Is Your Sunscreen Toxic?

 

Hi Guys! I came across this article when researching for my cancer project and since spring is slowly starting to arrive and it seems that more and more people are out and about in the sun, I thought this was a good article to post about.

In this article titled Characterization of Optical Properties of ZnO Nanoparticles for Quantitative Imaging of Transdermal Transport, a group of Swiss and Australian scientists used laser imaging to assess the toxicity of zinc nanoparticles in common sunscreens. The use of zinc nanoparticles, in this study zinc oxide (ZnO), in modern sunscreen formulas was adopted for many practical and also aesthetic reasons. ZnO has a high optical absorption in both the UVA and UVB light and is ideal for protecting the skin from light radiation. Aesthetically, the zinc makes sunscreen more cosmetically pleasing as smaller zinc particles make the sunscreen more transparent. ZnO is regarded as safe for topical applications. 

Who Says Herpes Is All Bad

In the magazine Scientific America, I came across an article, Altered Virus Calls Out Hidden Cancer Cells–and Might Help Fight Them, Too, which presents the novel findings that the infamous herpes virus could actually be used to detect the early onset of cancer. With the modification of the wild type Herpes virus it can not only be designed to specifically attack cancerous cells, but it also acts as a vector for a blood detectable biomarker. This finding could lead to a routine procedure for the early detection of cancer without the patient being subjected to numerous screening processes.  

Cancer Prevention Drug?

I recently found a fascinating news release on the Loyola Chicago SOM website related to immunology and cancer. The results of the study has significant implications for our understanding of cancer treatment. Basically, researchers at the university discovered that a molecule named TGF-b, already known for its anti-proliferative effects on early cancer cells, could in fact amplify our immune response. Given that "evading the immune system" was an emerging hallmark of cancer in Hanahan and Weinberg's article, I thought that this was an appropriate article to choose. 


We know that our immune system regularly find and destroys abnormally functioning cells. However, every now and then cancer cells are somehow able to avoid detection. Using TGF-b, could we enhance our immune system as part of a preventative drug treatment against cancer? 

Genetic Testing For Hereditary Cancer!

Medullary Thyroid Cancer has shown to exist in both sporadic and familial forms.  Medullary Thyroid Cancer (MTC) makes up 4% of all thyroid cancer in the United States, but more interestingly, 20-25% of all MTC cases present as familial, Hereditary (Kloos, Eng, Evans...).  In the last decade and a half, there has been a testing technique developed called RET genetic screening, named after the RET gene mutations that cause both the sporadic and familial varieties of MTC, that can exist as an early warning system for the family of all those effected by any type of MTC.  This system has enabled the ten year survival rate to reach 75% (Kloos, Eng, Evans...) and detailed, long-term information from both Italian and Islamic health centers and laboratories.  Does the data truly show that it is actually the cause of great survival rates?

Grape Seeds Natural Cure for Cancer?

As I was researching the different methods cancers use to evade the immune system, I came across an interesting article that came out January of this year. Researchers were interested in studying the effects of grape seed proanthocyanidins (GSPs), which are a type of flavanoid, on the metastasis of head and neck small cell carcinoms (HNSCC). It turns out many other researchers have done similar GSP studies using a myriad of different cancer cells, and they all report positive results.

cancer project - H pylori tumor

Hello, my name is Angela Silva. My partner, Nic Zavala, and I will be focusing on the tumor H pylori for our cancer project. Aside from researching H pylori itself, we will also research the location H pylori originally infects, its relation to MALT lymphoma and Gastric cancer as well as where it commonly metastasizes to.

Controversy in prenatal testing for breast cancer

Prenatal testing for mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes (genes linked to breast and ovarian cancers) has become a controversial issue in the medical realm. I came across an article in the Journal of Medical Genetics that addresses this issue in several situations. The article, Clinical geneticists' attitudes and practice towards testing for breast cancer susceptibility genes, also provides responses to these situations from all clinical centers in the UK.

