BiotechMashup

(University of North Carolina School of Medicine) New research led by scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have found a drug target that suggests a potent way to kill colon cancers that resist current drugs aimed at blocking a molecule found on the surface of cells.

Researchers have shown that a protein can inhibit metastasis of colon and melanoma cancers. CXCL12 proteins effectively blocked metastasis of the colon cancer and dramatically improved survival time, with the dimer showing effectiveness in blocking melanoma metastasis as well, a new study shows.

By seeing what substances and molecules affect the development of our diseases, scientists can develop drugs that prevent or cure diseases. New research has found that the signal molecule acetylcholine (ACh) is important for the progress of cancer of the large intestine and colon, knowledge that is important to factor in when developing drugs that block the effects of Ach on tumor cells.

A protein critical in heart development may also play a part in colon cancer progression -- and may represent a therapeutic target for halting colon cancer metastasis.

Scientists have found that a brain-derived protein known to be involved in tumor growth, metastasis and drug resistance in a number of cancers, including some non-neurological cancers, is also found in colorectal cancer. The study provides the first evidence of BDNF presence in colon cancer and offers new insights into its potential contribution to tumor progression and resistance to some types of antitumor drugs.

(Vanderbilt University Medical Center) A protein critical in heart development may also play a part in colon cancer progression -- and may represent a therapeutic target for halting colon cancer metastasis. The study, led by investigators from Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and the Vanderbilt Eye Institute, appears in the October issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

(Publicase Comunicação Científica) A group at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul Brazil found that a brain-derived protein known to be involved in tumor growth, metastasis and drug resistance in a number of cancers, including some non-neurological cancers, is also found in colorectal cancer. The study provides the first evidence of BDNF presence in colon cancer and offers new insights into its potential contribution to tumor progression and resistance to some types of antitumor drugs.

A two-drug combination destroys precancerous colon polyps with no effect on normal tissue, opening a new potential avenue for chemoprevention of colon cancer, scientists report.

Researchers have found that a newly developed drug, which is aimed at a particular receptor involved in the development of blood vessels that sustain tumor growth, is active in patients with advanced cancers and, in some cases, has halted the progress of the disease. The drug targets a different molecular pathway to other anti-angiogenesis drugs and may provide a new option to treat cancer.