Next set of questions.. to be answered this week...

3. The author writes how in the early 1950's, the New York Times refused to print the word cancer or breast. Compare this to how we view cancer today.

4. SIdney Farber's early clinical experiments with antifolates in 1947 and 48 were a failure, with all his young leukemia patients eventually dying fo teh the disease. But with the results of these trials, Mukherjee writes, Farber saw a door open. Why do Farber's trials mark a turning point in the history of cancer research?
5. Review the case on Min Chiu Li (135-138) and explain why Freirich said that Li was accused of experimenting on people, but that he also states that everyone was experimenting .. to not experiment would mean to follow the old rules-to do absolutely nothing. Do you think Li's actions were ethical?

nanosensors and cancer biomarkers

A team led by Yale University researchers has used nanosensors to measure cancer biomarkers in whole blood for the first time. Their findings, which appeared December 13 in the advanced online publication of Nature Nanotechnology, could dramatically simplify the way physicians test for biomarkers of cancer and other diseases. The team, led by Yale's Dr. Mark Reed used nanowire sensors to detect and measure concentrations of two specific biomarkers: one for prostate cancer and the other for breast cancer

the wonders of p53

Researchers have identified a pathway that is elevated in p53-mutated cancers and that points to the potential for using cholesterol-lowering statins to help hold back cancer progression. Studies on 3-D breast cancer cell cultures by a Columbia University-led team found that p53 mutations elevate the cholesterol-synthesizing mevalonate pathway, which has been implicated in multiple aspects of tumorigenesis, including proliferation, survival, invasion, and metastasis. The cancer cells then appear to become dependent on this pathway for their continued survival, cancer phenotype, and invasive properties.

Breast cancer stem cells...

Scientists claim nanoparticle-mediated photothermal therapy could provide an effective therapeutic option for killing offcancer stem cells (CSCs) that are resistant to traditional forms of radiation and chemotherapy. Wake Forest School of Medicine researchers have found that while cancer stem cells from otherwise hard to treat triple negative breast cancer are largely resistant to traditional forms of hyperthermia, the local high levels of heat generated by carbon nanotubes subjected to laser light causes cell necrosis and rapid cell death of both CSCs and the bulk cancer cells.

Farber.

Cancer's first step

http://the-scientist.com/2012/02/08/cancers-first-step/

Questions from the book

Please answer these two questions ( do not read other responses, until you have posted yours)

All of you need to answer/respond to these 2 questions.

1. Cancer is described as a modern disease, yet its first description dates back to 2500 B.C. I what sens, then, is a cancer a disease of modern times? How does knowing its ancient history affect your notion of cancer?

2. The author frames the book around the story of his patient, Carla Reed. What was her diagnosis? what did you find interesting about Carla's experience? How do you think she shaped the author's life and thoughts?