Monthly Archives: July 2012

Editor's Choice Main Category: Smoking / Quit Smoking Also Included In: Immune System / Vaccines Article Date: 02 Jul 2012 - 11:00 PDT Current ratings for: Vaccine For Blocking Nicotine Chemicals Before They Reach The Brain Shows Promise 5 (1 votes) 5 (1 votes) The study, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine describes that a single dose of the novel vaccine protects mice against a life-long addiction against nicotine. The vaccine uses the animal's liver as a production site to continuously produce antibodies that instantly gobble up nicotine the moment it enters the bloodstream, and therefore prevents the chemical from reaching the brain and heart. Leading researcher, Dr. Ronald G. Crystal, chairman and professor of Genetic Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College explains: He continues saying: "Our vaccine allows the body to make its own monoclonal antibodies against nicotine, and in that way, develop a workable immunity." Dr. Crystal stated that the reason why earlier nicotine vaccines failed in clinical trials was because they all directly deliver nicotine antibodies. Their effect only lasted a few weeks and therefore required repeated, costly injections. He adds that this impractical, passive vaccine also delivered inconsistent results, which could potentially be because each … Continue reading →

Newswise Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center working with colleagues at three other institutions have validated a link between a rare genetic variant and the risk of glioma, the most common and lethal type of brain tumor. The validation study also uncovered an association between the same rare genetic variant and improved rates of survival for patients with glioma. The study, the first to confirm a rare susceptibility variant in glioma, appeared in a recent issue of the Journal of Medical Genetics, a journal published by the British Medical Association. "Glioma is a poorly understood cancer with high morbidity and devastating outcomes," said study lead author Kathleen M. Egan, Sc.D., interim program leader of Cancer Epidemiology and vice chair of the Department of Cancer Epidemiology. "However, the discovery of the association of the TP53 genetic variant rs78378222 with glioma provides new insights into these tumors and offers better prospects for identifying people at risk." According to the authors, their study "genotyped' the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP, or "snip") rs78378222 in TP53, an important tumor suppressor gene. The researchers said the SNP disrupts the TP53 signal and, because of its activity, has been linked to a variety of cancers. This study linked … Continue reading →

ScienceDaily (July 2, 2012) Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center working with colleagues at three other institutions have validated a link between a rare genetic variant and the risk of glioma, the most common and lethal type of brain tumor. The validation study also uncovered an association between the same rare genetic variant and improved rates of survival for patients with glioma. The study, the first to confirm a rare susceptibility variant in glioma, appeared in a recent issue of the Journal of Medical Genetics, a journal published by the British Medical Association. "Glioma is a poorly understood cancer with high morbidity and devastating outcomes," said study lead author Kathleen M. Egan, Sc.D., interim program leader of Cancer Epidemiology and vice chair of the Department of Cancer Epidemiology. "However, the discovery of the association of the TP53 genetic variant rs78378222 with glioma provides new insights into these tumors and offers better prospects for identifying people at risk." According to the authors, their study "genotyped' the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP, or "snip") rs78378222 in TP53, an important tumor suppressor gene. The researchers said the SNP disrupts the TP53 signal and, because of its activity, has been linked to a variety of cancers. … Continue reading →