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Two new clinical trials show promise for basal cell carcinoma and pancreatic cancer

Clinical researchers at Scottsdale Healthcare and TGen have announced the results of two clinical trials that show promise for patients battling cancer.

16 Apr 2008

Treatment with sunitinib slows tumor growth and spread of liver cancer

Treatment with sunitinib slows tumor growth and reduces the risk of metastasis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, an aggressive cancer of the liver, researchers report.

15 Apr 2008

Scientists create monoclonal antibody libraries against avian influenza

An international group of American and Turkish research scientists, led by Sea Lane Biotechnologies, has created the first comprehensive monoclonal antibody libraries against avian influenza (H5N1) using samples from survivors of the 2005/2006 "bird flu" outbreak in Turkey.

15 Apr 2008

Cancer prevention

Tapping into a growing body of knowledge about the origins and progression of cancer, researchers are now developing and testing new preventive therapies to stop it in its tracks.

15 Apr 2008

Carotid stenting shows long-term benefit as alternative to surgery

Carotid artery stenting is an effective option for high risk patients who are not eligible for surgery, according to a long-term study published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine.

11 Apr 2008

Farm animals could provide some therapeutic benefit for people with mental illness

Time down on the farm with animals could provide some therapeutic benefit for people with mental illness, according to researchers writing in the open access journal Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health.

11 Apr 2008

Stopping a cancer trial early: is it for the benefit of patients or industry?

New research has identified a growing trend for trials of new cancer treatments to be stopped prematurely before the therapies' risks and benefits have been properly evaluated.

9 Apr 2008

Potential new therapy for myeloproliferative disorders

A unique partnership between industry and academia has led to human clinical trials of a new drug for a rare class of blood diseases called myeloproliferative disorders (MPD), which are all driven by the same genetic mutation and can evolve into leukemia.

8 Apr 2008

NanoViricides begins HIV drug animal trials

NanoViricides, Inc. has announced that preliminary animal trials of the Company's HIV therapeutic candidates have begun at a BioSafety Level 3 (BSL-3) Laboratory facility in Boston, MA.

8 Apr 2008

New mouse model grants insight into the genetic and molecular mechanisms underpinning acute myeloid leukemia

Leukaemia - cancer of blood or bone marrow is caused by mutations that allow defective blood cells to accumulate and displace healthy blood.

8 Apr 2008

Marketing of unproven genetic tests a threat to public health

No mechanism currently exists to ensure that genetic tests are supported by adequate evidence before they go to market, or that marketing claims are truthful and not misleading, according to a policy analysis to be published April 4 in Science.

4 Apr 2008

Clinical trial to test a novel HIV/AIDS vaccine

This new vaccine aims to overcome the problem of preexisting immunity to common vaccine vectors, which is thought to be a major problem in the developing world.

4 Apr 2008

Potential new treatments for polycystic kidney disease

A family of small molecules called CFTR inhibitors show promising effects in slowing the progression of polycystic kidney disease (PKD), the most common genetic disease of the kidneys, according to preliminary research reported in the July 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology.

3 Apr 2008

Rimonabant shows mixed results for slowing progression of coronary disease

The anti-obesity medication rimonabant showed mixed results in slowing progression of coronary artery disease in patients with abdominal obesity and pre-existing coronary disease, according to a new study in the April 2 issue of JAMA.

2 Apr 2008

Immune system needs food to function properly

Researchers studying deer mice have discovered evidence to support what mothers everywhere have long suspected: the immune system needs food to function properly.

2 Apr 2008

ExoSeal vascular plug gets good reviews in ECLIPSE study

A new bioabsorbable plug that seals the arterial puncture site used for threading catheters into the body during diagnostic angiography and interventional procedures significantly shortens bleeding time and enables patients to get up and walk around far sooner than when manual compression is applied to the groin.

2 Apr 2008

Drug does not appear to reduce risk of heart attack or death following CABG surgery

Use of MC-1 (a naturally occurring metabolite of vitamin B6) before and for 30 days after coronary artery bypass graft surgery did not reduce the risk of heart attack or cardiovascular death, according to a JAMA study being released early online April 1 to coincide with its presentation at the annual conference of the American College of Cardiology.

2 Apr 2008

Distinguishing non-TB pulmonary disease from TB

A diagnostic kit shows new promise for distinguishing between tuberculosis (TB) and its infections from disease caused by related mycobacteria family, which mimic TB and other lung disease in symptoms but require distinctly different clinical treatments.

2 Apr 2008

New research shows benefits of ultrasound contrast agents outweigh potential risk to heart patients

A Saint Louis University cardiologist called upon the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today to reconsider a strong warning it recently placed on a diagnostic tool, stating that the warning could prevent doctors from detecting life-threatening cardiac events.

1 Apr 2008

Disappointing resuts for pimecrolimus, investigational anti-restenosis drug

A new medication that researchers had hoped would reduce the risk of arterial renarrowing after stenting has turned in a disappointing performance in a multicenter clinical trial, but the multi-reservoir stent that was used to deliver the drug is still considered promising.

1 Apr 2008