Friday, April 30, 2010
Push for progress on pancreatic cancer
Push for progress on pancreatic cancer
You won't see it on a billboard or targeted in a police blitz, but you're more likely to die of pancreatic cancer in Australia than from a road accident.
Pancreatic cancer claims five Australian lives every day as one of the nation's most lethal diseases and yet it has remained off the health radar - in part, because of the grim prognosis of sufferers and no significant development in treatment.
"Despite considerable research efforts into pancreatic cancer over the last decade, very little progress has been made in the treatment of this disease," says Professor David Goldstein, a medical oncologist and director of the Sydney-based GI CANCER Institute.
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You won't see it on a billboard or targeted in a police blitz, but you're more likely to die of pancreatic cancer in Australia than from a road accident.
Pancreatic cancer claims five Australian lives every day as one of the nation's most lethal diseases and yet it has remained off the health radar - in part, because of the grim prognosis of sufferers and no significant development in treatment.
"Despite considerable research efforts into pancreatic cancer over the last decade, very little progress has been made in the treatment of this disease," says Professor David Goldstein, a medical oncologist and director of the Sydney-based GI CANCER Institute.
Posted using ShareThis
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Molecular marker could help spot pancreatic cancer early
Molecular marker could help spot pancreatic cancer early
CHAPEL HILL – Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have identified a molecular marker of pancreatic cancer that may help spot the disease at its earliest stages, when it can be treated more successfully with surgery.
In a finding published April 26, 2010, in the online journal PLoS One, the researchers showed that a specific form of a protein called palladin is produced in large amounts in the "tumor nest," the cells that surround a pancreatic tumor.
By measuring the levels of this form of palladin in patient samples, doctors could have an improved way to screen for the deadly cancer, possibly catching it earlier than ever before, said senior study author Carol Otey, Ph.D., associate professor of cell and molecular physiology at UNC.
Otey is a member of the NC Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute (NC TRaCS), part of a collaborative effort of a national network of medical research institutions affiliated with the NIH Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSAs).
"The problem with pancreas cancer is it is almost never caught at an early stage," said Otey. "By the time a person develops suspicious symptoms, the disease has typically progressed too far. But if you can diagnose it early, it can be treated very effectively with surgery."
CHAPEL HILL – Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have identified a molecular marker of pancreatic cancer that may help spot the disease at its earliest stages, when it can be treated more successfully with surgery.
In a finding published April 26, 2010, in the online journal PLoS One, the researchers showed that a specific form of a protein called palladin is produced in large amounts in the "tumor nest," the cells that surround a pancreatic tumor.
By measuring the levels of this form of palladin in patient samples, doctors could have an improved way to screen for the deadly cancer, possibly catching it earlier than ever before, said senior study author Carol Otey, Ph.D., associate professor of cell and molecular physiology at UNC.
Otey is a member of the NC Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute (NC TRaCS), part of a collaborative effort of a national network of medical research institutions affiliated with the NIH Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSAs).
"The problem with pancreas cancer is it is almost never caught at an early stage," said Otey. "By the time a person develops suspicious symptoms, the disease has typically progressed too far. But if you can diagnose it early, it can be treated very effectively with surgery."
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