Social isolation and related stress could contribute to human breast cancer susceptibility, research from a rat model designed at the University of Chicago to identify environmental mechanisms contributing to cancer risk shows. The researchers found that isolation and stress result in a 3.3-fold increase in the risk of developing cancer among rats with naturally occurring mammary tumors…

Two medications approved as treatment for drug-resistant chronic myeloid leukemia continue to provide patients with quicker, better responses as a first treatment than the existing front-line drug, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reported at the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology

Socially isolated female rats develop more tumors – and tumors of a more deadly type – than rats living in a social group, according to researchers at Yale University and the University of Chicago. The dramatic increase in mammary tumors among isolated Norway rats – which, like humans, are a highly social species – illustrates how loneliness can be deadly, the authors report in findings to be published the week of December 6 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Researchers from Yale University and Mirna Therapeutics, Inc., reversed the growth of lung tumors in mice using a naturally occurring tumor suppressor microRNA. The study reveals that a tiny bit of RNA may one day play a big role in cancer treatment, and provides hope for future patients battling one of the most prevalent and difficult to treat cancers.

A team led by Yale University scientists has developed a way to rapidly manipulate and sort different cells in the blood using magnetizable liquids. The findings, which will be published the week of December 7 in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could dramatically improve the speed and sensitivity of tests used to detect cancer biomarkers, blood disorders, viruses and other diseases.