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Success for nurse practitioner-delivered intravitreal injection service for wAMD

Well-trained nurse practitioners can successfully provide an injection service for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration with ranibizumab, an audit shows.

1 Dec 2014

DEX implant improves visual acuity in patients with diabetic macular oedema

Patients with diabetic macular oedema benefit from intravitreal dexamethasone implants, a study shows, with the treatment improving best-corrected visual acuity with an acceptable safety profile.

1 Dec 2014

VE-PTP potential treatment target for retinal and choroidal vascular diseases

Targeting vascular endothelial-protein tyrosine phosphatase, which negatively regulates TIE2 activation, could help to stabilise retinal and choroidal blood vessels, researchers report.

1 Dec 2014

Promising new therapeutic strategy for chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects at least one in four Americans who are older than 60 and can significantly shorten lifespan. Yet the few available drugs for CKD can only modestly delay the disease's progress towards kidney failure. Now, however, a team led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has found an aspect of CKD's development that points to a promising new therapeutic strategy.

1 Dec 2014

FDA-approved therapy could be effective in older, African American patients with lung cancer

University of Cincinnati researchers have found in a phase-2 clinical trial that a Food and Drug Administration-approved therapy could be effective in treating both older and African American patients with advanced lung cancer who may not be candidates for chemotherapy.

26 Nov 2014

Researchers reveal how cancer cells succeed at entrapping genetic program of growth inhibition

Healthy cells reduce their growth when there is a lack of oxygen (hypoxia). This makes it even more surprising that hypoxia is a characteristic feature of malignant tumours. In two publications in the current edition of the "Nature Communications" journal, researchers from Goethe University and Justus-Liebig-University of Giessen report on how cancer cells succeed at circumventing the genetic program of growth inhibition.

25 Nov 2014

Dacomitinib ‘not superior’ to erlotinib in advanced NSCLC

Dacomitinib, an irreversible, pan-epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, does not improve outcomes compared with the first-generation EGFR–TKI erlotinib in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer, irrespective of their KRAS mutation status, finds the ARCHER 1009 study.

24 Nov 2014

Research: HD-IL2 can be effective in mRCC patients pre-treated with VEGF-targeted agents

High-dose interleukin-2 can be effective in selected metastatic renal cell cancer patients pre-treated with VEGF-targeted agents, reveals research presented today at the ESMO Symposium on Immuno-Oncology in Geneva, Switzerland.

24 Nov 2014

New drug shows promise against treatment-resistant non-small cell lung cancer

A new drug that targets not only common cancer-causing genetic mutations in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but also a form of the mutation that causes resistance to treatment, has shown promising results in patients in a phase I/II clinical trial.

23 Nov 2014

VEGF-B can regenerate damaged peripheral nerves without causing growth of new blood vessels

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have found that a growth factor can regenerate damaged peripheral nerves without causing the growth of new blood vessels -- making it a unique candidate to treat nerve damage in areas of the body where the proliferation of blood vessels would be a drawback.

18 Nov 2014

No survival benefit with dacomitinib in pretreated patients with advanced NSCLC

The irreversible, pan-epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor dacomitinib does not offer a survival benefit in pretreated patients with advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer, phase III trial results show.

14 Nov 2014

University of Leeds researchers make new synthetic anti-cancer molecule

Researchers at the University of Leeds have made a new synthetic anti-cancer molecule that targets two key mechanisms in the spread of malignant tumours through the body.

13 Nov 2014

Toxicity profiles for everolimus, temsirolimus differ in advanced RCC

Non-infectious pneumonitis and stomatitis occur more frequently in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma treated with everolimus than temsirolimus, whereas temsirolimus is associated with a higher incidence of fatigue, rash and asthenia, a retrospective study reports.

13 Nov 2014

Bevacizumab–erlotinib combined efficacy may depend on VEGF level

Bevacizumab may enhance the antitumour activity of erlotinib by increasing the intratumoural concentration of erlotinib in some non-small-cell lung cancers expressing high levels of vascular endothelial growth factor, Japanese researchers report.

13 Nov 2014

Endothelin gene expression linked to vision loss in premature babies

A gene known to play a major role in constricting blood vessels also appears to be a major player in the aberrant blood vessel growth that can destroy the vision of premature babies.

11 Nov 2014

New treatment could halt growth of tumours in prostate cancer patients

Scientists believe a new treatment, shown to be effective in mice, could halt the growth of tumours in patients with prostate cancer.

11 Nov 2014

Eribulin drug has minor added benefit in one patient group, indication of lesser benefit in others

Eribulin (trade name: Halaven) is approved for women with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer in whom the disease has progressed despite prior drug therapy. The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) examined in a dossier assessment whether the drug offers an added benefit over the appropriate comparator therapy in these patient groups.

7 Nov 2014