After reading this article, do you think prenatal genetic testing for mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2 should be conducted? Do you think it should be circumstantial - for example, should testing only be conducted if there is a family history for breast or ovarian cancer? Lastly, if you believe that prenatal genetic testing should be conducted, do you think that a positive result (there is a mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene) is a valid reason to have an abortion?

Diabetes Being Linked to Pancreatic Cancer

Image above: Stained mouse Pancreatic cells.  The cells dyed red are
ductal pancreatic cells infected with cancer.

Hello all,  my partner Michael and I are planning on doing our cancer project on pancreatic cancer.  We have decided to commit our focus on diabetes and its correlation with pancreatic cancer.  I was searching online journals and found a very interesting article on how the sudden onset of diabetes could be linked to pancreatic cancer, and could allow for the early detection of pancreatic cancer.  

ALL

Hi everyone,

For the Cancer Project, Anshuman and I are focusing on Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia in children. We are going to be researching the top three drugs that treat ALL and examine their mechanisms at the cellular level, why they are so successful, etc.

Opioids and Tumor Progression

          I recently read an academic paper titled "The u-Opioid Receptor in Cancer Progression: Is There a Direct Effect?".  This paper, which was recently published in Anesthesiology, discusses the relationship between opioids and cancer recurrence and metastasis.  Epidemiological studies indicate a lower recurrence of cancer in patients who received local anesthesia rather than opioids for pain management.  My partner and I are focusing on the possible reasons behind the recurrence of cancer, so I found this article very relevant.  Before going into detail about the direct effects of u-opioids (opioids that are associated with the u-receptor), the authors discuss the observed indirect effects of opioids and other anesthetic drugs.  For example, anesthetic drugs may suppress the activity of NK (natural killer) cells, which are vital to a functioning immune system's defense against tumor cells. 

Project Topic

Hi guys!
For our project, Amanda and I are focusing on skin cancer. Our project aims to examine the effects of UV exposure of skin types in three groups of people that have different amounts of exposure to UV light. The first group are those who voluntarily expose themselves to UV rays through UV rays or excess tanning. The second group are those who involuntarily expose themselves to UV rays most likely through their work or environment. The third group are those who have very little or no exposure to UV light because of work or location. In our research we hope to compare the rates of skin cancer in these three groups of exposure. Also, we hope to analyze the varying expression of melanin-producing genes (that give skin color) in the basal layer of the skin in order to determine if different skin types can lead to higher rates of melanoma.

New Cancer Treatments

CBS News. New cancer treatment reprograms immune system - CBS News. 2011. Video. Youtube.comWeb. 13 Apr 2012. < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cR6ZCtYo_s>.

This was a news story from CBS News that originally aired on August 10^th 2011. It is another example of new ideas turning into new treatments. Dr. Carl June’s team recently succeeded in treating three patients who were diagnosed with incurable Chronic Lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). One of the only treatments of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia is a bone marrow transplant that is not only dangerous but only 50% effective.

With the new treatment Dr. Carl’s team was able to take the patient’s own blood, remove some of the T-cells and genetically modify them to attack the CLL cells. With only one infusion the patients had noticeable changes with two patients having their tumors completely absent six months later. This is a remarkable treatment that when developed completely could be used to cure all types of not only cancer but other ailments facing the human population.

Although this study showed great signs of success with all patients surviving, having such a small experimental group makes the data questionable. The efficacy of the treatment needs to be done on a much larger scale before it can be considered ready for mass use, but the fact that these new ideas and treatments are still coming out is promising.

Works Consulted

LaPook, Jonathan. "New cancer treatment reprograms immune system." CBS News. 10 08 2011: n. page. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. < http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/08/10/eveningnews/main20090911.shtml>.

Research Proposal

Hi Guys,

So Chris Clark and I are doing a project on the evolutionary aspect of cancer and the various drugs that have recently been developed to target this very aspect of the disease (benign cell boosters, for example). This article http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/11/061117114616.htm provides an interesting discussion of this topic. Here is a brief summary of the article:

Many of the dynamics of evolution (such as natural selection) apply to the environment of a tumor as much as they apply to other traditional topics in evolutionary biology. A population of cancer cells in a tumor can be likened to any population of organisms in which natural selection takes place. Within a population of cancer cells, there is heritable variation (there are a variety of different genetic mutants all of which can divide and pass on their exact mutations to daughter cells) and this variation affects the survivability of each cancer cell (fitness). 

