On April 26, 1986, the worst nuclear accident in history occurred when a reactor exploded at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, releasing 90 times the radioactivity of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Sixteen years later, award-winning filmmaker Maryann De Leo took her camera to ground zero, following the devastating trail […]
Opposite effect: Protein widely known to fight tumors also boosts cancer growth
Search for a description of “p53” and it becomes clear that this human protein is widely known for its cancer-fighting benefits, leading to its renown as “the guardian of the genome.” Scientists at the University of California San Diego have published a new study challenging that description. Studying the “wild type” version of p53 (WTp53), […]
Radiation Therapy May Increase Diabetes Risk In Childhood Cancer Survivors
Childhood cancer survivors treated with total body or abdominal radiation may have an increased risk of diabetes, according to a report in the August 10/24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. This correlation does not appear to be related to patients’ body mass index or physical inactivity. “As a result of […]
Pectin Power: Why Fruits And Vegetables May Protect Against Cancer’s Spread
Scientists have found a new possible explanation for why people who eat more fruit and vegetables may gain protection against the spread of cancers. They have shown that a fragment released from pectin, found in all fruits and vegetables, binds to and is believed to inhibit galectin 3 (Gal3), a protein that plays a role […]
Even Low Exposure To X-rays, Gamma Rays Increases Cancer Risk, Study Finds
Exposure to X-rays and gamma rays, even at low-dose levels, increases risk of cancer. That is the bottom line of a comprehensive five-year study by a National Research Council (NRC) committee that included Stanford’s Herbert L. Abrams, a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. “There appears to be no […]
Acupressure relieves long-term symptoms of breast cancer treatment, study finds
A new study finds acupressure could be a low-cost, at-home solution to a suite of persistent side effects that linger after breast cancer treatment ends. Researchers from the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center reported in 2016 that acupressure helped reduce fatigue in breast cancer survivors. In the new study, they looked at the impact […]
Contagious cancers are spreading among several species of shellfish
Direct transmission of cancer among some marine animals may be more common than once thought, suggests a new study published in Nature by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC). The study, led by Stephen Goff, PhD, the Higgins Professor of Biochemistry in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics and the Department of Microbiology & Immunology […]
Solving its insolubility, researchers discover method to deliver curcumin to cancer cells
In India and other countries in Southeast Asia, curcumin is often used as a spice in cooking, particularly chicken or fish. It is known for its therapeutic effect and as a way to kill germs present in raw meat. Recently, scientists have also discovered that curcumin, a naturally occurring substance isolated from the Curcuma longa […]
Typical mutations in children of radar soldiers
The offspring of radar soldiers exposed to high doses of radiation during their service experience more genetic alterations than families without radiation exposure. This has been demonstrated in a pilot study by the research team involving Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), the Max Delbrück Centre for Molecular Medicine, Radboud University Nijmegen (Netherlands) […]
Chemicals found in vegetables prevent colon cancer in mice
Chemicals produced by vegetables such as kale, cabbage and broccoli could help to maintain a healthy gut and prevent colon cancer, a new study from the Francis Crick Institute shows. The research, published in Immunity, shows that mice fed on a diet rich in indole-3-carbinol — which is produced when we digest vegetables from the […]