On the right track - Novel treatment approach for soft tissue tumors

Reprogramming – Tumor cells become muscles cells again

28-Jul-2023 - Researchers from the Leibniz Institute on Aging in Jena and the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg have discovered a novel treatment approach for soft tissue tumors, which are frequently occurring in children and are often malignant. Through the targeted transformation of ...

Sugar molecules as a target in cancer therapy

How immune cells turn traitor

09-Nov-2022 - Cancer cells use sugar molecules on their surface to disable attacks by the body’s immune system. Researchers at the University of Basel now report on how this mechanism can be neutralized. The immune system is actually extremely well equipped to get rid of abnormal cells. As a safety mechanism, ...

Brain tumor cells invade the brain as neuronal free riders

Brain tumor cells imitate characteristics and movement patterns of nerve cells

05-Aug-2022 - Certain cells from glioblastomas, the most aggressive form of brain tumors, mimic characteristics and movement strategies of immature neurons to colonize the brain. Fundamental new results from researchers at Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD) and Heidelberg Medical School (MFHD) and the ...

Unstoppable against blood cancer

What was previously only possible in the mouse model, the researchers now show in human cells

26-Jul-2022 - For people with certain forms of leukemia, lymphoma or multiple myeloma, they are sometimes the last chance to beat the cancer: Treatments with chimeric antigen receptor T cells, or CAR T cells for short. For this purpose, T cells are taken from the patient's blood to equip them with artificially ...

Netrin-1, a new player in hepatic inflammation

18-May-2022 - Initially known for its role in the survival of tumor cells, netrin-1 could also be strongly involved in the evolution of liver diseases towards fibrosis or cancer: this protein would be overexpressed during acute hepatic inflammation, and would favor its maintenance. In the absence of effective ...

Strategy designed to identify therapeutic targets in triple-negative breast cancer

Localizes proteins in the membrane of tumor cells and then targets them in a specific way.

26-Apr-2022 - Research led by the Cancer Research Center (CIC), a joint center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the University of Salamanca (USAL), has described a strategy for identifying proteins in the membrane of tumor cells and then attacking these cells using specific antibodies ...

Lockdown for tumour cells

Novel inhibitor locks tumour cells in place

25-Apr-2022 - Protein phosphatases are the counterplayers of protein kinases and together, these two groups of enzymes control virtually every aspect of cellular behaviour. Therefore, being able to modulate the activity of specific kinases or phosphatases is the basis for a growing list of medical treatments, ...

Study shows how bioactive substance inhibits important receptor

Results from the University of Bonn raise hope for new drugs against cancer and brain diseases

29-Mar-2022 - The A2A receptor regulates how vigorously the innate immune system attacks diseased cells. Researchers at the University of Bonn have now been able to show for the first time how an important inhibitor binds to the receptor. In the future, the results will facilitate the targeted search for ...

Discovery of a new cancer-inducing gene and its therapeutic weaknesses

A mutation of the RRAS2 gene acts as a cancer activator in several cells of the organism, according to a study led by CSIC researchers

18-Mar-2022 - CSIC researchers lead a study that has shown that a mutation of the RRAS2 gene acts as a cancer inducer in a broad spectrum of cells in our body. Through the study of tumor cells generated after the expression of this mutant version, this work, published in Cell Reports, has also illuminated the ...

Machine learning helps in predicting when immunotherapy will be effective

Immunotherapy and machine learning join forces to help the body's immune system crack one of its greatest mysteries

05-Jul-2021 - When it comes to defense, the body relies on attack thanks to the lymphatic and immune systems. The immune system is like the body's own personal police force as it hunts down and eliminates pathogenic villains. "The body's immune system is very good at identifying cells that are acting ...