Arsenic, a notorious poison, may be on the verge of overcoming its bad reputation. Two years ago, Chinese researchers reported that low doses of arsenic trioxide induced remission in patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), prompting physicians in the West to undertake their own pilot study.
Over the past decade, knowledge about how the immune system can be used to fight cancer has greatly increased. Not only have scientists learned that the immune system can recognize certain proteins on cancer cells, but they have used this knowledge to develop vaccines that may help to prevent cancer recurrence.
In a study of the protein p27, researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center have confirmed the existence of at least two different types of prostate cancer.
A new genetic mutation has been found to modestly increase the risk of hereditary breast cancer in women of Ashkenazi Jewish descent but has an especially pronounced effect in those who already carry the other well-known BRCA mutations linked to the disease, report scientists at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and other research centers in the September issue of Nature Genetics.
Ever since vitamin C was found to prevent scurvy -- a disease that has killed millions of people throughout history -- scientists have known that the vitamin plays an essential role in the body's defense against disease. Immune cells, for example, are known to accumulate and retain high levels of vitamin C, but just how this process occurs, has largely remained a mystery.
Sunscreens may not protect users from developing the deadly skin cancer, melanoma -- one of the fastest rising cancers in the United States, reports Dr. Marianne Berwick, an epidemiologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) researchers delving into the fundamental mechanisms underlying one form of leukemia have learned how to interfere with the genetic changes that lead to this potentially fatal type of cancer.
Physicians at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center have developed an innovative treatment for patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) that results in long-term survival without cancer recurrence.
The blood brain barrier has long been regarded as the body's most formidable gatekeeper. It is a virtual fortress of blood vessels that forms a protective barrier between the blood and brain, screening any chemical that attempts to access the brain's inner sanctum. But the blood brain barrier's protective role can be a drawback, as it also blocks access to substances that would be good for the brain. One such substance is vitamin C, an antioxidant that is essential to keep the central nervous system functioning properly.
In a study that sheds new light on how the brain organizes language, researchers report that the organization of the brain's language-production region in bilingual individuals is directly related to whether they learned a second language as toddlers (simultaneously with their native language) or as young adults. Using a new, non-invasive imaging method called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the researchers found that bilingual persons who acquire a second language as young adults have distinct areas in the brain associated with their native and second languages.
Physicians from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the University of Rochester's Cancer Center have created a promising compound that recruits the body's immune system to target and wipe out cancer cells in the liver. In a study with laboratory rats, the majority of animals injected with the vaccine were cancer-free, while similar animals that did not receive the vaccine typically had dozens of tumors. The work was reported in a recent issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center have found a lack of conclusive evidence to support previously published studies confirming the safety of pregnancy following breast-cancer treatment. After conducting a critical review of the literature, investigators found limited information regarding the safety of pregnancy and other childbearing issues of concern to young breast-cancer survivors. Embargoed: April 1, 1997 6:00 a.m.
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