Stem Cell Therapy - 2 2 . By: tscmru … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 31-Mar-2014 Contact: Tomas Llewelyn Barrett BarrettTL1@cardiff.ac.uk Cardiff University Breast cancers can look and behave very differently. Understanding why and how they do so is key to designing more tailored therapies for patients and sparing them unnecessary treatments. In a new study published by the Journal of Pathology, Dr Matt Smalley from Cardiff University treads new ground in exploring what drives breast cancers to look and behave so differently from one another. "The ultimate aim of this research is to be able to take a more personalised approach to medicine," said Dr Smalley from Cardiff University's European Cancer Stem Cell Research Institute. "We hope that in doing so, patients get the therapy best suited to their variety of breast cancer and avoid unnecessary treatment. "To understand what might be influencing the differences between individual breast cancers, we have used two different genetically modified mouse models in which breast cancers originate in different cell types in each model, by means of a genetic 'trick'," he explained. "In one part of the study, we created the same cancer-predisposing genetic errors in each of the two cell types. In another part, we created different genetic errors in the same cell type. … Continue reading →

People recovering from a stroke should have a well-coordinated medical team to personalize care, optimize quality of life and minimize suffering, according to a scientific statement published in the American Heart Association journal Stroke. The statement is the first in the United States to outline fundamental palliative care for stroke survivors. Palliative care is patient- and family-centered care that improves life by anticipating, preventing and treating suffering. "The majority of stroke patients need access to some form of palliative medicine," said Robert Holloway, M.D., M.P.H., lead author of the statement and professor and chairman of the neurology department at the University of Rochester in Rochester in New York. "The stroke team and its members can manage many of the palliative care problems themselves. It encourages patient independence and informed choices." Palliative care should be a collaboration between patients, families, a stroke team and various providers, including neurologists, neurosurgeons, primary care providers, nurses and therapists, he said. As a stroke survivor or family member, you should expect your healthcare provider to: "Stroke is a devastating disease that has received little attention in the area of palliative care so far," Holloway said. Nearly 800,000 people have strokes annually. About 130,000 stroke-related deaths … Continue reading →

Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey research published in Nature Communications Newswise New Brunswick, N.J., March 31, 2014 Research from Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey shows that a new function discovered for a long-studied enzyme could have implications for the diagnosis and treatment of some cancers and neurological disease. The work involves superoxide dismutase 1 (Sod1), an enzyme that for nearly half a century has been known to remove a specific radical byproduct created during the energy-producing process of cell metabolism. This superoxide byproduct comes from a family of byproducts known as reactive oxygen species (ROS). These byproducts can modify fats, proteins and DNA in a chemical reaction called oxidation, causing these biological molecules to lose functions. Low levels of these byproducts can cause normal cells to become cancerous. At higher levels, cell death and damage to tissues and organs can occur. In the study, published in the current edition of Nature Communications (doi: 10.1038/ncomms4446), X.F. Steven Zheng, PhD, and colleagues show that when cells have a high content of ROS byproducts and are under oxidative stress, the Sod1 enzyme helps to remove other types of ROS byproducts in addition to superoxides … Continue reading →