Manisit Das In earlier OncoBites articles, we discussed how genetic testing is increasingly used to guide cancer management. Cancer arises due to changes in our DNA sequences that make up our genes, which we refer to as gene mutations. By analyzing the genetic signatures within the tumor, clinicians can make better-informed choices to streamline the... Continue Reading →
Oncology’s White Whale: Crossing the Blood-Brain Barrier
Sara Musetti When someone says the word “cancer.” it can tie knots in the guts of even the strongest among us. There is no pretending that cancer isn’t a terrifying phenomenon that has touched most of our lives. Very few cancers, however, are able to elicit the chill that brain cancer does, in patients, family... Continue Reading →
When math meets lab: The power of modeling in cancer biology
Varshit Dusad 'All models are wrong, some are useful!' - George Box The advancement of biological research relies on understanding how the different moving parts interact with each other, forming an integrated system. To better understand a system we often resort to models which help us develop a logical framework of these interactions, offering us... Continue Reading →
Putting tumor cells to sleep
Yitong Li How to treat cancers has always been one of the biggest challenges in modern medical practice. While current chemotherapies and radiotherapies have shown significant progress, not all patients survive treatment, and only a portion of those who survive do so without suffering from significant trauma. Hence, early diagnosis and safer treatments are the... Continue Reading →
Helping Our Body’s Killers Kill off Cancer, Naturally
Nisitha Sengottuvel At OncoBites, we’ve talked about many facets of cancer, the many internal and external factors that can affect tumor growth, and the established and developing methods to detect and treat cancer. We’ve also begun to cover the many ways in which biomedical science falls short in effectively treating cancer. Being diagnosed with cancer... Continue Reading →
Glioblastoma: The Ultimate Game of Hide and Seek
Kaye Alcedo Politics aside, we recently lost one of our public servants who dedicated more than 40 years of service to our country. Towards the end of his life, Senator John McCain suffered from glioblastoma, a very aggressive and malignant type of brain cancer. Currently, the standard treatment for glioblastoma relies on surgery, radiation, and... Continue Reading →
The Reproducibility Project
Alex S. Woodell As members of the biomedical research community, we are all familiar with the basic structure of the scientific method. We make an observation that identifies a problem, form a hypothesis based on known information, perform experiments to test this hypothesis, then draw conclusions that drive future research. However, there is a fifth... Continue Reading →
Cancer Resistance – Insights from the Animal Kingdom
Rachel Cherney Most of us have been affected by cancer, whether we ourselves or someone we know has been diagnosed. It can be caused by various lifestyle habits, external or environmental factors, and genetics, and it’s extremely prevalent; as of 2015, 1 in 6 deaths worldwide was due to cancer. As described in a previous... Continue Reading →