Krista Conger, Author at Scope

Telomerase key to liver regeneration, Stanford researchers find

Liver cells expressing high levels of telomerase – a protein normally associated with resistance to aging and implicated in cancers and stem cell maintenance – are necessary to regenerate the organ after normal cell turnover or in response to damage.

Understanding male breast cancer

Breast cancer in men and women differ in levels of cancer-associated gene expression and the relative risk of recurrence after initially successful treatment. Some men have a higher risk than women, whereas others have a much lower risk.

Aging neural stem cells struggle to take out the trash, say Stanford researchers

Protein aggregates in young neural stem cells seem to echo those seen in neurodegenerative disease-- but could they actually be helpful? As the cells age, they become less able to process the aggregates and their ability to activate is dampened.

Social media gives early clues to adverse drug reactions in cancer, Stanford researchers find

A group of researchers identified adverse and previously unknown drug reactions by sifting through millions of social health forum posts.

Pushing boundaries, Stanford researcher explores growing human organs in animals

Stanford researcher Hiromitsu Nakauchi explores his dream of growing custom-made, transplantable human organs in large animals, despite funding difficulties.

In study, Stanford researchers analyze ovarian cancer cells at unprecedented level of specificity

This Stanford Medicine study clarifies the underlying biology of high-grade serous ovarian cancer and could help lead to future therapies.

Screening, new treatments dramatically reduced breast cancer deaths, says multi-center study

Six groups of researchers collaborated to study the effect of advances in breast cancer screening and treatment on mortality rates.

Helping chemotherapy patients regain their sense of taste

Loss of taste sensation occurs in about 85 percent of cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. A new Stanford study explored the problem.

“A very hopeful job”– saving the sickest kids with a new leukemia therapy

As a parent, some stories are more difficult to write than others. My recent Stanford Medicine magazine article about kids with leukemia is an example. …

Researchers find decline in chemotherapy use for breast cancers

In a growing movement toward targeted, less-toxic cancer therapies, physicians are growing increasingly less likely to recommend chemotherapy treatment in some early-stage breast cancer patients, …

Another “don’t eat me” signal discovered on cancer cells by Stanford researchers

No, it's not a plea from the leftover Thanksgiving turkey you may have just gobbled (see what I just did there?). A "don't eat me" …

Integrative prediction model uses “omics”, histopathology to improve cancer prognosis

Consider it a pre-Thanksgiving brain teaser. The image at the right is something called an autostereogram -- a three-dimensional picture that can be seen only by …

New target for CAR T cell leukemia therapy “gives hope” to researchers at Stanford, NCI

Last August, a new leukemia therapy called CAR T-cells burst onto the national stage when it was approved by the Food and Drug Administration to …

Nanoparticles help track human heart muscle cells in mice in Stanford study

This beautiful image shows human heart muscle cells called cardiomyocytes that have been derived from embryonic stem cells and then reintroduced into the beating heart …

High-value oncology practices include “support for the patient journey”

Earlier this week I wrote about a landmark paper in the Annals of Family Medicine in which Stanford researchers, led by health care policy expert Arnold …

Adult stem cells act differently in the body than when isolated for study, say Stanford researchers

I think it's fair to say that most people act at least somewhat differently in public than they do in the privacy and comfort of …