Amanda Corbel
Manager, Communications Office
Email amanda.corbel@nih.gov or call 301-228-4489 for all media related questions.
Biomarkers in the Bloodstream May Foretell Risk of Lung Cancer
Scientists have identified 11 inflammation markers in the bloodstream that are associated with an increased risk of lung cancer. Previous studies of inflammation markers have been on a smaller scale or involved fewer markers. The current study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, examined 68 markers associated with various aspects of immunity and inflammation. The research group from the National Cancer Institute’s Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG) and the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNLCR) evaluated these markers in blood samples taken from 526 lung cancer patients several years before they were diagnosed with cancer, and 592 control subjects. The samples were taken as part of the prospective NCI Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial. Samples were tested at FNLCR’s Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Immunology Laboratory using Luminex-based assays. The 11 markers associated with a risk of lung cancer included several POSTED: 9/11/2014
Rare Variant in POT1 Identified in Familial Melanoma Cases
Researchers, including staff of the Cancer Genomics Research Laboratory (CGR), Leidos Biomedical Research, have recently discovered POT1 as a major susceptibility gene for familial melanoma. According to the study, which was published in Nature Genetics, approximately 10 percent of cutaneous malignant melanoma cases occur in families. CDKN2A is the most frequent high-risk melanoma susceptibility gene, found in 20–40 percent of familial melanoma cases. However, CDKN2A, along with another gene, CDK4, accounts for only a small proportion of melanoma susceptibility in families. Using whole-exome sequencing, which targets the portion of the genome that encodes proteins, researchers identified a rare variant that alters the protein in POT1 in five unrelated melanoma-prone families from Romagna, Italy. These five families came from 56 families with melanoma that the research group studied. “It has only been possible to perform whole-exome sequencing for the past few years,” said Meredith Yeager, Ph.D, senior principal scientist and scientific POSTED: 9/3/2014
New Mouse Model Aids Development of Ovarian Cancer Therapies
A new genetically engineered mouse model appears promising as an effective tool for preclinical testing of novel therapies for ovarian cancer, which tends to be diagnosed in late stage. There are few effective treatments for the disease. Part of the challenge in developing new therapies for ovarian cancer is the lack of an accurate animal model to aid in preclinical testing of candidate drugs. Some genetically engineered mouse models do exist; however, these mice have not been optimized for preclinical studies, leading to high failure rates during subsequent human trials. Researchers from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research reported in PLOS ONE that they engineered mouse models that develop ovarian cancer closely resembling the human disease. The models are easy to control for preclinical evaluation of potential therapeutics. Responses to both chemotherapy (standard of care) and a targeted drug in the mouse ovarian tumors POSTED: 8/7/2014
New Animal Model Could Boost Research on AIDS Drugs and Vaccines
In a research milestone reported in the June 20 issue of the journal Science, scientists have developed a minimally modified version of HIV-1, the virus that causes AIDS in infected humans, that is capable of causing progressive infection and AIDS in monkeys. The advance should help create more authentic animal models of the disease and provide a potentially invaluable approach for faster and better preclinical evaluation of new drugs and vaccines. Lead authors are Paul Bieniasz, Ph.D., Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center and Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Jeff Lifson, M.D., AIDS and Cancer Virus Program, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research; Theodora Hatziioannou, Ph.D., Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center; and Vineet KewalRamani, Ph.D., HIV Drug Resistance Program, National Cancer Institute at Frederick. While animal models, and especially nonhuman primate models, have been a key part of AIDS research for decades, naturally occurring strains of HIV-1, the virus that infects and POSTED: 6/29/2014
Gut Microorganisms Found Necessary for Successful Cancer Therapy
Humans play host to trillions of microorganisms that help our bodies perform basic functions, like digestion, growth, and fighting disease. In fact, bacterial cells outnumber the human cells in our bodies by 10 to 1. 1 The tens of trillions of microorganisms thriving in our intestines are known as gut microbiota, and those that are not harmful to us are referred to as commensal microbiota. In a recent paper in Science, NCI scientists described their discovery that, in mice, the presence of commensal microbiota is needed for successful response to cancer therapy. According to Amiran Dzutsev, M.D., Ph.D., one of the paper’s lead authors, the role of these organisms in the development of disease has long been established, but their role in the treatment of disease has never been shown. This study demonstrates, for the first time, “the critical role of the gut-residing microorganisms in the therapy of large subcutaneous POSTED: 4/17/2014