Looking at cancer through the lens of an evolutionary biologist has shed light on the therapeutic resistance of cancer and brought about a new array of possible treatments for the disease. As Carlo C. Maley, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Molecular and Cellular Oncogenesis Program at The Wistar Institute, says, "When you apply chemotherapy to a population of tumor cells, you're quite likely to have a resistant mutant somewhere in that population of billions or even trillions of cells. This is the central problem in oncology. The reason we haven't been able to cure cancer is that we're selecting for resistant tumor cells. When we spray a field with pesticide, we select for resistant pests. It's the same idea." The central idea, or goal, is then to influence the fitness of cancer cells.

One example of a treatment is benign cell boosters, which target benign cells and increase their relative fitness with respect to more malignant cells. As these benign cells outcompete other malignant cancer cells, the tumor would become much less aggressive and dangerous.

One aspect that this article does not mention is the fact that evolution in cancer cells may take anywhere from a few months or years, unlike in the evolution of a new species where it may take thousands of years for evolution to take place.

Reference/citation: The Wistar Institute. "Does Natural Selection Drive The Evolution Of Cancer?." ScienceDaily, 17 Nov. 2006. Web. 12 Apr. 2012.

New Mechanism discovered in Colon Cancer Development

Hey Guys!

I don't know how many of you are interested in Colon Cancer or doing active research on this type of cancer, but I found an interesting article that details a novel way in which this deadly cancer develops. The research that that the scientists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine carried out, found that the "junk DNA" actually act as a set of master switches that enable or disable transcription in the DNA. In the study, these master switches are called  Variant Enhancer Loci or VELs since these loci have the ability to "enhance" the DNA by transcribing it or not, depending on whether it is turned on or off. Similar to the methylation process that enables or disables transcription in a particular area of DNA, the researchers found that colon cancer actually has an unique genetic signature whereby certain regions of the DNA are deliberately changed. The key to this discovery is that these changes are reversible since these are epigenetic changes, again similar to methylation. As Sanford Markowitz, a member of the research team notes "The VELs signature is notable because it cuts through the complexity of the many genes that are changed in colon cancer, to identify genes that are direct targets of alterations on chromosomes."

Anyway guys, take a looks at study if you are interested - it is nicely summarized at the following link.
Also below, you will find a citation for the actual journal article that goes into more detail about the research study.

Article Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120412141813.htm

Research/Paper citation:

Batool Akhtar-Zaidi, Richard Cowper-Sal·lari, Olivia Corradin, Alina Saiakhova, Cynthia F. Bartels, Dheepa Balasubramanian, Lois Myeroff, James Lutterbaugh, Awad Jarrar, Matthew F. Kalady, Joseph Willis, Jason H. Moore, Paul J. Tesar, Thomas Laframboise, Sanford Markowitz, Mathieu Lupien, Peter C. Scacheri. Epigenomic enhancer profiling defines a signature of colon cancer. Science, April 12, 2012.

Topic for Cancer Project

Everyone,

For the Cancer Project my interests are novel treatments & therapies and new diagnostic methods. I would like to research about the newest therapeutic and diagnostic technologies and perhaps analyze why such technology is effective for the specific type of cancer. Another avenue to possibly pursue is to research the mechanism of drug action. 

-Dustyn Uchiyama

Aptamers and Potential Drug Therapies

Hi everyone,

I've learned some about aptamers and their characteristically high affinity and selectivity for their target molecules. For a brief overview, aptamers are single stranded DNA or RNA molecules (usually DNA) that can be selected for using SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment). This process requires no previous knowledge of the DNA library and essentially allows for the selection of DNA molecules that bind to specific target molecules (i.e. certain glycoforms). To fast forward a bit, the implications of this technology is that cancer therapy may one day be able to target only cancerous cells thereby eliminating most of the negative side effects that are attributed to chemotherapy.

