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Digital mammography no better than traditional film X-rays in the ability to detect cases of breast cancer

Digital mammography provides no clear-cut improvements over traditional film X-rays in the ability to detect cases of breast cancer, says a new technology assessment report. The technology does, however, offer other benefits, including slightly lower radiation doses for patients, that may prompt its increasing use despite its much higher costs.

10 Jun 2005

Similarities in antiretroviral therapy efficacy in poorer countries to that in industrial nations

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) programs for treating HIV in developing countries are about as effective as ART programs in developed countries, according to an article in the July 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online.

9 Jun 2005

Lorus Therapeutics receives patent allowance to protect novel anticancer drug

Lorus Therapeutics today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, GeneSense Technologies Inc. (GeneSense), has received notice from the European Patent Office of its intention to grant GeneSense's application for a patent of its novel antisense drug, GTI-2501.

9 Jun 2005

MabThera highly effective in treating rheumatoid arthritis

Results from the DANCER study presented today revealed that MabThera significantly improves symptoms in heavily treated patients who are affected by moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a painful and debilitating disease of the joints.

9 Jun 2005

Rituximab, used to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is safe and effective

Professor Paul Emery from the University of Leeds in the UK led the DANCER study (Double blind placebo controlled dose ranging study), designed to confirm the efficacy of rituximab for the treatment of patients with active RA who have failed to improve on one or more disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs).

9 Jun 2005

Virulizin granted orphan drug status in Europe

Lorus Therapeutics has announced that the EMEA (European Medicines Agency) has given a positive opinion on Lorus' application for orphan drug status to Virulizin, the company's lead anticancer drug for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

8 Jun 2005

IGF-based growth hormone dosing could become a novel paradigm in treating growth hormone deficiency

A randomized University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA) study found that a new dosing paradigm can improve height outcomes in the treatment of children who have short stature due to growth hormone deficiency and idiopathic short stature.

6 Jun 2005

Doctors study surgery to stop epileptic seizures

Melinda Hillyard of Winchester, Va., first had epileptic seizures when she was eight years old. The seizures went away for years, then returned after the birth of her first child. "I never knew when my world would turn upside down," she recalled.

6 Jun 2005

World first air purification technology for H5N1 Avian Influenza

Sharp Corporation has demonstrated that Plasmacluster Ions reduce activity of the highly fatal and highly pathogenic airborne H5N1 avian influenza ("bird flu") virus by 99%.

6 Jun 2005

Helmholtz Institute develops a new path to more effective antibiotics

Resistance to antibiotics has increased alarmingly in recent years. For example, in France the resistance of pneumococci has risen to 58% due to high rates of antibiotic prescription. Medical experts are sounding the alarm. Pharmacologists are seeking new antibiotically effective substances.

6 Jun 2005

One-a-day tablet treats common infection

A bioadhesive tablet containing the antifungal drug miconazole is an effective and convenient means of treating oropharyngeal candidiasis, which is the most frequently occurring infection in head and neck cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy, scientists reported at the 2nd ESMO Scientific & Educational Conference (ESEC) in Budapest, Hungary.

6 Jun 2005

Chemotherapy options improve for patients with advanced colorectal cancer

For the first time, researchers have shown that a chemotherapy regimen of capecitabine plus oxaliplatin (CAPOX) is as safe and effective as infusional 5-fluorouracil/folinic acid plus oxaliplatin (FUFOX) in the first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal carcinoma (MCRC).

6 Jun 2005

One-time whooping cough vaccination at 11 years of age may potentially be cost-effective

Despite childhood vaccination rates at all-time highs, pertussis (whooping cough) has re-emerged over the past two decades, especially among adolescents, adults, and young infants. Because of this resurgence, federal health policymakers are considering a national booster vaccination program.

6 Jun 2005

Scientists develop vaccines against the Ebola and Marburg viruses

Scientists from the Public Health Agency of Canada - with assistance from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases - have developed vaccines against the Ebola and Marburg viruses that have been shown to be effective in non-human primates.

5 Jun 2005

Oral cancer screening saves lives

Oral cancer is the 8th most common cancer in men and ranks 14th among women worldwide. There were 274,300 new cases and 145,500 deaths worldwide in 2002. Two-thirds of this burden are borne by developing countries, and over 30% by India alone. A high rate of oral cancer has been recorded in the Indian subcontinent, central and eastern Europe, parts of France, southern Europe, South America, and Oceania.

3 Jun 2005

New vaccine against whooping cough is effective in teens and adults

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has announced that a study to be published in the June 22/29 issue found that a new vaccine against whooping cough is effective in teens and adults, carriers of the contagious respiratory disease so dangerous to infants.

3 Jun 2005

Helix opens additional sites for its Topical Interferon Alpha-2b Phase II clinical study

Helix BioPharma announced today the opening of two additional German sites for the Phase II clinical trial of its Topical Interferon Alpha-2b product at the Charité Berlin, one of the largest university hospitals in Europe.

2 Jun 2005

Novel topical treatment of psoriasis

Cytochroma Inc. today announced results from a Phase Ia clinical study for CTA018, a novel vitamin D analog developed for the treatment of psoriasis.

2 Jun 2005

Fast track drugs - FDA too slow to check on drugmakers who do not complete follow up studies

A U.S. congressman is claiming that the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) system of rapidly approving new drugs is failing to ensure patient safety because drug companies are not doing the required follow-up studies.

1 Jun 2005

African HIV subtypes identified in Minnesota

Public health researchers in Minnesota recently identified 83 persons infected with subtypes of HIV-1 that are not common in the United States, according to a report published in the June 15 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online.

31 May 2005