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Predicting cancer prognosis
August 28, 2009Stanford, CA - Researchers led by Dr. Soheil Dadras at the Stanford University Medical Center have developed a novel methodology to extract microRNAs from cancer tissues. The related report by Ma et al, "Profiling and discovery of novel miRNAs from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded melanoma and nodal specimens," appears in the September 2009 issue of the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics.
Cancer tissues from patients are often stored by a method that involves formalin fixation and paraffin embedding to retain morphological definition for identification; however, this method frequently prevents further molecular analysis of the tissue because of mRNA degradation. Even so, these tissues contain high numbers of microRNAs (miRNAs), which are short enough (~22 nucleotides) to not be broken down during the fixation process.
In this study, Dr. Dadras and colleagues optimized a new protocol for extracting miRNAs from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues. Using their new procedure, they identified 17 new and 53 known miRNAs from normal skin, melanoma, and sentinel lymph nodes. These miRNAs were well-preserved in a 10-year-old specimen. This new protocol, therefore, will allow for the identification of novel miRNAs that may differ in cancerous and healthy tissue, even from long-preserved tissue, leading to better predictions of disease prognosis and treatment response.
Ma et al suggest that their "cloning strategy has the advantage of not only discovering novel and known miRNA sequence identity but also providing an estimate of relative expression level. - [This methodology may provide] a more robust strategy to obtain an accurate expression profile for novel and/or previously characterized small RNAs from clinically defined [formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded] tumor specimens, thereby facilitating the discovery of 'oncomirs' as biomarkers."
American Journal of Pathology
Ma et al suggest that their "cloning strategy has the advantage of not only discovering novel and known miRNA sequence identity but also providing an estimate of relative expression level. - [This methodology may provide] a more robust strategy to obtain an accurate expression profile for novel and/or previously characterized small RNAs from clinically defined [formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded] tumor specimens, thereby facilitating the discovery of 'oncomirs' as biomarkers."
American Journal of Pathology
MicroRNAs Current Events and MicroRNAs News RSSExperimental agent reduces breast cancer metastasis to bone
Researchers have reduced breast cancer metastasis to bone using an experimental agent to inhibit ROCK, a protein that was found to be over-expressed in metastatic breast cancer.
MicroRNA-mediated metastasis suppression
Metastases are responsible for over 90% of cancer deaths. In the upcoming issue of G&D, Dr. Robert Weinberg (MIT) and colleagues lend molecular insight into how microRNAs suppress tumor metastasis.
Texas A&M researchers find new mechanism for circadian rhythm
Molecules that may hold the key to new ways to fight cancer and other diseases have been found to play an important role in regulating circadian rhythm, says Liheng Shi, a researcher in Texas A&M's Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences.
UCSF scientists illuminate how microRNAs drive tumor progression
UCSF researchers have identified collections of tiny molecules known as microRNAs that affect distinct processes critical for the progression of cancer.
Lung cancer suppresses miR-200 to invade and spread
Primary lung cancer shifts to metastatic disease by suppressing a family of small molecules that normally locks the tumor in a noninvasive state, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the Sept. 15 edition of Genes and Development.
Scientists Use MicroRNAs to Track Evolutionary History for First Time
The large group of segmented worms known as annelids, which includes earthworms, leeches and bristle worms, evolved millions of years ago and can be found in every corner of the world.
MicroRNAs circulating in blood show promise as biomarkers to detect pancreatic cancer
A blood test for small molecules abnormally expressed in pancreatic cancer may be a promising route to early detection of the disease.
MicroRNA in human saliva may help diagnose oral cancer
Researchers continue to add to the diagnostic alphabet of saliva by identifying the presence of at least 50 microRNAs that could aid in the detection of oral cancer, according to a report in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Dental researchers confirm microRNAs as biomarkers for oral cancer detection
A new study published by researchers at the UCLA School of Dentistry substantiates the effectiveness of measuring the microRNAs present in saliva to detect oral squamous cell carcinoma.
Advances in lung cancer research announced at conference
Dr. Glen Weiss of the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Scottsdale Healthcare this week announced two significant advances in treating lung cancer at an international cancer research conference.
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