Why do ovarian cancer drugs work for some patients but not others?
A new class of drugs called PARP inhibitors has successfully slowed the spread of ovarian cancer for some patients, but the treatments are less effective for many others.
"That's always been a question, why some patients don’t respond to treatments as well as others," said Jose Teixera, a professor in the MSU College of Human Medicine’s department of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology.
Finding New Treatments for Children with Rase Illnesses
ANDRÉ BACHMANN is creating treatments for children with rare medical conditions that many large pharmaceutical companies won’t develop due to high costs and low returns.
The professor and associate chair for research in the MSU College of Human Medicine and his team are studying the therapeutic potential of existing drugs used to stop cancer growth in children with neuroblastoma — one of the most aggressive forms of pediatric cancer. It’s a novel approach that could lead to similar breakthroughs in medical genetics.
New genetic syndrome identified in 3-year-old patient
A Michigan State University pediatric researcher and a Spectrum Health physician have identified a new genetic syndrome in a 3-year-old girl who, for more than two years, has gone undiagnosed.
The discovery is the first to link a particular gene, known as ODC1, or ornithine decarboxylase, to developmental problems in a human, something that up until now, has been only seen in mice.
Discovering the gold standard of cancer drugs
More than 40 years ago, the anti-cancer drug cisplatin was approved by the Food and Drug Administration. It was an event significant to cancer patients and the medical community, but also to Michigan State University’s research legacy.
The chemical compound—which prevents the DNA in cancer cells from replicating, confusing them and causing them to die—is used to treat many types of cancer, but is most widely prescribed for testicular, ovarian, bladder, lung and stomach cancers. With a cure rate north of 90 percent for testicular cancer, cisplatin has become the gold standard to which many new cancer medicines are compared.