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. . . supporting research that improves cancer survival.

 
Please contact us if you would like to contribute a news item. We are keen to publish more articles from UK-based research and findings that relate to microbial infections during therapy.

Decreased blood vessel leakage can improve cancer therapy and reduce tumor spread

24/3/2016

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Cancer therapy is often hampered by the accumulation of fluids in and around the tumour, which is caused by leakage from the blood vessels in the tumour. Researchers at Uppsala University now show how leakage from blood vessels is regulated. They have identified a novel mechanism whereby leakage can be suppressed to improve the result of chemotherapy and reduce the spread of tumours in mice. The results have been published in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

When a tumour grows, new blood vessels are formed that supply the tumour with nutrients and oxygen. However, these vessels are often malfunctioning and fluids and other molecules leak out of the vessels. This results in edema in the tissues, which in turn makes it more difficult for drugs to reach into the tumour during cancer therapy. The malfunctioning vessels can also contribute to the spread of metastases from the tumour.

The leakage from the blood vessels is controlled by specific protein complexes that connect the cells in the blood vessel walls. By regulating these protein complexes, the cells are joined more or less tightly, which affects the leakage from the vessels.
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Recent findings from Uppsala University show how a specific alteration of the protein complex in the vessel walls can reduce leakage, without affecting any other vessel functions.

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Study shows broccoli may offer protection against liver cancer

4/3/2016

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Consumption of broccoli has increased in the United States over the last few decades as scientists have reported that eating the vegetable three to five times per week can lower the risk of many types of cancer including breast, prostate, and colon cancers.

A new study from the University of Illinois reports that including broccoli in the diet may also protect against liver cancer, as well as aid in countering the development of fatty liver or nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) which can cause malfunction of the liver and lead to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a liver cancer with a high mortality rate.

"The normal story about broccoli and health is that it can protect against a number of different cancers. But nobody had looked at liver cancer," says Elizabeth Jeffery, a U of I emeritus professor of nutrition. "We decided that liver cancer needed to be studied particularly because of the obesity epidemic in the U.S. It is already in the literature that obesity enhances the risk for liver cancer and this is particularly true for men. They have almost a 5-fold greater risk for liver cancer if they are obese."

Jeffery says that the majority of the U.S. population eats a diet high in saturated fats and added sugars. However, both of these are stored in the liver and can be converted to body fat. Consuming a high-fat, high-sugar diet and having excess body fat is linked with the development of NAFLD, which can lead to diseases such as cirrhosis and liver cancer.

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Next-generation immunotherapy offers new hope for beating brain cancer

4/3/2016

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High-grade glioma is the most aggressive form of brain cancer. Despite improvements in surgical procedures, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, this type of brain tumour is still notoriously hard to treat: less than 10% of patients survive beyond five years. Researchers from KU Leuven, Belgium, have now shown that next-generation cell-based immunotherapy may offer new hope in the fight against brain cancer.

Cell-based immunotherapy involves the injection of a therapeutic anticancer vaccine that stimulates the patient's immune system to attack the tumour. Thus far, the results of this type of immunotherapy have been mildly promising. However, Abhishek D. Garg and Professor Patrizia Agostinis from the KU Leuven Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine have now found a novel way to produce more effective cell-based anticancer vaccines.

The researchers induced a specific type of cell death in brain cancer cells from mice. The dying cancer cells were then incubated together with dendritic cells, which play a vital role in the immune system. The researchers discovered that this type of cancer cell killing releases 'danger signals' that fully activate the dendritic cells.
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The researchers induced a specific type of cell death in brain cancer cells from mice. The dying cancer cells were then incubated together with dendritic cells, which play a vital role in the immune system. The researchers discovered that this type of cancer cell killing releases 'danger signals' that fully activate the dendritic cells. "We re-injected the activated dendritic cells into the mice as a therapeutic vaccine", Professor Patrizia Agostinis explains. "That vaccine alerted the immune system to the presence of dangerous cancer cells in the body. As a result, the immune system could recognize them and start attacking the brain tumor."
CREDIT©KU Leuven Laboratory of Cell Death Research & Therapy - Dr. Abhishek D. Garg

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