Word: antigenically
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Every man 50 and older should be screened for prostate cancer every year, right? Not necessarily. An encouraging report on nearly 28,000 subjects shows that some men can wait two years or more between blood tests. The researchers calculate that guys with a PSA (prostate-specific antigen) level of less than 1 ng/mL can safely wait five years and those with a PSA of from 1 to 2 ng/mL can wait two years. The reason is that low PSA levels rarely change suddenly. If, however, your PSA comes in at between 2 and 4 ng/mL, you will need...
...mammograms aren't the only ones getting mixed messages these days. Many men may be surprised to learn that questions have also been raised about whether the standard blood test to screen for prostate cancer does more harm than good. Some of the controversy surrounding the PSA (prostate-specific antigen) test will have a familiar ring to anyone who has followed the mammography debate. But there are also some important differences...
Sometimes, though, the bugs use biochemical trickery to disguise themselves and evade antibodies. The acquired immune system's counterstrategy: so-called antigen-presenting cells, including dendritic cells that latch onto invading bugs and strip them of their chemical camouflage. Thus exposed, the pathogens are prepped for destruction by killer T cells, whose job is to engulf and destroy them. The killer Ts are meanwhile lured to the site of infection in the greatest possible numbers by signaling chemicals known as cytokines, released by the dendritic cells...
...TOXINS ATTACH TO CELL One of the toxins, called protective antigen, attaches to a receptor found on most cells. When seven of them find their mark, they latch together, forming a ring with a hole in its center. Then one of the other toxins--either a killing toxin or a swelling toxin--plugs the hole...
...agree the earlier you catch a cancer, the better your chances of controlling it. And thanks to a growing understanding of the cancer cell's natural life cycle, doctors are learning how to detect the disease at its very earliest stages. One well-known example is the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, which identifies a protein secreted by abnormally growing prostate cells before any symptoms appear. (The test is not perfect, however, since psa is also secreted, albeit in smaller amounts, by benignly growing prostate cells...