. And regulators are also proposing that manufacturers meet certain safety and design requirements, including timers and limits on radiation emitted.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/05/fda-calls-cancer-warnings-tanning-beds

Researchers Find New Target for Cancer Treatment

Researchers have uncovered mutations in the phosphatase Wip1 that enable cancer cells to foil the tumor suppressor p53, according to a study in The Journal of Cell Biology. The results could provide a new target for the treatment of certain cancers.

Like a battlefield surgeon who has to decide which casualties can be saved, p53 performs triage on cells with injured DNA. If the damage is serious, p53 spurs the cells to die or stop proliferating. But after milder hits, p53 activates a DNA damage response (DDR) mechanism, which instigates repairs, and temporarily prevent cells from advancing any farther in the cell cycle. Once cells have mended their DNA, the phosphatase Wip1 enables them to re-enter the cell cycle by shutting down p53 and DDR proteins. Because p53 and the DDR stymie cancer cells, it’s no surprise that the rogue cells find ways to circumvent this protection. More than half of all cancers accrue mutations in the p53 gene, for example. Now, researchers from the Czech Republic and the Netherlands tested whether some cells instead carry mutations in the PPM1D gene, which encodes Wip1, to shut down p53.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/05/researchers-find-new-target-cancer-treatment

New Imaging Tech is Poised to Reveal Cell Secrets

Researchers have married two biological imaging technologies, creating a new way to learn how good cells go bad.

“Let’s say you have a large population of cells,” says Corey Neu, an assistant professor in Purdue Univ.’s Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering. “Just one of them might metastasize or proliferate, forming a cancerous tumor. We need to understand what it is that gives rise to that one bad cell.”

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/04/new-imaging-tech-poised-reveal-cell-secrets

Low-Dose Aspirin Halts Some Breast Cancers

Regular use of low-dose aspirin may prevent the progression of breast cancer, according to results of a study by researchers at the Kansas City VA Medical Center and the Univ. of Kansas Medical Center.

The study found that aspirin slowed the growth of breast cancer cell lines in the lab and significantly reduced the growth of tumors in mice. The age-old headache remedy also exhibits the ability to prevent tumor cells from spreading.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/04/low-dose-aspirin-halts-some-breast-cancers

Caffeine Key to Future Cancer Treatments

Researchers from the Univ. of Alberta are abuzz after using fruit flies to find new ways of taking advantage of caffeine’s lethal effects on cancer cells — results that could one day be used to advance cancer therapies for people.

Previous research has established that caffeine interferes with processes in cancer cells that control DNA repair, a finding that has generated interest in using the stimulant as a chemotherapy treatment. But given the toxic nature of caffeine at high doses, researchers from the faculties of medicine and dentistry and science instead opted to use it to identify genes and pathways responsible for DNA repair.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/04/caffeine-key-future-cancer-treatments

Chicken-Killing Virus Fights Prostate Cancer

A study at Virginia Tech has identified a chicken-killing virus as a promising treatment for prostate cancer in humans.

Researchers have discovered that a genetically engineered Newcastle disease virus, which harms chickens but not humans, kills prostate cancer cells of all kinds, including hormone-resistant cancer cells.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/04/chicken-killing-virus-fights-prostate-cancer

Enzyme Levels Key to Lowering Chemo Side Effects

New research from MIT may allow scientists to develop a test that can predict the severity of side effects of some common chemotherapy agents in individual patients, allowing doctors to tailor treatments to minimize the damage.

The study focused on powerful cancer drugs known as alkylating agents, which damage DNA by attaching molecules containing carbon atoms to it. Found in tobacco smoke and in byproducts of fuel combustion, these compounds can actually cause cancer. However, because they can kill tumor cells, very reactive alkylating agents are also used to treat cancer.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/04/enzyme-levels-key-lowering-chemo-side-effects

India Ignores Bayer, Keeps Cheaper Cancer Drugs

India’s patent appeals office has rejected Bayer AG’s plea to stop the production of a cheaper generic version of a patented cancer drug in a ruling that health groups say is an important precedent for getting inexpensive lifesaving medicines to the poor.

Last year, India’s patent office allowed local drug manufacturer Natco Pharma Ltd. to produce a generic version of Bayer’s kidney and liver cancer drug Nexavar on the grounds it would make the drug available to the public at a reasonably affordable price. It was the first use of compulsory licensing under Indian patent laws passed in 2005.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/03/india-ignores-bayer-keeps-cheaper-cancer-drugs

Obesity Gene is Risk Factor for Cancer

The gene most strongly linked to obesity and overeating may also increase the risk of malignant melanoma — the most deadly skin cancer, reveals research published in Nature Genetics.

Cancer Research UK scientists at the Univ. of Leeds showed that people with particular variations in a stretch of DNA within the FTO gene, called intron 8, could be at greater risk of developing melanoma.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/03/obesity-gene-risk-factor-cancer