Using Enzymes To Counter Cancer Growth 41
sylvester22 writes to mention a Mercury News article about a possible breakthrough in cancer research from a research group in Oakland. Dr. Julie Saba and her team at the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute are working with 'lyase,' an intestinal enzyme that apparently can inhibit cancer growth. The problem is that this enzyme is almost never found after a growth has become active. From the article: "Using cells in a tissue culture Saba said she and her team 'have been able to turn-on the enzyme after cancer cell growth had occurred.' The researchers found that re-introducing the enzyme made chemotherapy more effective in tissue cultures. 'Although we're beginning our studies in colon cancer, we believe our research findings will have a direct impact on investigations for other cancers, including pediatric cancers,' said Saba."
Queen (Score:2)
From TFA:
Queen of the Lyase?? How cool is that? Seems to me like Dr. Saba should have been on this list [slashdot.org].
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We scientists are geekier than anyone had imagined.
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Congratulations! (Score:5, Insightful)
Sorry, people, I'm all in favor of scientific advances, and I know that this is the way to get funding, but who still takes these titles seriously? Cancer would've been cured 40 years ago if we would've believed the newspaper messages that promised us these breakthroughs. Point is, it doesn't work this way, everyone knows it, so stop pretending! Also, just think about all the people that have cancer or people close to them that have cancer. Why give them false hope every time?
Re:Congratulations! (Score:4, Insightful)
It is quite appalling that a news site which is oriented towards geeks publishes links to newspaper pseudonews bollocks without publishing links to the original articles and original peer reviewed research. Frankly, that is not news for nerds. It is news for Sun readers (and the like).
Is it that damn difficult to do some digging before publishing on Slashdot?
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Am I the only one who snickered at this?
Digg it!
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Am I the only one who snickered at this?
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Survey says....yes! Given the choice between having things right or having them right now, more people seem to be choosing the latter.
Oh, and if we're going to be digging before publishing on Slashdot, does that mean we can Slashdot before articles get cross posted to Digg?
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Jeez. Pediatric colon cancer... (Score:1)
yay... (Score:1)
Breakthrough? (Score:3, Interesting)
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A human is not a petri dish (Score:4, Informative)
Unfortunately, pretty much everything that affects cancer cells also affect the rest of the body. Simply because they ARE in fact body cells. Body cells gone banana, but still cells of the body.
So it's nice that we found (yet again, I have to add) something that affects cancer cells, the key question with all cancer research is, though, how does it affect the body surrounding them?
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It should of course be noted evolutionary principles apply just as equally to cancers as to the host; a mutation that favours its own proliferation will naturally be proliferated - so in the case of a cancer, a mutation such as this inhibitor will be beneficial
sources? (Score:1)
Related to stem cells causing cancer, too (Score:2)
One of these days, the stem
Lancet nails the cause of cancer in the US (Score:2)
From the Lancet:
"In many [western] countries, peoples' diet
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Well, you being a biochemist and doctor, I highly doubt that anything I say is going to sway your opinion...but, no offense, instead of seeing cancer as having a single cause (e.g. DNA replication and repair leads to mutations), I see it as
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The point I was trying to make wasn't that cancer is killed by blocking enzymes, it is that there are a lack of key enzymes that let the cancer grow in the first place, and these enzymes are the body's normal defense against cancer to begin with, so they already know how to distinguish between normal cells and cancer cells.
Cancer happens a lot where the body is constantly being damaged a
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she is a vegetarian by choice from when she started eating solid foods. she loves animals, and would not even hurt a spider if she finds one in the house she would pick it up and put it outside.
we (and she) only eat organic fruits/vegetables/dairy, and she was nursed till she was 3 1/2 years old.
she never ate any "junk food", sugars, cookies/cakes, ice cream, soda, juices, chocolate, fried foods, etc. at birthday part
Re: Related to stem cells causing cancer, too (Score:2)
Many years of research led me to believe that diet and lifestyle play a large role in cancer. But the whole issue is really tricky. Personally, I became a vegan, lost a ton of weight, and felt better tha
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Thanks for the info, I will look into the links you provided, however, my wife, who until now never trusted doctors, and was mostly using homeopathy and acupuncture, now will not do anything without the blessing of my daughter's doctor. she will not even give zinc, or anti-oxidant supplements (which I researched and found out that they should help with chemo and/or side effects). she is so freaked out right now.
My daughter was just admitted again, she is so weak that they could not continue with the
re: bovine leukemia virus (Score:2)
One thing I didn't think about until later on today is the bovine leukemia virus, since you specifically mentioned dairy:
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-avi
Damn (Score:2)
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Perhaps for skin cancer some day? (Score:1)
Perhaps this enzyme research, combined with others, will eventually lead to good things for all who suffer from cancers but I'm
Good news for a Cancer victim (Score:2, Insightful)
link to the paper (Score:1)
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