The most frequently mutated gene across all types of cancers is a gene called p53. Unfortunately it has been difficult to directly target this gene with drugs. Now a multi-institutional research team, led by Dr. Lewis Cantley and investigators at Weill Cornell Medical College, has identified a family of enzymes they say is crucial for the growth of cancers that have genetic aberrations in p53.

Results from a recent preclinical study have shown that a new drug combination therapy being developed at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center effectively killed colon, liver, lung, kidney, breast and brain cancer cells while having little effect on noncancerous cells. The results lay the foundation for researchers to plan a future phase 1 clinical trial to test the safety of the therapy in a small group of patients.

The stop and start of blood flow to the heart during and after a heart attack causes severe damage to heart cells, reducing their capacity to function and potentially causing their death. But a recent study led by researchers at Temple University School of Medicine suggests that it is possible to limit the extent of that damage using a drug. In experiments in mice that recapitulated a human clinical scenario, they discovered that inhibition of a heart protein called TNNI3K reduced damage from heart attack and protected the heart from further injury.

About 120 million people around the world with Type 2 diabetes - and two million in Canada - take the drug metformin to control their disease. While doctors know metformin needs to interact with insulin to be effective, and that it can't lower blood sugar on its own, no one has been able to explain how and why this happens. Researchers at McMaster University are the first to unlock that mystery with their discovery metformin works on fat in the liver.

A team of 22 scientists from 11 research institutes led by Professor Bazbek Davletov, now at the University of Sheffield, created and characterised a new molecule that was able to alleviate hypersensitivity to inflammatory pain. The work is featured on the cover of the October 2013 issue of the scientific journal Bioconjugate Chemistry.

An international team led by University of Adelaide researchers has identified the mechanism of pain relief of a new drug for treating Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Constipation (IBS-C), based on nonclinical studies, and quantified its effectiveness in pain relief in human trials. Published in the journal Gastroenterology, the study describes the pain mechanism of action for Linaclotide, a recently approved drug for the treatment of chronic abdominal pain and constipation in adult IBS-C patients.

A new review suggests that omega-3 fatty acids taken in excess could have unintended health consequences in certain situations, and that dietary standards based on the best available evidence need to be established. "What looked like a slam dunk a few years ago may not be as clear cut as we thought," said Norman Hord, associate professor in OSU's College of Public Health and Human Sciences and a coauthor on the paper.