PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 10-Dec-2013 Contact: Donna Dubuc Donna.M.Dubuc@Dartmouth.edu 603-653-3615 The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth (Lebanon, NH, 12/9/13)There may be a better way to analyze the genetic causes of cutaneous melanoma (CM) according to a study published in Human Genetics conducted by researchers Yale and Dartmouth. A statistical analysis using the natural and orthogonal interaction (NOIA) model showed increased power over existing approaches for detecting genetic effects and interactions when applied to the genome-wide melanoma dataset. The gene-gene interactions underlying CM had not been fully explored. The usual functional model uses substitution of alleles for estimating genetic effects but the estimators are confounded. The NOIA model estimates population effects of alleles and the resulting estimators are orthogonal and no longer confounded. In simulation studies, the NOIA model had higher power for finding interactions and main effects than the usual model. "We confirmed the previously identified significant associated genes HERC2, MC1R, and CDKN2A using a NOIA one-locus statistical model," said Christopher I. Amos, PhD, associate director for Population Sciences, Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, a corresponding author of the study. "When compared to the usual one-locus model we found that the HERC2 signal was detected … Continue reading →

Dec. 11, 2013 There may be a better way to analyze the genetic causes of cutaneous melanoma (CM) according to a study published in Human Genetics conducted by researchers Yale and Dartmouth. A statistical analysis using the natural and orthogonal interaction (NOIA) model showed increased power over existing approaches for detecting genetic effects and interactions when applied to the genome-wide melanoma dataset. The gene-gene interactions underlying CM had not been fully explored. The usual functional model uses substitution of alleles for estimating genetic effects but the estimators are confounded. The NOIA model estimates population effects of alleles and the resulting estimators are orthogonal and no longer confounded. In simulation studies, the NOIA model had higher power for finding interactions and main effects than the usual model. "We confirmed the previously identified significant associated genes HERC2, MC1R, and CDKN2A using a NOIA one-locus statistical model," said Christopher I. Amos, PhD, associate director for Population Sciences, Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, a corresponding author of the study. "When compared to the usual one-locus model we found that the HERC2 signal was detected more clearly by the NOIA model" The NOIA model also identified an additional potential interaction … Continue reading →

Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Newswise MAYWOOD, IL. A newly improved internet research tool is helping cancer researchers and physicians make sense out of a deluge of genetic data from nearly 100,000 patients and more than 50,000 mice. The tool, called the Gene Expression Barcode 3.0, is proving to be a vital resource in the new era of personalized medicine, in which cancer treatments are tailored to the genetic makeup of an individual patients tumor. Significant new improvements in the Gene Expression Barcode 3.0 are reported in the January issue of the journal Nucleic Acids Research, published online ahead of print. Senior author is Michael J. Zilliox of Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. Zilliox is co-inventor of the Gene Expression Barcode. The tool has two main advantages, Zilliox said. Its fast and its free. The Gene Expression Barcode is available at a website http://barcode.luhs.org/ designed and hosted by Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. The website is receiving 1,600 unique visitors per month. Knowing how a patients cancer genes are expressed can help a physician devise an individualized treatment. In a tumor cell, for example, certain genes are turned on (expressed) while other genes are … Continue reading →

Dec. 12, 2013 Scientists have discovered a second code hiding within DNA. This second code contains information that changes how scientists read the instructions contained in DNA and interpret mutations to make sense of health and disease. A research team led by Dr. John Stamatoyannopoulos, University of Washington associate professor of genome sciences and of medicine, made the discovery. The findings are reported in the Dec. 13 issue of Science. The work is part of the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements Project, also known as ENCODE. The National Human Genome Research Institute funded the multi-year, international effort. ENCODE aims to discover where and how the directions for biological functions are stored in the human genome. Since the genetic code was deciphered in the 1960s, scientists have assumed that it was used exclusively to write information about proteins. UW scientists were stunned to discover that genomes use the genetic code to write two separate languages. One describes how proteins are made, and the other instructs the cell on how genes are controlled. One language is written on top of the other, which is why the second language remained hidden for so long. "For over 40 years we have assumed that DNA changes … Continue reading →

Current ratings for: Advanced-stage ovarian cancer treated with targeted nanomedicine Ratings require JavaScript to be enabled. Researchers at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, have used a targeted nanomedicine approach to deliver small molecule drugs and successfully treat mice with deadly advanced-stage ovarian cancer. Writing about their work in a recent print issue of the journal Clinical Cancer Research, the team explains how an out-of-control protein called CD44 aids tumor growth and development of drug resistance in advanced-stage ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer is the deadliest gynecological cancer in the United States. The National Cancer Institute estimates there will be 22,240 new cases and 14,030 deaths due to the disease in 2013. It is not easy to spot ovarian cancer in the early stages, and there is no effective screening method, so most women do not find out they have it until after it has spread to other organs. By this stage, surgery and chemotherapy are not as effective. The 5-year survival rate for patients with advanced-stage ovarian cancer is 30%. The researchers believe this is mainly because of the activity of the aberrant CD44 protein and its ability to make the late stage of the disease resistant to drugs. … Continue reading →

Current ratings for: Recycled plastic turned into 'nanofibers' to attack fungal infection Ratings require JavaScript to be enabled. Scientists say they have made a "nanomedicine breakthrough" by creating "antifungal nanofibers" from recycled plastic materials that are able to target and attack specific fungal infections. This is according to a study published in the journal Nature Communications. Researchers from the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), based in the US, and the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) in Singapore, say they created the technology by converting plastic materials such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) - commonly used in plastic bottles - into non-toxic biocompatible materials that act as "antifungal agents." Fungal infections are extremely common all over the world and cover a broad number of conditions. Mild fungal infections include athlete's foot, a rash or a mild respiratory illness. But other fungal infections, such as fungal pneumonia or bloodstream infection, can be severe. According to the researchers, a person is more likely to develop a fungal infection if they possess an altered immune system as a result of antibiotic treatment, or have conditions such as HIV/AIDS or cancer. Although there are antifungal drugs available to treat these infections, there is the issue … Continue reading →

Vietnamese scientists announced Tuesday they have achieved the first successful medical application of nanotechnologywith a cancer-preventing extraction from tumeric. A group of experts from Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology said at a conference Tuesday that the nano form of curcumin, the principle ingredient of the yellow root, meets the standards of similar nanomaterials produced by the US, and are of better quality thanIndian and Chinese products. Professor Nguyen Van Hieu said in a Tuoi Tre report that curcumin can be used to treat stomach ulcers, liver poisoning and prolapsed uterus after childbirth. It can also prevent cancer, oxidization, and heart attack due to blood clots. Hieu said Vietnam so far has produced extractions that did not dissolve easily, and thushad weaker impact than a nano-extraction. A therapeutic dose should be 4-12 grams of curcumin a day, meaning four kilograms of tumeric if the patients use normal forms of extractions like tumeric powder available on the market, but that is a formula few patients would be able to follow for a long time, doctors said at the conference. They said nano curcumins solubility is more than 7,000 times higher. Studies at Vietnam National University in Hanoi have showed thatnano curcumin … Continue reading →