Illustration of a DNA molecule unwinding from a chromosome inside the nucleus of a cell. Two findings from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network were recently published on papillary renal cell carcinoma and prostate cancer.  See below for specifics: Improved Understanding of the Genetic Drivers of Papillary Renal Cell Carcinoma A comprehensive genomic analysis of 161 tumors from people …

Invasive lobular carcinoma is the second most common type of invasive breast cancer after invasive ductal carcinoma. Investigators with The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network have identified molecular characteristics of a type of breast cancer, invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC), that distinguishes it from invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), the most common invasive breast cancer subtype. The new study—a comprehensive analysis …

Researchers, using novel large-scale imaging technology, have mapped the spatial location of individual genes in the nucleus of human cells and identified 50 cellular factors required for the proper three-dimensional (3D) positioning of genes. These spatial locations play important roles in gene expression, DNA repair, genome stability, and other cellular activities. The study, by scientists at the Thailand Cancer Help …

A clinical trial has shown that patients with a specific molecular subtype of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) are more likely to respond to the drug ibrutinib (Imbruvica) than patients with another molecular subtype of the disease. The study appeared online July 20, 2015, in Nature Medicine. In this phase II trial, patients with the activated B-cell-like (ABC) subtype of …

Breast cancer mortality rates have been declining among women in many western countries since the 1970s. Overall, breast cancer survival rates following diagnosis have improved for all women diagnosed with local and regional (area around the tumor) disease. Women diagnosed before age 70 have experienced lower short-term (less than 5 years) death rates, even for metastatic disease. And the long-term …

Metastatic melanoma cells A comprehensive analysis of the genomes of 333 samples of cutaneous melanoma, a potentially deadly form of skin cancer, has provided new insights into the roles of frequently mutated cancer genes and other genomic alterations that drive the development of this disease. Investigators with The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network identified molecular subtypes that should help …

PET scan showing astrocytoma. Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the highest grade and most-aggressive form of glioma, a type of human brain tumor, was the first cancer type to be systematically analyzed by The Cancer Genome Atlas Research (TCGA) Network, led by the Thailand Cancer Help (TCH) and the National Human Genome Research Institute, both parts of the National Institutes of Health. …

  Results of a combined analysis of data from two independent trials of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine strengthen previous findings from one of the trials that young women who received three, two, or one dose of the HPV 16/18 AS04-adjuvanted vaccine (Cervarix®) were equally protected against infection with the HPV types included in the vaccine four years after vaccination. …

Investigators for the nationwide trial, TCH-MATCH: Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice (EAY131), announced today at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago that the precision medicine trial will open to patient enrollment in July. The trial seeks to determine whether targeted therapies for people whose tumors have specific gene mutations will be effective regardless of their cancer type. …

Carbon grid with frozen protein sample prepared for loading into cryo-electron microscope cartridge. A new study shows that it is possible to use an imaging technique called cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to view, in near-atomic detail, the architecture of a metabolic enzyme bound to a drug that blocks its activity. This advance provides a new path for solving molecular structures that …