Word: tumorous
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Janowski thought health problems--like the previously undetected tumor in her abdomen that required immediate surgery last fall and kept her out much of last season--were a thing of the past when this year's squad faced Boston College in a season-opening exhibition contest...
...cells that get the ball rolling, they say, it's better to focus on the compounds that actually do the damage: the killer proteins produced by the macrophages. These proteins attack the cartilage and cause inflammation. One company, Immunex of Seattle, has focused on one such protein, called tumor necrosis factor. Immunex's treatment, which worked so effectively for Lindagail Dixon, consists of genetically engineered proteins that sop up excess tnf, interrupting the cycle of destruction. A third tactic, being developed by Amgen of Thousand Oaks, California, targets another inflammatory protein, interleukin-1, in much the same way. If approved...
...many small but significant mileposts that mark how far medical science has come in its fight against the cluster of diseases collectively known as cancer. The struggle has been long and hard and, unlike work in other medical fields, has produced few really dramatic breakthroughs. But patient by patient, tumor by tumor, doctors are beginning to gain ground. "We may not know how to cure most cancers yet," says Dr. Richard Klausner, director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), "but we do know what we need to do to get there. And that's very exciting...
...attack--a particular target, usually another protein known as an antigen. But while natural antibodies go after antigens on the surface of viruses and bacteria, the artificial monoclonal antibodies are constructed to attack antigens that the immune system does not ordinarily recognize as dangerous, such as those displayed by tumor cells. Moreover, these antibodies (dubbed monoclonal because they are identical) can be made even more deadly by loading them with radioactive iodine and other toxins. Infused into a patient's bloodstream by the millions, they become biological torpedoes that home in on clusters of malignant cells, blasting them with killer...
...scientists now realize, is a genetic disease. It is caused by multiple mutations in the genes that control cell division, the process through which a cell makes a copy of itself by splitting in two. Some of these genes, known as oncogenes, stimulate cell division, while still others, called tumor-suppressor genes, damp it down. In their normal form, both types of genes work together, enabling the body to replace dead cells and repair damaged ones. But mutations in these genes--whether inherited or acquired through environmental insult--very quickly cause a cell to careen out of control, like...