Category Archives: genetics

Have you seen the summer issue of Cancer Care magazine?

Posted on August 12, 2016 by

Welcome to Cancer Care magazine’s summer 2016 issue. Medical student Ogochukwu Ezeoke, smiling from our cover, aspires to a career in cancer research, and like many scientists she’s intrigued with the idea of using a patient’s immune system to fight … Continue reading →

Posted in bioethics & humanities, bones/joints/orthopedics, brain/spine/neurosurgery, cancer, dermatology/skin care, genetics, health care, history, kidney/renal/nephrology, research, surgery, urology, women's health/gynecology

Breast cancer gene also increases risk of prostate cancer

Posted on August 11, 2016 by

BY AMBER SMITH Although prostate cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in men in the United States, the disease kills fewer than 3 percent of those diagnosed. It typically grows slowly, becoming deadly after it metastasizes, or spreads beyond … Continue reading →

Posted in cancer, genetics, health care, HealthLink on Air, illness, men's health, prevention/preventive medicine, public health, research, urology, women's health/gynecology

Experiences with cancer point medical student toward career in immunotherapy research

Posted on August 9, 2016 by

BY JIM McKEEVER Ogochukwu Ezeoke is excited about advances in cancer treatment, especially the idea of using a patient’s immune system to fight disease. Many breakthrough drug approvals in the past year have been immunotherapy medications, and the first-year medical … Continue reading →

Posted in cancer, drugs/medications/pharmacy, genetics, health care, health careers, medical student, research

Immune therapy: Training the body’s immune system to kill cancer

Posted on August 8, 2016 by

BY AMBER SMITH Rarely does a primary tumor kill. In cancer, death is more typical after the cancer spreads, or metastasizes. Upstate’s William Kerr, PhD, is a pediatric cancer researcher focused on making the immune system better at killing cancer. … Continue reading →

Posted in cancer, genetics, health care, HealthLink on Air, international health care, medical student, research

Can she outsmart a gene? Young scientist strives to influence prostate cancer cells

Posted on June 2, 2016 by

Once prostate cancer spreads, treatment usually includes hormones known as androgen deprivation therapy. “This shuts down testosterone production, which is effective for a while but associated with big quality-of-life costs,” explains Rebecca Sager, a fourth-year MD/PhD student at Upstate who … Continue reading →

Posted in cancer, genetics, illness, men's health, research, sexuality, urology

She’s his lifesaver: Her bone marrow cured his leukemia

Posted on May 17, 2016 by

  BY AMBER SMITH Greg Siwinski and his family looked forward to hosting a woman from Hildesheim, Germany, last October at their home in Syracuse. He had never met her, but the two had a special connection. Bone marrow from … Continue reading →

Posted in cancer, community, genetics, health care, illness, international health care, organ donation/transplant, patient story, volunteers

Upstate researchers decipher breast cancer clues in proteins

Posted on February 22, 2016 by

BY AMBER SMITH In the laboratories at Upstate Medical University, some breast cancer research focuses on proteins, the microscopic molecules that are present in all living organisms. “Proteins in cells are responsible for doing much of the work within cells, including … Continue reading →

Posted in cancer, genetics, research

Upstate researchers seek participants for mental health study

Posted on December 23, 2015 by

Researchers from Upstate are seeking families to take part in a study of the genetic bases of some childhood behavioral and psychiatric disorders, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. About the project: Most of the common disorders of this type are … Continue reading →

Posted in community, genetics, mental health/emotional health, psychology/psychiatry, research, volunteers

Solving a neurodegenerative mystery: Now that we know how cells die, can we halt their death?

Posted on December 8, 2015 by

A project on which Xin Jie Chen, PhD, has been working for a decade provides insight into the physiological impact of mitochondrial dysfunction, which is associated with an increasing number of aging-related neuromuscular degenerative diseases. Chen is a professor of … Continue reading →

Posted in brain/neurology, genetics, research

Grateful patient gives back in honor of her ‘new life’ after transplant

Posted on November 26, 2015 by

When she was 22, Michelle Mastropolo learned she had polycystic kidney disease, an incurable genetic disease that took the lives of her mother and then her brother. Thirty years later, in early 2014, she was diagnosed with end-stage kidney failure. … Continue reading →

Posted in community, genetics, organ donation/transplant, patient story, surgery