Cancer Research UK scientists have discovered for the first time that stem cells could be the root cause of bowel cancer, according to a study published in Nature* today (Wednesday). Scientists at Cancer Research UK’s Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in Glasgow, Cardiff University and the Hubrecht Institute in the Netherlands - isolated stem cells in the bowels of mice and ‘knocked out’ a gene called APC from them.

US researchers studying the effect of beta carotene, vitamin C and vitamin E, either singly or in combination, on over 7,000 women found the supplements did not reduce their risk of getting cancer compared to women who did not take the supplements. However an expert who reviewed the study said that while the overall message was there was no link, it uncovered some interesting evidence that should not be overlooked.

An extract from grape seeds forces laboratory leukemia cells to commit cell suicide, according to researchers from the University of Kentucky. They found that within 24 hours, 76 percent of leukemia cells had died after being exposed to the extract. The investigators, who report their findings in the January 1, 2009, issue of

Protalix BioTherapeutics, Inc. (Amex: PLX), announced today enrollment of the first patient in a worldwide, multi-center, open-label, switchover trial to assess the safety and efficacy of prGCD. prGCD is the Company’s proprietary plant cell expressed recombinant form of human glucocerebrosidase (GCD) that is in development for the treatment of Gaucher disease, a rare and serious lysosomal storage disorder in humans.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) of the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared on 25 December an outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever in Mweka District, Kasai Occidental province based on laboratory results from the Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF) in Gabon. CIRMF confirmed the presence of Ebola virus in 2 samples from 2 of the patients in the outbreak by antigen detection.

While examining patterns of DNA modification in lung cancer, a team of international researchers has discovered what they say is a surprising new mechanism. They say that “silencing” of a single gene in lung cancer led to a general impairment in genome-wide changes in cells, contributing to cancer development and progression. In the January 1, 2009, issue of

King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: KG) today announced that it has initiated the Phase II clinical trial program evaluating the efficacy and safety of T-62, an oral tablet formulation, the Company’s investigational drug for the treatment of neuropathic pain. Dr. Eric Carter, Chief Science Officer of King, stated, “T-62, a new chemical entity, is an adenosine A1 allosteric enhancer that increases the effectiveness of the body’s endogenous adenosine to treat neuropathic pain.

A second cholera outbreak has hit Chegutu, a town 100 km west of Harare, where more than 100 people have died since the first cases appeared on November 24. MSF arrived in Chegutu, which has a population of 55,000, on December 12 after being told that day of the cholera emergency there. The scene MSF found at the town’s small government cholera treatment center (CTC) was grim.

An extract from grape seeds forces laboratory leukemia cells to commit cell suicide, according to researchers from the University of Kentucky. They found that within 24 hours, 76 percent of leukemia cells had died after being exposed to the extract. The investigators, who report their findings in the January 1, 2009, issue of

A trial conducted in northwest Thailand has found that it is safe to use artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) to treat pregnant women with malaria, but that efficacy is inferior to single-drug artesunate treatment. The study, published in next week’s PLoS Medicine, suggests that the ACT evaluated in the trial, artemether-lumefantrine (AL), may have lower efficacy because drug concentrations were seen to be reduced during pregnancy.