All Posts: News Release

  • Maternal Stress Increases Development of Fetal Neuroblastoma In Animal Model

    PHILADELPHIA- While genetics play a substantial role in development of neuroblastoma, scientists say that something else is in play that elevates the risk: stress. Researchers from Georgetown University Medical Center have shown in mice genetically predisposed to develop neuroblastoma that maternal stress can push onset of the cancer.

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  • A Common Nerve Protein Elevated in Aggressive Neuroblastomas

    PHILADELPHIA (April 20, 2015) – A protein produced by nerve cells appears to be elevated in the blood of those with an aggressive form of neuroblastoma. The finding, presented today at the American Association for Cancer Research 2015 Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, could potentially lead to a prognostic test for the disease or be used to monitor its progress.

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  • Study Reveals A Cause of Poorer Outcomes for African-American Patients with Breast Cancer

    PHILADELPHIA —Poorer outcomes for African-American women with estrogen-receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer, compared with European-American patients, appears to be due, in part, to a strong survival mechanism within the cancer cells, according to a study being presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2015.

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  • At Georgetown Lombardi, Breast Cancer Advocates Take Their Place at the Research Bench

    PHILADELPHIA — Breast cancer researchers at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center have found a secret ingredient for landing highly competitive research grants: non-researchers. These advocates discussed their work as part of the Scientist ↔ Survivor Program at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2015 in Philadelphia.

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  • Lucile Adams-Campbell Honored for Life’s Work in Health Disparities

    PHILADELPHIA — The world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research, the Amerian Association for Cancer Research (AACR), awarded Lucile L. Adams-Campbell, PhD, associate director of minority health and disparities research at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, with its its 10th annual Minorities in Cancer Research Jane Cooke Wright Lectureship.

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  • Animal Study Shows Why Long Time Consumption of Soyfoods Reduces Breast Cancer Recurrence

    PHILADELPHIA — Women diagnosed with breast cancer are often told not to eat soyfoods or soy-based supplements because they can interfere with anti-estrogen treatment. But new research being presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2015 could eventually impact that advice, because in animals, a long history of eating soyfoods boosts the immune response against breast tumors, reducing cancer recurrence.

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  • Georgetown Medical Students Get Buzzed for Childhood Cancer Research

    More than two dozen Georgetown University School of Medicine students will “brave the shave” to raise money for childhood cancer research. They’ll join more than 40,000 so-called “crazy head shaving people” from around the world who have shaved their heads for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation this year. Student organizers expect more than 100 people to be in attendance, including pediatric cancer patients and their families for the annual event, which also includes food, music and a silent auction.

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  • MEDIA ADVISORY: What are the Ethical and Legal Issues Generated by the BRAIN Initiative?

    The Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative launched by the Obama Administration gives rise to three critical bioethical issues: the capacity for consent, questions of cognitive enhancement and the use — and misuse — of neuroscience in the legal system. These issues were highlighted in a recent report from the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues titled Gray Matters: Topics at the Intersection of Neuroscience, Ethics, and Society. A contributing author of the report, Stephen L. Hauser, MD, joins a half-day symposium to address these issues at Georgetown University Medical Center on April 27.

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  • Understanding Heart Attack and Stroke Risk in Children with Type 1 Diabetes

    WASHINGTON – It’s a little known fact: heart attack is the leading cause of death for people younger than 40 who have type 1 diabetes. Diabetes is a risk factor for both heart attacks and strokes; more than a third of those with type 1 diabetes die before age 55 from some form of cardiovascular disease. To understand more about risk factors in young patients, Georgetown University is looking for both children with type 1 diabetes and healthy children, ages 12 to 18, to help with an important new study.

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  • After Learning New Words, Brain Sees Them as Pictures

    WASHINGTON — When we look at a known word, our brain sees it like a picture, not a group of letters needing to be processed. That’s the finding from a Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, which shows the brain learns words quickly by tuning neurons to respond to a complete word, not parts of it.

    Category: News Release