NCI scientists identify new gene mutation that predisposes families to melanoma
Chromosomes with irregular teleomeres in a person with melanoma who carried the POT1 mutation. Image generated by quantitative Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH).
NCI scientists and their colleagues have identified a rare inherited mutation in a gene that can increase the risk of familial melanoma, according to a recent study that appeared in Nature Genetics. Although the finding does not offer immediate benefit to patients, variation in the Protection of Telomeres-1 (POT1) gene provides additional clues as to the origins of melanoma and may open new avenues in prevention and treatment research.
Melanoma is the most ...
Source: NCI Benchmarks - March 31, 2014 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Linda Perrett Tags: cancer genetics screening Source Type: news
Breast Cancer Startup Challenge Inventions and Winners
The Avon Foundation for Women, in partnership with NCI and the Center for Advancing Innovation (CAI), have announced the ten winners of a world-wide competition to accelerate the process of bringing emerging breast cancer research technologies to market.
Each team was required to produce a short video explaining and highlighting their ideas. The videos are from the winners of the Breast Cancer Startup Challenge. This listing does not constitute NCI’s endorsement of the companies or potential products and does not guarantee a grant of license for any federally-owned technology.
Videos from the winning teams are below...
Source: NCI Benchmarks - March 5, 2014 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Anthony Beal Tags: cancer Source Type: news
Elaine Jaffe wins the Henry M. Stratton Medal
Elaine Jaffe, M.D.
Each year the American Society of Hematology (ASH) honors two senior investigators, one in basic research and the other in clinical/translational research, with the Henry M. Stratton Medal for their contributions to the field of hematology. This year ASH will be recognizing NCI’s Elaine Jaffe, M.D., and Duke University’s Nancy Andrews, M.D., with the 2013 medal for their accomplishments in the field of lymphoma.
Jaffe heads the Hematopathology Section of the Laboratory of Pathology in NCI’s Center for Cancer Research and has been with NCI for over 40 years. She is well known for her work related ...
Source: NCI Benchmarks - August 1, 2013 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Aleea Farrakh Khan Tags: cancer lymphoma Scientist Spotlight award Source Type: news
Widemann honored by Children’s Tumor Foundation
Brigitte Widemann, M.D., is flanked by Annette Bakker, chief scientific officer of the Children’s Tumor Foundation, and Kevin Shannon, M.D., from the University of California, San Francisco, after receiving the von Recklinghausen Award at the June 2013 CTF Neurofibromatosis Conference in Monterey, Calif.
Neurofibromatosis type 1, or NF1, is a genetic disorder that usually manifests itself during childhood with a variety of skin conditions and the development of tumors of the peripheral and central nervous system. Although it is not generally considered a fatal condition, people with NF1 can develop tumors called plexifor...
Source: NCI Benchmarks - June 25, 2013 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Richard Folkers Tags: cancer Childhood cancer award Neurofibromatosis tumor Source Type: news
Staudt elected to National Academy of Sciences
Louis M. Staudt, M.D., Ph.D., deputy chief of NCI’s Metabolism Branch in the Center for Cancer Research, has recently been elected into The National Academy of Sciences. The NAS is a private, non-profit society, established in 1863 by Congress. It serves as an objective science and technology resource for the nation.
Members include experts in the scientific, engineering, and health professional fields, all of whom volunteer their time to provide reports that have significantly improved the welfare of citizens worldwide.
Staudt is just one of the 84 new members who were nominated by peers, in recognition of their notab...
Source: NCI Benchmarks - May 28, 2013 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Richard Folkers Tags: lymphoma Scientist Spotlight Source Type: news
A New Delivery for Cancer Drugs
Scott McNeil, director of the Nanotechnology Characterization Lab at the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research
The protein tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) is a powerful weapon in the arsenal to control cancer. Unfortunately, as is the case with many potent cancer therapies, the use of TNF-alpha as an anti-cancer therapy has been severely limited. “It was so toxic that it caused death,” and researchers gave up on it, explains Scott McNeil, director of the Nanotechnology Characterization Lab at the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research.
That was back in the 1990s. Today, TNF-alpha is a...
Source: NCI Benchmarks - May 7, 2013 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: admin Tags: cancer nanotechnology Source Type: news
Anuradha Budhu
, Ph.D.
Anuradha Budhu, Ph.D., heads a research team at the National Cancer Institute that recently uncovered an imbalance between saturated and unsaturated fats (such as palmitic or fatty acids) that occur in patients with a common liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma, or HCC. Budhu’s team also determined that HCC patients with high unsaturated fat levels had poor survival rates, suggesting that a shift of balance toward saturated fats may be a novel therapeutic strategy in the treatment of aggressive liver cancer.
Budhu, who earned her doctorate at Cornell University, is a staff scientist at NCI’s Center fo...
Source: NCI Benchmarks - May 1, 2013 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Linda Perrett Tags: cancer Source Type: news
NCI Grantees Receive Breakthrough Prizes in Life Sciences
The Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences recognizes “excellence in research aimed at curing intractable diseases and extending human life.” The inaugural set of prizes, awarded in February 2013 by a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to advancing breakthrough research, are backed by well-known personalities such as Sergey Brin, Google co-founder and his wife, Anne Wojcicki, co-founder of a personal genomics and biotech company 23andMe; Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan; Russian entrepreneur Yuri Milner; and Art Levinson, chairman of Apple and Genentech.
The 11 recipients will each rece...
Source: NCI Benchmarks - March 8, 2013 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Aleea Farrakh Khan Tags: Scientist Spotlight award Source Type: news
Alan Rabson Receives AACI Special Recognition Award
The Association of American Cancer Institutes recently honored Alan S. Rabson, M.D., with a Special Recognition Award that recognized his achievements over five decades at the National Cancer Institute, as a deputy director, pathologist, cancer researcher, administrator, and clinical advisor. The award also celebrates his numerous discoveries in virology and authorship of more than 100 scientific journal articles.
Arnold Rabson, M.D., left, accepts the Special Recognition Award from AACI, on behalf of his father. Presenting the award at the Oct. 15 ceremony is AACI President William S. Dalton, M.D., Ph.D., chief executiv...
Source: NCI Benchmarks - October 25, 2012 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Aleea Farrakh Khan Tags: cancer Scientist Spotlight award pathology Source Type: news
The beneficial role of bacteria that live in the skin
This study provides new insights into the protective role of skin commensals and demonstrates that skin health relies on the interaction of commensals and immune cells.
The study was led by investigators in the laboratories of Yasmine Belkaid, Ph.D., at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in collaboration with Julie Segre, Ph.D., at the National Human Genome Research Institute, and Giorgio Trinchieri, M.D., and Kong at the National Cancer Institute.
Understanding the Good Bacteria in Our Skin:
Click here to view the embedded video. (Source: NCI Benchmarks)
Source: NCI Benchmarks - October 19, 2012 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Mike Miller Tags: Scientist Spotlight infection Microbiome skin Source Type: news
