Glioblastoma (GBM) is an aggressive cancer from the CNS usually characterized by a very bad prognosis. It is known that around 30%-35% of patients with GBM develop epilepsy as a comorbidity of the disease.
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) accounts for more than 90% of cases of pancreatic cancer, and prognosis for PDAC remains poor despite treatment advances. One reason is that PDAC downregulates the display of antigens on the surface of tumor cells, helping it evade the patient’s immune system and therapies involving immune checkpoint inhibitors.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which accounts for up to 80% of cases of primary liver cancer, is typically diagnosed in an advanced stage, meaning a poor prognosis. Understanding what drives progression may help identify proteins and pathways that can be targeted to slow down the disease.
Some deubiquitinating enzymes may help protect against cancer, but others appear to promote it. Researchers from the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University have discovered that the deubiquitinator PSMD14 helps drive bladder cancer, and they have defined at least one signaling pathway through which it works, opening up possibilities for development of new treatments.
Researchers at Jilin University and collaborators combed through data in the public Cancer Genome Atlas and identified a potential target for lung adenocarcinoma.
Individuals with autoimmune diseases affecting the thyroid can suffer eye complications in the form of Graves’ orbitopathy, in which inflammation in and around the orbit leads to eyelid retraction, eye bulging and other symptoms.
Solute carrier family 25 member 19 (SLC25A19) is a transporter protein of thiamine pyrophosphate across cellular membranes, which is needed as a cofactor for multiple metabolic enzymes and is important for homeostasis regulation. It was hypothesized that SLC25A19 may be a pan-cancer marker and a therapeutic target, and more concretely in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
The Mediator complex is a system that regulates protein-coding gene transcription, where mediator of RNA polymerase II transcription subunit 16 (MED16) is a subunit belonging to this system. Pathogenic genetic variants in Mediator complex subunits usually lead to neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases with a variety of clinical symptoms, usually designated as MEDopathies.
Investigators from the University of Pennsylvania have presented data regarding the relationship of angiopoietin-2 (ANG2) and its prognostic impact on traumatic brain injury (TBI). The ANG2 plasmatic levels were measured in patients with TBI (n=362), orthopedic injury controls (n=89) and healthy controls (n=64).