El Diario NY

The two most common types of muscular dystrophy among Hispanic boys

Impremedia — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 17:02:00 +0000

Two muscular dystrophy conditions have been found to be most common among Hispanic boys: Duchenne muscular dystrophy and Becker muscular dystrophy. According to the first…

Hispanic children most likely to have leukemia treatment intolerance

Impremedia — Sat, 31 Jan 2015 17:01:00 +0000

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a type of cancer that affects blood and bone marrow. It is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among children, but with timely, focused treatment, there is a good chance it can be cured. Not all children respond well to ALL treatment, however, and researchers now feel they understand one of the reasons why. SEE ALSO: Hispanic children most at risk for acute leukemia According to new data from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, genetic variants may make some ALL patients intolerant of commonly used medications in the treatment process. What’s more, Hispanic children and Asian children are the most likely to have those genetic variations. A report from Medscape indicates mercaptopurine is the drug of choice for treating ALL patients, but a variant of the gene NUDT15 causes some patients to be intolerant of the standard dose. These patients must often have doses decreased by as much as 50 percent before treatment can be administered. As expected, this can impact ALL therapy, complicating or preventing recovery. The importance of the variant of NUDT15 & ALL The risk variant of NUDT15 was found in in 9.8 percent of patients with East Asian ancestry and 3.9 percent of patients with Hispanic ancestry, with much lower rates of occurrence in patients of African or European heritage. The discovery is important, as recent studies also indicate Hispanic children are genetically at a higher risk for ALL compared to non-Hispanic white children. Now, not only are Hispanic children more likely to develop ALL, they are more likely to be intolerant of common treatments. The data is not as clear-cut as it seems, however. The findings suggest race/ethnicity can play a role in ALL treatment, but the NUDT15 variant is not unique to Hispanics and Asians, just more common than among other groups. What’s more, there are other genetic variants that also contribute to ALL medication intolerance, and these, such as variants in the TPMT gene, are not as specific to ancestry. “The effect of the NUDT15 variants on mercaptopurine toxicity is impressive on par with risk factors that are clinically used to guide mercaptopurine therapy,” first author Jun J. Yang, PhD told Medscape. “We do not know yet what the exact actions should be for patients who carry the NUDT15 risk variant. This is the subject of our ongoing research.” In a press release that accompanied the study from St. Jude’s, researchers indicated more research is needed before intolerance to ALL drugs can be completely attributed to the variants uncovered. The data suggests individuals of Asian heritage, for example, likely have other genetic factors that influence medication sensitivity. SEE ALSO: Gene variation common to Hispanics linked to high-risk pediatric leukemia “Although the higher prevalence of NUDT15 variant in East Asians may have contributed to over-representation of mercaptopurine intolerance in this population, we also acknowledge that our statistical power was limited by the relatively small number of East Asian patients included in this study, the researchers wrote. In addition, East Asian genetic ancestry remained associated with mercaptopurine dose intensity after adjusting for rs166855232, suggesting the existence of other Asian-specific factors related to mercaptopurine sensitivity.”

The post Hispanic children most likely to have leukemia treatment intolerance appeared first on Voxxi.

The latest discovery on triple-negative breast cancer and Hispanic women

Impremedia — Thu, 15 Jan 2015 18:01:00 +0000

Triple-negative breast cancer, one of the most deadly forms of breast cancer, disproportionately affects Hispanic women in the United States. Not only do Hispanic women have higher rates of triple-negative breast cancer, they also are diagnosed at earlier ages as many as 11 years earlier than non-Hispanic white women but in more advanced disease stages. SEE ALSO: Breastfeeding Mexican-American women at risk for triple-negative breast cancer The disparity goes deeper; among Hispanic subgroups, Mexican-American women are exposed to a unique set of risk factors. Studies suggest women of Mexican descent who breastfeed have a higher risk for triple-negative breast cancer compared to other women. Breastfeeding is typically associated with a lower breast cancer risk except in this particular scenario. Unfortunately, triple-negative breast cancer is notoriously difficult to treat because it does not respond to receptor-target treatments used in other breast cancer cases; triple-negative breast cancer is named such because the cancer growth does not involve estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, or human epidermal growth factor (HER2) receptors. Because of the deadly nature of triple-negative breast cancer it has been the topic for much research over the last few years. A number of potential breakthroughs have come about due to the scientific community’s focus, and the latest discovery may now offer a way to use gene therapy in triple-negative breast cancer cases. According to research published in the journal Nature Communications, Dr. Walid Khaled, of the Welcome Trust Sanger Institute and the University of Cambridge in the UK, and colleagues found a gene called BCL11A was overly active in triple-negative breast cancer. In fact, excessive activity of BCL11A was noted in 8 out of 10 aggressive breast cancer cases, suggesting it played an important role in triple-negative tumors. When BCL11A activity was decreased in laboratory mouse studies, certain cells lost their cancerous characteristics. “So by increasing BCL11A activity we increase cancer-like behavior; by reducing it, we reduce cancer-like behavior,” explained Dr. Khaled to MNT. SEE ALSO: New breakthrough for triple-negative breast cancer, Hispanic women to benefit? The finding may help researchers develop more therapies specifically for triple-negative breast cancer cases. At the moment, The National Breast Cancer Foundation notes the only effective treatment for triple-negative tumors is chemotherapy, and patients have little choice but to accept the side-effects that come with treatment. Genetic therapy may one day help identify and treat triple-negative breast cancer, offering more options for women with this diagnosis. For Hispanic women, more treatment options are indeed beneficial; however, timely medical screenings and routine physicals are still among the best options for catching breast cancer early.

