t’s not yet clear why overweight elderly adults have low levels of vitamin D in their blood. However, researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University (USDA HNRCA) have found that lack of sun exposure may not account for low levels of vitamin D in elders who are overweight. [click link for full article]

Peter Jepsen, M.D., of Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark, and colleagues calculated incidence rates of cholangiocarcinoma, a rare form of cancer in the bile ducts of the liver. The researchers found that the rates of two types of cholangiocarcinoma fell between 1978 and 2002. These results contradict previous international studies that showed increased rates of cholangiocarcinoma occurring inside the liver, but declining rates of the disease occurring outside the liver. [click link for full article]

Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have, for the first time, used a “bionic” ear to restore hearing in a patient with von Hippel-Lindau disease. They say this advance offers new hope for individuals with the rare disorder, which can produce non-malignant tumors in ears, as well as in the eyes, brain, and kidneys. [click link for full article]

C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation, is not associated with breast cancer risk among healthy women, despite earlier studies that suggest a link between chronic inflammation to breast cancer development.Using data from the Women’s Health Study, Shumin Zhang, M.D., Sc.D., of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues evaluated whether levels of CRP were associated with future breast cancer risk. [click link for full article]

A protein called integrin a7 suppresses tumor growth and cell migration, and mutations in the integrin a7 gene are identified in various cancers, including prostate and liver cancer.Integrins are important adhesive molecules in mammalian cells. Integrin á7 appears to be involved in muscle development and in communication between muscle cells and the material surrounding the cells, known as extracellular matrix.Baoguo Ren, M.D. [click link for full article]

In a prospective study, aspirin use was associated with lower risk of cancer incidence and mortality, particularly among former and non-smokers.The effectiveness of aspirin and nonaspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in preventing cancer is unclear, and the relationship is complicated further when smoking history is considered.Aditya Bardia, M.D., of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. [click link for full article]

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has announced results from ongoing Phase II studies of pazopanib in advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and ovarian cancer. These trials were presented at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago. The results observed in these trials with pazopanib support further investigations. [click link for full article]

Two research teams have developed models for classifying the clinical outcomes of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) using mass spectrometry techniques. The studies are published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.Currently, clinicians do not have adequate methods for determining the prognosis of patients with NSCLC or for determining which patients will benefit from treatment with certain drugs. [click link for full article]

Why does the same diet make some of us gain more weight than others? The answer could be a molecule called Bsx, as scientists from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), the German Institute for Nutrition (DIFE), Potsdam, and the University of Cincinnati report in the current issue of Cell Metabolism. Bsx is the molecular link between spontaneous physical activity and food intake. [click link for full article]

Radiation is used to treat a variety of tumors and the response of tumors to radiation is dependent on endothelial cell death, which in turn limits oxygen delivery to the tumor, causing hypoxia and tumor cell death. Recently, radiation-induced hypoxia was shown to trigger tumor resistance to radiation via the activation of new blood vessel formation (angiogenesis) through molecules known as HIF-1-regulated cytokines. [click link for full article]