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In this case, developed for an introductory genetics class, students meet a woman whose family has a history of colon cancer. Students create a pedigree based on information from the case and discuss what it means to be genetically predisposed to cancer. Using bioinformatics tools from the NCBI database, students identify and examine the mutation in the woman's APC gene that results in genetic predisposition to colon cancer. Finally, they investigate the biological function of the APC protein to understand why this mutation contributes to the development of cancer and determine whether APC is a proto-oncogene, tumor suppressor gene, or genome stability gene.

This biomarker, called the KRAS-variant, is linked to more cancers than any other known inherited genetic mutation. It is present in 1 out of every 4 people with cancer, and in more than half of people who develop multiple cancers. KRAS-variant carriers tend to get highly aggressive and recurrent breast, ovarian, head and neck, lung and pancreatic cancers.

WEDNESDAY, April 22, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- In a step toward personalized vaccines against cancer, scientists report they have developed an immune-system therapy that knocks out several types of aggressive tumors in mice. German researchers said the findings, reported April 22 in the journal Nature, could lead to a "blueprint" for developing tailored vaccines for a range of cancers. Such vaccines would be designed for individual patients, based on the specific genetic mutations in their tumors.

For researchers, understanding how cancer cells function differently from normal cells lays the foundation for developing treatments designed to rid the body of cancer cells without damaging normal cells.

Across the globe, as economies grow, so too does the incidence of colorectal cancer. Lifestyle changes are to blame, and in this Nature Video we see how increases in colorectal cancer are affecting many countries around the world, and what this could mean in the future to a world that is still developing.

A worldwide study of the DNA of 100,000 women has discovered two new genetic variants associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. The genetic variants are specifically linked to the most common form of breast cancer, oestrogen receptor positive, and provide important insights into how the disease develops.

The rise of immunotherapy has been one of the most startling and promising developments in cancer research for some time. After decades of false starts and dead ends, scientists have finally found effective ways of marshaling the immune system to destroy cancers.

Cell Biology and Cancer-developed with the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-is a creative, inquiry-based instruction program, designed to promote active learning and stimulate student interest in medical topics. This curriculum supplement will: Deepen students' awareness of the importance of basic research to advances in medicine and health Foster students' abilities to think critically Help students understand the effects of scientific discoveries on their own lives Encourage students to take more responsibility for their own health

In the 2013 Holiday Lectures on Science, Charles L. Sawyers of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Christopher A. Walsh of Boston Children's Hospital will reveal the breathtaking pace of discoveries into the genetic causes of various types of cancers and diseases of the nervous system, and discuss the impact of those discoveries on our understanding of normal human development and disease.

Researchers from the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) looked at more than 1,000 epidemiological studies and found that "excess body fatness" is also linked to the risk of developing gastric, liver, gallbladder, pancreatic, ovarian, thyroid, blood (multiple myeloma) and brain (meningioma) cancers.

Book section on NCBI

Cancer cells are hungry. To feed their rapid growth and division, their metabolism changes. Moreover, they use sugar (glucose) in a different way to normal cells. This animation, created by Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, explores the key aspects of the altered metabolism in cancer cells and explains how these can be exploited for the development of new anticancer strategies.

Many biology courses are designed to develop student understanding and application of the scientific method, but few seriously examine the various ethical questions associated with scientific research. This interdisciplinary case study presents three experiments and asks not only if they are scientifically valid but whether they were ethically performed.  The experiments examine the psychology of love, a cause of breast cancer, and how the immune system functions in the presence of cancer. Based on their opinions of the validity and ethics of each experiment, students are asked to conclude which of the experiments were actually conducted by scientists and which are fictional. Students should already be familiar with the scientific method, but information on the Georgetown Mantra and Nuremberg Code.is included. The case could be modified for use in non-majors and majors classes.  The format of the case challenges students of any background to use information from both science and ethics to see how the differing approaches of scientist and ethicist can complement and strengthen each other.

Elephants have evolved extra copies of a gene that fights tumour cells, according to two independent studies, offering an explanation for why the animals so rarely develop cancer.

Within every cell in our body, two copies of a tumor suppressor gene called BRCA1 are tasked with regulating the speed at which cells divide. Michael Windelspecht explains how these genes can sometimes mutate, making those cells less specialized and more likely to develop into cancer.

The researchers' approach to developing the method was adopted from food science, where it is used for control of complex industrial processes. Basically, it involves handling and analysing huge amounts of biological data in a holistic and explorative way. The researchers analysed all compounds a blood sample contains instead of - as is often done in health and medical science - examining what a single biomarker means in relation to a specific disease. "When a huge amount of relevant measurements from many individuals is used to assess health risks - here breast cancer - it creates very high quality information. The more measurements our analyses contain, the better the model handles complex problems," continued Professor Rasmus Bro.

Blood vessel growth-or angiogenesis-is critical for developing fetuses and to heal wounds. But it is also an essential element of how cancerous tumors grow and spread. Here, see a step-by-step explanation of how the process works and how anti-angiogenesis therapies might stop tumors before they become deadly.

Within every cell in our body, two copies of a tumor suppressor gene called BRCA1 are tasked with regulating the speed at which cells divide. Michael Windelspecht explains how these genes can sometimes mutate, making those cells less specialized and more likely to develop into cancer.

Extensive lessons from hands on inquiry lab at University of Rochester, developed/written with research funds.

Through this method, the researchers were able to identify that the frizzled-6 gene was expressed around eight times more in tumor-forming cell lines. The specific cascade initiated by frizzled-6 and how it affects the development of cancerous cells has yet to be determined. The overexpression of frizzled-6 suggests that the protein either forms tumor cells directly or is an indirect result of other mutated pathways.