大象传媒

There have been some heartening developments in the efforts to combat cancer in recent months -聽and scientists in Wales have been at the forefront of this pioneering research.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

At聽the European Cancer Stem Cell Research Unit at Cardiff University, reseachers had identified a compound which targets aggressive tumour cells found in breast, pancreas, colon and prostate聽cancers.聽Using state-of-the-art computer aided modelling, the team聽has discovered that聽the compound they are calling OH14 can聽encourage聽cancer stem聽cells to destroy themselves.聽

And in North Wales, the Genome Biology Research Group, based at Bangor's School of Medical Sciences, has managed聽to solve a聽puzzle in cancer biology. A long standing聽conundrum has been how the cell growth regulator Cdc2 can be active and inactive at the same time.聽Human cells stop dividing in the presence of genetic damage by inactivating Cdc2 - but they also need active Cdc2 to remove the genomic defects.

A long standing enigma in cancer biology is how the cell growth regulator Cdc2 can be active and inactive at the same time. Human cells stop dividing in the presence of genetic damage by inactivating Cdc2, but they also need active Cdc2 to remove the genomic defects. The team have discovered that Cdc2 exists in 7 different forms, two that help cells repair and two that stop cell division.

Both these findings show real promise in the effort to find effective treatments. And if you would like to learn more about the research in Wales, Cancer UK is holding an聽open day聽in Cardiff next month. See the link for details.