Study identifies new culprit in lung cancer development A microRNA—a small piece of RNA involved in regulating gene expression—functions as an oncogene to drive the development of lung cancer, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center investigators have discovered. The microRNA, known as miR-31, is expressed at high levels in human lung adenocarcinoma, and its expression correlates with reduced […]
Moments after becoming the first patient in Tennessee to undergo the most recent FDA-approved therapy for the treatment of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Dan Einstein, an admitted planner, knew he was in uncharted territory. But he was at peace. “There is no script,” he said. “We are sort of writing this as we go, and in […]
When a pesky weed pops up in the midst of your lush lawn, what do you do? You probably don’t douse the yard with an herbicide that kills every green growing thing. But that sort of indiscriminate damage is what cytotoxic chemotherapies do as they flow through the body. They kill dividing cells—both tumor cells […]
For patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), the only chance for a cure is stem cell transplantation: a massive dose of chemotherapy to kill their diseased bone marrow, followed by an infusion of stem cells from a healthy donor to replace it. With a success rate of 40 percent, it’s far from a sure thing. Tommy […]
Bone marrow, a spongy tissue located within the hollow portions of bones, produces immature blood cells that develop into mature red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. With myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), this process is disrupted. People with MDS may experience infection, anemia, spontaneous bleeding or easy bruising. About 30 percent of people diagnosed with […]
Each year at least 45,000 Americans experience bone marrow failure from a variety of disorders known as myelodysplastic syndromes, or MDS. They lose the ability to manufacture healthy blood cells that are needed to prevent infection or even carry out simple clotting. Something goes awry in the bone marrow, where blood cells are produced, but […]
A biochemist pointed to a structure of a protein, one suspected of a link to pancreatic cancer, caught in the act of DNA replication. The molecular images produced at the Vanderbilt Mass Spectrometry Research Center allow scientists to see proteins at precise moments and in complex associations with each other. Some of those proteins have never […]
After Ira Baxter was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the fall of 2014, he tried just about everything to treat it. He had his prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels tested and retested. He sought a second opinion, then a third—consulting physicians in Nashville, Los Angeles and Houston. For a time, he ate an all-organic diet, trying […]
Vandana G. Abramson, M.D., gauges her smile as carefully as she prescribes doses of medicine. One patient may need beaming reassurance, while another might require a muted moment of understanding. On this Tuesday, she will meet with 26 patients. They come from across the United States to the Vanderbilt Breast Center, where Abramson, a medical […]
Judy Tilghman, 66, is a high-energy multitasker who knows how to get things done. Her busy life has included raising two daughters, doing mission work, holding offices in her church, and operating Home Grown Bargains, a consignment store in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Despite those time demands, this dynamo from Guthrie, Kentucky, was always diligent about getting […]
