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Researchers have discovered evidence that a series of genetic mutations work together to initiate most cases of an aggressive and often-fatal form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

A protein profile has been identified in the blood of chronic sinusitis sufferers that may enable physicians to objectively diagnosis and treat the disease, researchers say.

A restricted-calorie diet inhibited the development of precancerous growths in a two-step model of skin cancer, reducing the activation of two signaling pathways known to contribute to cancer growth and development.

A novel molecule, GDC-0449, shrinks tumors for patients with advanced basal cell carcinoma with limited side effects, suggesting a viable new treatment option for patients with the advanced form of this cancer. "Basal cell carcinoma affects about one million people a year, and a very small fraction of these patients have disease that is not curable with surgery. We currently do not have any treatments that can effectively slow tumor growth in these advanced patients. This finding has enormous implications in this population," said one of the physicians involved with the research.

Come summer, we will once again marvel at the amazing athletic skills of Olympic athletes while in fact, the simple act of walking is no less remarkable. Just to prevent us from toppling over, the neuromuscular circuitry that controls all bodily movements relies on constant sensory feedback from the periphery to fine-tune its commands to hundreds of muscles.

Researchers are inching closer to understanding how common blood pressure medications might help prevent the growth and spread of pancreatic cancer. They have found in the laboratory that one type of pressure-lowering drug called an angiotensin receptor blocker inhibits pancreatic cancer cell growth and causes cell death. In previous work, they showed that such drugs helped reduce the development of tumor-feeding blood vessels, or angiogenesis.

You are what you eat, as the old saying goes. Maybe so, but increasingly researchers are finding that you are also what your mother ate -- maternal nutrition has profound consequences on the health of offspring. It is well known that smaller babies are more likely to suffer from heart disease, stroke, hypertension and diabetes. More recently, poor nutrition around the time of fertilization and egg implantation have also been shown to be detrimental in adult life.

One month of tough breathing may help asthma sufferers breathe easier in the long run with a pharmacology professor relying on a medical taboo to treat asthma. Although counterintuitive, these studies are like hair-of-the-dog folk wisdom -- treating like with like -- using beta blockers instead of stimulants in asthmatics. Termed "paradoxical pharmacology" -- treating patients with medicine that initially worsens their symptoms before eventually improving their overall health -- the studies have moved into human clinical trials.

Naturally elevated levels of the antioxidant urate may slow the progression of Parkinson's disease in men. Researchers examined data from an earlier study and found that, among recently diagnosed Parkinson's patients, those with the highest urate levels had a significantly slower rate of disease progression during the two-year study period.

Young people who dress according to the customs of their own ethnic group are less likely to have subsequent mental health problems than those who don't, suggests new research.