�Scientists stimulate
discovered cistron mutations that are the main case of the inherited version
of the childhood malignant neoplastic disease neuroblastoma. In addition, the researchers found
that the same mutations play a significant character in high-risk forms of
non-inherited neuroblastoma, the more than common form of the disease.
"This discovery enables us to offer the first genetic tests to families
affected by the inherited cast of this disease," said pediatric oncologist
Yael P. Mosse, M.D., of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the first
author of the study, published on-line Aug. 24 in the journal Nature.
"Furthermore, because there already are drugs in development that target
the same gene in adult cancers, we nates soon begin testing those drugs in
children with neuroblastoma."
Neuroblastoma is the most common solid cancer of early childhood. It
accounts for 7 per centum of all childhood cancers, but imputable to its often
belligerent nature, causes 15 percent of all childhood cancer deaths. It
arises in the developing nerves of a child, often coming into court as a tumor in
the thorax or abdominal cavity.
Because only about 600 new cases of all forms of neuroblastoma come about
annually in the U.S., familial (hereditary) neuroblastoma is a very rare
subset of a relatively uncommon disease. Scientists at Children's Hospital
have studied transmitted neuroblastoma for the past 15 geezerhood, and the current
study drew on family information collected from throughout the world.
John M. Maris, M.D., elderly author of the current study and director of
the Center for Childhood Cancer Research at Children's Hospital, leads a
testing ground with the world's largest collection of neuroblastoma tissue
samples, gathered through the multicenter Children's Oncology Group in the
U.S. and through multiple international collaborations. Maris said, "This
is a very important find, as it not alone helps us understand the
genetic roots of this terrible disease, but besides has lED to dramatically
new ideas for cure therapy."
The study team used high-velocity, automated analytic equipment at the
Center for Applied Genomics at Children's Hospital. By employing
genome-wide scans to analyze DNA from the 10 most informative families with
a history of neuroblastoma, Mosse and her colleagues first ascertained that
a region of chromosome 2 was associated with the disease. Further
sequencing of that part identified mutations in the anaplastic lymphoma
kinase (ALK) gene in eight families with familial neuroblastoma.
"This finding means that it is possible to offer simple, noninvasive
screening for patients with a crime syndicate history of neuroblastoma," aforementioned Mosse.
She explained that ultrasound or a water test could assist surveillance of
children with an ALK mutation, so that if neuroblastoma appears, it can be
detected at an early stage. "As we increase our knowledge of ALK mutations,
we will as well offer specialised diagnostic testing for all newly diagnosed
patients with neuroblastoma, to eventually take into account oncologists to better
customize treatment to a child's genetic visibility."
After sleuthing ALK mutations in familial neuroblastoma, the
researchers then focused on the more common sporadic (non-familial) cases
of neuroblastoma, and found that ALK mutations occurred in 12 percent of
194 tumor samples from the aggressive, high-risk form of the disease.
Although the normal role of the ALK gene is not well understood, other
researchers had previously establish that abnormalities in ALK raise a
patient's risk of exposure for lymphoma and lung cancer. "We were the first to identify
mutations in ALK," said Mosse, adding that in lymphoma and lung cancer, ALK
acts through translocation, a different mechanism that involves an interchange
of DNA between chromosomes to produce a new cancer-causing fusion gene.
In all three cancers, ALK acts as an oncogene, or cancer-causing gene;
in fact, the current study reports the first example of a childhood cancer
caused by mutations in an oncogene. Since the mutations observed by Mosse
trigger an "on" signal for neuroblastoma cells, the abnormality is an
owing target for therapies that inhibit the ALK protein's activity.
Several pharmaceutical companies are presently developing ALK
inhibitors in the testing ground, and 1 ALK inhibitor is already in
early-phase adult clinical trials against lung cancer and lymphoma. Now
Mosse and her colleagues at Children's Hospital are planning pediatric
clinical trials of ALK inhibitors in children with high-risk neuroblastoma.
"It's an advantage to be able to start with agents that have already been
shown to be safe in adults," Mosse added.
Neuroblastoma has retentive been a puzzling disease, partly because of its
broad chain of mountains in outcomes. Some types of the disease come upon infants only
spontaneously vanish with minimal treatment, piece other subtypes in
elder children whitethorn be relentlessly aggressive. Earlier this year, Maris's
research lab reported that common DNA variations in a region of chromosome 6 bring up a
child's risk of developing sporadic neuroblastoma. "Together with this
current study, we are defining the genetic events that underlie this
puerility cancer," said Maris. "Better understanding of these biological
pathways will guide our efforts to develop more than effective treatments."
The National Institutes of Health supported the subject, along with
grants from the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, the American Society of
Clinical Oncology, the Andrew's Army Foundation, the Italian Neuroblastoma
Foundation, Scripps Genomic Medicine, the Scripps Dickinson Scholarship,
the Giulio D'Angio Endowed Chair, the Foerderer-Murray Fund and the Carly
Hillman Fund. The Center for Applied Genomics at The Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia also provided support, as did the Abramson Family Cancer
Research Institute of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
The study could not hold been done, say the authors, without the support
and resources of the Children's Oncology Group.
