International Research Chemistry Awards

  Men who consistently avoid prostate cancer screening appointments face a disproportionately higher risk of dying from the disease, finds research identifying a new high-risk group. An analysis of data from across seven countries from the world's largest prostate cancer screening study, the European Randomized study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC), is presented this weekend at the European Association of Urology (EAU) Congress in Madrid. Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in men in 112 countries, with prevalence expected to double by 2040. If introduced on a national scale, prostate cancer screening programmes that measure levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in the blood have the potential to give men earlier access to treatment, a better chance of being cured. They can also prevent costly treatment associated with advanced prostate cancer. Long-term follow-up data from the ERSPC consistently report that PSA screening programmes can lead to a 20% re...

  A new editorial was published in Oncotarget, Volume 16, on March 13, 2025, titled "No disease left behind." In this editorial, Dr. Muzamil Arshad from the University of Chicago Medical Center and colleagues highlight a growing concern in cancer care: radiotherapy may leave behind microscopic cancer even when scan images suggest the tumor is gone. The authors argue that this "residual disease" is more common than expected and is linked to worse long-term outcomes. Their perspective calls for a rethinking of how treatment success is judged and how cancer is followed up after therapy. Radiotherapy, especially a form known as stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR), is widely used to treat cancers in the lung, liver, prostate, and other organs. SABR delivers high-dose radiation with outstanding precision and often shows excellent results on scans. However, the authors highlight that relying only on imaging may not provide a complete picture. Months or even years lat...

  For the first time, scientists have invented a liquid ink that doctors can print onto a patient's scalp to measure brain activity. The technology, presented December 2 in the Cell Press journal Cell Biomaterials , offers a promising alternative to the cumbersome process currently used for monitoring brainwaves and diagnosing neurological conditions. It also has the potential to enhance non-invasive brain-computer interface applications. Electroencephalography (EEG) is an important tool for diagnosing a variety of neurological conditions, including seizures, brain tumors, epilepsy, and brain injuries. During a traditional EEG test, technicians measure the patient's scalp with rulers and pencils, marking over a dozen spots where they will glue on electrodes , which are connected to a data-collection machine via long wires to monitor the patient's brain activity. This setup is time consuming and cumbersome, and it can be uncomfortable for many patients, who must sit through ...

  Complementary prevention methods are considered as an effective response to the ongoing pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Researchers from the US and Australia recently conducted some studies to assess the in vitro antiviral and virucidal (irreversible) activity of astodrimer sodium against SARS-CoV-2. Astodrimer sodium is a dendrimer having broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity including against enveloped viruses both in in vitro and in vivo models marketed for antiviral as well as antibacterial applications. Astodrimer sodium irreversibly reduces SARS-CoV-2 infectivity within a minute of exposure The researchers reported that astodrimer sodium is capable of inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 replication in Vero E6 and Calu-3 cells. It had 50% effective concentrations (EC50) for 1. reducing virus-induced cytopathic effect of 0.002 to 0.012 mg/mL in Vero E6 cells and 2. release of infectious virus by plaque assay of 0.019 to 0.032 mg/mL in Vero E...

  For the first time, researchers at Umeå University, Sweden, can now show how the dreaded poliovirus behaves when it takes over an infected cell and tricks the cell into producing new virus particles. Polio was thought to be almost eradicated, but infection has now been rediscovered in London and New York. The dreaded poliovirus belongs to the same large family, enteroviruses, as several common colds. It has been known for some time that enteroviruses drastically rearrange the inside of infected, but it has not been known exactly how, simply because technology has not allowed us to see so deeply into the cells. Thanks to the advanced cryo-electron microscope in Umeå, researchers have for the first time been able to take three-dimensional images of how the poliovirus forms and takes over human cells. "We were surprised to see how the virus transforms processes in the cell that are otherwise used to destroy viruses to produce new viruses instead," says Lars-Anders Carlson. The...

  People diagnosed with colorectal cancer are significantly more likely to die of cardiovascular causes than the general population, especially in the first two years after their cancer diagnosis and in people younger than 50, according to a study being presented at the American College of Cardiology's Annual Scientific Session (ACC.25). With colorectal cancer on the rise in the United States, the study is the first to track rates of cardiovascular mortality and assess how risk changes over time. While the reasons for the linkage are not yet known, researchers say the findings point to a need for increased attention to heart health during cancer treatment, particularly among people who are Black, male or younger than 50 years old at the time of their colorectal cancer diagnosis "Based on our findings, the two-year period after a colorectal cancer diagnosis is a critical period when patients need aggressive care to improve cardiovascular outcomes," said Ahsan Ayaz, MD, an ...