BDP Supports First-in-Human Clinical Trials
Cancer immunotherapy is a type of treatment in which the body’s own immune system is used to attack and kill cancer cells or keep them from spreading. To date, the immunotherapy agent interleukin-2 (IL-2) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treating certain types of melanoma and kidney cancer. 1 IL-2 therapy, however, carries a high degree of risk because large doses of IL-2 are required to maintain effectiveness. Such high dosages may result in serious, even life-threatening, side effects. Researchers, therefore, have been searching for alternative immunotherapeutic agents that will be equally effective and safer. 1 Interleukin-15 (IL-15) is one such agent that is under study at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and elsewhere. IL-15 has longer-lasting effects than IL-2, so it may be administered in smaller dosages. Moreover, IL-15 stimulates the production of “memory” immune cells, which can recognize and continue attacking cancer POSTED: 1/14/2014
One Dose of HPV Vaccine May Protect against Cervical Cancer
A single dose of the cancer-fighting human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine Cervarix™ appears to induce an immune response that remains stable in the blood four years after vaccination. This may be enough to protect women from two strains of HPV and, ultimately, from cervical cancer. If these findings are confirmed in larger studies and for a longer follow-up time, not only could the cost of vaccination be reduced, but the logistics of vaccine programs could also be simplified. This is especially significant in developing or isolated regions of the world, where cervical cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer death in women. Mahboobeh Safaeian, Ph.D., of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, and other NCI colleagues collaborated with Ligia Pinto, Ph.D., and other members of the HPV Immunology Laboratory (Troy Kemp, Ph.D., Gloriana Shelton, and Yuanji Pan) at the Frederick National Laboratory for POSTED: 1/13/2014
Partnership to Explore New Drug Combination for Pancreatic Cancer
Scientists at NCI and Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNL) are partnering with the Lustgarten Foundation to test whether a vitamin D derivative will make a difference when combined with a conventional anticancer drug in treating tumors of the pancreas. The preclinical trials will be carried out in genetically engineered mice and represent the first in a series of new therapeutic approaches to be developed and evaluated under a collaboration between the NCI Center for Advanced Preclinical Research (CAPR) and the foundation, the nation’s largest private funder of pancreatic cancer research. CAPR is headed by NCI’s Terry Van Dyke, Ph.D., and staffed by FNL researchers. The initial study will test the effectiveness of combining calcipotriol, a synthetic derivative of vitamin D, and gemcitabine, a drug used in cancer care, in extending the lives of patients with pancreatic cancer. Using a genetically engineered mouse model for pancreatic cancer, the study POSTED: 9/26/2013
Novel Vaccine Approach Achieves “Functional Cure” of AIDS Virus in Monkeys
Scientists at the Oregon Health & Science University and the AIDS and Cancer Virus Program of the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research have used a novel vaccine approach to achieve a “functional cure” and apparent eradication of infection with a monkey version of the AIDS virus. In a paper published online in Nature, the group reported success with an experimental vaccine for simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), an AIDS-inducing virus that infects rhesus macaques and is so similar to HIV that it is a widely used model for AIDS studies in monkeys. Vaccinated Animals Showed No Presence of SIV after Three Years Vaccinated animals that were experimentally infected via rectal, vaginal, and intravenous routes—the principal routes of HIV transmission—were able to control the infection with a highly pathogenic strain of SIV, reducing the amount of virus in the blood to below detectable levels. After up to three years of follow-up POSTED: 9/10/2013
Nanotechnology Laboratory Collaborates with Army to Develop Botulism Vaccine
The Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory (NCL) is collaborating with the Army to develop a candidate vaccine against botulism. Under a collaboration agreement between the National Cancer Institute and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), NCL scientists will produce nanoparticle formulations for four compounds that block the activity of botulism-causing nerve toxins, which are among the most lethal of all poisons. The toxins come from Clostridium botulinum bacteria that can be found in soil and are perhaps best known for contaminating home-canned foods, although rarely. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports an average of 145 cases of botulism each year in the U.S., mostly from foodborne transmission, wound contamination, and infant ingestion. Because of their potency, botulinum neurotoxins are classified as top-priority biodefense agents. The toxins can cause paralysis and respiratory failure, leading to death. Antitoxin given immediately after exposure can remedy ill effects, but there POSTED: 8/18/2013
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