Among Mosse's and Maris's co-authors were Garrett M. Brodeur, M.D., of
the Division of Oncology and Center for Childhood Cancer Research at
Children's Hospital, as well as Hakon Hakonarson, M.D., Ph.D., director of
the Center for Applied Genomics at Children's Hospital. The above
co-authors ar also module members of the University of Pennsylvania
School of Medicine. Other collaborators were from the National Institute
for Cancer Research, Genoa, Italy; Ghent University Hospital, Ghent,
Belgium; Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, Calif.; and the University
of Rome "La Sapienza."
About The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: The Children's Hospital
of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first-class honours degree pediatric
hospital. Through its long-standing allegiance to providing exceptional
patient care, grooming new generations of pediatric healthcare
professionals and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's
Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children
global. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the
country, ranking third in National Institutes of Health funding. In
addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs e
brought the 430-bed hospital acknowledgment as a leading counsellor for children
and adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu.
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
http://www.chop.edu
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Sunday, 31 August 2008
Thursday, 21 August 2008
Relax, Everybody! Quentin Tarantino Will Probably Not Save Mike Myers�s Career
, AFP
Last night, to the general dismay of anyone who's been following the crap-ward trajectory of Mike Myers's work for the past decade, it was proclaimed that the Love Guru star has officially been cast in Quentin Tarantino's upcoming WWII epic, Inglorious Bastards. Following Guru's fateful $13 one thousand thousand opening weekend, most reasonable people opinion they'd in conclusion seen the last of him (at least until the future planned Austin Powers sequel) � but, given Tarantino's reputation for resuscitating careers, could Bastards save Meyers's?
According to Variety, he's playing British general Ed Fenech, "a military originator who takes part in hatching a plot to wipe extinct Nazi leadership." We consulted the screenplay and we're pleased to report that General Fenech � described as "a [sic] elder George Sanders type" (i.e., no fat suit) � appears on merely 7 of its one hundred sixty-five pages. The character recruits Lieutenant Archie Hicox (whom Tarantino supposedly wants to be played by Simon Pegg) for "Operation Kino," a plan to assassinate the Nazi high command during the Paris premier of a German propaganda film. Meyers will own just 29 lines, none of which will allow him the opportunity to use odd voices or be offensive to Hindus. His part pretty very much adds up to a small cameo and he should simply be on-screen for around five minutes. Will Bastards save his career? No more than Tropic Thunder saved Tom Cruise's.
Mike Myers enlists in 'Bastards' [Variety]
Earlier: We�ve Got Quentin Tarantino�s �Inglorious Bastards� Script
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Monday, 11 August 2008
L'Oreal accused of whitewashing Beyonce Knowles in ad
London (ANI): Cosmetics giant L'Oreal has provoked outrage after allegedly 'whitewashing' the face of Beyonce Knowles in an advert. The 'Crazy in Love' vocalist looks most unrecognizable with a outlandish light complexion and reddish-blonde hair.
When the epitome appeared in Elle magazine, to promote the French firm's Feria range of hair dyes, it came under fire in America. The New York Post called the picture "disgraceful" and accused L'Oreal of making Beyonce, 26, face like a "weird, nearly white version of herself."
And on Aug 7 Britain's best-selling black newspaper 'The Voice' said it would be "disgusted" if the image had been "whitewashed". "There is an attitude in the molding industry that black models do not sell. Models that end up in magazines tend to be very, very light-skinned or Asian," The Sun quoted editor Steve Pope, as saying.
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When the epitome appeared in Elle magazine, to promote the French firm's Feria range of hair dyes, it came under fire in America. The New York Post called the picture "disgraceful" and accused L'Oreal of making Beyonce, 26, face like a "weird, nearly white version of herself."
And on Aug 7 Britain's best-selling black newspaper 'The Voice' said it would be "disgusted" if the image had been "whitewashed". "There is an attitude in the molding industry that black models do not sell. Models that end up in magazines tend to be very, very light-skinned or Asian," The Sun quoted editor Steve Pope, as saying.
More info
Wednesday, 6 August 2008
XX Century Instrumental
Artist: XX Century Instrumental
Genre(s):
Instrumental
Discography:
Hit Parade disk 1
Year: 1999
Tracks: 1
Cafe Del Mar
Wednesday, 25 June 2008
Nate Dogg to the Pound
Nate Dogg's being accused of making like a pit bull.
The Prodigal Son rapper was busted this morning in Los Angeles for threatening to deep-six his estranged wife, the California...
Thursday, 19 June 2008
The Coral, Clinic, Lykke Li Added To Latitude Festival
The Coral, Joanna Newsom and Clinic are among the latest batch of acts confirmed for Latitude Festival this July.
Also added to the line-up are Lykke Li, Wild Beasts and Black Lips, as well as Johnny Flynn and Animal Kingdom.
Latitude is held in Suffolk from July 17th-20th and will be headlined by Franz Ferdinand, Interpol and Sigur Ros are set to headline the bash.
