Autopsy Study Links Prostate Cancer to Single Rogue Cell

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Last Updated (Tuesday, April 28 2009 03:58) Thursday, April 16 2009 21:08

BALTIMORE, April 16. One single cell -- a cell altered by one initial set of genetic changes -- is all it takes to begin a series of events that lead to metastatic cancer. Now, Johns Hopkins experts have tracked how the cancer process began in 33 men with prostate cancer who died of the disease. Culling information from autopsies, their study points to a set of genetic defects in a single cell that are different for each person's cancer.

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Gene Fusion Discovery May Lead to Improved Prostate Cancer Test

Diagnosis + Stage - Screening for prostate cancer

Last Updated (Tuesday, April 28 2009 03:22) Tuesday, April 14 2009 08:01

A newly discovered gene fusion, named  SLC45A3-ELK4, is highly expressed in a subset of prostate cancers, according to a study by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College. The findings, reported in April 1 issue of Cancer Research, may lead to more accurate tests for prostate cancer.

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Viagra May Shield the Heart from Damage from High Blood Pressure

Monday, January 05 2009 17:00

First evidence that the Impotence Aid Helps a Signaling Protein Protect the Heart

The first direct evidence in lab animals that the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra (sildenafil) amplifies the effects of a heart-protective protein has been reported today by a team of researchers at three leading US medical centers, Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Tufts Medical Center in Boston and University of North Carolina.

Published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation online, the findings help explain why sildenafil has already been shown to improve heart function and may one day have value in either treating or preventing heart damage due to chronic high blood pressure.

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Cough Medicine Ingredient Could Treat Prostate Cancer, Study Shows

By Wednesday, December 31 2008 00:00

A laboratory study published December 18 in the December issue of the European medical journal Anticancer Research reports that an ingredient used in a common cough suppressant may be useful in treating advanced prostate cancer. Researchers found that noscapine, which has been used in cough medication for nearly 50 years, in mice reduced tumor growth by 60% and limited the spread of tumors by 65% without causing harmful side effects.

Noscapine is approved for use in some countries as a cough suppressant or available as an over the counter cough medicine, and Dr. Barken has prescribed it "off-label" to patients with prostate cancer.

However, patients who have taken noscapine in an effort to control prostate cancer do not appear to have benefited so far. 

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