Faulty gene link to breast cancer

Scientists say they have linked a faulty copy of a gene with the development of breast cancer.

Researchers in London and Italy studying biopsies found that Tip60 did not work as actively in breast cancer tissue as it did in normal tissue.

Low Tip60 activity was particularly associated with aggressive tumours.

The scientists said their findings, which are published in Nature, had implications for the treatment of women with the disease.

If low levels of Tip60 activity suggest a woman has a particularly aggressive form of the disease, she could be treated accordingly.

"More aggressive types of breast cancers tend to recur after treatment, spread to other parts of the body, and respond less well to chemotherapy," said Dr Tim Crook, the team leader at The Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Centre.

"The identification of Tip60's role in breast cancer is a step forward towards predicting the aggressiveness of the disease and then individualising chemotherapy for women."

One faulty gene

Tip60 is a so-called tumour suppressor gene: it helps to hold the growth of cells in check.

Scientists found that reduced activity of the gene contributed to uncontrolled cell growth, which in turn allowed breast cancer to develop.

They also found that reduced levels of Tip60 were caused by only one faulty copy of the gene.

When we are born we inherit a copy of the gene from our mother and our father. Typically with tumour suppressor genes, both copies must be faulty for the function to be lost.

But the scientists said that the Tip60 gene stops working if only one copy is faulty.

Antonia Dean of Breast Cancer Care said scientists were still a long way from fully understanding the role genes play in the development of breast cancer, "and how this interacts with or is mediated by other factors".

"This is initial research. Further studies are needed to fully determine how these findings can be translated into practical benefits for people with breast cancer and the exact role Tip60 may have in the development of the disease."

Horror Movie Reviews - Dead Silence and More

Dead Silence

Get ready for some creepy puppets. A immature adult male tax returns to his hometown to happen out the truth about his wife's murder. Was she really murdered by a ventriloquist's dummy? Storywise it felt like I was watching an episode of TV's "Supernatural" (and that's not a bad thing.) Some suspenseful scenes, but overall the film didn't appeal to me. But I have got to acknowledge the termination was cool.

Grade: 2 out of 5

The Host

A monster film that was a immense hit in Korea. Toxic chemicals poured out into the drainage make a mutant monster in the metropolis river. The monster rises and spreadings terror in the city. The action/horror scenes work well, but the film also have a eldritch comedy tone of voice that I really disliked. Some good CGI though, and a really cool monster.

Grade: 3 out of 5

Reeker

A clump of friends on a route trip end up in a deserted state town. One after the other they're attacked by an wicked creature. The twist-end works, but we've seen it before. This is a nice low-budget effort.

Grade: 3 out of 5

The Baby's Room

Spanish film (original title: The Habitacion Del Nino) about a couple with a babe moving into a new house. Soon they detect a apparitional physical thing in the nursery. This film trusts on pure temper and psychological tension, but it's not awful enough. But one scene with the babymonitor really had me on the border of my seat.

Grade: 2 out of 5.

Pulse

This is the American refashion of the Asiatic horror film "Kairo". We see Kristen Bell (TV's Veronica Mars) in this ghosts-in-the-computer techno-horror. Eerie doomsday-feeling, but scary? No, not really.

Grade: 3 out of 5

The Toolbox Murders

Tobe Hooper's remake/reimaging of the original film from 1978. A immature couple move into in a run-down apartment edifice where the tennants are killed off with tools from a toolbox. Get ready for creepy ambiance and some gore. This is a film many people hate, and quite frankly I don't understand why. This is a solid, quite chilling slasher. That's what I believe and I'm sticking to it.

Grade: 4 out of 5

Stay Alive

Some teens playing a computing machine game unleashes wicked powerfulnesses and happen out that if you decease in the game - you decease for real. I believe the book was better than how the film actually turned out. Almost no panics at all.

Grade: 1 out of 5

Into The Mirror

Asian horror where a security guard seeks to work out homicides linked to mirrors at a shopping mall. I love some of the creepy mirror scenes, but the film is slow and there's not much departure on. The concluding scene lingers in my memory. Chilling.

Grade: 3 out of 5