Researchers have devised a new tool for preventing metastasis: a reversible, drug-free antiplatelet therapy made from modified human platelets. Platelets, which are essential to the formation of blood clots, provide crucial protection against bleeding. However, hyperactive platelets are implicated in a number of illnesses, including heart attack, stroke, and cancer. By binding to tumor cells, platelets protect the tumor cells from the immune system. Furthermore, they may help cancer cells travel...

Receptors located on the cell surface are heavily influenced by cancer mutations. According to researchers at the Karolinska Institute and Uppsala University in Sweden, Class Frizzled (Class F) of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) could potentially be a therapeutic target. Hormones activate the receptors on cell membranes in order to start different cellular processes. G protein-coupled receptors, which comprise the most physiologically important membrane protein family, recognize a large vari...

​ Researchers at the University of Helsinki, Finland, have found a new use for the diabetes drug metformin in a combination treatment that is effective against MYC-driven breast cancer. Around half of breast tumors have increased levels of the MYC protein, an oncogenic transcription factor that is often overexpressed in cancers. Overexpression and amplification of the MYC gene have been linked to breast tumor progression and increased risk of relapse and death. Even though MYC plays a role ...

Researchers have developed a new treatment that has the potential to work powerfully for some patients with relapsed acute myeloid leukemia (AML). One of the deadliest cancers, AML has a five-year survival rate of around 30%, which drops to under 10% for elderly patients. Around 30% of patients with AML have an activating mutation in the tyrosine kinase domain (TKD) of fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) or an FLT internal tandem duplication. These patients generally respond well initially to...

Chemotherapy is an effective treatment for many cancers; however, the side effects can have huge consequences, especially on pediatric patients, who are still growing. In particular, children treated for medulloblastoma—the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor—have devastating lifelong side effects from chemotherapy. Less harmful treatments are needed. In a new study published in Nature Communications , scientists have discovered that inhibiting an epigenetic modifier protein called lysin...