Cancer Research Blog Carnival #8

Welcome to the April 4, 2008 edition of the Cancer Research Blog Carnival! Let's get down to it - right below the fold.

Alex Palazzo presents From Metabolism to Oncogenes and Back - Part I posted at The Daily Transcript. The post represents the first part of a three-part series on the relationship between metabolic research and cancer. This is a truly amazing post, giving us a historical perspective on how scientists have changed their way of thinking about cancer over time, thanks to data coming in from the study of metabolism (think Warburg hypothesis) and viral oncogenes (think Src kinase and Harold Varmus). Kamel then gives us a recent update of more recent research on the role of metabolism in cancer in More on the Warburg Effect posted at Bayblab.

We also get introduced to the mysteries of non-coding RNAs and their size in Size matters for non-coding RNAs. Non-coding RNAs, and their potential role in cancer development, are one of the hottest topics in cancer research at the moment. A very recent paper in Science shows how a protein expressed in stem cells regulates the processing of one specific family of miRNAs, let-7. This finding is particularly important as let-7 miRNAs have been implicated in regulating Ras, a major oncogene, as well as in being important regulators of stemness. My post gives you an overview of miRNAs and the main findings of this paper.

Also in the news section, there is bad weather ahead for NF researchers: Walter presents Funding of Childhood Cancer, NF Research in Jeopardy posted at Highlight HEALTH. This post alerts us to the drastic drop in funding for research on Neurofibromatosis, a set of disorders often resulting in the growth of nerve and brain tumors in children:"The U.S. House and Senate included an $8 million appropriation for the CDMRP-NFRP in the FY2008 Defense Bill. This is a decrease of $2 million from 2007 and is over a 66% decrease from the high-water mark of $25 million in FY2005".

Finally, before moving to posts about the clinical side of cancer treatment and diagnosis, let's get ourselves A rambling introduction to chemical carcinogenesis presented by Joe Dunckley at Cotch dot net.

We now move to the "Diagnosis" section of the Carnival. Bad news for stressed out researchers (and not) out there: Shaheen Lakhan informs us of the recent finding that "higher levels of chronic stress correlates with human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, a sexually transmitted disease that is the most common cause of cervical cancer". You can read more about this link between HPV infection and stress in Stress Increases Risk of Precancerous Infection posted over at GNIF Brain Blogger.

What if you receive a medical diagnosis you would prefer never to hear about? You can get some advice on how to deal with it in Top Ten Tips - Dealing With A Medical Diagnosis posted at Tip Diva. I am sure you'll agree with her when she says that "getting any medical diagnosis, regardless of the seriousness, can be a frightening experience. Unfortunately, you can’t change the diagnosis, but you can take charge, and here’s how."

Switching now to cancer therapy, we get an update about acute myeloid leukemia from our next host, Alexey Bersenev, who presents Twenty years of follow-up among survivors of childhood and young adult acute myeloid leukemia posted at Hematopoiesis. David Loeb also starts a discussion on cancer treatment and fertility in Cancer and Fertility: How Can Treatment Impact Fertility? (Part 1) posted at Doctor David's Blog. He tells us that "now that pediatric oncologists are curing ¾ of our patients, we have to worry more and more about the harm we do in the process. One of the biggest concerns of my patients (those old enough to care or understand) and their families (no matter how young the patient is) is future fertility".

And we finally got to the quackery section. This must be the funniest part of the Carnival, even if it deals with quite a serious subject. In fact, many cancer patients turn to alternative therapies of questionable medical value, and often without telling their oncologist! Something tells me that homeopathy has got to be among those. PodBlack presents Homeopathy Week: Defying Science For 250 Years over at Podblack Blog, and also contributes to the unofficial humor section of this Carnival...

Although this other contribution is not strictly related to cancer research, it still shows how far we are willing to go to feel like we are taking care of our health, when we might be, in reality, jeopardizing it. Karen Stollznow presents Expensive Urine over at The Skepbitch.

And with that, we have unfortunately reached the end of this edition. I encourage you to submit your blog article to the next edition of Cancer Research Blog Carnival using our carnival submission form. The next edition of this Carnival will be hosted next month by Alexey over at Hematopoiesis.

Last but not least, I would like to invite you all to submit your posts to the brand-new Molecular and Cell Biology Carnival, which will be taking place on April 13 right here. To find out more about the carnival and about hosting and submission guidelines, head over to the MCB Carnival's page, and submit your posts using the blogcarnival form.

See you soon!

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