Researchers have found a marker on head and neck tumor cells that indicates which cells are capable of fueling the cancer’s growth. The finding is the first evidence of cancer stem cells in head and neck tumors.Cancer stem cells are the small number of cancer cells that replicate to drive tumor growth. Researchers believe current cancer treatments sometimes fail because they are not attacking the cancer stem cells. [click link for full article]

St. Jude study shows simple thioester chemical bond acts like a switch that activates protein movements among three enzymes, triggering specific, critical biochemical activities inside the cellThe freeze-frame image of a molecular relay race, in which one enzyme passes off a protein like a baton to another enzyme, has solved a key mystery to how cells control some vital functions, according to investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. [click link for full article]

Reps. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) and Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.) on Tuesday in Providence, R.I., held the first public hearing in a tour across the U.S. to gain support for legislation that would require health insurers to cover mental illness at the same level as they cover physical illness, the AP/St. Paul Pioneer Press reports. [click link for full article]

Building on a relationship that spans more than three decades, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and Instituto Nacional de Cancerología (INCAN) in Mexico City (the National Cancer Institute of Mexico) have announced a formal agreement to expand opportunities for collaboration in clinical cancer research, prevention and education.The agreement between M. D. [click link for full article]

The world’s response to fighting HIV/AIDS among vulnerable children remains “tragically insufficient,” but some countries are making progress in providing treatment for HIV-positive children and preventing transmission of the virus, according to a report released Tuesday by UNAIDS, UNICEF and the [click link for full article]

The debate over whether additional funds are available to sustain state SCHIP programs will begin next month after President Bush unveils his budget, the Los Angeles Times reports. The program, which has six million beneficiaries nationwide, is financed with a $5 billion annual allocation. [click link for full article]

Chile’s Constitutional Court on Friday voted 6-4 to halt a program that provided emergency contraception at no cost to girls and women as young as age 14 at public hospitals, ruling that the approval process for the plan was unconstitutional because it was implemented by administrative decree, rather than by presidential decree or a law, the [click link for full article]

Self-renewing cancer stem cells (CSCs) comprise only a tiny fraction of most brain tumors, but eliminating them is likely to have a profound impact on the ability of a tumor to survive and grow. However, CSCs might resist traditional therapies that target the great bulk of the cells in cancers. [click link for full article]

New research shows that the level of nicotine in major brands of American cigarettes has gone up by 11 per cent in the period 1998 to 2005.The research was conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and a report is published on their website. The program was sponsored by the American Legacy Foundation and National Cancer Institute. [click link for full article]

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the U.S.; more than 30,000 Americans are expected to die from the disease this year. It is an extremely difficult cancer to treat and little is known about what causes it. One established risk factor in pancreatic cancer is cigarette smoking; other links have been made to obesity, diabetes type 2 and insulin resistance. [click link for full article]