Research

As the national university, we champion and support innovative research that addresses the country’s most pressing challenges.

23 Oct 2023

UP Baguio

Covid-19 caused more psychological distress on women and young people than older persons

The results of this study represent 14,133 participants across 6 continents, with data from 19 nations. The most consistent finding...

Read More

19 Oct 2023

UP Diliman, UP System

Children as young as two months are exposed to digital media for an average of two hours every day

The dramatic increase in the touchscreen exposure of very young children has raised issues regarding the potentials and perils that...

Read More

11 Oct 2023

UP

Caves require greater management as important, but seldom studied, nonrenewable resources

Caves are significant nonrenewable resources that provide a variety of ecosystem services with varying sensitivities to disturbance. In the Philippines,...

Read More

10 Oct 2023

UP Los Baños, UP Open University

Small islands in Northern Samar are linked by political, economic and social reasons

The Philippines as an archipelago is made up of many islands. Most of these islands are characterized as small, isolated,...

Read More

06 Oct 2023

UP Los Baños

Online learning had adverse effects on the well-being and mental health of STEM students

This research adds to the growing body of literature pertaining to the extent and consequences of fully online
learning to Science,...

Read More

05 Oct 2023

UP Manila

Teachers are still hesitant to talk about sex education due to cultural and religious factors

Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) enables children and young people to learn about the cognitive, emotional, physical, and social characteristics of...

Read More

02 Oct 2023

UP Manila

Smart-city projects will not “reduce inequality, hold policymakers accountable or address the root causes of Manila’s problems”

The Philippines is said to fall behind when it comes to adopting digital technologies and urged to catch up with...

Read More

14 Sep 2023

UP Diliman

The location and number of language areas in the brain differ among multilingual brain tumor patients

The location of the speech area in the brain may be different or located in several sites in patients who...

Read More

05 Sep 2023

UP Los Baños

Agent-based model reveals a sustainable method of forest tree harvesting

The Philippines requires 6 million cubic meters of wood annually, based on its 2006–2014 average wood consumption. However, due to...

Read More

29 Aug 2023

UP Diliman

Adjusting the rice cropping calendar can improve the production and income of rice farmers

The study assessed the impact of an adjusted cropping calendar on the welfare of rice farming households in the  Mekong...

Read More

15 Aug 2023

UP System

Study reports the first cases of yaws, a chronic and highly contagious skin and bone infection, among the Aetas of Quezon

Yaws is a chronic, highly contagious skin and bone infection caused by a bacteria, Treponema pallidum subspecies pertenue, usually affecting...

Read More

09 Aug 2023

UP Los Baños

Villages with a large population of women, older persons and agricultural households are most exposed to drought risk

Islands are highly vulnerable to natural disasters and extreme weather events due to their physical size, remoteness, and limited resources....

Read More

Research

Cancer is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity globally. Sex differences in cancer are evident in death rates and treatment responses in several cancers. Asian patients have unique cancer epidemiology influenced by their genetic ancestry and sociocultural factors in the region. In this review, we show molecular associations that potentially mediate sex disparities observed in cancer in Asian populations. Differences in sex characteristics are evident at the cytogenetic, genetic, and epigenetic levels mediating processes that include cell cycle, oncogenesis, and metastasis. Larger clinical and in vitro studies that explore mechanisms can confirm the associations of these molecular markers. In-depth studies of these markers can reveal their importance as diagnostics, prognostics, and therapeutic efficacy markers. Sex differences should be considered in designing novel cancer therapeutics in this era of precision medicine.

The narrative review highlights the existing knowledge and evidence on the molecular roles of sex differences in cancer among Asians. This would serve as basis for research generation with the gains and gaps on the current literature provided. This narrative review tackles the unique genomic and social factors that influence the development of sex differences in cancer among Asians. The study focuses on associations of molecular evidences that can influence sex differences in cancer while also discussing social determinants of health, alongside cancer epidemiology in Asian cohorts. Through this review, a multifactorial and interconnected assessment of existing cancer literature in Asian populations can help develop gaps that future studies may target for specific interventions in the incidence and mortality of cancer worldwide.

Authors: Eric David Ornos, Leslie Faye Cando, Charlene Divine Catral, Elin Paul Quebral, Ourlad Alzeus Tantengco, Ma. Veronica Pia Arevalo (all from the College of Medicine, University of the Philippines Manila) and Edward Christopher Dee (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York)

Read the full paper: https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(23)01178-1?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS2589004223011781%3Fshowall%3Dtrue