The post The latest discovery on triple-negative breast cancer and Hispanic women appeared first on Voxxi.

Researchers delete HIV code from infected cells for first time

Impremedia — Thu, 15 Jan 2015 16:01:00 +0000

Many advancements and discoveries have been made in the last five years regarding HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. A good number of those discoveries involve eliminating the virus from a patient or reducing the viral load to undetectable levels, but few have actually found a way to eliminate the virus at the genetic level. SEE ALSO: 7 in 10 HIV patients are lacking treatment in the US Now, however, researchers can say for the first time they have been able to achieve such a feat. Through a complex process of genetic design and construction, a team from Temple University has successfully deleted HIV-1 from laboratory cells’ DNA. HIV-1 is the most easily transmitted form of the virus, and is the one targeted by modern antiretroviral treatments. Control and elimination of HIV-1 is essential for a patient because even at low levels the virus contributes to weakening of the heart muscle, bone disease, kidney disease and neurocognitive disorders. “The low-level replication of HIV-1 makes patients more likely to suffer from diseases usually associated with aging,” Kamel Khalili, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Neuroscience at Temple, told MNT. “These problems are often exacerbated by the toxic drugs that must be taken to control the virus.” To find a way to completely eliminate HIV-1, Khalili and his team combined “a DNA-snipping enzyme” with a a strand of gRNA used to “hunt down” the HIV-1 virus genome. The newly-created molecular tool, dubbed an “HIV editor,” was designed to enter the cell and look for “long terminal repeats” (LTRs) of the HIV-1 genome. These repeating sequences are indicative of the start and end of the HIV-1 virus’s DNA, and once found, they signified two points on the DNA strand for Khalili’s molecular tool to start modification. What happens is akin to cutting out a section of a string and then connecting the loose ends back together without the missing piece. The HIV editor makes an incision in a cell’s DNA at the start and finish of the HIV-1 virus’s genome. That virus section is removed, and the HIV editor then “solders” the healthy DNA ends back together. The result is a virus-free cell. During the research, the HIV editor was proven effective for three of the main body cells known to harbor the HIV-1 virus. SEE ALSO: Women of Color HIV Initiative reveals data on Hispanics “This is one important step on the path toward a permanent cure for AIDS,” Dr. Khalili said. “It’s an exciting discovery, but it’s not yet ready to go into the clinic. It’s a proof of concept that we’re moving in the right direction. We are working on a number of strategies so we can take the construct into preclinical studies. We want to eradicate every single copy of HIV-1 from the patient. That will cure AIDS. I think this technology is the way we can do it.” According to AVERT, 1.3 million people in the United States are living with HIV, and more than a fifth don’t know they have the virus. Men having sex with men are the most at-risk for contraction of HIV, and non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics have the highest diagnosis rates in the country. There is currently no cure for HIV or AIDS, but modern antiretroviral medications have made it possible for patients with the virus to live a normal life span.

The post Researchers ‘delete’ HIV code from infected cells for first time appeared first on Voxxi.

Harnessing the power of the mind to influence genetics

Impremedia — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 18:11:00 +0000

We’ve been waiting a long time for things in science-fiction movies to become reality, and while we may not have a flying car just yet,…

Earliest known case of Down syndrome discovered

Impremedia — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 12:07:00 +0000

When it comes to certain disabilities, there is a common belief that modern times have brought about modern ailments, and this is particularly true in…

Marfan syndrome shatters NBA dream. What is it?

Impremedia — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 16:06:00 +0000

Isaiah Austin had high aspirations of playing basketball for the NBA, but a rare genetic disorder put an end to his lifelong dream with a…

Mexican genetics can vary drastically

Impremedia — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 17:06:00 +0000

New genetic mapping from Stanford University has revealed Mexicans are as diverse as group as any in the world; thy are so diverse, in fact,…

115-year-old womans body sheds light on human longevity

Impremedia — Sun, 27 Apr 2014 16:04:00 +0000

The body of a 115-year-old woman may have provided the clues researchers need to determine why the body dies of old age. According to Dr.…