(Posted: 10/01/2012) - The hormone prolactin is produced by the pituitary gland in the brain and then travels via the bloodstream to cells throughout the body, where it exerts multiple reproductive and metabolic effects, most notably on the breast where it is the master regulator of lactation. In recent years researchers have found that prolactin is also produced by some tissues outside the brain, however little is known about the functions of extra-pituitary prolactin or how its production is regulated in these tissues. Now, researchers in the Department of Cancer Biology at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, report in Genes & Development that activation of the PI3K-Akt oncogenic signaling pathway in the mammary glands of mice rapidly induces cells in the breast itself to produce prolactin. This, in turn, triggers Stat5 activation, mammary epithelial differentiation and milk production in virgin mice within a matter of hours.

(Posted: 09/28/2012) - Using a newly discovered cell technology, Georgetown University Medical Center researchers were able to identify an effective therapy for a patient with a rare type of lung tumor. The single case study, reported in the September 27 issue of New England Journal of Medicine, provides a snapshot of the new technology’s promising potential; however, researchers strongly caution that it could be years before validation studies are completed and regulatory approval received for its broader use.

(Posted: 09/27/2012) - In the first study of its kind, a research team led by Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Mount Sinai School of Medicine discovered 12 genetic markers associated with the development of erectile dysfunction (ED) in prostate cancer patients who were treated with radiation. The findings, published online in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics, are an important step toward helping clinicians determine the best course of treatment for prostate cancer patients and may lead to the development of therapies that alleviate side effects.

(Posted: 09/26/2012) - A new research model has estimated that the difference in prostate cancer mortality among men with low-risk disease who choose active surveillance versus those who choose immediate treatment with radical prostatectomy is likely to be very modest, possibly as little as two to three months. The model, developed by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, is among the first to use specific data from published studies to project the likelihood of prostate cancer mortality among men with low-risk disease who choose active surveillance.

(Posted: 09/26/2012) - UC Davis cancer researchers have discovered significant differences in radiation-therapy response among patients with oropharyngeal cancer depending on whether they carry the human papillomavirus (HPV), a common sexually transmitted virus. The findings, published online today in The Laryngoscope Journal, could lead to more individualized radiation treatment regimens, which for many patients with HPV could be shorter and potentially less toxic.

(Posted: 09/26/2012) - A receptor protein suppresses local invasion and metastasis of breast cancer cells, the most lethal aspect of the disease, according to a research team headed by scientists from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Reporting in Nature Medicine, the team described using high-throughput RNA sequencing to identify the leukemia inhibitory factor receptor (LIFR) as a novel suppressor of breast cancer metastasis, the spread of the disease to other organs.

(Posted: 09/25/2012) - Malignant cells that leave a primary tumor, travel the bloodstream and grow out of control in new locations cause the vast majority of cancer deaths. New nanotechnology developed at Case Western Reserve University detects these metastases in mouse models of breast cancer far earlier than current methods, a step toward earlier, life-saving diagnosis and treatment.

(Posted: 09/25/2012) - Many survivors of adolescent and young adult cancers avoid routine medical care because it's too expensive, despite the fact that most have health insurance. That is the conclusion of a new study published early online in Cancer.

(Posted: 09/21/2012) - Some 500,000 people die of cancer in the United States each year, often because their cancers have become resistant to approved therapies. Scientists at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) have made headway in the effort to overcome resistance to treatment, publishing findings about a novel cancer drug that has been shown to inhibit several genes associated with the ability of cancer cells to survive and reproduce.

(Posted: 09/21/2012) - A Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) research team has identified factors that contribute to solid stress within tumors, suggesting possible ways to alleviate it, and has developed a simple way to measure such pressures. The study was also designed to determine whether previously compressed blood vessels would open when stress-inducing components were depleted. MGH is a component of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.