Cancer

Taking More From Cancer Than It Takes From Me

Paige Dunion was inspired by the story of Marisa Dolce, the first patient at UConn Health to use the Dignicap® to preserve her hair while she was going through chemotherapy. Little did she think that a month later she would be diagnosed with breast cancer and faced with the prospect of losing her hair. After […]

March 11, 2020 | Jennifer Walker

Leaky Blood Vessels. Two conceptual images of a cancer tumor blood vessel. In (A), the right side of the blood vessel (marked by the dark gray bar below the pore) is leaky, with a large pore that allows too much fluid to leave the vessel. The left side shows the same blood vessel after dexamethasone treatment; the pore is smaller and the vessel less leaky. Dexamethasone treatment does the same thing to the vessel pores in (B). The smaller pores allow more anti-cancer drug (green dots) to travel further inside the tumor, leading to more effective treatment. (John Martin, University of Tokyo, and Matthew Stuber, UConn)

Common Steroid Could Soften Up Tumors for Chemo

A drug used to alleviate side effects of cancer treatment may also make the treatment more successful if given beforehand, researchers say.

July 16, 2019 | Kim Krieger

Research & Discovery
Nurse with a patient undergoing chemotherapy. (Getty Images)

Dental Researchers Get at Root Causes of Cancer Patients’ Mouth Sores

Oral mucositis, a common side effect of chemotherapy, is associated with detrimental changes in the oral microbiome, says new School of Dental Medicine research.

April 25, 2019 | Courtney Chandler

Research & Discovery UConn Health
Ph.D. students Leila Daneshmandi and Armin Tahmasbi Rad, both from the Department of Biomedical Engineering, have developed a technology that takes a patient’s tumor cells and grows them outside of the body to test different cancer treatments. (Evan Olsen Photography)

New Technology Designed to Reduce Mortality Rates in Cancer Patients

A pair of Ph.D. students developed a technology that takes a patient’s tumor cells and grows them outside of the body to test different cancer treatments.

April 10, 2019 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research

Entrepreneurship Research & Discovery
A special team of medical literature experts are on the hunt for cancer's kryptonite, one mutation at a time. (Kailey Whitman Illustration for UConn)

Curators Versus Cancer

A special team of medical literature experts are on the hunt for cancer's kryptonite, one mutation at a time.

November 27, 2018 | Kim Krieger

Research & Discovery UConn Health
Dividing fibrosarcoma cells. Colored scanning electron micrograph of fibrosarcoma (fibroblastic sarcoma) cells in the late telophase stage of mitosis. The cells are covered in many filopodia. Fibrosarcoma is a malignant tumour derived from fibrous connective tissue of the bone and characterized by immature proliferating fibroblasts or undifferentiated anaplastic spindle cells. (Getty Images)

Stopping the Resistance of Cancer Cells to Treatment

UConn researchers have discovered molecules that could make cancer cells more vulnerable to chemotherapy.

September 24, 2018 | Colin Poitras

Research & Discovery UConn Health
Cancer cells tend to hoard iron, and researchers at UConn Health have found that iron may be playing a critical role in fueling the cells' growth through increased fatty acid synthesis. (Yesenia Carrero/UConn Illustration)

Ovarian Cancer Cells Hoard Iron to Fuel Growth

Researchers at UConn Health have found that iron may be playing a critical role in increased fatty acid synthesis in cancer.

August 15, 2018 | Kim Krieger

Research & Discovery UConn Health
An illustration showing interactions between components of the AH10-7 compound (yellow), an immune system antigen presenting cell (gray) and an invariant natural killer T cell (green and blue) that spark activation of iNKT cells in “humanized” mice. (Image courtesy of Jose Gascon/UConn)

New Compound Helps Activate Cancer-Fighting T Cells

UConn researchers have identified mechanisms responsible for improved immune system activity, offering new approaches for more effective cancer treatments and vaccines.

April 2, 2018 | Colin Poitras

Research & Discovery
Waking Up. (Image by © Beau Lark/Corbis)

Higher Breast Cancer Risk in Western Parts of Time Zones. Is Electric Light to Blame?

On a societal level, position in a time zone affects how early a person must turn on the lights in the morning.

October 24, 2017 | Richard G. 'Bugs' Stevens, School of Medicine

UConn Health
Woman using her phone under blanket in bed at night. (Getty Images)

Evidence Supports Link Between Breast Cancer, Light Exposure at Night

Artificial light has transformed the night sky, a change researchers continue to link to health problems.

August 28, 2017 | Richard G. 'Bugs' Stevens, UConn Health

UConn Health