REG1A and its receptor EXTL3 signal the recurrence of colorectal cancer

CHICAGO – The over expression of two genes, REG1A and EXTL3 in the patients with colorectal tumors enhance the risk of recurrence, according to a new study from the Max Delbrueck Center in Berlin, Germany.

In this study, REG1A expression was also significantly higher in surgical biopsies taken from pre-cancerous colon polyps, or adenomas.

"The findings suggest that the two genes are significant prognostic markers and may eventually help in making decisions about management of colorectal adenomas and tumors," said principal investigator Wolfgang Kemmner, Ph.D., who is Surgical Oncology Research Group Leader at the Max Delbrueck Center.

Results were presented at the first meeting on Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic Development, organized by the American Association for Cancer Research.

The researchers analyzed tumor and normal tissue from 75 colorectal cancer patients who had undergone surgery but not yet received any other treatment. They discovered that REG1A (Regenerating Islet-Derived 1 Alpha) was overexpressed in tumor specimens compared to normal tissue. In general, its level of expression correlated with the length of time before the disease recurred--as REG1A expression levels increased, disease-free survival decreased.

Patients with higher expression levels also tended to have lower disease-specific survival, meaning less time before they died from their disease. In addition, REG1A expression was significantly higher in tumors with peritoneal carcinomatosis, a type of advanced cancer in which many small tumors develop on the abdominal cavity and linings. The other gene, EXTL3 (Exostoses (Multiple)-Like 3), which was examined in samples of 56 patients, also tended to be upregulated in peritoneal carcinomatosis and was a significant predictor of patient outcome. EXTL3 encodes the receptor to which the REG1A protein binds.

Turning to precancerous adenomas, the researchers compared adenoma tissue from 22 patients to colorectal mucosal tissue from 31 healthy individuals. REG1A expression was significantly higher in the adenomas. Taken together, the findings raise the possibility that the genes could help guide decisions regarding both treatment and prevention of the disease.

"On the one hand, determining REG1A and EXTL3 expression levels could eventually help show which surgical patients are at high risk for recurrence and thus need more aggressive treatment," Kemmner said. "In addition, REG1A expression may serve in molecular diagnosis of very early tumors not yet apparent from conventional histopathology."

Slow brain waves integral in coordination of complex activity

Berkeley – It is well known that the output of nerve cells is the messenger of information between regions of the brain, yet it is still unclear about how widely separated regions of the cortex involving billions of cells come together to assist a complex activity. A new study by neuroscientists at the University of California, Berkeley, and neurosurgeons and neurologists at UC San Francisco (UCSF) is getting to resolve this mystery.

UCSF neurosurgeons place 64-electrode grids on the surface of the brain's temporal and frontal lobes to locate regions where epileptic seizures originate. These grids allowed UC Berkeley neuroscientists to study the interaction of brain waves during simple tasks, such as word recognition or hand movements. (Images courtesy the Knight Lab)

"One of the most important questions in neuroscience is: How do areas of the brain communicate?" said Dr. Robert Knight, professor of psychology, Evan Rauch Professor of Neuroscience and director of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at UC Berkeley. "A simple activity like responding to a question involves areas all over the brain that hear the sound, analyze it, extract the relevant information, formulate a response, and then coordinate your lips and mouth to speak. We have no idea how information moves between these areas."

By measuring electrical activity in the brains of pre-surgical epilepsy patients, the researchers have found the first evidence that slow brain oscillations, or theta waves, "tune in" the fast brain oscillations called high-gamma waves that signal the transmission of information between different areas of the brain. In this way, the researchers argue, areas like the auditory cortex and frontal cortex, separated by several inches in the cerebral cortex, can coordinate activity.

"If you are reading something, language areas oscillate in theta frequency allowing high-gamma-related neural activity in individual neurons to transmit information," said Knight. "When you stop reading and begin to type, theta rhythms oscillate in motor structures, allowing you to plan and execute your motor response by way of high gamma. Simple, but effective."

The findings are reported in the Sept. 15 issue of Science.

Albumin Linked to Reduced Mortality Rates In Malaria

Scientists said that severely ill malaria patients would benefit a lot if they were given albumin in their resuscitation fluids. Researchers from the Imperial College in London and experts in Kenya have developed this new technique in to replace fluids for children ill with malaria.

In initial studies less than 5 percent of the children who received the new treatment died, researchers said. "The observation is that treating very sick children with severe malaria with albumin infusion can reduce the mortality rate by over 80 percent," said one of the researchers, Kathryn Maitland. "It is absolutely essential that the results are reproduced in larger studies before we advise on any change in practice.”

Currently administration of fluids is not standard practice and albumin is not available in Africa, where at least a million people succumb to malaria annually.

Diabetes Drug, Exenatide, Good For Blood Sugar Levels and Weight Loss

Eli Lilly and and Amylin Pharmaceuticals has announced that exenatide is very effective in controlling blood sugar levels, at par with iphasic insulin aspart 30/70 (NovoMix by NovoNordisk). This finding was revealed after a threadbare study conducted by the company. This is indeed a boon to people suffering type 2 diabetes and unable to control the blood sugar with the oral diabetes drugs.

The study, which spanned a year, revealed that thirty-two percent of study participants using exenatide were able to effectively attain the target HbA1C of 7 percent or less. HbA1C is a measure of individuals average glucose level, a gauge commonly used by the specialists. The study also revealed that many patients using exenatide also experienced weight loss, an average of 2.5 kilograms (5.5 pounds), while the patients receiving biphasic insulin aspart had actually gained an average of 2.9 kilograms (6.4 pounds).

"This comparator study demonstrates that exenatide has similar blood glucose control to the conventional treatment with insulin," said Professor Dr. Michael Nauck, Director of the Diabetes Centre in Bad Lauterberg, Germany, and a lead author of the study.

Exenatide happens to be the first among a relatively new class of medicines known as incretin mimetics, which is approved, by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

Scientists discover anti-cancer compound

Scientists in New Zealand said Friday that they have discovered compounds in certain vegetables that could kill cancer cells that are resistant to other treatments.

According to a study by researchers at Christchurch School of Medicine, cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, cabbage, watercress, bok choy, radishes, turnips, and kale contain certain anti-cancer compounds.

Team leader Mark Hampton said a protein called Bcl-2 makes human cells resistant to the normal cell-suicide process, which removes damaged cells from the body.

He said cancer cells with a lot of Bcl-2 also have increased resistance to chemotherapy drugs, but added that compounds called isothiocyanates found in the cruciferous family make the cells more susceptible to treatment.

The research team said the next step is to find out how the compounds work inside the cell to negate the power of the protein.

Hampton said they could use that information to design new drugs against cancer.

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