Science Media Centre

Martin Johnston writes in the New Zealand Herald about a ‘stealth’ anti-cancer drug, developed by Auckland University researchers, which is to begin clinical development overseas. The drug, PR509, targets lung tumours while leaving healthy tissue alone: it is activated by the hypoxic (low oxygen) conditions which exist in solid tumours. An excerpt: (read in full [...]

Rebecca Todd writes in The Press about a surgeon in Christchurch who, for the first time, is using a robot to remove gynaecological tumours. The robots allow for surgery to be more precise and ‘easy’, and eliminates the challenges which can come with shaky hands or fatigue. An excerpt: (read in full here) The instruments [...]

Vitamin C, otherwise called ascorbate, has been found to have a link with cancerous tumour growth, according to University of Otago researchers. A protein present in tumours, which allows them to handle stress well, has been found in higher concentrations in those tumours in which ascorbate levels are low. It is hoped the finding could [...]

A rabbit virus could hold hope for people suffering with colorectal cancer, say researchers from the University of Otago. The new vaccine therapy uses a modified form of rabbit calicivirus disease (RCD), and there are hopes that the approach could be modified to target other cancers, too. An excerpt: (read in full here) “This therapy [...]