Educational Science

DNA-damaging gut bacteria may fuel colon cancer in patients with inflammatory bowel disease

Scientists have discovered DNA-damaging molecules made by gut bacteria that may help explain why people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have higher rates of colorectal cancer than those without the condition. In a new study, published Thursday (Oct. 27) in the journal Science, researchers identified a previously unknown class of...

Some cancer cells grow stronger after chemo. Research hints at how to kill them.

As with weeds in a garden, it is a challenge to fully get rid of cancer cells in the body once they arise. They have a relentless need to continuously expand, even when they are significantly cut back by therapy or surgery. Even a few cancer cells can give rise...

Many men with prostate cancer can delay or skip harsh treatments, such as surgery or radiation, without undermining their chances of survival, a decades-long study finds. Instead, they can have their cancer actively monitored following diagnosis, rather than having their prostate removed or exposed to high-energy radiation. Such treatments can...

Fungi grow inside cancerous tumors, scientists discover

Scientists discovered traces of fungi lurking in the tumors of people with different types of cancer, including breast, colon, pancreatic and lung cancers. However, it's still not clear that these fungi play any role in the development or progression of cancer. Two new studies, both published Sept. 29 in the...

The Truth About Cell Phones and Cancer

Ronald Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, shocked just about all law-abiding scientists (abiding by laws of physics, that is) with his warning last week to his faculty and staff that cell phones might pose a cancer risk. This is troublesome because this time a really smart...

Ants can detect the scent of cancer in urine

Ants can be trained to detect cancer in urine, a new study finds. Although ant sniffing is a long way from being used as a diagnostic tool in humans, the results are encouraging, the researchers said. Because ants lack noses, they use olfactory receptors on their antennae to help them...

The Science Behind the Cell Phone Cancer Scare

Do cell phones cause brain cancer? There's no good reason to think they do. But if we are to believe the gospel truth delivered by physicists that radio waves from cell phones simply aren't powerful enough to break chemical bonds, the trait of all cancer-causing mutagens, why then do very...

Breast cancer: Symptoms, treatment and prevention

Breast cancer is an uncontrolled growth of cells that starts in the breast tissue. About one in eight women in the United States will develop the condition in their lifetime, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It is the second most common cancer in women, after skin cancer,...

A teen's cancer is in remission after she received new cells edited with CRISPR

A teenager with an aggressive form of leukemia now has no detectable cancer cells in her body, thanks to an experimental therapy in which the 13-year-old received new, genetically-tweaked immune cells. The patient, named Alyssa, seems to be in remission but will need to be closely monitored in the upcoming...

CRISPR-edited fat shrank tumors in mice. Someday, it could work in people, scientists say.

Fat sucked out of the body and tweaked with the gene-editing tool CRISPR could be used to treat cancer, a study of mice and transplanted human tissues hints. However, it remains to be seen whether the experimental therapy would be safe and effective in people. The new study found that...