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Discovery advances efforts to prevent spread of cancer
University of Alberta medical researchers find 11 genes responsible for the spread of cancer.
By ROSS NEITZ
Newly identified gene targets could be key to preventing the spread of cancer, new University of Alberta research has shown.
In a study published last week in Nature Communications, a team of U of A researchers said that because they’ve identified the appropriate genes, there’s potential to create therapies that could almost completely block metastasis in a number of deadly cancers.
“It’s of potentially incredible significance,” said John Lewis, the Alberta Cancer Foundation Frank and Carla Sojonky Chair in Prostate Cancer Research at the U of A and a member of the Cancer Research Institute of Northern Alberta (CRINA). “Metastasis kills 90 per cent of all patients who have cancer, and with this study we have discovered 11 new ways to potentially end metastasis.”
In the study, the team used a unique platform it created—a shell-less avian embryo—to visualize the growth and spread of cancer cells in real time. The researchers used a molecular tool called a knockout library to insert short hairpin RNA (shRNA) vectors into cancer cells that bound to specific genes in the cells and stopped them from activating. They then inserted those cancer cells into the shell-less embryos and observed as they formed clusters of cancer, identifying which ones showed properties of being non-metastatic.
“When we found compact colonies [of cancer], that meant that the key steps of metastasis were blocked,” said Konstantin Stoletov, lead author of the study and a research associate in the Lewis lab. “After that we could pull them out, query what the gene is and then validate that the gene is actually responsible for metastasis.”
The approach allowed the team to detect and identify 11 genes that play essential roles in cancer cell metastasis. According to the researchers, the genes discovered are widely involved in the process of metastasis and not unique to any one cancer.
They now plan to test the metastasis-associated genes and gene-products as drug targets with an aim of stopping metastasis.
“We know that cancer, once it becomes metastatic, will keep spreading to other parts of the body and continue to get worse because of that,” said Lewis. “If we can stop metastasis at any step of progression in cancer patients, we’re going to have a significant effect on survival.”
The team is now hoping to progress its research to human trials over the next few years. The Lewis lab is also expanding efforts to explore for other types of genes called microRNAs that may present even stronger therapeutic targets for preventing metastasis.
The research was funded by the Canadian Cancer Society and the Alberta Cancer Foundation.
Lewis and Stoletov’s paper, “Quantitative in vivo whole genome motility screen reveals novel therapeutic targets to block cancer metastasis,” was published June 14 in Nature Communications.
Abstract
Objective. —To examine the effects of sugar on the behavior or cognition of children by using meta-analytic techniques on reported studies.
Data Sources. —Studies were identified through a literature search of the MEDLINE and PsychINFO databases and the authors' files using sugar, sucrose, and attention deficit disorder as the search terms.
Study Selection. —Studies were required to (1) intervene by having the subjects consume a known quantity of sugar; (2) use a placebo (artificial sweetener) condition; (3) blind the subjects, parents, and research staff to the conditions; and (4) report statistics that could be used to compute the dependent measures effect sizes.
Data Extraction. —Variables included publication year, study setting, subject type and number, gender, age, sugar and placebo type and dose, prior dietary condition, measurement construct, means and SDs for the sugar and placebo conditions, and direction of effect.
Data Synthesis. —Sixteen reports met the inclusion criteria for a total of 23 within-subject design studies. The weighted mean effect size and related statistics for each of the 14 measurement constructs revealed that although the range for these means was from -0.14 for direct observations and up to +0.30 for academic tests, the 95% confidence interval for all 14 mean effect sizes included 0.
Conclusion. —The meta-analytic synthesis of the studies to date found that sugar does not affect the behavior or cognitive performance of children. The strong belief of parents may be due to expectancy and common association. However, a small effect of sugar or effects on subsets of children cannot be ruled out.(JAMA. 1995;274:1617-1621)
Yeah, my ass. Go give your kid some candy before bed and tell me how that works out. Posted via Mobile Device [Reply]
Originally Posted by ThaVirus:
Is it the candy itself causing the energy spike or the kid's excitement from receiving the candy?
It's very reliable and predictable spike that happens about 5 minutes after candy administration. It's not always straight up hyperness, but there's always restlessness [Reply]
Originally Posted by loochy:
It's very reliable and predictable spike that happens about 5 minutes after candy administration. It's not always straight up hyperness, but there's always restlessness
You're talking about your own child or what? [Reply]
Today, the greatest threat of extinction we face is not asteroids or climate change or disease or famine. It’s society’s refusal to heed the warnings of scientists.
Today, the greatest threat of extinction we face is not asteroids or climate change or disease or famine. It’s society’s refusal to heed the warnings of scientists.
Originally Posted by :
Today, the greatest threat of extinction we face is not asteroids or climate change or disease or famine. It’s society’s refusal to heed the warnings of IT professionals.
Nothing like using the fear monger angle to try to bump-up some business.
Hey Neil, like we tell Hollyweird assholes (which you are close to being in your role), stick to making cool outer space flicks... Fuck you and your shitty money-grubbing fake scientists. You fucking dick! [Reply]
