Hallmarks of cancer-the new testament.

Diagnosis and treatment of disease demand a sound understanding of the underlying mechanisms, determining any Achilles' heel that can be targeted in effective therapies. Throughout history, this endeavour to decipher the origin and mechanism of transformation of a normal cell into cancer has led to various theories-from cancer as a curse to an understanding at the level of single-cell heterogeneity, meaning even among a single sub-type of cancer there are myriad molecular challenges to overcome. With increasing insight into cancer genetics and biology, the disease has become ever more complex to understand. The complexity of cancer as a disease was distilled into key traits by Hanahan and Weinberg in their seminal 'Hallmarks of Cancer' reviews. This lucid conceptualization of complex cancer biology is widely accepted and has helped advance cancer therapeutics by targeting the various hallmarks but, with the advancement in technologies, there is greater granularity in how we view cancer as a disease, and the additional understanding over the past decade requires us to revisit the hallmarks of cancer. Based on extensive study of the cancer research literature, we propose four novel hallmarks of cancer, namely, the ability of cells to regress from a specific specialized functional state, epigenetic changes that can affect gene expression, the role of microorganisms and neuronal signalling, to be included in the hallmark conceptualization along with evidence of various means to exploit them therapeutically

Neuroanatomy and cadaver dissection in Italy: History, medicolegal issues, and neurosurgical perspectives.

Despite the significant Italian tradition of important anatomical studies, an outdated law historically influenced by the Catholic church restricts the use of cadavers for teaching and scientific purposes. The object of the present paper was to trace the historical evolution of the Italian anatomical tradition, particularly neuroanatomical studies, in relation to the juridical regulations on the use of cadavers today. Special attention was paid to the opportunities offered to neurosurgery by using cadavers and to the scientific and social issues in neurosurgical training in the twenty-first century. Considering the new Common European Constitution, the authors advocate a political solution from the European community to improve the quality of training in the disciplines with a social impact such as neurosurgery

Hiding in Plain Sight-Ancient Chinese Anatomy

For thousands of years, scientists have studied human anatomy by dissecting bodies. Our knowledge of their findings is limited, however, both by the subsequent loss of many of the oldest texts, and by a tendency towards a Eurocentric perspective in medicine. As a discipline, anatomy tends to be much more familiar with ancient Greek texts than with those from India, China or Persia. Here we show that the Mawangdui medical texts, entombed in the Mawangdui burial site in Changsha, China 168BCE, are the oldest surviving anatomical atlas in the world. These medical texts both predate and inform the later acupuncture texts which have been the foundation for acupuncture practice in the subsequent two millennia. The skills necessary to interpret them are diverse, requiring the researcher firstly to read the original Chinese, and secondly to perform the anatomical investigations that allow a re-viewing of the structures that the texts refer to. Acupuncture meridians are considered to be esoteric in nature, but these texts are clearly descriptions of the physical body. As such, they represent a previously hidden chapter in the history of anatomy, and a new perspective on acupuncture

Christopher Lasch's the culture of narcissism the failure of a critique of psychological politics

Christopher Lasch's bestseller The Culture of Narcissism had, beyond doubt, a significant impact-it was even read in the White House. Today it is not only still frequently taught and referenced, there are also still empirical studies conducted which try to verify Lasch's assertion of the preponderance of the narcissistic personality. This paper re-reads the book as a critique of psychologization processes, and this allows us to discern, besides the flaws in Lasch's approach, a fundamental insight which goes largely unnoticed by both Lasch's opponents and his proponents. Following this, the article will situate subjectivity within the matrix of psychology, science, psychoanalysis, and politics. In this way a critique of contemporary forms of psychologization-psychologization under globalization, as it were-is made possible

Neuronal Control of Metabolism through Nutrient-Dependent Modulation of Tracheal Branching

SummaryDuring adaptive angiogenesis, a key process in the etiology and treatment of cancer and obesity, the vasculature changes to meet the metabolic needs of its target tissues. Although the cues governing vascular remodeling are not fully understood, target-derived signals are generally believed to underlie this process. Here, we identify an alternative mechanism by characterizing the previously unrecognized nutrient-dependent plasticity of the Drosophila tracheal system: a network of oxygen-delivering tubules developmentally akin to mammalian blood vessels. We find that this plasticity, particularly prominent in the intestine, drives—rather than responds to—metabolic change. Mechanistically, it is regulated by distinct populations of nutrient- and oxygen-responsive neurons that, through delivery of both local and systemic insulin- and VIP-like neuropeptides, sculpt the growth of specific tracheal subsets. Thus, we describe a novel mechanism by which nutritional cues modulate neuronal activity to give rise to organ-specific, long-lasting changes in vascular architecture