Japanese researchers have developed a new organoid biobank with which to identify molecular subtypes of rare gastroentero-pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms using genotype-phenotype mapping, they reported in the November 6, 2020, online edition of Cell.
The use of liquid biopsies, tests that look for variants in cell-free DNA (cfDNA) shed by tumors into blood plasma, could lead to misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment in many cancers, according to University of Washington researchers. The tests misidentified a noncancer mutation that is particularly common in older people as a mutation used as a biomarker for PARP inhibitors indicated for use in prostate cancer, a study published in JAMA Oncology found, but the problem likely extends to other malignancies.
Keeping you up to date on recent developments in neurology, including: AI helps detect brain aneurysms on CT angiography; BBB studies advancing focused ultrasound treatment for Parkinson’s; Study reveals unexpected protective role for brain swelling after injury.
Keeping you up to date on recent developments in diagnostics, including: Deep learning enables real-time prediction of acute kidney injury; Catching kidney injury early in children; Seeing where tau goes wrong.
Investigators at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases have identified physiological factors that are not diseases in the narrow sense, but that nevertheless have large effects on microbiome composition.
Keeping you up to date on recent developments in orthopedics, including: New opportunities for detecting osteoporosis; Brazilian researchers discover how muscle regenerates after exercise; Different outcomes by race/ethnicity among patients with COVID-19 and rheumatic disease.
One of the reasons that pancreatic cancer remains such a stubbornly dismal disease is that it is extremely desmoplastic. In other words, most of a pancreatic tumor is not made up of tumor cells, but of stroma. Stroma, in turn, is a double-edged sword for the tumor cells. Its connective tissue component impedes blood flow, which is part of what makes pancreatic cancer so drug-resistant. But the lack of blood also means a lack of oxygen and nutrients, so pancreatic tumors must find alternate ways to feed themselves. That’s where nerves come in. In the Nov. 2, 2020, online issue of Cell, researchers published new insights into how innervation feeds tumors, and how to stop them from doing so.
Keeping you up to date on recent developments in oncology, including: Microfluidic provides model for testing therapies on pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma; Cutting off AML’s metabolic escape route; NGF: PDAC’s VEGF?; Revving up cisplatin by targeting Rev7.
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