A lifelong diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids can inhibit growth of breast cancer tumors by 30 percent, according to new research published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, which they say is the first to provide unequivocal evidence that omega-3s reduce cancer risk.

Breast cancer remains the most common form of cancer in women worldwide and is the second leading cause of female cancer deaths. Advocates have long believed diet may significantly help in preventing cancer but epidemiological and experimental studies to back up such claims have been lacking, and human studies have been inconsistent.

Researchers have discovered that many women with low-grade serous carcinoma of the ovary or peritoneum have seen their tumors stabilize or shrink after taking a regular dose of the compound selumetinib, according to a paper in The Lancet Oncology which show that selumetinib targets a mutation in the MAPK pathway for patients with low-grade serous carcinoma, allowing for treatment on previously chemoresistant tumors.

"This is a potentially important breakthrough for the Gynecologic Oncology Group," said first author John Farley, MD, a gynecologic oncologist at St. Joseph's Hospital.  

Researchers employing an extensive analysis of genomic information have identified micro RNA 506 (miR-506) as a potential therapeutic candidate for advanced or metastatic ovarian cancer
situations. This high-risk cohort of ovarian cancer patients can be tested in mouse models of the disease to try and find better treatments. 

In a new paper,  researchers assess the complete landscape of a cancer's kinome expression and determine which kinases are acting up in a particular tumor.  Since the proteins are relatively easy to target with drugs and plenty of kinase inhibitors already exist, the work shows that those particular kinases can be targeted with drugs and can even lead to potentially combining multiple drugs to target multiple kinases. 

The researchers looked at RNA sequencing data from 482 samples of both cancerous and non-cancerous tissue and identified the most highly expressed kinases in individual breast cancer and pancreatic cancer samples. They found certain common themes.

Like blood vessels that supply oxygen and nutrients to normal tissue, tumor blood vessels were originally thought to do likewise to fuel tumor growth. As scientists developed strategies to kill tumors by cutting off their blood supply, they soon discovered their valiant efforts were thwarted by the tumor's ability to quickly recover.

The recovery is caused by a population of tumor-initiating cancer cells dubbed the cancer stem cells (CSCs); a population that can communicate with blood vessels via the Notch signaling pathway to drive tumor vascularization.

Myeloma treatments require a heavy artillery of novel myeloma drugs to reduce the number of cancer cells (ex: Revlimid, Velcade, or Thalomid), followed by high-dose chemotherapy to wipe out the cancer. Because the latter can completely wipe out blood-forming stem cells (a side effect that can be life-threatening to the patient), clinicians quickly learned to collect patient stem cells right before high-dose chemotherapy, and then transplanting them back into patients after treatment. The feasibility of this approach depends on the effects of myeloma drugs on patient stem cells.

Biologists have discovered a bioelectric signal that can identify cells that are likely to develop into tumors. The researchers also found that they could lower the incidence of cancerous cells by manipulating the electrical charge across cells' membranes. 

Bioelectric signals underlie an important set of control mechanisms that regulate how cells grow and multiply. The study investigated the bioelectric properties of cells that develop into tumors in Xenopus laevis frog embryos. 

While there are many proposed “magic bullets” since the 1940s to combat cancer, more than 90% of these drug candidates fail during clinical trials.

Part of the reason for this failure is because many drugs are often effective in eliminating only the bulk of the tumor without even touching the root of the disease. With the discovery of cancer stem cells as the root of cancer in the 1970s, scientists began developing therapeutics against cancer stem cells with hopes to eliminate cancer for good.

Regular consumption of deep-fried foods like chicken, french fries and doughnuts has been associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer by investigators at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Previous studies have suggested that eating foods made with high-heat cooking methods, like grilled meat, may increase the risk of prostate cancer but this is the first one to implicate deep frying to cancer.