Melanoma's Attraction to the Brain: A Love-Hate Relationship

So, the underlying process of metastasis - when cancer cells spread to other sites of the body - is quite understood, yet there are still many things to learn about why it happens in the first place. This is an example of the question Prof. Isaac Witz and his research team focused on for their research on metastatic melanoma cells at Tel Aviv University.

Furthermore, what attracts these particular cells to the brain? The findings of Prof. Witz's research suggest that these cells create receptors for two chemokines found in brain tissue. The receptors may be a "homing device" that attract the cancer cells to the  brain.

Prof. Witz says that these findings could open new doors for cancer therapies. Specifically, medications could be created to suppress the molecules of the receptors, and ultimately interfere with the metastatic migration to the brain.

There is also the duplication of nature that adds to the equation; scientists are able to compare metastatic to non-metastatic cancer cells in mice. Since these two types of cancer cells contain identical genetic backgrounds, scientists can possibly determine which genes are responsible for metastasis in metastatic cells.

References

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120919125602.htm

Anat Klein, Orit Sagi-Assif, Sivan Izraely, Tsipi Meshel, Metsada Pasmanik-Chor, Clara Nahmias, Pierre-Olivier Couraud, Neta Erez, Dave S.B. Hoon, Isaac P. Witz. The metastatic microenvironment: Brain-derived soluble factors alter the malignant phenotype of cutaneous and brain-metastasizing melanoma cells. International Journal of Cancer, 2012; DOI: 10.1002/ijc.27552

Update: Research Project (6)

The sixth and final update for our research project. I'm happy to say that it's officially complete! Click here for more information.

UPDATE: Research Project (5)

The official word has been announced regarding the publication of our research paper: it's finally going to happen. It's apparently quite normal for a research paper to undergo a lengthy process prior to being published; its construction alone takes much time, then it has to be reviewed by various publishers, considered for revision in particular areas, and finally someone from somewhere agrees to publish it. In the upcoming days, it is expected to be officially published, in which case I will provide the link to its abstract on the journal's website. Until then... we wait a little longer.

For more information on this research project, visit: Research & Publications.

The Restoration of Eyesight through Stem Cells

Taylor Binns experienced a slow degradation of vision through time due to complications with contact lenses. It began four years ago, where Binns described the early symptoms as intense eye pain and blurry vision. The cause of the symptoms was not then known by doctors, with Binns' vision gradually getting worse, and eventually becoming legally blind.

A Queens University student of commerce, Binns was finally diagnosed with a rare eye disease known as corneal limbal stem cell deficiency. It is essentially a disease that replaces normal, healthy cells with scar tissue, creating eye ulcers that cloud over the corneas, further explaining the intense eye pain and loss of vision.

Doctors recommended that Binns receive a new kind of procedure to rid him of the disease: a limbal stem cell transplant. Healthy limbal stem cells from a donor were Binns' best chance at regaining his vision. When in search for a matching donor for the transplant, doctors found that the ideal candidate was his younger sister, Victoria.

"Within a month he could see 20/40," says ophthalmologist Dr. Allan Slomovic. "His last visit he was 20/20 and 20/40."

Taylor Binns is now able to do the things he once did before losing his vision, and has now reportedly become interested in medicine. He is now on track to becoming a medical doctor and hopes to specialize in ophthalmology.

More on this story can read here: http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/ontario-man-s-sight-restored-with-help-of-stem-cells-1.1088888

UPDATE: Research Project (4)

The research paper that we had submitted in April had been under review up until last week. The team received an e-mail from a representative of the journal saying that revision in certain areas is required. With that being said, there is more work to be done before the paper can be published. The research continues...

Doctors' Fees for Medical Services to be Cut in Ontario

If Ontario is to see a decrease in its $16-billion deficit throughout the next few years, Premier Dalton McGuinty believes it is necessary to make cuts from health-care costs (1). These cuts are specifically aimed at the fees doctors are eligible to charge for their medical services, leading to an overall (but ostensibly “slight”) reduction in their income.

The province plans to make a total of $338-million in health-care cuts, in which the money is “likely to be reinvested in primary care” over the next few years (1). Regarding a few specialties, it has been said that large cuts have been made to their service fees, whereas smaller cuts were made to the rest.

We can look at a couple of factors that will inevitably play out soon after these economic decisions commence: firstly, as the Canadian Medical Association had pointed out, doctors will likely move to jurisdictions where their services are worth more (or are on the rise) rather than stay in the province where they are declining, even slightly (1). Such doctors may turn out to be on the younger end of the spectrum, where they enter a profession with enormous debts inherited from medical school fees.

Secondly, with a decrease in their income, doctors may be driven to see more patients to reconcile for their losses, pushing forth a heavier workload on a professional whom initially works hard.

The fact that the potential $338-million made from health-care cuts is said to likely be reinvested into primary care sounds uncertain. If this reinvestment does not occur in primary care, then we are simply diminishing our health-care system.

References

(1) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/the-doctor-will-still-see-you-now/article2443975/

Automatic Consideration for Organ Donations in Canada: Should this be in Effect?

More than a handful of Canadians die every year while waiting for organs (1). More organ donors would inevitably decrease this death rate; so, what’s the problem? The problem seems to be that we are uncomfortable with the subject as a whole. While many of us are more than happy to sign up for organ donation, a questionable portion of us do not, either because we do not make the time for it, or for the more popular reason – it’s frightening to think about one’s own demise. Although there is no problem with the latter, the main issue here is that we do not feel motivated to register.

If we could flip the system, like over 20 countries in Europe have done, Canadians could automatically be considered organ donors unless they go out of their way to take their names off of this donor list (1). By doing it this way, the government would still have the consent of Canadians, who do not wish to donate their organs, and would have many more organ donors versus that of what we currently possess.

This system is called a “presumed consent model,” and is said to hold organ donation rates that surpass those of the Canadian system’s (1). The Canadian Liver Foundation suggests that there will be no improvement in our current organ donation rates if we do not adopt a presumed consent model (1).

It is a secure plan, really. If a few more lives can be spared each year by simply flipping the system, I do not see how this is even debatable. If people feel that their rights are being taken away from them (which is false), then they can have their names taken off the list. There really is no difference with the system, other than the government’s presumption being that one is perfectly fine with having their organs donated when they are deceased.

References

(1) http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Health/20120525/presumed-consent-organ-donation-120525/