The paper of the week is An isoform of Dicer protects mammalian stem cells against multiple RNA viruses published in Science. The take-home from the abstract is that the data, “demonstrate that mammalian stem cells can protect themselves from some RNA viruses by expressing an alternatively spliced isoform of the enzyme Dicer called aviD, which potentiates …
A new Nature paper makes the striking claim that neural precursor cells of the brain migrate all the way to prostate tumors. Furthermore, the team led by Claire Magnon claims that these long-distance cellular travelers from the brain not only take up residence in the prostate but also strongly drive progression of the prostate cancer …
Probing Nature pub’s puzzling claim of brain cells globetrotting into prostate tumors Read More »
I’ve got some TGIF recommend reads on stem cells, etc, but first, what a week, right? We need more action on preventing gun violence. It’s a uniquely American health crisis that doesn’t have to be. There’s no real, common sense reason that gun control can’t reduce mass killings of our kids and others like the …
TGIF: Guns, stem cells, science weekends reads & good news Read More »
I’ve read a lot of bad writing in the past year including on prostate cancer. Lucky me, right? It’s probably true for most of us. However, a new piece in Slate on prostate cancer and the Movember movement (an effort that raises awareness and funds for prostate cancer research) takes the cake as the absolute worst …
The worst thing I’ve read all year: @Slate piece on prostate cancer Read More »
Statins have been hailed as some of the best drugs ever. Given the massive, deadly prevalence of cardiovascular disease, some have even semi-jokingly talked about putting these drugs in the water supply for public health. The growing evidence (e.g. this story) that statins might significantly aid in prevention, delayed progression, or even post-treatment delay of …
Statins dilemma: heart & cancer benefits, but diabetes risk Read More »
Three years ago I found myself in a tough spot to put it mildly with a prostate cancer diagnosis at age 42. In October 2009 I had a mildly elevated PSA test result (see more on that below) leading to a prostate biopsy. At the end of that month I had just received the news …
It’s been a big couple months of headlines in the news for prostate cancer. I’m a prostate cancer survivor and cancer biologist so I spend probably more than my share of time thinking about prostate cancer and from a number of angles. A few days ago I got a test result suggesting I’m still in long-term …
Updated: Do Vulcans Get Prostate Cancer and get surgery for it? Read More »
How has prostate cancer changed my life? On Sunday I was working on grading some papers before dinner when up popped a “you’ve got mail” kind of message. The email said that my PSA (the blood test for prostate cancer) test results were ready. Yay! I was diagnosed with a serious prostate cancer about 28 months …
Prostate cancer and PSA tests: perspectives of a young survivor Read More »