all gynecology stories

RNAi solution knocks down herpes infection

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:43:18 -0400

Ever since RNA interference hit the scene a few years ago as a way to selectively turn off gene expression, researchers have been investigating whether these small but powerful bits of RNA can be used as therapies. The problem has been delivery - how to get the RNA into the cell where it can silence gene expression. A study in the Nov. 23, 2005 Nature showcases a novel therapeutic approach for RNAi - as a vaginal microbicide that can reduce genital herpes virus infection in mice. The result of a collaboration between the labs of Judy Lieberman and David Knipe, the study shows that small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) can be readily taken up by mucosal surfaces of the body and reduce viral infection.

Gene expression profiling helps in ovarian cancer prognosis

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 07:10:08 -0400

Steven A. Cannistra, M.D., director of Gynecologic Medical Oncology at BIDMC and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, says ovarian cancer is often not detectable until its later stages. At that point, he adds, doctors typically use clinical data to assess a patient's prognosis and determine her course of therapy, a method that Cannistra notes is imperfect.

Knowing that the behavior of cancers is partly dependent upon gene activity in tumor cells, researchers have long suspected that a better understanding of the genetic profile of the tumors of individual patients could help in making a more accurate prognosis. Cannistra explains that as microarray analysis advances, genetic knowledge of tumor cells also becomes more accessible.

Using tumor tissue from ovarian cancer patients, Cannistra's team employed microarray analysis to develop a "genetic snapshot" of ovarian cancer.

"We were ultimately able to identify 115 genes, which we refer to collectively as the Ovarian Cancer Prognostic Profile," Cannistra says. "Simply knowing the expression pattern of these genes from the original tumor sample provided us with important information about prognosis that could not be gleaned from standard clinical features."

According to Cannistra, future research will further evaluate this technology through prospective studies of patients with both advanced ovarian cancer, as well as early stage disease.

New approach to cervical cancer screening could save lives

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:22:35 -0400

When caught early through a Pap test, cervical cancer is almost 100 percent preventable, with treatment of precancers. Compared with current practice, shifting women currently getting annual conventional Pap tests to a schedule of Pap tests once every three years (using a new liquid-based technology that allows for extraction of DNA from cells taken in the Pap sample), and automatically performing HPV DNA testing for women with uncertain Pap results, would provide equal protection against cervical cancer and save the health care system more than $15 billion over the lifetime of a typical group of 18- to 24 year-old women. This is the principal finding of a comprehensive policy analysis conducted by Jane Kim and Sue Goldie of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis at the Harvard School of Public Health. The study appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Associatio, and was co-authored by Thomas Wright of the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University.

Sorting good eggs from bad ones

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:13:04 -0400

An oocyte is an immature egg cell in the ovaries. Before a woman is born, her ovaries will contain about five million eggs. At birth, about three million of those egg cells die -- apparently by committing suicide. This fact of nature has long puzzled scientists. Now, Harvard researchers working at the Center for Blood Research have uncovered a critical clue that may lead to a greater understanding of infertility and miscarriage. Oocytes are killed by proteins called caspases. Studies in worms have suggested that the caspases are triggered by a unique set of signals in oocytes. But up until now no one has been able to discover those molecular signals. Rosa Navarro, Keith Blackwell, and their colleagues recently identified one such signal -- a defect in a protein needed for processing RNA. In worms lacking the protein, oocytes underwent mass suicide. The findings in worm oocytes could shed light on questions of human concern, such as infertility. "I think we're plugging into something that's involved with what makes a good oocyte," Blackwell said. Being able to distinguish good oocytes from bad could yield information about the potential for birth defects, miscarriages, and infertility.

Cell death in eggs traced to smoking

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:13:07 -0400

A woman is born with just so many egg cells, called oocytes. When she begins ovulating, she has about 400. Even though that may seem like a lot, considering the few that would ever be fertilized, scientists have found that loss of oocytes influences a woman's health. Early loss of oocytes leads to early menopause and infertility. A study by researcher Jonathan Tilly, Harvard Medical School associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology at Massachusetts General Hospital, has found that chemicals in cigarette smoke and environmental pollutants can trigger egg loss. "There's a longstanding relationship between smoking and early menopause," Tilly said.