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Kanye Gets Big Stick from Fans
Kanye West heard it loud and hard from fans who got seriously irate when the rapper showed up two hours late for a gig.West was supposed to start his gig at Bonnaroo at 2:45 a.m. yesterday morning, and when he didn't show up until 4:25, the crowd got on him, chanting "Kanye sucks" and throwing glow sticks on stage. The delay, according to reports, was caused by K's big stage set, which took a while to throw up after Pearl Jam's appearance.
As it happens, a lot of fans just couldn't keep it up for Kanye – and ended up asleep in their sleeping bags.
Wino -- Two Mil for Sloppy Commando Show
Must be good to be Amy Winehouse: The wobbly wonder got $2 million from a Russian billionaire to bring her act to Moscow.Rush & Molloy report that Amy actually managed to show up and do the gig – but not without incident. It took her handlers a couple hours to pull her together because she showed up "in no condition to appear." When she did make it down a red carpet, she smoked and revealed that she was going full commando.
A source says that her actual singing was "sloppy," but that she put on a "terrific show."
Leona's Bitch Tosses $10 Mil Bone
The dog that got $12 million in Leona Helmsley's will have to live off $2 million for the rest of her days. Ruff life!The New York Post reports that a New York judge reduced the dog's inheritance and gave $10 million to charity – and worked out a deal to give her grandkids $6 million each. When Leona died last August, she left the pair out of her will, but left Trouble the dog a big chunk of change.
Party Favors: Connery Just Fine ... Barbis Get Ambushed on "30 Days"
Sean Connery isn't in the hospital and didn't wreck his ankle on the golf course, says his rep, rubbishing recent reports. ... We're told that the Barbi Twins were "interviewing" eco-terrorist Darius Fullmer when they got an unexpected guest – big hunting guy George Snedeker – and found themselves on FX series "30 Days."
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Justin Timberlake: Not Engaged, Not Pregnant
Justin Timberlake has squashed a couple of rumors during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Tuesday (June 10), denying that he is planning to marry girlfriend Jessica Biel or pregnant!
On Tuesday night's show, Leno asked the singer if he was engaged, with Timberlake joking, "Am I engaged? In what? I'm engaged in a conversation with you if that's what you mean?"
The 27-year-old was then questioned, "So you're not engaged, nobody's pregnant?"
"I'm not engaged, I'm not pregnant." he laughed. "Men are getting pregnant these days from what I hear!"
NEXT: Spinoff For Gossip Girl In The Works
Photo courtesy of Jive.
Domino
Artist: Domino
Genre(s):
Other
Discography:
Touch Me
Year: 2004
Tracks: 3
Domino's "Sweet Potatoe Pie" was a pop and R&B hit from his self-titled debut LP. The record album was issued in December of 1993. Three old age later, Domino delivered his second record album, Physical Funk, which failed to go as successful as its predecessor; Dominology followed in 1997. D-Freaked It pronounced his long-awaited review in summer 2001.
'Rambo' assaults rental shelves
Iain Matthews
Artist: Iain Matthews
Genre(s):
Rock
Country
Discography:
Tigers Will Survive
Year: 2007
Tracks: 12
Orphans And Outcasts : A Collection Of Demos (Volume 1)
Year: 1993
Tracks: 20
Bow Wow - Bow Wow Joins Entourage
Rapper BOW WOW has joined the fifth season of the hit U.S. TV programme ENTOURAGE.
The hip-hop star, real name Shad Moss, has landed a recurring role as a stand-up comedian who is managed by Eric Murphy, played by actor Kevin Connolly.
Moss - who says he aims to take on more acting roles in an attempt to "be the next Will Smith" - has also been cast in the upcoming sports drama Patriots opposite Forest Whitaker and Isaiah Washington, reports the Hollywood Reporter.
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Bukaddor And Fishbeck
Artist: Bukaddor And Fishbeck
Genre(s):
Electronic
Discography:
Less
Year: 2007
Tracks: 2
Underground Resistance
Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia
Artist: Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia
Genre(s):
Other
Discography:
Remembering YOu
Year:
Tracks: 5
Posession vol.3
Year:
Tracks: 2
Posession vol.2
Year:
Tracks: 1
Posession vol.1
Year:
Tracks: 1
Robert De Niro - De Niro Hotel Faces Setback In Development
LATEST: Movie star ROBERT DE NIRO's New York hotel development is facing a setback - building commissioners in the city have ordered him to scrap the luxurious penthouse suite and start again.
De Niro's $43 million (GBP21.5 million) Greenwich Hotel opened its doors in April (08). The most expensive room is a vast suite on the top of the six-story building in the city's TriBeCa district.
But New York building bosses have told him to trim down the room, because it's too big and too visible from the street.
A spokesperson for the Landmark's Preservation Commission says, "It's bulkier, and it occupies about 1,200 more square feet on the roof. The commission directed them to modify the rooftop and it's up to the developer to come up with plans to do so."
De Niro responded with an apology to the commission for the expansion, claiming that although his 88-room building is a "labour of love", he is determined to follow the commission's strict guidelines.
He says, "We worked on this project a long time and tried to make it as good as we could - that was the intent. Anything that would be offensive to anyone would be offensive to me."
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