September 21, 2012

MD Anderson Cancer Center announces "Moon Shots Program"

"The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center is launching a multibillion-dollar initiative on Friday aimed at reducing cancer deaths over the next decade, saying a flurry of recent advances in genomics and other technologies has laid a foundation for making major new strides against the disease.

The effort, which the institution calls the Moon Shots program, is expected to spend as much as $3 billion over 10 years in a bid to reduce the toll of eight different cancers, and to develop an infrastructure and strategies for collecting and analyzing data that leaders of the effort say will be applied to other cancers as well."
Wall Street Journal, 21 September 2012

See the full Moon Shots News Release

September 3, 2012

The MEN 1 Pancreas: Tumor Development and Haploinsufficiency

The MEN 1 Pancreas: Tumor Development and Haploinsufficiency

-H Lejonklou, et al.
Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Medicine, ISSN 1651-6206; 792. ISBN 978-91-554-8415-6.

  • A collection of four papers on MEN1 and PNET (pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors).

September 2, 2012

MEN1 gene replacement therapy reduces proliferation rates in a mouse model of pituitary adenomas

MEN1 gene replacement therapy reduces proliferation rates in a mouse model of pituitary adenomas
-G Walls, M Lemos, et al.
Journal of Cancer Research, OnlineFirst August 21, 2012; doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-12-1821

  • "In this study, we conducted a preclinical evaluation of MEN1 gene therapy in pituitary tumors of Men1+/- mice, using a recombinant non-replicating adenoviral serotype 5 vector..."
  • "Menin expression was higher in the Men1.rAd5-treated mice when compared to other groups. Daily proliferation rates assessed by BrdU incorporation were reduced significantly in Men1.rAd5-injected tumors relative to control treated tumors."
  • "Our findings establish that MEN1 gene replacement therapy can generate menin expression in pituitary tumors, and significantly reduce tumor cell proliferation."