Van Andel Research Institute findings provide more complete picture of kidney cancer

Two recent studies by Van Andel Research Institute scientists are providing a foundation for a more complete understanding of distinct kidney cancer subtypes, which could pave the way for better treatments.

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Targeted therapy extends progression-free survival of patients with advanced ovarian cancer

—Targeted drugs, which block or disrupt particular molecules involved in the growth of tumors, have been shown to be effective treatments against many types of cancer. A new phase 3 clinical trial conducted by the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) showed that a targeted therapy called bevacizumab (Avastin) effectively delayed the progression of advanced ovarian cancer. Patients with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer now typically undergo surgery and chemotherapy, but the new research suggests an additional avenue of treatment. The results of the trial appear in the December 29 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

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Neuralstem’s NSI-189 trial in major depressive disorder receives FDA approval to advance to Phase Ib

Neuralstem, Inc. (NYSE Amex: CUR) announced that it has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to advance to Phase Ib in its ongoing clinical trial to test its novel neuroregenerative compound, NSI-189, for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD). Phase Ib will test the safety and tolerability of the drug in depressed patients. NSI-189 is a proprietary new chemical entity discovered by Neuralstem that stimulates new neuron growth in the hippocampus, an area of the brain that is believed to be involved in MDD as well as other diseases and conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

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Scripps Research scientists discover a brain cell malfunction in schizophrenia

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered that DNA stays too tightly wound in certain brain cells of schizophrenic subjects.

The findings suggest that drugs already in development for other diseases might eventually offer hope as a treatment for schizophrenia and related conditions in the elderly.

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New synthetic molecules treat autoimmune disease in mice

A team of Weizmann Institute scientists has turned the tables on an autoimmune disease. In such diseases, including Crohn’s and rheumatoid arthritis, the immune system mistakenly attacks the body’s tissues. But the scientists managed to trick the immune systems of mice into targeting one of the body’s players in autoimmune processes, an enzyme known as MMP9. The results of their research appear today in Nature Medicine.

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Cleveland Clinic researcher discovers genetic cause of thyroid cancer

Friday, December 23, 2011, Cleveland: Cleveland Clinic researchers have discovered three genes that increase the risk of thyroid cancer, which is has the largest incidence increase in cancers among both men and women.

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Biochemists develop promising new treatment direction for rare metabolic diseases

A research team led by biochemist Scott Garman at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has discovered a key interaction at the heart of a promising new treatment for a rare childhood metabolic disorder known as Fabry disease. The discovery will help understanding of other protein-folding disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases, as well. Findings are featured as the cover story in the current issue of Chemistry & Biology.

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Fish oil may hold key to leukemia cure

A compound produced from fish oil that appears to target leukemia stem cells could lead to a cure for the disease, according to Penn State researchers. The compound — delta-protaglandin J3, or DPGJ3 — targeted and killed the stem cells of chronic myelogenous leukemia, or CML, in mice, said Sandeep Prabhu, associate professor of immunology and molecular toxicology in the Department of Veterinary and Medical Sciences. The compound is produced from EPA — Eicosapentaenoic Acid — an Omega-3 fatty acid found in fish and in fish oil, he said.

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Researcher contends multiple sclerosis is not a disease of the immune system

An article to be published Friday (Dec. 23) in the December 2011 issue of The Quarterly Review of Biology argues that multiple sclerosis, long viewed as primarily an autoimmune disease, is not actually a disease of the immune system. Dr. Angelique Corthals, a forensic anthropologist and professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, suggests instead that MS is caused by faulty lipid metabolism, in many ways more similar to coronary atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) than to other autoimmune diseases.

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Promising treatments for blood cancers presented by JTCancerCenter researchers at ASH meeting

Researchers from the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center, one of the nation’s top 50 best hospitals for cancer, presented results from 31 major studies of blood-related cancers – leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma — during the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, December 13, 2011 in San Diego.

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