Latest UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center Stories

In a paper published today in the journal Cell, a team from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill unveils the first broad-based test for activation of protein kinases "en masse", enabling measurement of the mechanism behind drug-resistant cancer and rational prediction of successful combination therapies. Kinases are proteins expressed in human tissues that play a key role in cell growth, particularly in cancer. Of the 518 known human kinases, about 400 are expressed in cancers,...

A study of cervical cancer incidence and mortality in North Carolina has revealed areas where rates are unusually high. The findings indicate that education, screening, and vaccination programs in those places could be particularly useful, according to public health researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who authored the report. “In general the rates of incidence and mortality in North Carolina are consistent with national averages,” said Jennifer S. Smith,...

A series of 15 scientific papers published this week in the journals of the Genetics Society of America (Genetics and G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics) put North Carolina at the epicenter of a scientific resource called the Collaborative Cross – a "library" of genetic diversity that scientists believe can help fast-track important discoveries about genetics and disease into new discoveries, tests, and treatments that impact human health. Researchers have long been frustrated by promising lab...

After a 20-year quest to find a genetic driver for prostate cancer that strikes men at younger ages and runs in families, researchers have identified a rare, inherited mutation linked to a significantly higher risk of the disease. A report on the discovery was published in the January 12, 2012 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. UNC-Chapel Hill scientist Ethan Lange, PhD, was part of the team of investigators at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the University of...

UNC scientists contribute cell studies and protein expression analysis Researchers from UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center are part of a team that has identified a protein, called P-Rex1, that is key to the movement of cells called melanoblasts. When these cells experience uncontrolled growth, melanoma develops. Melanoma is one of the only forms of cancer that is still on the rise and is one of the most common forms of cancer in young adults. The incidence of melanoma in women...

RALEIGH, N.C., Nov. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The SECU Cancer Center at Mission Hospital in Asheville, N.C. is now open to patients, an announcement that came at a recent donor luncheon and ribbon cutting ceremony where Trustees of Mission Foundation announced they had reached their $15 million goal to help fund the project. SECU Foundation jumpstarted the fundraising campaign with a $5 million grant in 2010, with naming rights recognizing the Credit Union members' gift. The five-story...

ATLANTA, July 25, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Cancer Society is the recipient of a two-million dollar grant from The Walmart Foundation to set up community health advisors in select underserved communities. The grant will provide $300,000 each to increase access to breast cancer screening for African American women in three communities - Jackson, Miss. (Hinds and Madison Counties); Minneapolis, Minn.; and Portsmouth, Va. In addition, 30 communities* across the country will...

SEATTLE, June 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Shanghai CDC) and the Breast Health Global Initiative (BHGI), headquartered at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, jointly will establish the Shanghai Breast Health Resource Center as BHGI's first "learning laboratory" in China. The project is a result of the two organizations formalizing their ongoing relationship by signing a collaboration agreement. It marks the first such...

A collaboration between physicians and scientists at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center has demonstrated that a biomarker called TCF21 may be used to develop a potential screening test for early-stage lung cancer.Despite the fact that lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, early-stage lung cancer is difficult to diagnose. A number of proposed screening tests, including screening CT scans and serum markers,...

CHICAGO, June 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Eminent leaders and thinkers in the cancer community came together yesterday at the 2010 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting for a first-of-its-kind roundtable event. The session, sponsored by Amgen and its Breakaway from Cancer® initiative, was designed to highlight potential areas for improvement throughout the spectrum of cancer care, and inspire action by establishing several calls-to-action for the cancer community and health...