Needless to say, I found this type of research not only intriguing on the conceptual level--but also promising to the therapeutic research community. Attached is a paper about some of the research by Dr. Weihong Tan, a professor at the University of Florida, who has studied aptamers and possible drug uses.

In recent years targeted drug delivery has been attempted by drug-conjugate combinations. "However, when multiple functionalities are involved, the fabrication of the conjugates becomes correspondingly complicated and can compromise the efficacy of these drug candidates" (Yang, et. al). Some of the issues that drug delivery encounters are decreased drug toxicity and resistance. The paper describes how aptamer-conjugates can act as the driving force behind the treatment modality of cellular disruption. Cellular disruption is the process of releasing drugs from inside a cell--one way of "out-smarting" drug resistant cells. Tan's research group has developed polymeric aptamer conjugates that show selective cytotoxicity for cancerous cells. The aptamer conjugates decrease their target cell activity by more than 50%. Overall, the aptamer conjugates target certain (cancerous) cells and display cytotoxicity only after they are internalized by the cell (the aptamer-drug conjugate is essentially harmless to normal cells).

Attached is a link to the scientific paper. Engineering Polymeric Aptamers for Selective Cytotoxicity (Yang et. al.)

Here is a video to help illustrate the aptamer selection process termed SELEX. I would imagine this video is the product of nerds with too much free time (...they probably go to Stanford.)

origin of chronic lymphatic leukemia

Hi Guys!
I noticed that a few people mentioned that they were interested in leukemia and I read an article this morning about a recent study at the Medical University of Vienna where a lead to the origin of chronic lymphatic leukemia was discovered. I couldn't get access to the original journal article because you need to be a member of the journal page, but I'm adding the abstract as well as a link to the Science Daily article below.

Maybe this could be helpful if your project is on leukemia.

The origin of chronic lymphatic leukaemia: lead discovered

11 April 2012 Medical University of Vienna

Up until now the causes of the development of chronic lymphatic leukaemia, the most common form of cancer of the blood in Europe, have been unknown. At present a cure is not possible. A research group at the MedUni Vienna led by Christoph Steininger of the University Department of Internal Medicine I has now however discovered a lead on the origin of this disease. Says Steiniger: "This could influence the therapy approach taken in treating chronic lymphatic leukaemia."
For approximately 20 years it has been suspected that chronic lymphatic leukaemia occurs through the stimulation of B cells with other factors also playing a part. In the current research study, which has been published in the journal "Blood", the scientists were looking for an antigen that attaches itself to the leukaemia cell receptors and they were able to identify the protein pUL32 of the human cytomegalovirus.
Virus "conceals" itself in cells
The cytomegalovirus, a member of the herpes family of viruses, is carried by approximately 60 to 70 percent of the Austrian population without them getting ill from it and without them even noticing that they are carrying the virus. In most cases people are infected with the virus during childhood. After being infected, the virus goes on to survive in the cells of the immune system their whole life long. The virus conceals itself within the cells and in addition it confuses the immune system with its own chemical messengers.
Only when the immune system in an infected person is weakened, for example by medical suppression as part of an organ transplant or in an HIV-illness, can the virus make someone ill. Whether this virus infection can trigger leukaemia, or whether the connection observed between leukaemia and the cytomegalovirus points to another mechanism, independent of the virus, in the origin of the cancer is now the subject of several follow-up studies.
One of the follow-up studies is looking at whether an antiviral treatment against the cytomegalovirus can prevent the leukaemia cells from being stimulated and so prevent the further advance of the disease.

http://www.meduniwien.ac.at/homepage/news-and-topstories/en/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=1996&cHash=f33d83990c

Link to Science Daily Article
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120411084040.htm
 

Meat and Cancer

Hi guys, I thought this was relevant to what we talked a little bit about in lecture today regarding the correlation between meat consumption and cancer. It's called Chemicals in Meat Cooked at High Temperatures and Cancer Risk. The article is short and has a lot of interesting facts - it also was reviewed in 2010 so it's pretty recent information. There are a lot of studies out there on this topic, which makes it hard to find a definite answer since so many factors play into it. However, all of the studies I looked at show a definite correlation between red meat consumption and poor health ranging from cardiovascular issues to a greater risk of death in general. When muscle meat is cooked at high temperatures polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are produced, which have carcinogenic effects when consumed and are thus found to be cancer-causing. 


