Cancer
The latest cancer news from UNC Health Care and the UNC School of Medicine.
John Burnett: Kindness Rules the Day
An Ashe County man witnesses random acts of kindness daily – both as a deliberate and often anonymous giver and as an ever-grateful receiver – while in Chapel Hill for the treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Novel monoclonal antibody inhibits tumor growth in breast cancer and angiosarcoma
The antibody, created at the University of North Carolina, is the first therapeutic discovered that targets a protein known as SFRP2.
Transcription factors regulating blood oxygen linked to melanoma metastases
Researchers at the University of North Carolina have discovered that transcription factors regulating the levels of oxygen in the blood also play a role in the spread of the skin cancer melanoma.
Claudia Laskow: A Sense of Humor Carries the Day
A Dare County real estate agent refuses to let a breast cancer diagnosis and its treatment detract from her trademark sense of humor and constant outreach to others.
UNC researchers engineer 'protein switch' to dissect role of cancer’s key players
In the first application of this approach, the UNC researchers showed how a protein called Src kinase influences the way cells extend and move, a previously unknown role that is consistent with the protein’s ties to tumor progression and metastasis.
Hepatitis A virus discovered to cloak itself in membranes hijacked from infected cells
A team led by Dr. Stanley Lemon discovered that hepatitis A virus does not have an envelope when found in the environment, but acquires one from the cells that it grows in within the liver. It circulates in the blood completely cloaked in these membranes.
Cotton and Harper receive C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Awards
Tammy Cotton, a housekeeper who works at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Thurston Bowles building, and James R. “Bud” Harper, retired associate dean of medical alumni affairs, received awards. The Massey Award is one of the most coveted distinctions the University gives faculty and staff.
African Americans experience longer delay between prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment
The study is the first published population-based examination of racial disparities in prostate cancer treatment delay.
Storming the gates: UNC research probes how pancreatic cancers metastasize
Researchers in the lab of Carol Otey, PhD, found that the protein palladin enhances the ability of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) to assemble organelles known as invadopodia to break down the barriers between cells and create pathways for tumors to spread throughout the body.
Smithies named to first class of the Fellows of the AACR Academy
Dr. Oliver Smithies, Weatherspoon Eminent Distinguished Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, is a 2007 Nobel Laureate whose work revolutionized research into the genetic basis of cancer.
Don and Cindy Sills: Fighting Disease, Raising Awareness
A Craven County woman is diagnosed with a rare soft-tissue cancer on her 35th wedding anniversary. Together, she and her husband are raising awareness about cancer while she fights the disease.
CURE Ocular Melanoma (CURE OM) awards grant to develop treatments for uveal melanoma
A research team directed by Professors John Sondek, PhD, UNC School of Medicine and William Janzen, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, has been awarded a two-year grant from the Community United for Research and Education of Ocular Melanoma (CURE OM) to identify inhibitors of an oncogene found in the majority of melanomas of the eye.
Comparing combination therapies for advanced head and neck cancer shows no improvement
A team of scientists, including Neil Hayes, MD, MPH, from UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, report results of a clinical trial comparing treatments for this cancer, the seventh most common tumor type in the United States.
New chemical probe provides tool to investigate role of malignant brain tumor domains
The probe, named UNC1215, will provide researchers with a powerful tool to investigate the function of malignant brain tumor (MBT) domain proteins in biology and disease.
UNC researchers discover the underlying mechanisms behind chronic inflammation-associated diseases
A team lead by Xian Chen of UNC mapped the complex interactions of proteins that control inflammation at the molecular level.
UNC-led study documents head and neck cancer molecular tumor subtypes
By analyzing data from DNA microarrays, a UNC-led team has completed a study that confirms the presence of four molecular classes of the disease and extends previous results by suggesting that there may be an underlying connection between the molecular classes and observed genomic events, some of which affect known cancer genes.
Nelson Corbin: Leaning Forward in the Foxhole of Life
A career U.S. Army Special Forces officer from Robeson County takes on cancer with the same toughness he uses on the battlefield. At UNC Hospitals he finds his dream team -- including his son, who lost both legs while serving in Afghanistan -- to help in the fight.
Researchers discover biological diversity in triple-negative breast cancer
A team lead by Charles Perou, PhD, of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, examined more than 1,700 breast tumors, including 412 triple negative (TN) breast cancers, and concluded that triple-negative cancers, and basal-like breast cancers should not be considered as a single type.
Prostate-specific antigen screening: Values and techniques shape decisions
An international team of scientists led by the University of North Carolina has published a study evaluating different ways of helping men consider their values about PSA screening. They report that the decision-making process was influenced by the format in which information was presented.
UNC researchers discover gene that suppresses herpes viruses
A research team led by Blossom Damania, PhD, found that suppressing the TLK enzyme causes the activation of the lytic cycle of both EBV and KSHV. During this active phase, these viruses begin to spread and replicate, and become vulnerable to anti-viral treatments.
