chemoresistance tagged posts

Scientists from Queen Mary University of London have discovered two new genes that cause head and neck cancer patients to be resistant to chemotherapy, and that silencing either gene can make cancer cells previously unresponsive to chemotherapy subsequently respond to it.

The two genes discovered actively ‘work’ in most human cancer types, meaning the findings could potentially extend to other cancers with elevated levels of the genes.

The researchers also looked through a chemical library, commonly used for drug discovery, and found two substances that could target the two genes specifically and make resistant cancer cells almost 30 times more sensitive to a common chemotherapy drug called cisplatin...

Sustained release of melatonin: A novel approach in elevating efficacy of tamoxifen in breast cancer treatment

Tiny bubbles filled with the sleep hormone melatonin can make breast cancer treatment more effective, which means people need a lower dose, giving them less severe side effects. The bubbles, called nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs), made tamoxifen stronger and help it kill cancer cells. The authors of the study, from Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in Iran, say using NLCs packed with melatonin could also help avoid the cancer cells growing resistant to the treatment, so it will remain effective.

More than 224,000 people were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012 in the US alone...