Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research

ANTI-CANCER VACCINE USING T. CRUZI PARASITE PREVENT CANCER IN PRE-CLINICAL STUDIES

Click on the link below to read the story in SciBX: Science Business eXchange based on a Ludwig study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Tcruzi.pdf

 

STANFORD COMPUTER ALGORITHM USED TO IDENTIFY BLADDER CANCER MARKER

Ludwig Scientist Uses Innovative Math Technique to Help Predict Severity of Bladder Cancer

January 17, 2012, STANFORD, Calif. - Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have used an innovative mathematical technique to find markers that effectively predict how deadly a cancer will be. The discovery, which in this case concerned bladder cancer, could lead to faster, less expensive and more accurate analysis of cancer risk and better treatment of the disease.

 

LICR PARTNER CIRCADIAN COMMENCES PHASE 1 TRIAL IN CANCER PATIENTS

MELBOURNE, Australia, Jan. 8, 2012 - Circadian Technologies Limited (ASX:CIR, OTCQX:CKDXY) announced today that it has commenced the first Phase 1 clinical trial of its fully human monoclonal antibody against VEGF-C, VGX-100, at a leading US-based cancer treatment centre.

 

NEW GENE MUTATIONS IDENTIFIED THAT ARE INVOLVED IN MELANOMA

Researchers of the University of Geneva (UNIGE), the Ludwig Center for Cancer Research of the University of Lausanne (LICR@UNIL), the Cantonal University Hospital(CHUV), and the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB) have identified novel mutationsin the genes MEK1 and MEK2 that are involved in the development of melanoma. These findings, which open new perspectives to personalized treatments, were recently published in the journal Nature Genetics.

 

DNA MISMATCH REPAIR HAPPENS ONLY DURING A BRIEF WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY

In eukaryotes – the group of organisms that include humans – a key to survival is the ability of certain proteins to quickly and accurately repair genetic errors that occur when DNA is replicated to make new cells.

 

LUDWIG SCIENTIST SHOWS MARKERS PREDEICT SPREAD OF CANCER GUIDE TREATMENT

In a study to be published online Dec. 13, 2011, in the journal PloS One, researchers from the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago show that if cells from metastatic tumors have high levels of a particular type of microRNA -- a tool cells use to silence certain genes-- not even aggressive treatment of those tumors would help. But if the cells have lower levels of that biological marker, then focused local treatment could be effective, even curative.

 

HOW BRAIN TUMORS INVADE

Scientists have pinpointed a protein that allows brains tumors to invade healthy brain tissue, according to work published this week in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (http://www.jem.org).

 

CANCER TREATMENT COMBINATION FOR MELANOMA TO BEGIN FIRST-IN-HUMAN TESTING

Newton, MA; New York, NY; and Brussels, Belgium - December 8, 2011 - Galectin Therapeutics, the Cancer Centre at the Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) announced today that they will initiate a Phase 1/2 safety and efficacy trial testing a novel treatment combination in patients with advanced metastatic melanoma. The Belgian Federal Agency of Medicine and Health Products (FAMHP) granted approval to evaluate Galectin Therapeutics' carbohydrate-based galectin receptor inhibitor, GM-CT-01, together with an LICR peptide vaccine. The trial will enroll up to 46 patients from four clinical centers in Belgium and Luxembourg.

 

LUDWIG SCIENTIST DISCOVERS KEY MECHANISM IN DNA REPAIR

DNA mismatch repair (MMR) is the bodys system for recognizing and fixing mispaired bases (adenine with thymine, guanine with cytosine) that occur during genetic replication and recombination.

 

PROFESSOR RALF PETTERSON, FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE LUDWIG INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RESEARCH IN STOCKHOLM, PASSED AWAY ON NOVEMBER 3RD

Ralf Petterson, the former director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Ltd (LICR), Stockholm Branch, passed away on November 3, 2011, after a long battle with cancer. Born in May 1945, Ralf grew up in Helsinki. He studied medicine and completed his M.D. and Ph.D. at Helsinki University. He established independent research in the area of virology at Helsinki University and spent two years as a post-doc in David Baltimore's lab from 1976 to 1977.

 

A TRIBUTE TO DR. LLOYD OLD

Dr. Lloyd J. Old passed away yesterday at the age of 78, a casualty of the disease to which he committed his life. A close advisor to Daniel K. Ludwig, Dr. Old was the scientific mid-wife to the 1971 birth of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR). A member of its Scientific Committee throughout its formative years, Dr. Old was appointed Scientific Director and CEO of the Institute in 1988 and functioned in those capacities until he stepped down in 2005 to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors, a position he held until 2009. He was a rare leader who cared as much about the people he worked with as the work itself. Underpinning it all was the abiding concern which he harbored for those who might benefit from his research – the victims of cancer.

 

RICARDO BRENTANI, FORMER SAO PAOLO BRANCH DIRECTOR, PASSED AWAY

Ricardo Renzo Brentani, the former Director of the Sao Paulo Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Ltd (LICR), passed away suddenly on November 29, 2011. Ricardo was born in Trieste, Italy, in July 1937 and moved to Brazil as an infant.

 

DIRECTOR OF LICR OXFORD BRANCH ELECTED TO EMBO

LICR is pleased to announce that Professor Xin Lu PhD FRCPath, Director of the Oxford Branch, has been elected as a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). EMBO is an organization of over 1,500 leading life scientists that fosters new generations of researchers to produce world-class scientific results, and helps to shape science and research policy by seeking feedback from its community of members. Professor Lu has been recognized along with more than 40 other outstanding scientists from around the world in 2011, for her proven excellence in research.