Going out like a brilliant flame is one way to get attention. If physicians could watch tumor cells committing a form of programmed suicide called apoptosis, a desired effect of workhorse cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, they could more quickly pick the most effective treatment. Now scientists at the Stanford School of Medicine have found a way to do just that, by lighting up cells as they die.

Tagged: cancer, Human Health, Humanities & Sciences

Human immune cells communicate constantly with one another as they coordinate to fight off infection and other threats. Now Stanford researchers have shown that muffling a key voice in this conversational patter is an early step in the progression of human cancers.

Tagged: cancer, Human Health, Medicine

A new survey from the School of Medicine suggests that a significant number of Asian Americans living in California adopt unhealthy sun-exposure behaviors as they become more westernized.

Tagged: cancer, Human Health, Medicine

VIDEO: A pathway that shields normal stem cells from DNA damage appears to also help cancer stem cells withstand radiation treatment for the disease.

Tagged: cancer, stem cells, Human Health, Medicine

Postmenopausal women who take combined estrogen plus progestin menopausal hormone therapy for at least five years double their annual risk of breast cancer, according to new analyses from a major study that clearly establishes a link between hormone use and breast cancer

Tagged: cancer, hormones, Human Health, Medicine

Few things are as tiresome as house hunting and moving. Unfortunately, metastatic cancer cells have the relocation process down pat. Migrating cancer cells plan ahead by first sending molecular emissaries to orchestrate a breach in the body’s natural defenses. Blocking this cascade of events in mice hobbled the cells’ migration and prevented the metastatic cancer that developed in control animals.

Tagged: cancer, Human Health, Medicine

A team led by Stanford researchers has developed a prototype blood scanner that can find cancer markers in the bloodstream in early stages of the disease, potentially allowing for earlier treatment and dramatically improved chances of survival.

Tagged: cancer, Human Health, Engineering

Coaxing a patient’s own cells to hunt down and tackle infected or diseased cells is a promising therapeutic approach for many disorders. Now, for the first time, researchers have devised a way to obtain repeated “snapshots” of the location and survival of such cells in a living human patient months and possibly years later.

Tagged: cancer, imaging, Human Health, Medicine

A family of cancer-fighting molecules helps blood stem cells in mice decide when and how to divide, say medical school researchers. "This is an important step in understanding the initiation of human cancer at a cellular level," said Patrick Viatour, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar who performed the research in the laboratory of Julien Sage, PhD.

Tagged: cancer, stem cells, Human Health, Medicine

Medical school investigators have found a way to quickly and reversibly fine-tune the activity of individual proteins in cells and living mammals. This could help to speed the development of therapies in which cancer-fighting proteins are selectively delivered to tumors.

Tagged: cancer, proteins, Human Health, Medicine