  In a recent study published in Nature Metabolism , researchers conducted clinical studies on murine animals and humans to evaluate the impact of high protein intake on the amino acid-mammalian target of the rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) autophagy signaling pathway. They also assessed the dose-response relationship, downstream effects, and amino acid specificity of mTORC1 activation. Background Animal studies have reported high protein intake associated with cardiovascular disease in Western nations. High-protein diets enhance atherogenesis through amino-acid-mediated mTORC1 signaling and impair autophagy and mitophagy in macrophages . The specific articular processes underlying this activation remain unknown, although the authors speculate that the stimulatory impact may be related to certain 'pathogenic' amino acids. About the study In the present study, researchers conducted two clinical experiments to investigate the dose-response connection between dietary protein consump...

Tumors often contain areas of oxygen-deficient tissue that frequently withstand conventional therapies. This is because the drugs applied in tumors require oxygen to be effective. An international research team has developed a novel mechanism of action that works without oxygen: polymeric incorporated nanocatalysts target the tumor tissue selectively and switch off the glutathione that the cells need to survive. The group headed by Dr. Johannes Karges from the Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, published their findings in the journal Nature Communications on October 31, 2024. Why tumors shrink but don’t disappear "As tumors grow very quickly, consume a lot of oxygen and their vascular growth can't necessarily keep pace, they often contain areas that are poorly supplied with oxygen," explains Johannes Karges. These areas, often in the center of the tumor, frequently survive treatment with conventional drugs, so that the tumor initiall...

  Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have developed a method for predicting fall accidents and cognitive illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease by reading a person's walking pattern with the aid of a radar sensor . The small sensor can be attached to furniture, walls and ceilings, both in the home and in a healthcare setting. Registers variation in step times Fall accidents and cognitive illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease are increasing as the population ages. Preventive measures are helpful and can reduce both suffering and costs. In Sweden around 100,000 people aged 65 or over have such bad falls each year that they need to seek medical care, with 70,000 of them needing to be admitted to hospital. Approximately 1,000 elderly people die each year due to fall accidents. This situation is not unique to Sweden. For example, in the USA it is estimated that 3 million elderly people seek care in an emergency department due to fall accidents each year. T...

  A breakthrough in lung cancer treatment may be on the horizon. Scientists at VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center have uncovered a powerful combination therapy leveraging sotorasib-an FDA-approved drug in the market-and an experimental drug called FGTI-2734, which could make precision medicine more effective for patients with a highly resistant form of lung cancer. The study, featured on the cover of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, reveals a potential game-changer for patients battling tumors with the KRAS G12C mutation-a driver in about 14% of non-small cell lung cancers. FDA-approved drugs sotorasib and adagrasib have given new hope to some patients by targeting this KRAS G12C mutation, but the majority of tumors fight back, either resisting treatment from the start or relapsing within months. That's where Massey's latest discovery, led by Said M. Sebti, Ph.D., the cancer center's associate director for basic research and Lacy Family Chair in Cancer Research, offer...

  In a new study, researchers produced nanomaterials that could be used in developing more accurate sensors for healthcare in the future. For example, the levels of female hormones are so low that very sensitive sensors are needed to detect their fluctuations in the body. In the future, carbon nanotubes could enable major advances in healthcare, such as continuous health monitoring. Researchers at the University of Turku, Finland, have succeeded in producing sensors from single-wall carbon nanotubes that are suitable for this purpose. Single-wall carbon nanotubes are nanomaterial consisting of a single atomic layer of graphene. A long-standing challenge in developing the material has been that the nanotube manufacturing process produces a mix of conductive and semi-conductive nanotubes which differ in their chirality, i.e. in the way the graphene sheet is rolled to form the cylindrical structure of the nanotube. The electrical and chemical properties of nanotubes are largely depend...

  A new review article highlights the transformative role of circular RNA (circRNA) in cancer, revealing its potential as both a key player in tumor biology and a promising avenue for future therapies. Once thought to be noncoding RNA, circRNA has now been shown to encode functional proteins, challenging conventional RNA biology and opening up novel therapeutic possibilities. Unlike traditional messenger RNA, circRNAs form a continuous loop, lacking the typical 5' cap and 3' tail. This unique structure was originally believed to preclude them from protein translation. However, recent discoveries demonstrate that specific internal ribosome entry sites (IRES) and N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modifications enable circRNAs to undergo cap-independent translation. The resulting proteins influence a range of cellular processes, including those linked to cancer progression and suppression. Emerging evidence underscores the significance of circRNA-encoded proteins in multiple types of cance...