We also talked about whether or not the significance of health risks associated with red meat is the same with other meats such as chicken and seafood. A Harvard study (documenting 23,926 deaths) released this year showed, "One daily serving of unprocessed red meat (about the size of a deck of cards) was associated with a 13% increased risk of mortality, and one daily serving of processed red meat (one hot dog or two slices of bacon) was associated with a 20% increased risk." However, "Replacing one serving of total red meat with one serving of a healthy protein source was associated with a lower mortality risk: 7% for fish, 14% for poultry."


I am not sure if anyone is doing their cancer project on environment/food and cancer but both of these studies show that meat consumption leads to a variety of cancers. I would also note the amount of PAH's given to animals in the experiments and compare that with how much meat/what type of meat the average person is consuming and the concentration of PAH's in it because it may be cancer-causing in much higher amounts than what people actually consume.

CD47 Antibody: A Promising Breakthrough

Introduction & Background

Irving Weissman (8)

On the first day of class, Dr. Islas mentioned that our best defense against cancer is not through medical interventions (i.e. burning, radiation, or resection), but rather our own immune system.  The reason we so susceptible to this disease, however, is the fact that cancer has evolved mechanisms to avoid our immune system.  Over the weekend, I came across a study conducted by a group of Stanford scientists who have discovered a way to disable one of these “mechanisms,” so that our body’s inherent defenses can better detect and eliminate cancer cells.

The senior author of the study is Irving Weissman, MD, a professor of pathology at the Stanford University School of Medicine.  The research was published online on March 26, 2012 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Cancer Project

Hello class my name is Quincy Mehta.  I am interested in acute leukemia, specifically, the most effective treatment methods and new breakthrough treatments, as well as what are the leading causes of acute leukemia.

Cancer Project Topic

Hello, my name is Marytza Rios and I am interested in the genetics of thyroid cancer and want to know more on what genes are associating with thyroid cancer, the risks, the treatment options, and causes.

Cancer Project Topic

Hi Everyone,

My name is Jaclyn.  I’m interested in the following questions:

1) Why do certain mutational events promote cancer phenotypes in some tissues and not others?

2) Why do most cancers metastasize to the lungs when other organs/tissues are sometimes physically closer to the site at which the cancer originated?  Perhaps there is something special or different about the lung tissue that promotes cancer growth.

Question #2 was sparked by a table (see below) I found at cancer.gov.  I was shocked at how cancer appears to easily spread to the lungs.  This question could even work for the liver and bones, as they are common sites for metastasis as well.

(1)

Research Interest - ALL in children

As mentioned previously, I am interested in learning more about ALL and why it occurs more frequently in children than in young adults. One aspect that I am willing to tackle and do more research on is the genetic aspect of this disease. Upon my initial research, I have discovered that children with Down syndrome are more at risk for developing ALL; there has to be a genetic cause that induces children with Down Syndrome to be more at risk to develop ALL than others.

This is just one idea that I am brainstorming at the moment. If you are interested, feel free to comment back on this thread.

Research Interests

Hello, my name is Brooke. I am interested in how some dormant tumors become malignant.  What changes inside the cells? I am also interested in the risks of cancer, whether they be genetic or environmental.

Interests

Hi Everyone,

My name is Nhunguyen and I am interested in the question below:

Why do certain mutational events promote cancer phenotypes in some tissues and not in others?

Obviously, this is a pretty large topic so I am going to research a bit to narrow it down.

Cancer Project - ALL

Hi everyone, my name is Taylor Hoedemaker and I'm interested in Childhood Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia - specifically how genetics are involved in causing/increasing one's risk for the disease (even though scientists are not fully certain about all the changes in DNA that can lead to ALL). I am also interested in the mechanism of some of the more successful drug therapies used to treat different stages of the disease. I am not sure which topic I am going to focus on yet but I am open to any suggestions!

