Virtual reality speeds up rehabilitation: Integrating force feedback into therapies

A child is receiving virtual door opening training under the guidance of a therapist. Credit: Copyright The Hong Kong Polytechnic University The Hong Kong Polytechnic University has successfully developed a novel training programme using haptic technology for impaired hands that cannot function normally. This programme is unique as it provides force feedback, which creates a true sense of wei

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Cheap malaria drug could treat colorectal cancer effectively too, say experts

Artemisinin is isolated from the plant Artemisia annua also known as sweet wormwood. Credit: Image courtesy of University of St George's London Medical experts say a common malaria drug could have a significant impact on colorectal cancer providing a cheap adjunct to current expensive chemotherapy. A pilot study by researchers at St George's, University of London, has found the drug artes

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Researchers silence leading cancer-causing gene

Using bioluminescence, researchers showed that the novel molecule “KRAS silencing RNA” or "KRAS siRNA” (right) reduced the size of a tumor in mice. Researchers used a “non-KRAS silencing” molecule as the control (left) as a comparison. Credit: Image courtesy of University of North Carolina Health Care Researchers from the UNC School of Medicine and colleagues at The University of Texas MD And

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Rewiring metabolism slows colorectal cancer growth

Many cancers have less MPC in them than normal adult tissues. Re-introducing MPC into cancer cells slows growth of tumors following injection into mice as compared to unmanipulated cells. Credit: Ralph DeBerardinis Cancer is an unwanted experiment in progress. As the disease advances, tumor cells accumulate mutations, eventually arriving at ones that give them the insidious power to grow unco

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Gut microbiota influences blood-brain barrier permeability

Uptake of the substance Raclopride in the brain of germ-free versus conventional mice. Credit: Miklos Toth A new study in mice, conducted by researchers at Sweden's Karolinska Institutet together with colleagues in Singapore and the United States, shows that our natural gut-residing microbes can influence the integrity of the blood-brain barrier, which protects the brain from harmful substanc

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Transplant drug could boost power of brain tumor treatments, study finds

Drs. Maria Castro and Pedro Lowenstein, both of the U-M Department of Neurosurgery, co-led the research. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Michigan Health System Every day, organ transplant patients around the world take a drug called rapamycin to keep their immune systems from rejecting their new kidneys and hearts. New research suggests that the same drug could help brain tumor patien

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Handheld scanner could make brain tumor removal more complete, reducing recurrence

A handheld device that resembles a laser pointer could someday help surgeons remove all of the cells in a brain tumor. Credit: Moritz Kircher Cancerous brain tumors are notorious for growing back despite surgical attempts to remove them -- and for leading to a dire prognosis for patients. But scientists are developing a new way to try to root out malignant cells during surgery so fewer or non

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What makes pancreatic cancer so aggressive? New study sheds light

“We know that patients with the earliest stage of pancreatic cancer have a survival rate of only 30 percent. This suggests that even in that very early stage of invasive cancer there are already cells that have spread to distant parts of the body,” says study author Diane M. Simeone, M.D. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Michigan Health System New research from the University of Michig

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3-D culture system for pancreatic cancer has potential to change therapeutic approaches

A team of researchers has developed a method to grow pancreatic tissue in a three-dimensional culture system, called organoids. The scientists are able to use tissue not only from laboratory mouse models, but also from human patients. The technology promises to change the way pancreatic cancer research is done, offering a path to personalized treatment approaches in the future. Credit: D. Tuve

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'Sugar-coated' microcapsule eliminates toxic punch of experimental anti-cancer drug

3BrPA (red) is illustrated encased in a sugar-based microshell. Credit: Jean-Francois Geschwind, Johns Hopkins Johns Hopkins researchers have developed a sugar-based molecular microcapsule that eliminates the toxicity of an anticancer agent developed a decade ago at Johns Hopkins, called 3-bromopyruvate, or 3BrPA, in studies of mice with implants of human pancreatic cancer tissue. The encapsu

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First steps in formation of pancreatic cancer identified

Shown is a region of a pancreas with preneoplastic lesions. Red labeling indicates macrophages, green labeling indicates pancreatic acinar cells that dedifferentiate, and grey labeling indicates further progressed pancreatic lesions. Credit: Image courtesy of Mayo Clinic Researchers at Mayo Clinic's campus in Jacksonville say they have identified first steps in the origin of pancreatic cancer

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Understanding, improving body's fight against pathogens

Significant reductions in the number of plasma cells in the spleen and bone marrow were observed in the absence of DOK3. Each dot in the figure represents one plasma cell detected. Credit: Image courtesy of A*Star Agency for Science, Technology and Research Scientists from A*STAR's Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI) have uncovered the crucial role of two signalling molecules, DOK3 and S

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New combination therapy developed for multiple myeloma

This is Steven Grant, M.D., Shirley Carter Olsson and Sture Gordon Olsson Chair in Cancer Research, associate director for translational research and program co-leader of Developmental Therapeutics at VCU Massey Cancer Center. Credit: VCU Massey Cancer Center Each year, more than 25,000 Americans are diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer that often develops resistance to the

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Scientists discover new way protein degradation is regulated

Chamber of doom. Rockefeller scientists have identified a new way that proteins are degraded in the proteasome (green). They found that the enzyme tankyrase regulates proteasome activity by promoting the assembly of proteasome subunits into the active complex called 26S. Credit: Image by Sigi Benjamin-Hong, Strang Laboratory of Apoptosis and Cancer Biology Proteins, unlike diamonds, aren't fo

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Powerful new system for classifying tumors revealed

This diagram illustrates how tumors with different tissues of origin were reclassified on the basis of molecular analyses. Credit: Zhong Chen, NIH/NIDCD Cancers are classified primarily on the basis of where in the body the disease originates, as in lung cancer or breast cancer. According to a new study, however, one in ten cancer patients would be classified differently using a new classific

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