Pineapple crush may aid fight against cancer/Experts link gene mutation to melanomas

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Pineapple crush may aid fight against cancer

 

 

 

July 07 2005 at 10:42AM

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sydney - Australian scientists have discovered that pineapple molecules can act as powerful anti-cancer agents and said on Thursday the research could lead to a new class of cancer-fighting drugs.Scientists at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) said their work centred on two molecules from bromelaine, an extract derived from crushed pineapple stems that is used to tenderise meat, clarify beers and tan hides.One of the molecules, CCZ, stimulates the body's immune system to target and kill cancer cells, the other, CCS, blocks a protein called Ras, which is defective in 30 percent of all cancers.QIMR researcher Tracey Mynott said her team had set out to find why the enzyme-rich bromelaine crush had such strong effects on biological material."In searching for these components, we discovered the CCS and CCZ proteins and found that they could block growth of a broad range of tumour cells, including breast, lung, colon, ovarian and melanoma," Mynott said in a statement.While clinical trials are a long way off, Mynott said the research had huge potential."The way CCS and CCZ work is different to any other drug in clinical use today," she said. "Therefore, CCS and CCZ will represent a totally new way of treating disease and potentially a whole new class of anti-cancer agent."QIMR has launched a two-year study to examine the safety of the treatment and means of securing a reliable source of CCS and CCZ. If it succeeds it will seek a commercial partner to develop a drug that could be used in human clinical trials. - Sapa-AFP

Experts link gene mutation to melanomas

 

 

 

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1 & click_id=31 & art_id=qw1120665241160B243 July 07 2005 at 10:45AM

 

 

 

 

 

 

London - Scientists have found a genetic mutation in melanoma skin cancer cells that increases the disease's severity but which could also be a target for new drugs against the killer illness.They studied cells from patients with early and advanced melanoma tumours and found extra copies of a gene called MITF.About 10 percent of primary tumours and 21 percent of metastatic tumours - those that had spread beyond the original site - had up to 13 extra copies of the gene."By pinpointing the abnormally multiplied MITF oncogene, we may be able to develop better diagnostic and prognostic tools as well as provide a target for highly specific therapies for metastatic melanoma patients who have this overcopied gene," said William Sellers of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts.An oncogene is a gene that promotes cancer.Melanoma is the deadliest type of skin cancer and is mainly caused by sun exposure. It accounts for roughly 10 percent of reported cases of skin cancer and can spread rapidly throughout the body, forming secondary tumours.About 133 000 new cases of melanoma are diagnosed worldwide each year, according to the International Agency for Cancer Research in Lyon, France. Up to 80 percent of cases are in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.If the illness is caught early, before it has spread, the prognosis is good but metastatic melanoma does not respond well to treatment.The scientists, who reported the findings in the science journal Nature, found the mutation by looking at regions of chromosomes where genetic deletions or additions are often linked to cancer.After checking the outcomes of patients whose tumours were studied in the research, the scientists found that those with the MITF mutation had poorer five-year survival rates.The MITF mutation was also linked to other genetic changes such as mutations in a gene called BRAF and the silencing of a tumour suppressor gene known as p16, according to the scientists.Additional copies of the MITF gene seems to promote the growth and survival of the tumour."We might be able to treat these metastatic melanomas by targeting the MITF gene or protein, alone or in combination with drugs that block BRAF," Sellers said in a statement."We know that when MITF activity is reduced, melanoma cells become more vulnerable to chemotherapy drugs," he added.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1 & click_id=29 & art_id=qw1120723741147B232

Beijing - Chinese people are more ignorant about sex than any other subject, the official Xinhua news agency quoted a sex expert as saying on Thursday."In the survey we conducted, not only youngsters but many grown-ups are sex idiots, which is really dangerous and woeful," Xinhua quoted Xu Tianming, president of the China Sexology Society, as telling a seminar."More Chinese people are ignorant about sex than about other knowledge, even including those having received higher education and experts of other fields," he was quoted as saying.Xu himself demonstrated a unique understanding of the subject, saying people could only enjoy a normal sex life until the age of 25. He added that meant teenagers should be allowed to socialise more freely with members of the opposite sex."Parents and society should allow them to have normal contacts with the opposite sex, such as dancing, and to read some books with certain sex descriptions," Xu said.Attitudes about sex have relaxed since Communist China began market reforms in the late 1970s, opening the doors to teenage dating and also creating a huge increase in adultery and divorce.