Research Topic

Hi everyone, I'm Blake. I'm interested in Hodgkin's lymphoma but not really sure how to nail it down. Maybe learning more about how it's actually caused and if/how it's passed on genetically.

research topics

hello my name is michael creswell and i am interested in leukemia. I am not sure how i would like to narrow this topic down but if anyone has any good ideas lemme know!

Hi Everybody!

Hi guys! I'm Lulu.
I'm very interested in skin cancer, particularly melanoma and carcinoma. My initial project idea is to compare the emergence of either melanoma and carcinoma depending on skin color. Let me know if you have any suggestions.
:D

My First Post!

Hey, my name is Kayla Ehring and I am really interested in if there is a correlation to where you live in the world and your risk for cancer and how much of that correlation is due to the overall obesity of that country.

Cancer Project

Hi everyone, I'm Kelly. I took immunology in the fall and only got a little information about cancer. I'm particularly interested in researching further the mechanisms cancers use to avoid detection and/or destruction by the immune system. I am also curious as to how surrounding cells help tumors with angiogenesis (as a second project idea).

First Post!

Hey guys I'm interested in looking into the hereditary aspects of thyroid cancer.

Research Topic

Hi guys, my name is Alvaro. I am interested in researching about heredity and cancer, and what makes certain family members more at risk than others. I am also thinking about the evolutionary dynamic of cancer cells and cancer treatments that address this issue http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15298961

Cancer Defense

Hey guys, I am Jim.  Im a Scorpio who enjoy biking and walks on the beach.  I am also interested in the mechanisms cancers use to avoid elimination by the immune system, but I am open to other ideas too.

My topic!

Hi Guys! Im interested in the Central Nervous System Embryonal Tumors, Childhood

My First Post!

Hello! I am interested in cancer related to the central nervous system

My First Post

Hello Everyone! My Name is Mia Pulos.  I am interested in pancreatic cancer and its correlation to type two diabetes and the medicine associated with type two diabetes.

This is my first post

I'm interested in the presence of diabetes (any effects) in pancreatic cancer.

This is my first post

Hi everyone, I'm Amanda and I'm interested in skin cancer related to tanning or sunscreen. Who is at risk and why?

Cancer Project topic!

Hey Guys, I'm interested in the Central Nervous System Embryonal Tumors, Childhood!

My First Post

This is my first post for Bio179 at Santa Clara University. I am interested in cancer and histone modifications....

Interest in Specific Cancer

I am interested in leukemia....(not finalized)

This is my first post

Hi my name is Sandra Ngonidzashe Mboweni, I'm really interested in exploring the link between obesity and cancer risks. I am also interested in exploring environmental factors and diets and their contribution to certain types of cancer.

My first post

I am interested in new treatments of cancer.

Also in causes of cancer

Post Post Post Post.....

Hello everybody :)

My name is Mary Helen.

I am actually torn between two topic ideas and I was wondering if you all could give me some feedback/opinions...

topic 1: Why do certain mutational events promote cancer phenotype in some tissues but not others? When a cancer metastisizes, why doesn't it spread directly out from the source?
As an example, lung cancer metasitisizes to the brain but not the breasts in some cases, but why? The breast tissue is physically closer to the lung tissue, so why does the cancer present itself in the brain first?


topic 2: Why do second idependent cancer occur at higher rates in patients who have survived a primary cancer than in a population of those without previous cancer history? What is the rate of recurrance in those who have previously survived? Is it the same cancer returning? Different cancer?

Welcome to Bio 179 Cancer Biology for 2012!

Another Spring quarter, another Bio 179 class. Welcome to a class that empowers you to pursue your interest in Cancer Biology, wherever that leads.

Dr. Islas

Eternal life?

I know class is long over just recently ran into this article and remember a lot of people were interested in this subject, and it was an interesting read. More or less we were talking about telomeres and how they shorten over your lifespan and if you could prolong life if you were able to find a way to lengthen the telomeres. Heres a link to the article if anyone wants to read it.

http://io9.com/5817312/a-tumor-that-could-provide-the-key-to-making-zombies