Tag: Cancer

Laser light helps to heal serious burns. A research team from Texas and Portugal has been experimenting with light to fight cancer and has discovered a new, low-cost way to protect healthy cells. The magic formula? Near infrared light from LED lamps combined with tin oxide nanoparticles. During treatment, the light causes the tin oxide particles to vibrate, thus...

New frames for tubes ensure critical patients can breathe comfortably. Colostomies are used after colorectal surgery, often after cancer. Now a Paris-based startup wants to give those affected the chance to avoid them altogether. The team’s device comprises a stent with an attached film tube and a thin second tube, connected to an external vacuum pump. The stent is...

A special camera captures objects near and far. Imaging is just as important in the early detection of breast cancer. But a mammogram is painful and, where breast tissue is thick, potentially unreliable. Reason enough for a US-based research team to develop a pain-free method, allowing patients to press their breasts gently against a vertical pane from a standing...

Infectious diseases could be contained with locally printed vaccine patches. In Florida, a research team has spent years searching for a universal vaccine against cancer building on a recent successful study involving selected cancer patients. Their new genetic vaccine sample activates the body’s immune system against cancer generally. It stimulates the growth of new T-cells, while at the same...

Implants can be nourished by the body’s store of glucose. Sea cucumbers, meanwhile, contain unique structures not found in other terrestrial organisms. Among them, as a Mississippi-based research team recently discovered, is a special sugar compound which could help beat cancer. Healthy body cells communicate with one another through tiny ‘antennae’, identifying pathogens and preparing themselves accordingly. Cancer cells...

Some butterflies have properties which help detect breast cancer early. Aquatic invertebrates such as octocorals, in turn, can influence cancer’s development. Students in San Diego examined the DNA of various species with the help of automated equipment, successfully decoding a common set of five key genes. Thanks to these genes, corals are able to produce so-called diterpenoids - substances,...

A drop of blood can help detect pancreatic cancer. Though prostate cancer is also identified through blood tests, a high PSA (prostata protein) value doesn’t always denote the disease. Enter a London-based research team and its new test which uses the DNA in saliva to predict patients’ prostate cancer risk. The test is based on a study which relied...

Fluorescent agents and enzymes can combine to detect pancreatic cancer. In breast cancer diagnosis, butterflies could have a contribution to make, according to a San Diego research team. Key here: the morpho butterfly, home to microscopic structures in its wings which cause them to shimmer blue when exposed to light. Collagen fibres in stained biopsy tissue also respond to...