Tumor diseases can be treated with surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy. A new type of treatment that makes use of the antibodies with radioactive substances attached has attracted more and more interest. When the antibodies are injected they have the capacity to wander around in the blood circulation and actively attract tumors to them. In other words, they are target-seeking antibodies. They can even find tumors that have not grown large enough to be detected by other methods. When the antibody binds to the tumor, the radioactive substance can deliver local radiation for a long time.
The dissertation shows that this type of cancer treatment, āradioimmune therapy,ā can provide substantial inhibition of tumor cell growth. However, the operative mechanism is not the same as in ordinary radiation treatment. In this case the low-dose radiation is emitted over a long period and activates parts of the cellās defense system, which makes cells temporarily stop dividing in order to repair any damage from the radiation. If this doesnāt succeed, then the cells will try to multiply with damaged genes, which results in ācell division disastersā and ultimate activation of the āsuicide programsā that make the tumor cells die of their own accord. These new methods of treatment are seen as having great potential and have already been put to use for certain tumor diseases.
David Eriksson is a doctoral candidate at the Unit for Immunology and can be reached at phone: +46 90-785 26 67; e-mail: david.eriksson@climi.umu.se
8 December, 2021 - UmeƄ universitet
Asymmetric sex chromosomes were independently shaped during evolution in many species, and different strategies evolved alongside to overcome the resulting imbalance in genetic information. Molecular biologist Marie-Line Faucillion has studied this in her dissertation defended at UmeƄ University, Sweden. Her findings can be useful to better understand how sex chromosomes are regulated, but also to
9 March, 2021 - UmeƄ universitet
Large asteroids or comets hitting Earth, massive volcanic eruptions and other single, deadly events are usually the focus for scientists seeking to reconstruct Earthās past mass extinctions. In a new study, researchers from UmeĆ„ University and the University of Florida instead uncovered a new major transition between past marine faunas that could not be explained by a single catastrophic event.
8 December, 2020 - UmeƄ universitet
On 10 December, the Nobel Prize Ceremony will take place at which Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna will be awarded their Nobel Prizes in Chemistry. Emmanuelle Charpentier made the discovery of CRISPR-Cas9 when she worked at UmeƄ University.
22 October, 2020 - UmeƄ universitet
The Wallenberg Centre for Molecular Medicine (WCMM) in UmeƄ has been granted SEK 170 million in operational support and another SEK 68 million for recruitments into data-driven Life Science by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.
Expertsvar, The Swedish Research Council, Hantverkargatan 11B, Stockholm SWEDENPhone +46(0)8 546 44 000
P.O. Box 1035, SE-101 38 Stockholm, expertsvar@vr.se
Information about cookies will open in a new window
