RESEARCH SPINOFF.COM

Blood test may help determine who is at risk for psychosis

The new biomarker for cancer patient survival could lead to novel therapeutic strategies

The novel biomarker for prostate cancer patients

Disintegrating brain lesions may indicate MS is getting worse

For decades, clinicians treating multiple sclerosis (MS) have interpreted the appearance of new or expanding brain lesions on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans as a sign that a patient's disease is getting worse. Currently, researchers at the University at Buffalo are finding that it may be the atrophy or disappearance of these lesions into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that is a better indicator of who will develop a disability. The five-year study was conducted by MS researchers in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB. Similar findings also resulted from their 10-year study of 176 patients that they presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) in Los Angeles.

by Karina Vrashchuk

10 hours ago

Heart rate variability may predict risk of disease in premature infants

A new way to identify premature infants at risk of developing necrotizing enterocolitis has been discovered by the researchers at UNC School of Medicine. Necrotizing enterocolitis, or NEC, may lead to the destruction of the intestinal wall and vital organ failure. NEC is currently diagnosed by a combination of laboratory and radiology tests, usually done when the disease is already significant. Since NEC progresses so rapidly and the symptoms develop suddenly, a non-invasive biomarker that allows early detection of patients at risk is required as a matter of urgency.

by Tetiana Nedashkivska

10 hours ago

Biomarkers in saliva for early diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer

Biomarkers for detection of early-stage pancreatic cancer (lat. Carcinoma) was developed by American scientists. Physicians and scientists believe that if scientists cannot entirely prevent cancer, the next best thing is to find it earlier to augment the chances of a successful fight. A multidisciplinary group of investigators from the UCLA School of Dentistry, the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, the UCLA School of Public Health and UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has demonstrated the usefulness of salivary diagnostics in the effort to find and fight the disease. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, the most common type of cancer of the pancreas, is also the most lethal of all cancers, with a mortality rate that is approximately the same as the rate of incidence. The American Cancer Society reports that more than 42,000 people in the United States received a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer in 2009, and the disease caused more than 35,000 deaths. Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in this country. For both men and women, the lifetime risk of developing pancreatic cancer is about one in 72.

by Yana Kurchenko

11 hours ago

An enzyme with the capacity to suppress cancer growth

First diagnostic test and better treatments for chronic bronchitis

The new possible biomarker to gauge Alzheimer's prognosis

Molecules in spit may be able to diagnose and predict length of concussions

A new way to diagnose and predict the duration of concussions (lat. Concussionem) in children has been developed by the researchers at Penn State University. Researchers measured the levels of microRNAs - tiny snippets of noncoding RNA - in the saliva of concussion patients. They found that the presence of certain microRNAs in saliva was able to better identify concussions and more accurately predict the length of concussion symptoms than relying solely on patient surveys. The findings could result in a more fact-based way to diagnose and treat concussion patients. There’s been a big push recently to find more objective markers that a concussion has occurred, instead of relying simply on patient surveys. This approach is limited because proteins have a hard time crossing the blood-brain barrier.

by Tetiana Nedashkivska

13 hours ago

The first blood test to diagnose traumatic brain injury

Biomarker for traumatic brain injury (lat. Cerebrum injuria) was identified by scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, traumatic brain injury led to about 2.8 million emergency room visits, hospitalizations and deaths in the United States. A new study in rats shows that levels of a molecule called LPA rise quickly in several sites of the brain after traumatic brain injury, or TBI, suggesting a possible route to the development of a diagnostic blood test for humans. The findings are consistent with previous research detecting higher concentrations of LPA in the blood after a brain injury, as well as in cerebrospinal fluid following spinal-cord injury. Because traumatic brain injury can produce a variety of symptoms, it can be difficult for doctors to accurately evaluate the severity of the trauma or predict the duration of the injury.

by Yana Kurchenko

13 hours ago

A treatment for c-Myc overexpressing cancers

c-Myc is an oncogene frequently overexpressed in lymphomas, such as diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), and other cancers (lat. Carcinoma). Although c-Myc is an attractive therapeutic target, since c-Myc is involved in many essential cellular functions, a direct inhibitor may associate with increased toxicity in patients. Therefore, targeting upstream signals that regulate c-Myc expression is a promising approach. However, there are currently no effective strategies available for silencing c-Myc expression. Despite this fact, the researchers' team led by Professor Owen O’Connor at Columbia University developed a technology that is a treatment c-Myc overexpressing cancers by inhibiting casein kinase-1 epsilon (CK-1) and phophoinostidine 3-kinase (PI3K) activity alone or in combination with proteasome inhibitors.

by Karina Vrashchuk

14 hours ago