melanoma tagged posts

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have shown that their nanoparticle-based vaccine can successfully prevent several aggressive cancers in mice, including melanoma, pancreatic cancer, and triple-negative breast cancer. Depending on the cancer type, up to 88% of vaccinated mice stayed tumor-free (depending on the cancer), and the vaccine also reduced — and in some cases completely prevented — the spread of cancer throughout the body.

“By engineering these nanoparticles to activate the immune system via multi-...

Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute have identified a drug candidate that blocks the uptake of glutamine, a key food source for many tumors, and slows the growth of melanoma. The drug is a small molecule that targets a glutamine transporter, SLC1A5, which pumps the nutrient into cancer cells — offering a promising new approach for treating melanoma and other cancers. The study was published in the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics.

“While great strides have been made recently in the treatment of melanoma, many patients’ tumors become resistant to therapy, and this has become a major obstacle in the successful treatment of the disease,” says Ze’ev Ronai, Ph.D...

Researchers with the Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases at the Cumming School of Medicine (CSM) have discovered which gut bacteria help our immune system battle cancerous tumours and how they do it. The discovery may provide a new understanding of why immunotherapy, a treatment for cancer that helps amplify the body’s immune response, works in some cases, but not others. The findings, published in Science, show combining immunotherapy with specific microbial therapy boosts the ability of the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells in some melanoma, bladder and colorectal cancers.

Dr...

White wine carried the most significant association, and the increased risk was greater for parts of the body that receive less sun exposure, the study showed.

White wine was the most clearly associated. Alcohol intake is associated with higher rates of invasive melanoma among white men and women. White wine carried the most significant association, and the increased risk was greater for parts of the body that receive less sun exposure. ~3.6% of cancer cases worldwide have been attributed to alcohol, most typically cancers of the aerodigestive tract, liver, pancreas, colon, rectum, and breast. Previous research has suggested that alcohol can cause carcinogenesis as the ethanol in alcohol metabolizes into acetaldehyde, which damages DNA and prevents DNA repair.

Eunyoung Cho, ScD and colleag...