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According to lead author Jian-Guo Geng, an associate professor in the department of biologic and materials sciences at the University of Michigan, the two systems in the body most impacted by chemotherapy are the GI epithelial cells in the intestines and the bone marrow in the skeletal system. These two systems are constantly regenerating and repairing themselves at a faster rate than other biological systems, making them much more vulnerable to the toxic effects of chemotherapy and radiation. This explains why major side effects of chemo include diarrhea, constipation, nausea and vomiting, as well as various blood disorders.
What we found is a way to stimulate intestinal stem cells, Geng told FoxNews.com. (The stem cells) can repair tissue damage caused by chemo radiotherapy, so those patients will tolerate chemotherapy much better. It gives enough room for clinicians to use a high dose of chemotherapy to kill cancer and the patient can survive.
Through a series of in vitro experiments, Geng and his team analyzed cells in the GI tract, stumbling upon an important molecule called ROBO1. They found that ROBO1 was specifically expressed in intestinal stem cells but not in any other cells in the body. Upon this discovery, the researchers added to the cells a protein called SLIT2, which binds to ROBO1.
The disruptive changes to the genetic code, reported in Nature, accounted for 97% of the 30 most common cancers. Finding out what causes the mutations could lead to new treatments. Some causes, such as smoking are known, but more than half are still a mystery. Cancer Research UK said it was a fascinating and important study. A tumour starts when one of the building blocks of bodies, a cell, goes wrong. Over the course of a lifetime cells pick up an array of mutations which can eventually transform them into deadly tumours which grow uncontrollably.
Cancer origins
The international team of researchers was looking for the causes of those mutations as part of the largest-ever analysis of cancer genomes. The well-known ones such as UV damage and smoking mutate the DNA, increasing the odds of cancer. But each also leaves behind a unique hallmark - a piece of "genetic graffiti" - that shows if smoking or UV radiation has mutated the DNA. Researchers, led by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the UK, hunted for more examples of "graffiti" in 7,042 samples taken from the 30 most common cancers. The found that 21 separate "graffiti signatures" could account for 97% of the mutations which led to cancer.
Prof Sir Mike Stratton, the director of the Sanger Institute, told the BBC: "I'm very excited. Hidden within the cancer genome are these patterns, these signatures, which tell us what is actually causing cancer in the first place - that's a major insight to have. "It is quite a significant achievement for cancer research, this is quite profound. It's taking us into areas of unknown that we didn't know existed before. "I think this is a major milestone."
Mysteries
Other signatures were related to ageing and the body's immune system. Cells respond to viral infection by activating a class of enzymes which mutate the viruses until they can no longer function. "We believe that when it does that, there is collateral damage - it mutates its own genome as well and now becomes much more likely to become a cancer cell as it has a huge number of mutations - it's a double-edged sword," said Prof Stratton. However, 12 of the signatures defy explanation for now. It is hoped that if some of them can be pinned down to things in the environment then new ways of preventing cancer could be developed. It may also spur further research. One of the unknown causes of mutation happens only in neuroblastoma, a cancer of nerve cells which normally affects children, so something unique is happening there.
Prof Nic Jones, Cancer Research UK's chief scientist, said: "We know that environmental factors like smoking and overexposure to UV rays can cause faults in DNA which can lead to cancer, but for many cancers we don't know what triggers the faults in our DNA that can lead to cancer mutations. "The genetic fingerprints identified in this fascinating and important study identify several new processes driving the development of cancer. "Understanding what's causing them could be an extremely important way to get the bottom of how cancer develops in the first place - and this will lead to new ways to prevent and treat the disease."
BBC News - Milestone study probes cancer origin
Scientists at Academia Sinica said they have cracked the mystery of how polysaccharides in the reishi mushroom act to activate the human immune system and fight against cancer, and have shared their discovery with the world. A research team headed by Academia Sinica President Wong Chi-huey and assistant research fellow Wu Chung-yi has proven that a crude extract of fucose-containing polysaccharides from reishi mushrooms named F3, can induce antibodies to recognize tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens on cancer cells and kill them.
According to Academia Sinica, the nations top academic research institute, the research on reishi polysaccharides cancer-fighting effects was started by a group headed by National Yang-Ming University professor Hsu Hsien-yeh (許先業
Moreover, the researchers also found that inhibition of tumor growth is directly related to the amount of these types of antibodies. In other words, the larger the amount of Globo H-recognizing antibodies, the smaller the tumor, Academia Sinica said. The team then separated F3 into a fucose-enriched extract called FMS for immunization and found that FMS can induce even more anti-Globo H antibodies and thus, more effectively inhibit tumor growth. The study further demonstrated that the fucose residue is the key to the reishi mushrooms cancer-fighting ability, proven by the finding that the cancer-fighting activity was reduced dramatically when the fucose residue was removed.
With assistance from other research teams, the effective structures of the fucose-containing saccharides were elucidated. The Wong-Wu team established the molecular mechanism of reishi polysaccharides with regard to their cancer-fighting activity. The results were published in the current issue of the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, under the title: Immunization of fucose-containing polysaccharides from reishi mushroom induces antibodies to tumor-associated Globo H-series epitopes. The first authors of the paper are named as Liao Shih-fen, a doctoral student at the Institute of Biochemical Sciences of National Taiwan University, and Liang Chi-hui, who is conducting post-doctoral research at the Genomics Research Center of Academia Sinica.
Mushroom fighting-cancer found - Taipei Times
Granny says, "Dat's right - `shrooms is good fer what ails ya...
Mushroom fighting-cancer found
Mon, Sep 02, 2013 - MAGIC MUSHROOM: When a university research team injected a reishi mushroom extract into mice with lung cancer, they discovered that tumor growth slowed down
Scientists at Academia Sinica said they have cracked the mystery of how polysaccharides in the reishi mushroom act to activate the human immune system and fight against cancer, and have shared their discovery with the world. A research team headed by Academia Sinica President Wong Chi-huey and assistant research fellow Wu Chung-yi has proven that a crude extract of fucose-containing polysaccharides from reishi mushrooms named F3, can induce antibodies to recognize tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens on cancer cells and kill them.
According to Academia Sinica, the nations top academic research institute, the research on reishi polysaccharides cancer-fighting effects was started by a group headed by National Yang-Ming University professor Hsu Hsien-yeh (許先業
Moreover, the researchers also found that inhibition of tumor growth is directly related to the amount of these types of antibodies. In other words, the larger the amount of Globo H-recognizing antibodies, the smaller the tumor, Academia Sinica said. The team then separated F3 into a fucose-enriched extract called FMS for immunization and found that FMS can induce even more anti-Globo H antibodies and thus, more effectively inhibit tumor growth. The study further demonstrated that the fucose residue is the key to the reishi mushrooms cancer-fighting ability, proven by the finding that the cancer-fighting activity was reduced dramatically when the fucose residue was removed.
With assistance from other research teams, the effective structures of the fucose-containing saccharides were elucidated. The Wong-Wu team established the molecular mechanism of reishi polysaccharides with regard to their cancer-fighting activity. The results were published in the current issue of the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, under the title: Immunization of fucose-containing polysaccharides from reishi mushroom induces antibodies to tumor-associated Globo H-series epitopes. The first authors of the paper are named as Liao Shih-fen, a doctoral student at the Institute of Biochemical Sciences of National Taiwan University, and Liang Chi-hui, who is conducting post-doctoral research at the Genomics Research Center of Academia Sinica.
Mushroom fighting-cancer found - Taipei Times
