Gene variations linked to lung cancer susceptibility in Asian women
November 13, 2012An international group of scientists has identified three genes that predispose Asian women who have never smoked to lung cancer. The discovery of specific genetic variations, which have not previously been associated with lung cancer risk in other populations, provides further evidence that risk of lung cancer among never-smokers, especially Asian women, may be associated with certain unique genetic characteristics that distinguishes it from lung cancer in smokers.
Surveys show time is ripe to deliver on health-related Internet-based tools
November 21, 2012The 2012 version of NCI’s Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) shows that Americans expect doctors’ offices, hospitals, and clinics to maintain health information in a sharable, electronic format. Conducted since 2003, HINTS findings help NCI devise better methods of patient communications and shared decision-making.
TARGET: A focus on children’s cancers
October 12, 2012TARGET—Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments—is NCI’s effort to use genomic technologies to search for therapeutic targets in cancers that affect infants, children, and adolescents. The adjacent image is a microscopic view of acute lymphoblastic lymphoma, one of the five cancers common to children that TARGET is studying.
The NCI-60: Assessing drug effectiveness
August 27, 2012For decades, lead compounds were tested principally in mice. The downsides were time, expense, and limited accuracy. Enter NCI’s In Vitro Cell Line Screening Project, better known as the NCI-60, a protocol that makes it possible to analyze the anti-cancer properties of a compound in human tumor samples from 60 different cell cultures, sometimes referred to as lines, representing several different types of cancer.
Burkitt Lymphoma — A paradigm for global cancer research and discovery?
August 15, 2012Contrary to frequent belief, Burkitt lymphoma (shown, at left, in a pathology slide) is not a disease confined to the African continent. First identified as a distinct form of lymphoma by Irish surgeon Dennis Burkitt in Uganda in 1958, there are well documented cases in the United States, Latin America, and other countries that point to the global aspects of this disease.
Physical activity extends life expectancy
November 6, 2012Leisure-time physical activity is associated with longer life expectancy, even at relatively low levels of activity and regardless of body weight, according to a study by a team of researchers led by the NCI.
- Provocative Questions in Cancer: NCI SeminarNovember 27, 2012
- New genes linked to lung cancer susceptibility in Asian womenNovember 13, 2012
- Increased leukemia risk in Chernobyl cleanup workersNovember 8, 2012
- Physical activity extends life expectancyNovember 6, 2012
NCI-designated Cancer Centers: dedicated to research
August 15, 2012Obtaining an NCI designation for a cancer center is usually a years-long process of building — facilities, faculty, and most importantly, a research portfolio — culminated by a rigorous review process. Selection provides recognition of research excellence
- UCSD-led study sheds light on how pancreatic cancer beginsNovember 30, 2012
- UCSD-led study helps resolve debate about how tumors spreadNovember 30, 2012
- Gene loss Identifies DCIS primed for invasive breast cancerNovember 29, 2012
- Receptor called COUP-TFII may spark prostate cancer progressionNovember 29, 2012