13-02-2012 12:31 Sridhar Ramaswamy, MD, Tucker Gosnell Investigator and Associate Professor of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, and Harvard Stem Cell Institute, discusses ongoing research into drug tolerance and resistance, specifically the roll of dormant cancer cells. If a tumor goes into remission as a result of a cancer drug and then recurs it is likely that the tumor will still respond to the initial treatment. In the dormant state the cells are resistance, in the original they are sensitive. The exact mechanism behind this has yet to be discovered. In some cases giving a course, stopping, and then continuing later on can create an additive effect, an idea that Ramaswamy calls a drug holiday. A comparison is underway between drug and non-drug induced dormant cells in order to find the mechanism that causes resistance. The ultimate goal of the research is to be able to predict and stop drug resistance. Read more: Dr. Ramaswamy on Dormant Tumor Cells and Resistance - Video … Continue reading →

By a GenomeWeb staff reporter NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Researchers from Foundation Medicine and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute have demonstrated that Foundation's sequencing-based assay, which it is developing for cancer diagnostics, can identify clinically actionable mutations from tumor samples. Reporting in Nature Medicine this week, the team tested the assay on 40 colorectal cancer and 24 non-small cell lung cancer formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded biopsy samples and identified at least one potentially clinically actionable alteration in 59 percent of the samples. Additionally, the test identified two novel gene fusions. "These findings in aggregate show the potentially large clinical impact of a single multiplex test that requires minimal DNA from FFPE tumor biopsies," the authors wrote in the paper. The company recently received CLIA certification from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for its genomic sequencing lab in Cambridge, Mass., and plans to commercialize its test this year. The test analyzed 2,574 exons from 145 genes that are associated with cancer-related pathways, targeted therapy, or prognosis, plus 37 introns from 14 genes that are frequently rearranged in cancer. Sequencing was done on the Illumina platform to an average 229-fold coverage. In the 40 colorectal cancer samples, 125 alterations were identified … Continue reading →

Public release date: 13-Feb-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Julie O'Connor julie.oconnor@wayne.edu 313-577-8845 Wayne State University - Office of the Vice President for Research DETROIT ? The National Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the world's largest medical library, announced recently the acquisition of the papers of Charles F. Whitten, M.D., distinguished professor of pediatrics and associate dean of medicine emeritus at Wayne State University. Whitten passed away in 2008. Whitten, an expert on sickle cell disease, spearheaded the National Association for Sickle Cell Disease, now known as the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America. As a major organizer of sickle cell programs, Whitten developed educational materials and approaches to problems stemming from the disease, particularly the psychosocial support that afflicted patients needed. "This is a wonderful recognition of the great life's work of Dr. Whitten," said Joseph Dunbar, Ph.D., associate vice president for research at WSU. "Dr. Whitten's contributions have helped physicians and the research community take steps in understanding as well as managing the disease. Because of his efforts to spearhead national programs, patients with the disease and the community are better-informed." Whitten served as chief of pediatrics at Detroit Receiving Hospital, … Continue reading →

Public release date: 13-Feb-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Julie O'Connor julie.oconnor@wayne.edu 313-577-8845 Wayne State University - Office of the Vice President for Research DETROIT ? The National Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the world's largest medical library, announced recently the acquisition of the papers of Charles F. Whitten, M.D., distinguished professor of pediatrics and associate dean of medicine emeritus at Wayne State University. Whitten passed away in 2008. Whitten, an expert on sickle cell disease, spearheaded the National Association for Sickle Cell Disease, now known as the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America. As a major organizer of sickle cell programs, Whitten developed educational materials and approaches to problems stemming from the disease, particularly the psychosocial support that afflicted patients needed. "This is a wonderful recognition of the great life's work of Dr. Whitten," said Joseph Dunbar, Ph.D., associate vice president for research at WSU. "Dr. Whitten's contributions have helped physicians and the research community take steps in understanding as well as managing the disease. Because of his efforts to spearhead national programs, patients with the disease and the community are better-informed." Whitten served as chief of pediatrics at Detroit Receiving Hospital, … Continue reading →

The National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine has acquired the papers of the late Charles F. Whitten, a respected Detroit pediatrician known for his expertise and work related to Sickle Cell Disease. Whitten, who passed away in 2008 at the age of 86, served as chief of pediatrics at Detroit Receiving Hospital and was the first African-American to head a hospital department in the city. He was also a distinguished professor of pediatrics at Wayne State University. The doctor played an instrumental role in the formation of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America and Detroit's Sickle Cell Detection and Information Center. Sickle Cell Disease is a inherited disorder. An affected person's body makes blood cells shaped like a crescent, or sickle, instead of the more common round blood cells. Sickle-shaped blood cells restrict blood flow and can cause pain, serious infections, and organ damage, according to the NIH. It is the most common inherited blood disease in the U.S. and is especially prevalent among African Americans -- one out of 500 African Americans are born with the condition. Joseph Dunbar, Ph.D., associate vice president for research at WSU, said the acquisition of Whitten's papers by the National … Continue reading →